Tanzaku Street

Tanzaku Street

"Earth, Dragon, Concealment... I wonder what it'll be like."

Lin Ke lay on his bed, fantasizing for a while about the ninjutsu he might obtain. Then he rubbed his stomach and realized he was hungry.

But he was too lazy to cook for himself. He was a dignified candidate for chunin—would it make sense for him to cook? Off to Ichiraku Ramen! He rolled out of bed, opened the window, used the smallest amount of chakra, formed hand seals, and released—

The Clone Technique made its grand entrance! He yanked off his own head, aimed it toward Ichiraku Ramen in the distance, and hurled it with all his strength.

Off you go!

Amid the whistling wind, Lin Ke's head glided through the air, spinning and flying. He comfortably narrowed his eyes. For getting around the village, the Clone Technique was both fast and chakra-efficient. The Body Flicker Technique was fast, sure, but it consumed a great deal of chakra. Not every ninja could casually use a Body Flicker Technique in battle whenever they pleased.

The minimum consumption of his Clone Technique was no different from an ordinary Clone Technique. He could cast twenty or thirty at once without issue.

With his strength, throwing his head a hundred meters or so was effortless. It was much better for traveling than Body Flicker or leaping around the village.

More importantly, the feeling of flying through the air was honestly kind of great.

"Bang!" Seeing that he was about to descend, Lin Ke proactively canceled the Clone Technique just before it ended. With a soft sound, he landed on the roof of a shop.

That was right. Aside from negating damage, the Clone Technique could also reset the gravity affecting him when he reassembled.

Amazing, right?

Lin Ke reached out and pushed aside a floating advertising banner, roughly determined the direction, gathered a little chakra beneath his feet, and reached the street where Ichiraku Ramen was located with two consecutive jumps.

Landing neatly, he briefly fixed the hair that had become a little messy from spinning through the air, then calmly walked into Ichiraku Ramen.

"The usual, Ichiraku Uncle." After ordering, he sat down and caught sight of Uzumaki Naruto sitting nearby. Smiling, he raised a hand in greeting.

Uzumaki Naruto returned the smile, then lowered his head and slurped his ramen.

Their chance encounters lately had basically been this simple. There had been no further interaction between them.

After lunch, Lin Ke leisurely strolled to the Seventh Training Ground—

Probably because the Guidance Jonin's combat test for Fifth Squad was held here, they always chose this place to gather.

When he arrived, his two teammates had yet to come, so he began training by himself.

To him, the basics outweighed everything.

A ninja's battle was a battle of chakra!

Damn, I have to show off with a line this cool in battle someday.

Lin Ke sweated away as he continuously encouraged himself in his head.

The next morning, at the mission assignment office of the Hokage Building.

"Then I'll be counting on all of you to ensure my safety." The client who needed an escort bowed.

According to his earlier introduction, he was the manager of an entertainment establishment in Tanzaku Street. As for why he needed an escort, he did not mention it.

Tanzaku Street...

Thinking about the mission target, Lin Ke felt that this should be a C-Rank Mission without any danger at all.

Yuan Wei curiously sized up the client, while Xia stood with her hands hanging at her sides, looking a little nervous.

Nara Yan Shui nodded and stepped forward to take the lead.

Without any unnecessary chatter, the three members of Fifth Squad, trained at the Ninja Academy, spread out and quickly formed a triangular formation around the client. Even while still in the village, it was an instinctive choice for qualified ninjas.

The group of five soon left the Hokage Building, passed through the streets, and registered at Konoha's gates. For the first time in their lives, the three kids left Konoha.

"Whew..."

Lin Ke took a light breath. He did not know why, but as he walked through the forest outside the village, even though he knew there could not possibly be an attack nearby, he still felt somewhat uneasy.

It was probably the discomfort of leaving his comfort zone.

No one talked nonsense along the way. In fact, no one spoke at all.

Konoha was located in the central region of the Land of Fire, while Tanzaku Street lay in the southwest of the Land of Fire, relatively close to the Land of Rivers. The distance between them was truly short, much closer than the Land of Waves. Thus, even for a C-Rank Mission where combat might occur, the reward was still only the lowest tier—thirty thousand ryo.

The reason an escort was needed was not hard to guess. Compared to other parts of the Land of Fire, its western and southern regions were simply more chaotic.

Just count the countries to the west and south: the Land of Grass, the Land of Rain, and the Land of Rivers.

All three countries were wedged between Konoha, Sunagakure, and Iwagakure. Most of the frequent wars over the past few decades had used their territories as battlefields. Naturally, countries and people ravaged by war had produced many rogue ninjas, bandits, and mountain thieves who lived by plunder.

The Land of Grass and the Land of Rain were barely acceptable, since they had hidden villages and were not in too miserable a state. The Land of Rivers, however, was extremely chaotic.

True to its name, the Land of Rivers was filled with mountains, rivers, and forests. Its land was fertile, its resources abundant, and most importantly—

It had no hidden village.

Its internal state was also a complete mess, with civil unrest breaking out from time to time.

The surrounding countries, including the Land of Fire, constantly extracted benefits from the Land of Rivers. It was a place that produced all kinds of S-Rank Missions and A-Rank Missions year-round.

What could anyone demand from ordinary people in such a country and region after they had fallen into banditry?

Tanzaku Street's current prosperity was also closely related to its proximity to the Land of Rivers. Chaos was the ladder of progress. The Land of Rivers was rich in natural resources, and while its lower classes suffered bitterly, its upper classes were drowning in wealth. Outsiders could likewise see opportunities to make a fortune.

As the most famous entertainment town in the Land of Fire, Tanzaku Street was often visited by wealthy people from the Land of Rivers and all kinds of merchants hoping to strike gold there. Some came for brief resupply, some simply came to relax and spend money, while others came to conduct shady transactions.

The more mixed the crowd, the more potential dangers there were, so many wealthy people hired ninjas as escorts.

In truth, Tanzaku Street was still within the Land of Fire no matter what. The journey from Konoha to Tanzaku Street took at most half a day to a day. With a ninja's mobility, they could arrive in roughly one or two hours. No rogue ninja with a death wish would show up.

At most, there would be bandits or defeated soldiers who had wandered over from the Land of Rivers. Thus, issuing a C-Rank Mission was just right. The odds of encountering a ninja were no higher than suddenly running into an elite jonin in the Land of Waves.

In short, after leaving the village for a while, the three members of Fifth Squad quickly became fully accustomed to traveling in the wild thanks to their Ninja Academy lessons.

The mission proceeded very smoothly, without any mishaps. There were occasionally a few watching gazes along the way, but upon seeing Konoha's Forehead Protectors, they hurriedly left.

Bandits and thieves were not idiots. How could they possibly attack merchants protected by ninjas? Thus, around dusk, Fifth Squad successfully arrived at their destination—

Tanzaku Street.