novelhk Page 13
Page 13
"Damn it, you didn't even mention the Sharingan information! What exactly are these spies doing?!" Ritsu gritted her teeth, furious, but there was no turning back now. She had to capture someone as a hostage to force the Uchiha girl, a genin-level ninja whose fighting strength was no less than that of a chunin, to lower her guard.
On the surface, Mikoto Uchiha remained calm and composed, indicating that she was fine. However, she had just seized an opportunity to use another C-rank Fire Release technique, 'Phoenix Flower,' attempting to hit the Cloud Village ninja. But due to a misjudgment, she hit nothing, burning the grass tethered by the barbed wire.
At this point, the black-haired girl's chakra was almost depleted. Being able to use two C-rank fire release techniques at once, along with multiple chakra enhancements combined with attacks using hidden weapons and taijutsu, was already exhausting.
Not to mention Might Guy, whose chakra was completely depleted after several taijutsu exchanges with the blond-haired youth who suddenly appeared in the jungle.
Yakushi Nonou's remaining chakra was only about half—this was after she used a C-rank defensive ninjutsu to conserve chakra and speed up the execution of the ninjutsu.
"Phew. This guy's really good at dodging."
"Mikoto, don't be careless, she might suddenly appear at any time."
Just as Uchiha Mikoto and Yakushi Nonou were back to back, at a certain distance, observing their surroundings from a 180-degree angle to protect the middle carriage, a loud bang suddenly came from the bushes, startling the two girls, the carriage's employer team, and Might Guy, who was resting against the carriage.
A moment later, a rustling sound came from the bushes. Yakushi Nonou stared wide-eyed, clutching her kunai tightly in her hand, while Uchiha Mikoto behind her did not turn around because of the commotion behind her, and continued to stare intently ahead.
"How come these guys are so poor! They only have three thousand taels of silver on them, and they dare to come out and beg for food with such a small amount of money?"
Uchiha Mikoto and Yakushi Nonou instantly fell to the ground, a scene straight out of an anime.
"That jerk."
"Mini-teacher..."
The danger on the road was completely gone, but the horse was too frightened to move quickly and could only move slowly. However, it still arrived at the port city near the coast of the Iron Country, the Iron Ridge Fortress, before dark.
......
Night fell, and thick clouds obscured the moonlight.
A moment later, a sliver of light pierced through the clouds, and the bright moonlight shone into a dark and quiet grove of trees.
"Three of the Cloud Village's members were at least Chunin-level; all three were headless, two were mangled beyond recognition, and one was instantly killed..."
"Furthermore, the carriage tracks on the ground point in the direction of the Iron Fortress, a port city in the Land of Iron, where a ship was set off for the Land of Hot Springs."
"I think I didn't follow the wrong path, but..."
A man with a black cloth covering his face, green eyes, and a somewhat hoarse voice was inspecting the chaotic battlefield: Mikoto had no chakra to use Fire Release, while Shirahoshi, who claimed to be exhausted and had no chakra left, simply left the three corpses in the wild forest, perhaps feeding them to wild animals to help destroy the evidence.
At the same time, Shirahoshi also mentioned that this team should all be Chunin groups. He was lucky and managed to defeat the two with great difficulty using taijutsu. When he emerged from the bushes, his clothes were tattered. However, Yakushi Nonou, who still had energy, could tell at a glance that Shirahoshi did not have a single wound on his body.
Reason: Shirahoshi is afraid of knives and has tetanus.
But unexpectedly, the battlefield here was discovered by Kakuzu, who was planning to earn a black market bounty of 30,000.
"Thirty thousand."
"Thirty thousand wants me to wipe out a Jonin-level team?"
"Hehehe——"
Kakuzu walked away without looking back.
Along the way, the intelligence he gathered indicated that the merchants were protected by a four-person squad consisting entirely of genin—now it seemed there was indeed a trap. There was no such thing as a squad consisting entirely of genin; it was clearly a trick by Konoha!
Chapter 20 bonus chapter~ Please read on!! (Thanks to "Not Selling Oranges" for the 100-coin reward~)
Chapter 20 Who is your real son?! Father!
Day eight of the mission.
Team 11 successfully delivered the employer's team to a town in the Land of Hot Springs.
The streets were filled with all sorts of people, and as long as there were no wars or conflicts with Kumogakure, the region within the Land of Hot Springs was relatively peaceful.
The climate of the Land of Hot Water is different from that of the Land of Iron. There is a lot of water mist during the day and night, but the temperature is also relatively low—even now, wearing a jacket, it's a little chilly, probably around seven or eight degrees Celsius.
This town is considered the hot spring capital of the Land of Hot Springs, with a thriving hot spring business. After being attacked by the Cloud Village team, Mizutani Shoto finally revealed his true wealth: he invited Shirahoshi's team to his hot spring resort for a day and a night, with all expenses paid free of charge.
This hot spring pass is worth at least 200,000 to 300,000 ryo in the Land of Hot Springs and around 100,000 ryo in the Land of Fire. Shirahoshi even considered selling it. The group would then find an inn to spend the night and leave early the next morning—one of the ninja rules. Traveling at night is suicidal, especially during wartime.
"Dame!" Uchiha Mikoto and Yakushi Nonou both made a crossed-out gesture, indicating their refusal.
Might Guy, upon hearing that the ticket was worth 100,000 Fire Country currency, also considered selling it.
"This is such a hassle. Why don't you guys go enjoy yourselves and we sell?" Bai Xing tentatively suggested.
"Absolutely not! This is our last C-rank mission, Shirahoshi-sensei! You can't be so cruel, sob sob~" Uchiha Mikoto started her fake crying mode.
"Pah! This is the last C-rank mission as a team of the same class." Pharmacist Nonou thought to herself, "Why do that lousy teacher and Mikoto always say such unlucky things?"
Now, almost no one believes that Mikoto will fail in the subsequent Chunin Exams.
So, the four of them enjoyed a day and a night of lavish service at the Mito merchant's hot spring resort—personalized back scrubbing, various delicacies from the land of hot springs, and private hot spring rooms...
---
Eleven days after the escort mission ended, a merchant from Mito, through someone in the Land of Hot Water, voluntarily increased the fee for the mission by 20,000 ryo and arrived in Konoha with a thank-you letter of several thousand words, which landed on the Hokage's office desk.
"The ninja of Kumogakure."
"Shirahoshi, you really gave me a surprise." In the world of ninjas, information is something that is very easy to leak.
In missions like the Land of Waves, Zabuza's team was able to analyze the route information to determine Team 7's direction of travel.
Therefore, Hiruzen Sarutobi did not suspect that the village had leaked the information. He was just wondering if the yakuza were suddenly willing to spend a lot of money to hire ninjas from Kumogakure.
Regardless, this mission is no ordinary mission, and it wouldn't be unreasonable to upgrade it to a B-level mission.
Furthermore, Hiruzen Sarutobi still couldn't figure out how Shirahoshi's team had defeated that group of Cloud Village ninjas, and whether those ninjas even included Jonin. He needed to ask Shirahoshi, their team leader, to find out. However, he could register Shirahoshi's team for the Chunin Exams ahead of time.
......
There is one day left until the first Chunin Exams.
The main gate of the village.
After completing the village entry procedures and entering the village street, the three members of the eleventh group felt as if their bodies no longer belonged to them.
Shirahoshi, on the other hand, was quite relaxed. If he hadn't slowed down to wait for these three, he would have arrived at the village a few days earlier. "The registration for the Chunin Exams has already closed. I'll try to find some connections to get you registered."
Also, it's still early, go back and get some rest. Don't forget to go to the Ninja Academy's conference building tomorrow for the first Chunin Exam.
"above."
Shirahoshi completely ignored the resentful looks from Uchiha Mikoto and Yakushi Nonou behind him. During his nightly journey, he didn't stop instructing the two women on their training: he also secretly learned two C-rank escape techniques from each of them.
As for Matt Day
With Might Guy's chakra, he was already exhausted from traveling and was about to collapse. Further training would only cause unnecessary physical damage.
However, Might Guy has now basically achieved the level of chakra control that an ordinary genin should have—climbing trees.
In the original work, Naruto and Sasuke are both chosen ones with special abilities and cheat codes: their chakra is refined quickly and of high quality with unpredictable limits, and they also have the Six Paths Elder's overpowered abilities.
It took them several days of relentless training, from morning till night, to complete it.
Even someone like Might Guy, whose chakra talent, aside from the Eight Gates, is inferior to that of an ordinary genin, would find climbing a tree a challenge.
......
Hokage Building.
After Shirahoshi finished his report, Hiruzen Sarutobi's pupils dilated upon hearing about the dual-wielding Lightning Release ninja. However, from Shirahoshi's words, Shirahoshi believed that the three were most likely Chunin. But Hiruzen Sarutobi had heard that among the information about the Cloud Village Jonin, there was a Cloud Village Jonin who called himself "Lightning Lion" during a mission involving encounters with Cloud Village ninjas...
"Cough cough."
"You took those two knives and sold them?!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi gave him a look that said, "Are you kidding me?" Shirahoshi nodded honestly and said calmly, "Those two swords were spoils of war, but they were still weapons of the Cloud Village ninja. To avoid being tracked down, I immediately took them to a local town in the Land of Iron to sell them."
Selling stolen goods...
Hiruzen Sarutobi covered his face, thinking that Shirahoshi was sometimes very reliable in handling matters, but sometimes too reliable, which made it impossible for him to confirm whether the team was led by a Jonin.
“Normally, leading a mission requires a high-ranking ninja leader to command the ninjas under their command to execute the mission perfectly.” Hiruzen Sarutobi directly exposed Shirahoshi’s lie. “Therefore, Shirahoshi.”
"The ninja you killed was not a Chunin."
"At the very least, he is a special Jonin."
Upon hearing this, Shirahoshi immediately displayed astonishing acting skills. Her body trembled slightly, and a hint of surprise flashed in her eyes, which was quickly overwhelmed by dejection. "Even so, I still hope that I can pass the Chunin Exams smoothly tomorrow."
"actually."
"You are now a qualified Chunin, Shirahoshi."
Hiruzen Sarutobi tried to persuade Shirahoshi to let go of her obsession, but Shirahoshi resolutely refused with a righteous expression.
"I'm sorry, Lord Hokage, I can't take this shortcut."
"If a ninja can't even maintain a normal performance throughout a regular exam, then he's not a qualified Chunin!"
"A Chunin teammate like this could potentially drag down his teammates, whether he's on the battlefield on a mission or completing a high-level mission."
Upon hearing this, Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn't help but ask, "Then do you think Dai can become a Chunin?"
Shirahoshi shook his head. "It would be difficult for him to even become a genin."
"Then you still..."
"But because of the problems in his previous team, he never had the courage to participate in the Chunin Exams. I just did what a teacher should do."
As soon as these words came out.
Hiruzen Sarutobi stopped trying to persuade him. Even if Shirahoshi couldn't become a genius-level ninja, he had already accepted in his heart that Shirahoshi was a ninja who perfectly inherited the Will of Fire and was good enough to become an excellent ninja teacher. Perhaps teaching at the ninja academy in the future would also be a good choice.
"Your mission reward has been increased to 120,000 taels, and it has been upgraded to a B-level mission, which will be recorded in your files..."
In the Hokage's office, Hiruzen Sarutobi discussed the entire process of the mission with Shirahoshi and explained that the location for tomorrow's Chunin Exams would be the same as before, and the team would also be the same as before.
Afterwards, just as Hiruzen Sarutobi was about to continue his work, not long after Shirahoshi left, his son came over to inquire about the situation of Shirahoshi's team.
"What! Rank B! How did he get that?! It's definitely because that genius Uchiha Mikoto went all out, what does it have to do with Shirahoshi!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi took a drag of his cigarette and exhaled secondhand smoke. Looking at his still immature eldest son, he thought to himself, "If only Shirahoshi were my son." He said, "Shinnosuke, don't think you're so great just because you've become a Jonin. You still have a lot to learn about ninja matters."
"Study? Study with a genin who can't even keep up with the second round of the Chunin Exams' wilderness survival challenge?"
"..."
"Shirahoshi's performance is inconsistent in exams, but he's perfect in missions..."
"Why didn't Father just make him a Chunin or Jonin?"