Konoha's Mission Master

Wait, I'm a virgin in both my past and present lives...

How can someone with zero romantic experience teach others how to date?

Yakumo suddenly turned around...

He discovered that the Joker was actually himself!

"Hey... I say... Jiraiya-sama, how about I help you pursue Tsunade-sensei?!" Yakumo suddenly called out.

"Okay!"

Jiraiya, perched on the treetop, turned over and responded.

The next day, the two of them seemed to have forgotten what had happened the day before and continued on their way... Yakumo thought about it all night but still couldn't figure out how to help Jiraiya pursue Tsunade.

Chapter 118 Happy Birthday (Long chapter, please subscribe!)

Over the next few days, Jiraiya led Yakumo through the forests and mountains, thus avoiding the major cities of the Land of Fire, and constantly sent out fist-sized toads to gather intelligence.

The Toad Sage lives up to his name. Yakumo speculates that through some secret technique, Jiraiya could even share vision with these toads, which is probably the real reason why Icha Icha Paradise is such a bestseller.

What you see with your own eyes will always be different.

January 5th, Wednesday.

Jiraiya led Yakumo to the southwestern part of the Land of Fire, which is also the border area with the Land of Grass.

There is a very important trade route here, which connects the Land of Fire with the western countries for trade. This trade route alone supports the local bandits.

"There's a stronghold on this mountain with about twenty people, but no ninjas... I'll let you practice your skills then," Jiraiya said after reading the intelligence scroll in his hand.

"Okay... I'll give it a try."

Jiraiya said that practice meant seeing blood, a necessary step for any ninja. Most ninjas saw blood for the first time in the company of their master or father.

"I'll follow behind... to protect you."

"Remember to be careful..."

After Jiraiya finished speaking, he leaped into the shadows and hid.

Some things you're destined to face alone...

Yakumo, however, had already seen blood.

Yakumo gripped his short blade, gazing towards the mountain peak... and leaned quietly against a tree, waiting...

As night deepened, Yakumo rose and gripped his short blade.

The mountain stronghold slowly made its way up the hill. After more than ten minutes, he saw the stronghold not far away from the treetops. The stronghold was surrounded by walls made of wooden stakes and barbed wire. The tops of the wooden stakes were sharpened to be very sharp. These arrangements were sufficient to defend against wild animals or ordinary people.

But against ninjas... it's still a step behind...

Yakumo used his legs to propel himself over the fence.

Landing gracefully, the bandits hadn't even arranged for anyone to keep watch. Under the cover of darkness, Yakumo slowly approached the first wooden room.

Squatting in the corner, forming hand seals...

Black hair grew... Yakumo suddenly released the hand seals...

His disguise is... a samurai!

Yakumo had no choice but to carefully pry open the door and cautiously enter. The stench of sweat assaulted his nostrils, and he frowned as he approached the wooden bed...

A swift, horizontal slash ended his sinful life. Beside his bed lay a ninja sword with many nicks and chips, faintly reeking of blood.

Yakumo followed suit... Second room... Seventh room...

Upon arriving at the eighth house, Yakumo encountered a problem. This was already the core area of ​​the stronghold, with the remaining houses even closer together. Most importantly, faint moans of pain from women could be heard coming from inside the house…

“Sigh…” Yakumo shook his head.

If the woman's life is spared, it's highly likely that the truth will be revealed...

In a few seconds, Yakumo made up his mind.

He then kicked open the door and, to the man's astonishment, killed him instantly with a single slash, without harming the naked woman on the bed.

Scalding blood splattered all over the woman's face, and with a piercing scream, the entire mountain stronghold came to life...

Yakumo, holding his ninja sword, came outside. A burly man, about two meters tall, was holding a long, straight cleaver and shouting loudly.

"Enemy attack... All of you, wake up, damn it!"

With a snap, the kerosene can shattered at Yakumo's feet, and the burly man holding the long sword immediately threw a flint into the oil.

A great fire broke out... dispelling the darkness.

It illuminated Yakumo's youthful face.

"Don't be afraid of a newborn!"

Yakumo gripped his ninja sword and charged directly at the burly man wielding the long sword, his chakra surging within him, the sword flashing like a shadow.

"Drink!" the burly man shouted. Although he didn't have much chakra, his swordsmanship was clearly the result of rigorous training. His strike was so sharp it seemed capable of splitting a bull in two.

Unfortunately, he encountered Yakumo.

No matter how fierce the attack, it needs to hit the opponent to be effective, even though the burly man was carrying an extremely cold and terrifying killing intent.

But he was not a ninja after all.

With a burst of chakra, Yakumo's body became even lighter, allowing him to bypass the slash from the side and thrust his sword out!

But the burly man was also an experienced fellow. He immediately held his long sword horizontally in defense, and the two weapons collided with a crisp sound of metal clashing, sparks flying in all directions.

The next second, an unparalleled force erupted!

The longsword was sent flying by the force of the impact—that's a sword-shaking technique!

"Waltz".

Yakumo swiftly swung his blade, a flash of silver light disappearing in an instant.

A large amount of blood splattered.

The death of the strong man did not frighten them; instead, it aroused their bloodlust, and at the same moment, about ten long swords slashed at Yakumo.

Chaos.

In addition to attacking his back and head, the enemy also attacked Yakumo's lower body from various angles, making their attacks extremely vicious. All that could be heard from all directions was the sound of sharp blades cutting through the air.

The saying "a novice can defeat a master" applies here. Their strikes have no rules, yet they are all powerful and heavy, betting everything on them.

The people around him turned red in the face and their expressions turned fierce.

They had killed many chivalrous samurai or ninjas with this kind of chaotic hacking and slashing, so they were quite experienced.

At the critical moment, Yakumo instantly drew the long sword from his back, and the two swords swirled together to form a dense net of blades.

This is an extremely exquisite skill, wielding every bit of power with unparalleled ease, as if creating an invisible blade domain that parries all of the enemy's attacks and ultimately deflects the surrounding weapons.

"Advancing slash!"

With a sudden burst of power from his legs, he swung his long sword with a whooshing sound, taking down two more bandits.

"Horizontal charge and upward slash!"

"Salted Fish Thrust!"

"Retreat and cut horizontally!"

It seems like something strange has been mixed in.

The series of deaths finally broke through the bandits' mental defenses, and they began to scatter and flee... Yakumo immediately ran after the remaining bandits.

However, since the bandits fled in different directions, several of them managed to escape under the cover of night without revealing their ninja abilities.

Throughout the entire ordeal, Yakumo concealed his identity perfectly, without using any ninjutsu or breaking the seal.

If he could kill that woman with a swift stroke, he could definitely eliminate all the enemies in the stronghold through assassination.

Yakumo returned to the original battlefield, where only the pungent smell of blood remained in the air. The blood pooled together like a small stream, eventually staining a large area of ​​land beneath Yakumo's feet red.

Crimson flowers bloom in the night.

A moment of compassion prevented him from perfectly completing the task Jiraiya had given him, but he did not regret it. Not long after, screams came from afar.

Three minutes later, Jiraiya arrived at the mountain stronghold…

He has already dealt with all the remaining enemies.

Jiraiya looked at Yakumo with his eyes. The boy stood quietly on the blood-stained ground, his clothes soaked with dried blood, but he could not see a trace of fear in Yakumo's eyes.

Women dressed in tattered clothes emerged one after another from the other wooden huts. Their faces were extremely pale and ashen, as if they hadn't seen the sunlight in a long time...

Their eyes were numb and dull, like emotionless wooden puppets, but when they saw the corpses in the pool of blood, their faces revealed a deep-seated hatred mixed with the exhilarating satisfaction of avenging a great wrong.

Some people started to cry... until most of the women were sobbing uncontrollably, Jiraiya told them that he and Yakumo were a father and son team, and also wandering samurai... and asked them about the nearby mountains.

The earliest of them had been abducted to the mountain stronghold for half a year, while others were captured and brought there recently.

Some people have even experienced this before; this is the reality of the ninja world...

It's nothing like the wonderful story depicted in The Will of Fire.

Human life is cheap here... the weak are like living in hell.

The youngest of them... was only thirteen or fourteen years old.

"Sigh..." Jiraiya sighed softly.

This is the border of the Land of Fire…

Chaos and disorder prevail; the strong rule.

Yakumo took some money out of his bag and gave it to the women... Half an hour later, all the women left the mountain stronghold and walked into the boundless darkness.

Uncertain future.

"Lord Jiraiya, I have failed..."

Yakumo lowered his head with some guilt. Failure is failure; there's no need to find any excuses for himself.

"No, you did very well. You still have kindness when dealing with the weak... This makes me extremely happy. I have to admit that your performance this time is much better than mine back then."