I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

Chapter 45 The hotter the fire, the colder it looks

Two days later, the three of them finally arrived outside Hakusen Village. The hot springs in the Land of Fire are not as good as those in the Land of Hot Springs, and the hot springs in Hakusen Village are not particularly famous in the Land of Fire.

However, Baiquan Village still attracts many people from surrounding villages to come here to soak in the hot springs, or perhaps to experience the local folk customs and industries.

The three stopped five miles outside the village. Tatsuma and Minato were about to discuss their plan of action when they discovered that Jiraiya had disappeared. Meanwhile, on the road in the distance, a swaggering old man was walking toward Hakusen Village with a lewd smile on his face.

Although this middle-aged man doesn't look like Jiraiya at all, after spending two days together, Tatsuma and Minato both became certain that this person was Jiraiya!

After secretly lamenting their bad luck in choosing a Jonin to lead the team, the two had no other options but to continue discussing countermeasures. In fact, the result of their discussion was quite simple.

First, they'd conduct external reconnaissance, then infiltrate to investigate, and finally launch the operation. However, since this was their first mission, it was best to be cautious.

After a brief discussion, the two began to investigate the area outside the village. Everything seemed normal at first, but they stopped when they reached a cemetery outside the village in the evening.

Because something was happening not far away, the two quickly concealed their presence and headed towards the scene to observe.

At that moment, behind a tombstone, several ronin carrying swords grabbed a boy of about thirteen or fourteen years old. The boy's hands and feet were bound, and his mouth was gagged. He kept sobbing and whimpering, while the ronin around him laughed loudly.

"I thought it was some kind of ninja, daring to assassinate Boss Zhong Sheng. Turns out it's you, Murata Raku, you brat. What, has your sister's milk made you bolder lately? Ahahaha~"

Hearing these ronin dare to mention his sister, Murata Raku, who was sobbing, became furious and lunged at one of the ronin.

"Pfft~"

But what awaited him was a knife piercing his shoulder. Murata Raku instantly collapsed to the ground, curled up, twitching from time to time.

Not far away, Minato, who saw this scene, immediately took out a kunai from his hand, but Tatsuma pressed it down. Minato looked at him anxiously and in confusion. Tatsuma was also gritting his teeth and said, "It's hopeless. Don't do anything unnecessary."

"Um?!"

Minato was increasingly puzzled. He looked at Murata Raku and found that Murata Raku's convulsions were becoming slower and slower. The ronin around him seemed unaware of this and kept kicking Murata Raku, making him keep turning over.

However, Murata Raku's blood gushed out rapidly, quickly staining his shirt red. Minato then realized that Murata Raku had been stabbed in the artery, and the two of them, who had not learned medical ninjutsu, could not save him even though they had just attacked.

"Dead? How could he just die like that?"

At this moment, the ronin also noticed that Murata Raku was acting strangely. One of them bent down to check on Murata Raku's condition, and after a while, he said somewhat shakily to the ronin who had drawn his sword:

"Brother Xiongxiong, that kid is dead."

The ronin, known as Yusuke, was taken aback upon hearing this, but soon a more twisted smile appeared on his face as he said, "Dead is dead, but as the murderer, we have to give some compensation."

"compensate?"

"Yeah, he just died like that. Where would his sister get the money to bury him? Let's go to his sister tonight, give her a big tip, and let her go home happily, only to find out her brother is dead. That way, we'll have done a good deed, hahaha~"

Yusuke's smile seemed particularly eerie in the cemetery where night had just fallen. Not far away, Minato's hand, which was being held by Tatsuma, was being repeatedly pulled away with force.

But Tatsuma exerted even more force, pressing down on Minato's hand to prevent him from making any rash moves. Minato could only watch helplessly as several ronin dragged Murata Raku's corpse into the village.

"Tatsuma, why are you stopping me?"

After the ronin had moved a little further away, Minato asked Tatsuma seriously, and Tatsuma, who had only just released Minato's hand, said, "You will kill them."

"I will definitely kill them."

"That's why I can't let you pass. Don't forget, our primary task is to capture the rogue ninja, and only secondarily to deal with his henchmen."

Tatsuma looked at Minato, his face also extremely grim. Minato was stunned, and asked, somewhat confused and hesitant, "Why? To ensure the mission's success, we're going to let these murderers go?"

"No, I want to kill them too, but if we act now, we risk letting our primary target, Zhong Sheng, who was responsible for these tragedies, escape."

He could have caused the tragedy in Baiquan Village. If he escapes, he will continue to cause tragedy in another place. Catching him is more important than killing these people now.

If we didn't know about Zhong Sheng's existence, then I would absolutely agree with you standing up for them, even if you wanted to skin them alive. But not now, do you understand?

Tatsuma was also struggling to suppress his anger. Minato remained silent for a long time before regaining some composure, nodding, and saying, "I understand, Tatsuma. What should we do next?"

"To figure out their route, we must first find information about that rogue ninja named Chung-shō. These people aren't even ninjas. Even if we let them escape for three days, we can still catch them. But not Chung-shō."

Tatsuma took a deep breath and advised again, "We are ninjas, we are destined to kill, but killing is never our goal, but a means to achieve our goal. Remember that."

"I see."

Minato nodded. Seeing that he had controlled his emotions, Tatsuma nodded as well. Then he moved quickly, keeping his tracks hidden, and caught up with the ronin from before.

Although it was their first time going out on a mission, as representatives of the ninja academy's geniuses, concealing their whereabouts was not difficult for them at all.

It might not be considered particularly clever, and it's impossible for someone like Orochimaru to disguise himself as someone else and approach the Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi without being detected, but it's quite simple for these few ronin.

Under the watchful eyes of Tatsuma and Minato, Yusuke and the others first took Murata Raku to a somewhat dilapidated house, which should be Murata Raku's home.

At home, there was a suicide note left by Murata Raku himself. However, when Yusuke and the others arrived, the suicide note had not yet been opened, and it was Yusuke and the others who discovered it.

The group opened the suicide note, huddled together, whispering among themselves. Each person struggled to piece together the words they recognized, and after much difficulty, they finally managed to read it. Then, laughing wildly, they carelessly tossed the suicide note aside.

Afterwards, the group whispered among themselves and went to another room, which was obviously a women's room. They found a lot of underwear and put it on Murata Raku.

After doing all that, they even took a bath at Murata Raku's house to wash away the bloodstains, and left laughing.

Throughout the entire process, Tatsuma and Minato were monitoring the situation. Tatsuma noticed that the anger on Minato's face gradually faded. It wasn't that he was no longer angry, but rather that it transformed into a merciless calmness during the hunt.

"Tatsuma, I'm entrusting all command matters to you. I'm afraid I might make the worst judgment."

"I'm watching over you, you won't do it."

(End of this chapter)