I, who just wanted to be lazy, was forced to become the Hokage.

Chapter 25 The Last Descendant of the Blood Pool Clan! (Please continue reading, please vote with monthly tickets!)

The Twelve Guardian Ninjas?

Nara Rinka's brows furrowed slightly.

He seemed to have heard the name of this ninja organization somewhere before.

By the way, isn't this the name of the organization that Asuma Sarutobi joined after leaving Konoha?

It seems there's also a big monk in there who can summon "mini Gundams"...

Seeing Nara Rinka frown and remain silent, Nara Kano assumed that the other party had never even heard of this organization.

"This organization is indeed very distant for a newly graduated genin like you, so it's not surprising that you haven't heard of it."

Nara Kano took the initiative to explain.

"The Twelve Guardian Ninjas are a ninja organization jointly established by Konoha, the Fire Temple, and the government of the Land of Fire, with the aim of protecting the Daimyo of the Land of Fire."

Upon hearing Nara Kano's explanation, Nara Rinka nodded slightly.

This is not much different from the intelligence information he knew.

Although the daimyo of the Land of Fire is the ruler of a country and holds a high position of power.

But not all ninjas respected and loved him.

Especially for ninjas from other countries, the "Daimyo of the Land of Fire" was at most just an ordinary person with a slightly higher status.

If their country or ninja village specifically assigns them a mission, requiring them to "assassinate the daimyo of the Land of Fire".

Without dedicated protection, it wouldn't be much harder for foreign ninjas to complete this mission than to kill a chicken.

Of course, unless there are extremely special circumstances, other ninja villages would never openly discuss "assassinating a daimyo".

This kind of "assassination of ordinary people's leaders" is seriously disruptive to the normal operation of the international community in the ninja world!

Once discovered, it could very likely attract attacks from multiple countries...

In short, it is quite normal for a daimyo of the Land of Fire to have a dedicated ninja force to protect himself.

What intrigued Nara Rinka was something else entirely.

He could completely understand if the Leaf Village and the Land of Fire jointly formed the "Twelve Guardian Ninja".

But why is the "Fire Temple" discussed alongside the two aforementioned forces?

That ninja temple's power... doesn't seem that strong.

Nara Rinka simply asked the question that had been bothering him.

"Clan leader, I've read about the Fire Temple in the Ninja Academy textbooks, but isn't it just a ninja temple?"

"To be precise, it is one of the very few ninja temples in the world that still inherits the 'ninjutsu' philosophy of the Sage of Six Paths."

Nara Kano was not surprised by Nara Rinka's reaction; almost no ninja would take the power of the Ninja Temple seriously.

"The Temple of Fire is also related to the second special reward I mentioned earlier... Let's discuss that when we get to the Temple of Fire!"

In the end, Nara Kano still kept everyone in suspense.

Nara Ranka pursed her lips. "What does the connection between the Twelve Guardian Ninja and the special reward the clan leader mentioned?"

"have."

Nara Kano nodded in response.

"As a ninja organization dedicated to protecting the daimyo, the Twelve Guardian Ninjas are stationed year-round in the daimyo's residence in Kyoto."

"Although the daily tasks are somewhat tedious, they directly keep you away from the threat of war."

"So, Lan Gui, do you want to become one of the Twelve Guardian Ninja?"

"If you wish, with the power and resources of the Nara clan, we can certainly make you one of the Twelve Guardian Ninja."

Nara Kano looked at the younger generation of his family on whom he had placed high hopes, waiting for his reply.

The position of one of the Twelve Guardian Ninja.

This is the first special reward that Nara Kano prepared for the S-rank family quest, "Eye of Shadow."

Nara Kano believed he had a fairly clear understanding of Nara Rinka's strengths and weaknesses, which he summarized into three points: abundant spiritual energy, scarce physical energy, and insufficient ninja aptitude.

Under these circumstances, it is essential to create a sufficiently stable training environment for Nara Rinka, allowing him to improve his physical energy and strength as much as possible.

The biggest advantage of "guarding the positions of the Twelve Ninja Warriors" is safety!

At least at this critical juncture, with the Third Shinobi World War about to begin.

"Guardian Ninjas" are much safer than "Konoha Ninjas"!

Nara Rinka also understood the deeper meaning in Nara Kano's words and fell into deep thought.

Does the Twelve Guardian Ninjas hold any appeal for him?

That's for sure.

For Nara Rinka, the two professions of "Guardian Ninja" and "Konoha Ninja" are like the difference between "working in an office" and "not working in an office".

To carry out their missions, Konoha ninjas need to travel all over the country, working tirelessly day and night, enduring wind and rain.

In comparison.

"Guardian Ninjas" only need to work within a fixed area, and that area is the capital of the Land of Fire, which boasts unparalleled prosperity in the ninja world.

Relaxed, stable, safe, and peaceful.

If Nara Rinka hadn't awakened the [Lazybones System], he would definitely have been tempted by the clan leader's suggestion.

Working diligently is a way to earn rewards through labor.

Slacking off at work is the real way to make money.

Damn it, however...

Nara Rinka has already tasted the "sweetness" of the [Lazybones System].

It's true that the work of "Guardian Shinobi" is easier and safer.

However, this also means that it is far removed from high-difficulty missions and advanced [Ninja Scrolls], further affecting the speed at which its strength improves.

"So, for me, the best solution is actually to find a job in Konoha where I can slack off and be lazy?"

Nara Langui's thoughts drifted somewhat.

"I think I've had a job like this before, but I was fired by my boss before I even started..."

After a while, Nara Rinka came to her senses.

"I'm sorry, clan leader, I can't give you a definite answer about this matter at the moment."

He apologized to the clan chief, but did not completely rule out the possibility of a conflict.

"I want to see what kind of ninja organization the 'Twelve Guardian Ninjas' are before I consider whether I want to join them."

"It's alright, this matter is indeed of great importance."

Nara Kano doesn't think that Nara Langui's decision to accept this special reward directly was the right one.

"Furthermore, even if you want to become a Guardian Ninja, it's not something that can be accomplished in a short time."

"After this mission is over and you return to the village safely, you can discuss this issue with Zhou Zhu and Pingzi."

Zhou Zhu and Pingzi will most likely not stop it; on the contrary, they will probably be happy to see it.

Nara Rangatsu never worries about communicating with her parents.

What he's worried about now is the clan chief.

Since accepting the mission, how many flags has the clan leader planted along the way?

Planting a flag can bring death!

Nara Rinka, who was on his first mission outside the village, felt a little nervous.

Just then, Yamanaka Inoichi darted close to the deer cart.

"Kano-sama."

During the mission, Yamanaka Inoichi adopted a more formal title.

"I used mind-reading techniques to examine the inner memories of those ninjas who attacked the caravan, and I have basically figured out the situation."

Mind reading?

Nara Ranka, sitting in the back, quietly pricked up his ears.

Actually, he was quite interested in the spiritual secrets of the mountain tribe.

Nara Kano said calmly, "Are they the bounty hunters from the gold exchange?"

"Yes."

Shan Zhonghai nodded.

"These bounty hunters did indeed receive a mission before launching an attack on the caravan."

"But their mission was not to plunder the caravan's supplies and property, but to hunt down the descendants of the Blood Pool clan."

Which ninja clan?

Nara Rinka was completely unfamiliar with this name.

"The Blood Pool Clan?"

Nara Kano also frowned.

"I remember they were employed by the Uchiha clan in the Land of Lightning and banished to the Valley of Hell in the Land of Hot Water, weren't they?"

Good guy.

Nara Rinka exclaimed, "Wow, that's amazing!"

Does the Land of Lightning employ the Uchiha clan?

Is this a new story from which year?

Or... did this happen before Konoha was founded?

"The bounty hunters who launched the attack didn't have much detailed and complete information."

Yamanaka Inoichi shook his head.

"It is said that a ninja from the Blood Pond clan slaughtered his entire clan and escaped from the Land of Hot Water, wandering into the Land of Fire."

"Slaughter the entire clan..."

Nara Kano's brows furrowed tightly.

He had never heard of such a horrific event.

"Was this attack just an accident? Or have the people at the gold exchange confirmed that the Blood Pond clan ninja is among our caravan?"

"It must have been an accident."

Yamanaka Inoichi said.

"Those bounty hunters had no concrete evidence in their heads. They simply thought we were a passing caravan, and wanted to extort money from the caravan under the guise of searching for suspects."

"Strengthen vigilance, expand the scope of perception, and maintain the original pace to continue advancing."

Nara Kano issued his orders methodically.

"Notify the leaders of the smaller caravans behind us of the bounty hunter attack and postpone their lunch break by one hour."

"Yes, Lord Kano."

Yamanaka Inoichi received the order and vanished in a flash.

The deer cart continued to move forward.

No further bounty hunter attacks occurred during the rest of the journey.

When setting up camp at night.

Perhaps they sensed that Nara Rangkei was not quite used to spending the night outdoors.

Nara Kano casually reassured him, "Everything will be alright after tonight."

Chieftain, if you keep talking like this, I'm really worried something might happen!

Nara secretly grumbled to himself.

"Chieftain, you should rest first. I want to practice the secret technique for a while longer."

Because of his status as the person who commissioned the mission, Nara Rangatsu did not have to perform nighttime guard duties like other ninjas during this mission outside the village.

In addition, my drug limit for today hasn't been reached yet.

Nara Rinkei decided to continue maintaining his normal daily routine.

We bid farewell to the patriarch, who was filled with great joy.

Nara Rinka found a large tree nearby, jumped onto the trunk, and sat cross-legged in meditation.

He swallowed a soldier's ration pill.

[Precision +10]

[Precision: D+]

"Tomorrow morning, my [precision] will break through to level C!"

Nara Rinka felt the energy in his body constantly increasing and opened his [Lacquer Eye], looking at the ninjas and merchants who were setting up camp.

One, two...eight.

Nine? Ten??

The Blood Pool Clan.

The ninja clan mentioned in the official spin-off "Sasuke's True Story: The Light Chapter".

One of the families specializing in pupil techniques.

It possesses a special bloodline limit called "Blood Dragon Eye".

This spin-off novel has been adapted into an anime, telling the story after 700 episodes.

(End of this chapter)