There comes a time in every man’s life when he’s a day late with the update, and so tired he’s actually managed to accidentally perma-delete his draft, and all he can do is provide most of the same information in the form of an infodump and go get some sleep (in the middle of the day). Apologies for the inconvenience.

While Rice has no hidden village, it is ruled by a loose coalition of ninja clans constantly engaged in a deep political game completely opaque to outsiders. The Akoma Clan act as the clans’ diplomatic representatives and present a united front to the rest of the ninja world. They even manage to fool some people.

Rice is a very bountiful land which provides a notable proportion of the continent’s food, and as a consequence has a comparatively high standard of living. The reason that its resource wealth and lack of hidden village has not led to its rapid conquest is that the Rice ninja have publically expressed their will to burn the entire country to ashes before they’ll let a single farm be taken by their enemies. Their reputation for ruthlessness is sufficient that no one has tried to call their bluff.

Ordinarily, you’d expect that sort of announcement to lead to rebellion from a civilian population which does not wish to be burned to ashes in the event of war, or at least civil unrest which would be very bad for business. However, the Rice commoners are fiercely loyal, seeing their ninja as the only ones who remained among the people instead of sequestering themselves in hidden fortresses and keeping all the benefits of civilisation for themselves. In addition, those commoners had front row seats for the pillaging of Iron next door, and many would themselves put their fields to the torch rather than become slaves to a permanent foreign occupation (or so they declare).

As a consequence of all this, village ninja are unwelcome in Rice, with only a couple of towns (the one you’re in, and one more in southeast Rice) established as safe spaces where representatives of hidden villages can come (with permission) to negotiate, communicate and be fleeced for all they’re worth by opportunistic merchants. On the other hand, while missing-nin aren’t exactly welcome as such (and any seen as competing with the clans for missions tend to find themselves eviscerated and hung in a public square), one clan or another will often find itself in a situation where it does not wish to get its own hands dirty – and deniable assets never go out of style.

Given this, it seems likely that Arikada’s new employer is one of the Rice ninja clans, and if so, she must be stopped before she reaches her final destination and becomes embroiled in Rice’s labyrinthine internal politics (with which no sane man wishes to tangle, Jiraiya included). On the other hand, this may be the only context in which any reputations you’ve acquired as missing-nin will be an asset rather than a liability – those who recognise you will actually be more likely to tolerate you than if they believe you to be infiltrating minions of a hidden village. Though of course, there are always the spies and informants on the lookout for interesting missing-nin arrivals as well.

Sarubetsu is a town of a few thousand people. It is run by a conventional civilian administration, with a mayor in charge. The mayor does not wear the colours of any of the three ninja clans with influence in the area, which suggests that either she is an accomplished player maintaining a careful course of neutrality – or there is a hidden hand at work.

Jiraiya says that even in the event that paralytic seals existed, they would certainly be too valuable and dangerous a piece of technology to send anywhere near a skilled enemy sealmaster. While he has no anti-sealing seals or techniques to offer you, he can give you the following pointers for fighting a sealing expert:

Do not fight them in terrain they’ve had a chance to prepare Hit them hard and fast before they can pull out and activate their seals Even a little damage from water or fire can instantly ruin a seal Seals are fundamentally static and defensive in nature; typical combat seals cannot track a moving target or reach beyond a fixed distance A fighter who’s had his concentration impaired won’t fight as well; a sealmaster who’s had his concentration impaired is a walking time bomb Sealmasters are paranoid and over-prepared; you must do the unexpected to bypass their defences A sensible sealmaster will keep emergency seals in their sleeves or elsewhere in their clothing, ideally within easy reach and between multiple layers of cloth so that there’s no risk of sweat damaging the seal. Watertight pouches are often used for the most important seals so that the sealmaster can’t be instantly defeated by a bucket of water perched over a door. There are stories of sealmasters who incorporate some kind of seal storage into their own body.

Trying to send you to Rice shops in a xenophobic town may end badly, so Jiraiya is prepared to have one of his own pick up whatever basic supplies you need. Ninja-strength nets are not among the things available, but you may be able to pick up high-tensile materials with which to make your own. A check-up in Yuni might be of benefit to your health, but you’d have to weigh it against the risk of crossing the Rice border twice.

In regard to Jōtarō and code words, you spent so long on your last mission that your old set went out of date. You could, of course, have picked up a couple of new ones if you’d asked a contact of Jiraiya’s who already knew you. You are now up to date (at least assuming you succeed in this mission and thus don’t get removed from Jiraiya’s network with extreme prejudice).

Jiraiya’s three points for effective contract-signing are as follows:

Understand the other being’s culture, background and perspective as fully as possible to establish smooth communication and mutual respect quickly Come to the bargaining table already knowing what they want, and offer it before they ask Summoners are shinobi of legend in both worlds: for a deep and lasting relationship, make the other being want to be part of your story, rather than merely a participant in an exchange

Finally, Arikada Sugako. Apart from a general reputation for sealing expertise and battle skill, Arikada is notable for her lack of restraint (which is part of how she originally came to Jiraiya’s attention) and her obliviousness to civilian casualties. She is reportedly quick to anger, and has a strong sense of pride. Although she is not a genius like Jiraiya himself (he says casually), she has been rumoured to dabble in some advanced areas of sealcrafting experimentation, notably relating to the effects of seals and sealing mishaps on the functioning of the human body. It is possible that this element of her reputation has been inflated for practical purposes and she is really just an ordinary skilled sealcrafter, or it could mean she has some terrifying experimental seals hidden up her sleeve.

Needless to say, she is highly paranoid, and methodical to a fault. Jiraiya also notes that Arikada has had a series of apprentices, all without exception attractive boys, and that each one has met a grisly fate in what was probably a sealing accident. In addition, one of her recent employers included in their payment a box of the mild narcotic known as Vermilion Sigh.