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American Horror: Grind Edition
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American Horror: Grind Edition
Smoke curled through the air inside the Hokage's office.
The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, sat behind his massive desk. His pipe flared and dimmed as he carefully reviewed a highly unusual mission request forwarded from the Assignment Desk.
The contents of the request made even the deeply experienced Third Hokage raise an eyebrow.
The client was a samurai from the Land of Iron named Isshin.
That part wasn't strange. As the premier hidden village in the shinobi world, Konoha had taken on countless missions directly or indirectly commissioned from all over the continent, and even from other hidden villages.
The strange part was the mission objective.
This samurai, Isshin, wasn't asking for an escort, espionage, or an assassination. His request was simple, direct, and honestly a bit crude—he was hiring people to fight him.
Specifically, he was commissioning the Hidden Leaf Village to find him suitable opponents within Konoha for public duels. He requested that the opponents be thirty years old or younger. There was no strict power limit, but he explicitly stated he wanted strong opponents, preferably Jonin.
Even more bizarrely, he demanded that the matches be held in a public venue with a large audience—the more spectators, the better.
The mission was provisionally ranked as A-class, but the payment structure was highly intriguing. The base deposit was a staggering 500,000 Ryo, which was incredibly generous even for the entire A-rank payout bracket (which typically ranged from 150,000 to 1,000,000 Ryo).
If Konoha could provide strong enough opponents to satisfy him and organize a large enough crowd, the bonus payment—depending on the opponents' strength and the audience size—could reach up to an additional 2,000,000 Ryo!
A total of 2,500,000 Ryo!
That was already stepping into the territory of S-rank mission payouts, and a pretty good one at that.
Faced with this blunt, oddly motivated, and massively lucrative request, the staff at the Assignment Desk couldn't make a call. Following protocol, they bumped the hot potato up to the Hokage.
The Third Hokage set down his pipe and picked up the attached preliminary intelligence scroll. It contained the information provided by the client, Isshin, along with quick verifications and additions from Konoha's intelligence division using their limited channels.
The intel confirmed that this "Ashina Style Isshin" was indeed a young samurai who had rapidly risen to fame in the Land of Iron over the past year, especially active in the southeastern regions. He was known for his fierce, aggressive swordplay and his wildly unconventional methods. He was a complete battle maniac and a dojo challenger. It seemed his reputation as a combat fanatic wasn't exaggerated.
Hiruzen's gaze drifted back to the request form. He tapped his finger lightly against the desk.
"Find a strong opponent for a public match... the more spectators, the better..." He muttered the key requirements, his eyes flashing with thought.
The motive wasn't hard to guess. For a young samurai like Isshin, challenging the strong was the best way to temper his sword path. As for demanding a massive public audience, that was purely for fame. Broadcasting a victory over a Konoha shinobi would intimidate his peers and massively boost his personal and school's prestige.
It was a very typical warrior mindset—direct, even a little aggressive.
But what were the risks?
Practically zero.
The matches would stop before lethal damage, and they would be held within Konoha's controlled environment. There was no risk of mission intel leaking or the client being endangered.
Still, the request was bizarre, almost a joke. It was no wonder the Assignment Desk couldn't decide.
But as the Third Hokage's eyes locked onto that staggering payout figure, his brow slowly smoothed out, then furrowed again.
Money.
Right now, the two things Konoha lacked most were time and money.
Over half a year of high-intensity war preparations was acting like a bottomless pit, frantically swallowing the village's financial reserves. Mass purchasing and maintaining weapons and ninja tools, stockpiling consumables like explosive tags, building and reinforcing border defenses, frequent troop deployments and hazard pay, medical supply reserves—every single item cost a fortune.
Even with the Fire Daimyo's support, the overall economic contraction and slowing tax revenues under the shadow of war were undeniable facts. The village's treasury was visibly shrinking.
Furthermore, a while ago, Shinichi had submitted a report bluntly concluding that the Third Kazekage was dead. Though the reasoning was sound, the Third Hokage still felt the kid's judgment was a bit sudden. However, trusting the boy's insight, Hiruzen had ramped up intelligence gathering on Sunagakure recently. From what he had learned, Suna was indeed acting strange. While every other major hidden village was mobilizing and preparing for war, Suna ninja were frequently popping up across the Land of Wind and surrounding minor nations, as if desperately searching for something.
This made the Third Hokage realize that Shinichi's judgment was highly likely to be true. Even if there was no confirmed death, a prolonged disappearance meant his status was unknown. And "status unknown" usually just meant dead.
Therefore, the Third Hokage planned to further accelerate and expand war preparations, which meant the funding gap was only going to grow.
And here was this request. The mission was so simple it was almost child's play. No traveling to dangerous lands, no life-and-death struggles. Just arrange a few sparring matches on their home turf, gather some villagers to watch, and they could pocket a massive sum—a minimum of 500,000 and potentially up to 2.5 million Ryo.
Sure, compared to the cost of war prep, it was a drop in the bucket. But it was still free money being handed to them on a silver platter. He'd be a fool not to take it.
The only thing he needed to consider was face.
Not Konoha's face, but the client's.
He is, after all, just a samurai, the Third Hokage mused mildly. If he's made a name for himself in the Land of Iron, his swordplay must have some unique merits. But this is Konoha.
His thoughts hadn't even fully shifted to winning or losing before he subconsciously started wondering:
Who should I send? Someone who can put on a good show, let this wealthy samurai guest from afar enjoy himself, and demonstrate Konoha's magnanimity... but also someone who can securely control the situation at the critical moment so the guest doesn't lose too humiliatingly?
After all, the client was a generous paying customer. Letting a guest arrive excited and leave satisfied was basic hospitality, and it reflected on Konoha's grace. Paying such a massive sum, the man was surely hoping for an intense clash that would ignite his fighting spirit and validate his training, not a totally crushing defeat that instantly shattered his confidence.
Having thought it through, the Third Hokage made his decision.
He picked up his brush and smoothly wrote his approval and instructions on the request form's authorization section: "Approved. Classified as an A-rank special collaborative mission. The Assignment Desk will coordinate and select suitable personnel. The venue can be arranged at Training Ground Three. Villagers and off-duty shinobi are permitted and moderately encouraged to spectate. The event will be framed as a Shinobi and Samurai Exchange Seminar. Ensure the pacing of the matches is controlled, strictly stop before lethal injury, and maintain a friendly atmosphere. Payment will be collected according to the agreed terms."
Finishing the final character, he gently blew the ink dry and handed the scroll to the Anbu standing by.
"Notify the Assignment Desk to execute this accordingly."
"Yes, sir!" The Anbu took the scroll and vanished with a Body Flicker.
---
A day later, the warm afternoon sun bathed Konoha's bustling main street.
A group of villagers gathered outside a dango shop, animatedly gossiping about the latest news while snacking.
"Did you hear? A samurai from the Land of Iron paid top dollar just to come to Konoha and find someone to fight!" a middle-aged man started, his face lit up with the excitement of a spectator.
"Yeah, I heard! They just put up the notices down the street. Calling it a 'Shinobi and Samurai Exchange,'" a nearby housewife chimed in, sounding curious. "Said it's happening tomorrow at Training Ground Three, and we're all welcome to go watch. Making such a big deal out of it... that samurai's got some guts."
"Guts? That stinking foreigner just doesn't know how high the sky is!"
A well-dressed man who looked like a shop owner scoffed, his chin raised in that particular arrogant way unique to Konoha's citizens. "The Land of Iron? No matter how hard a samurai trains, what new tricks can they pull? He's just a country bumpkin. This is Konoha! The absolute top of the Five Great Hidden Villages! Shinobi are the true power! How is his little bit of strength going to hold up against our taijutsu, ninjutsu, and genjutsu? Even when it comes to swordsmanship, Konoha is number one in the world!"
"That's true," a younger craftsman scratched his head. "But I heard this samurai, Isshin, is pretty young and has already made a big name for himself back in the Land of Iron. Maybe he really does have some skill. Plus, the guy officially commissioned a mission and paid good money. Setting up such a huge stage... he probably just wants to see what we've got, or, well, maybe he's trying to use Konoha's name to make himself famous?"
"Make himself famous? That stinking foreign bumpkin wants to step on Konoha to get famous?!"
The shop owner's voice rose, drawing the attention of passing pedestrians. "In his dreams! You think our Konoha shinobi are pushovers? I say, just send out a decent Chunin, and he'll learn the difference real quick! I'm definitely going tomorrow. I want to see how this ends for him."
"Might as well go take a look. Something new to see."
"I actually think it takes a lot of guts to come challenge Konoha, win or lose."
"Whatever, there's a show to watch. Might as well go!"
The chatter was a messy mix of curiosity, doubt, disdain, and anticipation, spreading outward with the flow of the crowd.
The news of a samurai from the Land of Iron coming to challenge them was like a tiny spark, igniting a small, exciting flame in Konoha's peaceful daily routine.
Most people waited for this seemingly foregone conclusion of an "exchange" with the condescending curiosity of the strong looking down on the weak.