Chapter 24: You Do Your Rat Race, I'll Do My Slacking
Over the next few days, Haruko showed Shigaraki Tanuki what "all-round, dead-angle-free slacking" truly meant.
If sent to scout alone, he would inevitably get lost, circling within a kilometer of the starting point, before returning dusty and disheveled to say, "Reporting, Captain, the area is safe."
If asked to set traps, the pits he dug couldn't even catch a wild boar, and his tripwires were tied like bowknots that would unravel with a single gust of wind.
If asked to provide support with shuriken, he was a true "human outline master," specializing in "I'm trying hard to aim, but I just can't hit anything."
Shigaraki Tanuki was going crazy.
Whether it was a harsh scolding or an inspirational lecture, Haruko would listen intently every time, nodding like a woodpecker with eyes sparkling with admiration:
"The Captain is right! That makes so much sense! I'll definitely change! I'll definitely work twice as hard tomorrow!"
Then, the next day, it was business as usual.
This attitude of "humbly accepting but resolutely refusing to change, and there's nothing you can do about it" gave someone as controlling as Shigaraki Tanuki a deep sense of powerlessness.
It was like punching a bale of cotton; not only did it fail to hurt the opponent, but he even threw out his own back.
As for punishment? He tried it once, giving Haruko extra tasks, only for Haruko to return and report completion well after dinner time.
That day, everyone at the camp had to make do with Soldier Pills and cold water for dinner, and there was no hot water for bathing at night.
—After Haruko started patrolling, the logistics staff only handled those two tasks, which were also the only remaining forms of relaxation at the camp.
That night, Shigaraki Tanuki was stuffed into a sack and dragged outside the camp for a thorough beating by a group of people.
It wasn't until the next morning that he staggered back to the camp, only to be greeted by everyone's sarcastic concern and Yui Iwashiro's command to begin the day's patrol immediately.
"Haruko! Get your ass to the very back of the line! As long as you don't fall behind, I don't care what you do!"
After speaking with Yui Iwashiro a few times, Shigaraki Tanuki finally gave up.
'Heh, trying to out-hustle me? When I was navigating the corporate world in my past life, you were still playing with mud."
...
Although he no longer had to try so hard to pretend he was working hard, the patrol missions still had to be carried out.
That afternoon, the squad marched into a wetland area near a river.
A strange odor permeated the air.
Shigaraki Tanuki walked at the very front, his expression tense. As someone eager to prove himself, he was most sensitive to such anomalies.
"Stay alert! Something isn't right around here."
Haruko trailed at the back of the squad, listlessly poking at the roadside bushes with a tree branch.
Suddenly, his movements paused.
In the shade of a rock, there was an inconspicuous patch of grayish-white residue.
It was the powder left behind after a rock had been corroded by strong acid.
Moreover, this corrosion wasn't natural; it was in a splash pattern, as if some liquid had been thrown onto it.
Haruko narrowed his eyes.
'This is... Lava Release?"
In the Ninja World, there were many who could use Lava Release. But on the eastern border, facing the Hidden Mist Village, there was only one person with this Kekkei Genkai.
Terumī Mei.
Her father had married a woman from the Land of Earth; who would have thought she carried a hidden Lava Release bloodline that manifested in Terumī Mei?
Combined with the Terumī clan's Boil Release, she was currently the only known dual Kekkei Genkai wielder in the Ninja World.
'No way... they sent a genius like her to this middle-of-nowhere border?"
An image of a smiling figure with long, reddish-brown curly hair instantly flashed through Haruko's mind.
Recalling the timeline, the current Terumī Mei should still be a hot-blooded youth in her early twenties, likely struggling with the "Village of the Bloody Mist."
'I see, politics... The Terumī clan's status wasn't high when I left. After all, while Boil Release is a Kekkei Genkai, it isn't very practical. Since the Bloody Mist era restarted, they must have had a hard time these past few years."
Haruko sighed and discreetly kicked the powder away with his toe, burying it in the mud.
He didn't intend to report it immediately.
If he told Shigaraki Tanuki that he'd found traces of Lava Release, that rat-racer would surely get pumped up and lead the whole squad to their deaths for the sake of so-called "S-rank intelligence."
'Although bypassing the chain of command isn't great, I'll just tell Iwasho directly when we get back. I'll say I found some unknown traces suspected to be corroded by strong acid..."
However, it seemed fate had other plans.
The sky, which had only been slightly gloomy, was suddenly blanketed by a layer of white mist.
The mist rolled in incredibly fast and was extremely thick.
In just a few seconds, visibility dropped from dozens of meters to the point where one couldn't even see their own hand in front of their face.
"Stop! Cluster up!" Shigaraki Tanuki's startled and angry roar came from ahead. "This is the Hidden Mist Jutsu! It's an ambush! Everyone back-to-back, assume defensive formation and prepare for battle!"
"Battle my ass!" Haruko pulled out a signal flare and turned to run. "Everyone, scatter and break out! Get the intelligence back to camp!"
"You're disobeying orders on the battlefield!"
"You idiot! The one who cast this mist is at least a Jonin. If you want to stand in the mist and wait for death, don't drag me down with you!"
The remaining three finally snapped out of it:
Indeed, against a Hidden Mist squad led by a Jonin, their team composition of two Chunin and two Genin wasn't even enough to be a side dish.
"Shit, I don't want to die here!"
"I'm doing this to survive and deliver the intel, I'm definitely not running away!"
The signal flare shot into the sky like a starting gun, and all four of them bolted in different directions at full speed.
—Simultaneously, it acted like a beacon in the dark, drawing the attention of the Hidden Mist Ninjas.
"Water Release: Water Formation Pillar!"
A massive pillar of water erupted into the sky. Haruko skidded to a halt just in time to avoid being launched upward, but his progress was halted.
'Dammit! After this move comes..."
Even as he thought, his body began to react, his hands rapidly forming seals.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!"
"Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall!"
The water pillar transformed into a water dragon, roaring as it lunged toward Haruko.
An earth wall rose from the ground, blocking the water dragon's path.
BOOM—
The water dragon dissolved into splashing water, and the earth wall crumbled into clumps of mud scattered across the ground.
"I'm impressed you managed to block that. I didn't expect to find such an interesting fellow among the Konoha brats."
A female voice, charming to the bone yet laced with a chilling coldness, echoed through the mist.
"Leave this one to me. You all go after the others."
Haruko could sense the presences around him moving away, but he was unable to stop them; his attention was entirely focused on the single most powerful presence remaining.
"Alright, little brother, now it's just the two of us. Big sister is going to take... good... care... of you."
Swallowing a secret Akimichi Soldier Pill, Haruko formed hand seals once more.
"Wind Release: Breeze."
With Haruko at the center, a continuously swirling breeze blew away the surrounding mist, ensuring a clear field of vision for dozens of meters.
"Oh my, can't wait to see big sister's face already? Big sister doesn't dislike impatient children."
A graceful figure slowly emerged from the mist.
Long, reddish-brown curly hair draped loosely over her shoulders, her emerald eyes shimmering with a dangerous light within the mist. A blue, strapless dress accentuated her breathtaking curves.
She was Haruko's only "teacher" during those dark years in the Hidden Mist, the person he was most familiar with in the entire village.
And she was also the person Haruko least wanted to encounter during his time at this camp.
The current Hidden Mist Jonin, and the future Fifth Mizukage.
Terumī Mei.
"Now, let big sister give you a 'melting' kiss."
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