For all that Kurenai appreciated the end product of a sake brewery, she'd never had any interest in the process itself. The brewery tour would have been as dull as she expected—Here are the vats, here are the empty shelves, here isn't the sake…—if it weren't for the people leading it.

Her brief search of Nomiya's kitchen had only reinforced her initial impression that the 'wife visiting relatives' story wasn't nearly as innocuous as Nomiya meant it to appear. The clone she'd left in the mayor's house was still investigating. Which left Kurenai free to hang back at the tail of the group, silent and sharp-eyed, watching the way Nomiya forced himself to defer to Raidou. Wealthy and powerful by his village's standards, big by anyone's, Nomiya wasn't used to having his authority supplanted, and he didn't like it.

He didn't like his fellow brewers, either. There was a subtle tension between all of them, breaking overtly now and then as Nomiya criticized Inada or condescended to Goto. Weeks of pressure suddenly catalyzed by the shinobi arrival, Kurenai thought, but the cracks hinted at something deeper. She wondered if the mayoral position was elected, and how Nomiya had won.

Ryouma fell back beside her. "D'you believe in curses?" His voice was low, but Goto's had sharp ears; Kurenai saw the old man glancing back.

Kurenai lowered her eyes and pitched her voice to carry. "I'm not sure I know what to believe, right now…"

Ryouma frowned at her. But Goto was slowing his pace too, matching to Kurenai's other side. "You shouldn't listen to Inada. There's bandits in these mountains, not vengeful ghosts."

She'd pegged him right. Kurenai glanced up quickly, then dropped her gaze before it met his. "What about the local deity? We passed through the festival in Hiraizumi..."

"Waste of money and good food," Goto snorted. "Nomiya-san's right. Superstition's held us back for too long. We didn't have electric generators in the village till ten years ago, and it wasn't because of the cost. No, it was the priests saying the forest spirits objected, and they needed offerings and tithes to placate 'em. Well, we brought the generators in and sent the priests off packing. Now almost every house in the village is wired, and no one's heard a peep from the forest."

Ryouma said, "Progressive attitude." He managed to sound almost deferential. Maybe there was hope for him yet.

Goto waved a hand. "The fact is, with electrification we've been able to almost double our production. It's brought prosperity, not some gods-ordained ruin."

"And prosperity has brought bandits?" Kurenai asked.

"Poverty makes bandits, young lady." Goto seemed to be enjoying himself. "Prosperity makes enemies. Now, I could tell you—"

"Goto-san!" Nomiya said, sharply. "The captain wants to know which of your workers ordered the casks for this year's stock."

Goto excused himself with a murmured apology; beyond him, Kurenai caught a glimpse of Raidou looking frustrated. She wondered whether Nomiya had summoned Goto to interrupt her conversation, or his own.

The brewery tour ended soon after. It was full dark, the sky lit by a fingernail moon and a brilliant river of stars. Nomiya waited by the brewery door until the last ninja exited, then closed and locked it. "I hope you'll do me the courtesy of staying at my home tonight," he told Raidou. His broad face looked disturbingly dour in the yellow glow cast by the security light over the brewery door.

Raidou inclined his head with exacting politeness. "Konoha appreciates your generosity, but we would disturb you too much by coming and going at all hours. We'll find a campsite nearby to set up, while we organize our scouting parties."

Kurenai missed Nomiya's response in the flicker-moment of her clone's memory cascade. She blinked away the overlay of Kakashi's masked face and Nomiya's empty house, and caught Genma looking sharply at her. She shook her head. He relaxed minutely.

The sake brewers left. Raidou watched them trudge into the darkness, and said, "Yuuhi?"

The sound-deadening genjutsu might be overkill at this point, but Kurenai wasn't taking chances. She slipped through the seals, cast her chakra out, and stepped in close. "I left a clone in Nomiya's house. Hatake entered shortly after."