Bonus chapter for reaching top 100
I will drop one more later but u guys have to make sure it stays in top 100 until then.
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It had to be said that the two ninja were extremely weak. Orochimaru subdued them in a single move.
"Ah! Big Brother Isamu has been killed!" Jiraiya shouted in panic to Orochimaru and Tsunade.
Bam!
"You idiot! Look closely at what was actually hit!" Tsunade snapped, punching him on the head.
"Huh? Why did it turn into wood?" Jiraiya said while clutching his head. When he looked again at the spot where Isamu had been lying, the body was gone. Only a piece of wood remained, pierced by the shuriken.
"Idiot. Don't you even recognize the Substitution Jutsu?" Orochimaru said with a look of contempt.
Clap. Clap. Clap.
Isamu walked out from the nearby woods, applauding as he approached.
"Very good. Very good indeed," he said with a satisfied nod.
"Orochimaru, Tsunade—you both reacted well. In the future, you'll definitely become outstanding ninja."
Then he looked at Jiraiya.
"As for you, Jiraiya… if you can learn to handle situations like this, you'll become an outstanding ninja too."
"Not bad, not bad!" Tōwa said excitedly from the side. "I didn't expect you kids to be so capable—capturing two ninja so easily. Well… except for that little brat."
Hearing himself being singled out, Jiraiya felt extremely aggrieved. Combined with the looks from the others, his face turned red with embarrassment.
"Damn it! Next time I'll definitely strike first!" Jiraiya shouted, punching a nearby tree so hard that his fist started bleeding.
"You idiot," Tsunade said mercilessly. "It's not about striking first. Big Brother Isamu already warned us earlier. Orochimaru and I reacted immediately—but you were just standing there like a fool."
The comment struck Jiraiya's pride like a hammer.
"Wha…"
Thinking back carefully, Isamu had indeed given them a subtle warning. And at the time, he really hadn't reacted at all.
"Wait… something's not right," Orochimaru suddenly said.
"Big Brother Isamu, ninja shouldn't appear in a C-rank mission."
After thinking it through, he realized the problem. Normally, if enemy ninja were involved, the mission would automatically be classified as B-rank.
Tsunade nodded in agreement.
"Don't worry about that for now," Isamu said calmly. "I'll look into it."
Then he turned serious.
"For now, I'm giving you a task—finish off these two ninja. Tōwa and I will investigate the situation ahead. Follow us afterward."
After giving the order, Isamu pulled Tōwa aside and walked away.
"They want us to… kill them?" Jiraiya muttered.
The three of them exchanged glances. Hesitation was clearly visible in their eyes.
Even Orochimaru hesitated.
Meanwhile, some distance away, Isamu smiled faintly and asked Tōwa,
"So… tell me. What's really going on?"
"I—I don't know what you mean," Tōwa replied, still pretending to be confused.
"If you keep pretending, I'll cancel the mission and return to the village immediately," Isamu said coldly.
"The appearance of enemy ninja means this mission is no longer C-rank. Are you sure you want to keep hiding the truth?"
"T-this…"
Tōwa hesitated before finally sighing.
"Alright. I'll tell you everything."
"Because the Land of Hot Springs has samurai, we also have many weapon forges. We sell weapons to several ninja villages, so our people lived fairly well."
"But two years ago, a powerful ninja appeared in our country."
"He seized control of our weapon production facilities, gathered a group of ninja followers, and forced us to work for them."
"Our samurai tried to resist, but they were no match for them."
"In the end, we couldn't take it anymore and decided to resist. But we were too weak."
"After discussing it, we pooled together our money to hire ninja for help. Unfortunately, those ninja discovered our plan."
"They began hunting me down."
"I barely managed to escape to the vicinity of Konoha. Only then did they stop chasing me."
"But when I arrived in Konoha, I realized the money we gathered was only enough to post a C-rank mission."
"Even so, I had no choice. I used all the money to post the mission, hoping to return to the Land of Hot Springs first and find a way to gather more funds."
Then Tōwa suddenly knelt down.
"I beg you… please help the people of the Land of Hot Springs!"
"Alright, get up," Isamu said calmly. "A man's knees are worth more than that."
"I personally don't mind helping you. But I still need to ask my teammates."
"If they agree, we'll continue the mission. If they refuse, I won't force them. I won't gamble with their lives."
"Thank you! Thank you!" Tōwa said repeatedly.
At that moment, Jiraiya and the others walked over from behind.
Their faces looked pale, and they walked unsteadily.
"B-Big Brother Isamu… how did the questioning go?" Tsunade asked, trying hard to suppress the urge to vomit.
"I understand the situation now," Isamu said.
"Are you three alright?"
"Of course! This little thing is nothing to Lord Jiraiya!" Jiraiya said bravely.
"Yeah… we can handle it," Orochimaru added, although his face still looked pale.
"Really?" Isamu said with a teasing smile.
"With all that blood… and the look of unwillingness on those ninja's faces… you're actually fine?"
As soon as the three recalled the scene from moments ago—
They immediately ran to the side and started vomiting again.
Watching them, Isamu couldn't help feeling a little emotional.
Who would have thought that the Orochimaru currently vomiting from killing someone… would one day become a cold-blooded, ruthless scientist?
Life truly was unpredictable.
"Pfft… Big Brother Isamu, you're too cruel," Jiraiya said while wiping his mouth.
"I was just helping you finish vomiting everything out," Isamu replied calmly. "Once it's all out, you'll feel better next time."
The three of them looked at him with identical expressions.
Yeah right. You're clearly just messing with us.
"Alright, let's get to the real issue," Isamu said.
He then explained Tōwa's situation to them.
"That's the situation. We might encounter a jonin along with several genin. There may even be chunin involved."
"This mission is already A-rank in difficulty."
"Whether we continue or withdraw is entirely up to you. I won't force you."
"T-this…" the three muttered.
They exchanged glances, and each of them saw the same thought reflected in the others' eyes.
Retreat.
Facing chunin and genin might still be manageable.
But jonin?
That was a completely different story.
"Big Brother Isamu… what do you think we should do?" Orochimaru asked directly.
"I personally hope you'll continue," Isamu said.
"But if you choose to give up, that's fine too."
"After all… being a coward once or twice isn't the end of the world."
"I won't admit to being a coward!" Jiraiya shouted immediately.
"I'm continuing the mission!"
"This idiot…" Tsunade and Orochimaru both cursed inwardly.
A little provocation was all it took for him to take the bait.
"Captain Isamu," Orochimaru said seriously, "this mission has already exceeded our ability. The enemy is too strong. I believe we should withdraw."
"Yeah," Tsunade added. "There's no need to force ourselves."
"Y-you guys…" Jiraiya stared at his teammates in disbelief.
"How can you be so cowardly?"