Chapter 198 Mission Secrets

“Excuse me, who among you is Hamajiro? We are the Ninja who accepted the mission,” Muzuki asked, looking at the three somewhat strange people in front of him.

Why did Muzuki say they were strange? Two burly men sandwiching a timid, scrawny man didn’t look like bodyguards at all; they looked more like kidnappers holding a hostage.

However, Muzuki felt it probably wasn’t a kidnapping. If someone truly dared to hold a client hostage in Konoha, Muzuki would call him a warrior; there’s no other way to seek death.

“I… I am Hamajiro,” the thin man in the middle quietly stepped forward and said.

“I have a question here. In the mission description, did the black giant eagle show any special abilities, like breathing fire or spitting lightning?” Muzuki asked.

If it had special abilities, it could almost certainly be confirmed as a Nin-Beast, and one with combat capabilities at that.

“Ah, Big Black is just strong; he doesn’t breathe fire or spit lightning,” Hamajiro shook his head and said.

“Big Black?” Muzuki thought it was strange that the residents would give it such a nickname. Shouldn’t it be a terrifying name like’Strange Eagle’ or ‘Black Shinigami’?

“I have no more questions here; we can depart at any time,” Muzuki said.

“Then let’s depart now; we can’t let this monster continue to do evil,” one of the burly men next to Hamajiro said.

Muzuki looked at Hamajiro, and the burly man also looked at Hamajiro, who finally nodded.

Since the client had spoken, Muzuki and the others quickly advanced towards Kawakita Town in the Land of Rivers.

Kawakita Town, a town in the northern part of the Land of Rivers, Muzuki felt the name might have come from this, as Kawakita Town truly is in the northern Land of Rivers.

To the west of the Land of Rivers is the Land of Wind, primarily desert and desert grasslands. To the east is the Land of Fire, mainly forests and grasslands. The north borders the Land of Rain, while the south is coastal.

Therefore, the southeastern region of the Land of Rivers is more developed, while other areas are relatively backward. Kawakita Town, where Muzuki was headed, was also a relatively backward part of the Land of Rivers.

Although the northern environment is better than the west, the north is close to the Land of Rain, a chaotic place. Coupled with the lack of a Ninja Village in the country, the northern environment is quite chaotic and difficult to develop.

“Hamajiro, hurry up, kid. If we return late, everyone will suffer losses,” the burly man kept urging Hamajiro forward on the way.

Hamajiro could only silently quicken his pace.

Upon reaching an uninhabited dense forest, Muzuki led Obito to scout ahead, while Might Guy and Kakashi stayed behind to prevent any sneak attacks.

“Muzuki-sensei, why do I feel this mission is a bit strange? Why is this client so timid?” Obito asked while hacking at the thorns on the path with a Kunai.

“There should be some problem. We’ll communicate with the client tonight,” Muzuki nodded and said.

The problem was so obvious that even Obito could notice it.

On the first day of their journey, Muzuki and the others encountered no obstacles. Muzuki already knew this from his last mission; the current public order in the Land of Fire was quite good.

When it was almost time to rest for the night, Muzuki directly used genjutsu to knock out the two burly men.

“You?” Hamajiro looked at Muzuki and the others in a panic as the two burly men instantly fell stiffly.

“Hamajiro, you don’t need to worry. We Konoha Ninja never let our clients suffer any harm,” Muzuki said with a slight smile.

“Based on our observation, these two people don’t seem to be your bodyguards. What is your relationship with them?”

“They were sent by the Mayor to protect me on my way to Konoha to post the mission,” Hamajiro honestly replied.

He had never seen Ninja fight before. The silent collapse of the two burly men truly scared him.

“If they were protecting you, why did they treat you so poorly?” Muzuki asked with some confusion.

Hamajiro glanced at the burly men lying on the ground, and only after confirming that both had lost consciousness did he speak:

“Actually, Big Black never bothered the residents of the town; he only caught the Mayor’s poultry.”

Muzuki’s eyes narrowed slightly, then he motioned for Hamajiro to continue.

“Big Black isn’t fierce at all. Everyone found him in the woods and raised him together. But that scoundrel Mayor wanted to catch Big Black and keep him as a pet. He failed to catch him and instead was retaliated against by Big Black.”

“How can there be such a scoundrel? If I saw him, I’d definitely give him a good beating!” Obito immediately fumed upon hearing this.

“And why did you still come to Konoha to post a request to drive Big Black away?” Obito then asked.

“There was no other way. Our fields are all rented from the Mayor. He demanded that we pool money to go to a Ninja Village to post a mission to drive Big Black away, or else he wouldn’t rent us the fields anymore,” Hamajiro replied helplessly.

“And he made you pay for it yourselves?” Kakashi was a bit surprised. He had just been wondering why the Mayor would send Hamajiro to post the request.

“Such a person has already lost his youth; he should be given a good beating to wake him up!” Might Guy also said indignantly.

Muzuki’s expression remained unchanged. He felt that this Mayor was somewhat problematic. He wasn’t even thoroughly ruthless. Given the situation, he still dared to demand that the villagers post the request. After all, the villagers’ money didn’t have their faces printed on it; he could have just taken the money and sent his own people to post the mission.

“Is he afraid of Ninja?” Muzuki now speculated.

People in remote areas who haven’t seen Ninja from legitimate Great Ninja Villages might indeed be more afraid. Sending two burly men to watch was probably out of fear that Hamajiro would take the money and run away.

Of course, there was another possibility: that Hamajiro was lying. But based on his current demeanor, this possibility was rather small.

However, Muzuki didn’t care. He would just gather information once they arrived.

If that Mayor truly was the kind of person who exploited villagers, Muzuki wouldn’t mind acting as a justice enforcer for once.

Muzuki didn’t dislike Iwagakure or Kumogakure Ninja. The reason he killed them was because if he didn’t kill them, they would kill him.

Unlike other Konoha Ninja, Muzuki was just a transmigrator who had been there for less than a year. He had no feelings for the Village of Konoha. He would develop some feelings for people due to various events, but as of now, Muzuki had no feelings for what was called Konoha.

Muzuki felt there was nothing to be emotional about. A military base that sends children barely ten years old, or even younger, to the battlefield—with Muzuki’s values from his previous world, it was hard for him to feel anything for such a place.

Compared to Ninja from other Ninja Villages, Muzuki disliked feudal exploiters even more.

“If they won’t rent, then don’t rent, just farm your own land,” Obito scratched his head and said.

He didn’t understand why they had to rent land. Konoha residents couldn’t even farm all their own land and occasionally had to post D-Rank missions to get Ninja to help.

Obito’s words left Hamajiro speechless for a moment.

His own land, such a distant phrase. Actually, it wasn’t that distant; it seemed his family still had some more than ten years ago, but due to increasing difficulties, they had to sell it to the Mayor.

“Because our family no longer has any land. Almost all the land in the town belongs to the Mayor,” Hamajiro finally sighed and said.

He didn’t know why. Everyone worked very hard farming, but they only grew poorer, while the Mayor did nothing and only grew richer, acquiring more and more land.

“Ouch!” Obito was about to say something when Muzuki’s finger directly tapped his head, much harder than usual, making Obito gasp.

“Konoha is one of the most developed places in the Land of Fire. Don’t compare Konoha’s environment to other places,” Muzuki said.

If there was such a thing as per capita GDP in the Hokage world, then Konoha’s per capita GDP would definitely be very high, because Konoha truly has vast land and is very wealthy.

The Training Ground where the Chunin Exams are held has a radius of ten kilometers. What does that mean? The Third Ring Road in his previous world’s capital city had a diameter of less than fifteen kilometers. One can imagine how abundant Konoha’s land resources are.

After he finished speaking, Hamajiro seemed much more relaxed and soon fell asleep.

“Muzuki-sensei, what should we do?” Obito asked Muzuki, unsure of what to do for a moment.

He really didn’t want to drive away the giant eagle and let that Mayor have his way.

“Let’s first go to Kawakita Town and see the fellow who’s bothering the residents,” Muzuki said calmly.

Writing until almost 3 AM, feeling dizzy and blurry-eyed, I truly can’t write anymore. I’m still short over four hundred characters to reach ten thousand. I’ll try to write more tomorrow.

Also, recommending a friend’s book: ‘Dragon Raja: Retired Shinigami, On Duty Dragon Slayer’.

Dragon Raja plus Shinigami, not Lu Ming or Liu. Double fandoms rejoice!