The Selfish Egoist Whose Transformation Failed

Early the next morning, Jiang Rui got up early, washed up, and strapped his forehead protector around his arm.

After all, he wore his mask on top of his head, and his high-collared windbreaker made wearing it around his neck look rather awkward.

After all, looking good was a lifelong pursuit.

Anbu members did not actually need to wear forehead protectors. Wearing one made it easier to expose their identities. Generally speaking, a mask and a codename were the standard Anbu equipment.

But Jiang Rui had not joined the Anbu, yet he had to act alongside them.

He was a little uncertain about it... so he decided to wear it for now.

Ito Rei should have set off too...

Hopefully, nothing would happen to her.

With a bun in his mouth, Jiang Rui strolled unhurriedly toward the meeting point. There was still time, so he was in no rush.

Sigh. They had only known each other for four or five days, but Rei-chan was a good person.

Now that she was gone... he even had to pay for his own buns.

Jiang Rui sighed again.

Come to think of it, during the Third Shinobi World War, the owner of Kubikiribōchō was Jūzō Biwa...

That meant Kubikiribōchō had changed hands before the Third Shinobi World War.

The thought made Jiang Rui's heart tighten. He was not the sentimental type, and he knew very well that this world was not even an original world like Marvel.

But the people in it still felt like flesh-and-blood human beings to him.

Tsk.

He had eaten someone else's barbecue.

He had to return the favor somehow.

People from Xia Country valued reciprocity.

These days, people could even make two-dimensional characters their wives! Being friends with NPCs should not be... that big a deal, right?

Having made his decision, Jiang Rui let out a soft breath, hopping along while humming some unknown lyrics.

"From dawn to dusk, the finish line is the starting point, mm-hmm-hmm~ hmm-hmm-hmm~ mm-hmm-hmm~ hmm-hmm-hmm~~"

When Jiang Rui arrived at the meeting point, he discovered that he was actually the last one there.

Hiss. He immediately asked Great Sage to confirm the time again, and received an affirmative response.

That was right! I came an hour early, and you people still got here before me?!

Tsk. A bunch of people with no sense of time.

Thirteen or fourteen people all turned to look at him. Beneath their assorted masks were curious gazes.

Jiang Rui raised an eyebrow and lifted the bun in his arms.

"Have you eaten?"

Everyone: ...

While they assessed Jiang Rui, Jiang Rui was also observing them.

There were three or four "newcomers" about his height, along with someone with light blue hair and a scroll strapped to his back.

Seeing that, Jiang Rui froze for a moment.

Oh, Kaguya Tsuki.

He was not out on a mission?

That made sense. The Ninja Village could not possibly allow anything to happen to the scroll capable of summoning Ninja Swords, so its keeper was actually safer?!

Then the fact that he could participate in this mission meant they would not be leaving the village? Or perhaps it was not that dangerous?

His gaze continued to the left. Hmm, that short brownish-green fellow had to be Karatachi Yagura, right?

When their eyes met, Jiang Rui nodded in greeting. The other boy did the same.

Then the one beside him was Ishikawa Tatsuya...

Thinking that, Jiang Rui slowly walked over and stopped beside him.

"Put on your mask," Ishikawa Tatsuya reminded him.

"After I finish eating," Jiang Rui nodded. In any case, there was no hiding his long blue hair.

And so, in the vast open space, the occasional smacking sounds echoed through the silence.

About half an hour passed.

Only then did the Water Shadow arrive at a leisurely pace.

Hmm, there were still around half an hour left until the meeting time... Jiang Rui was utterly speechless.

No wonder everyone liked arriving early. The leader was setting the example?!

Jiang Rui pulled down his mask, covering his face.

The Third Mizukage did not say much. Upon arriving, he went straight to the point and distributed scrolls, clearly assigning everyone into pairs.

When he reached Rimuru's group, the Third Mizukage slowed down and handed the scroll to Ishikawa Tatsuya.

He glanced at Jiang Rui, his voice utterly devoid of emotion. "Leave no survivors."

Jiang Rui nodded. "Yes."

He wondered whether the boy from yesterday had survived... Things did not look good.

Not thinking about it any further, Jiang Rui saw Ishikawa Tatsuya examining the mission scroll and immediately leaned over to look.

He instantly sucked in a cold breath.

The scroll was covered in densely packed names, filling the entire surface. Unlike the scroll from his previous mission, there were no names accompanied by intelligence or even pictures.

There was only a simple name, each one representing a life, perhaps even an entire family.

This was the Anbu.

A name. Gather information, confirm their strength and intelligence, then find a way to eliminate them.

There was nothing else.

You might not even know where they were.

Jiang Rui swept his gaze over it and made a rough estimate. There had to be at least a hundred names on this one scroll...

Clearly, the seven or eight squads were tasked with eliminating nearly a thousand targets...

"The Seven Ninja Swordsmen and some elite personnel have already infiltrated the Land of Fire."

"Your task is not only to kill the targets, but also to stop any intelligence from being transmitted."

"Many of them are no longer within the Land of Water. If necessary, you will need to infiltrate the Land of Fire and kill them."

"That is all. Execute the mission."

At the Water Shadow's command,

everyone scattered in unspoken coordination.

Ishikawa Tatsuya said in a low voice, "Stay close to me!"

The three of them swiftly leaped onto the surrounding rooftops. Jiang Rui asked curiously, "With so many people, how are you going to find them?"

"Even in peacetime, the Anbu has many different divisions. Besides the assassinations and purges handled by the former owner of your mask, I am responsible for intelligence and investigations."

The three landed in an alley. Ishikawa Tatsuya casually opened the scroll and pointed to several names near the front.

"Yagura-chan, these ones are yours."

"Since most outsiders are monitored and investigated by us for some time, I am actually quite familiar with most of these names."

After saying that, he tapped the mask on his face.

"But there are exceptions. After all, some records are too old or have gotten mixed up, so we will have to check with those sparrows in the administration department."

"Enough talk. Leave the ones with High Ninja strength alone for now. Rimuru, these people are near the docks, not far from your previous mission site."

"They are yours."

"Understood." Jiang Rui nodded and prepared to leave.

Ishikawa Tatsuya spoke again. "If you confirm that the person you are looking for has already boarded a ship, you may use more extreme methods if the situation is urgent. In short, do not fail."

Extreme methods?

Jiang Rui nodded. Of course he understood what that meant.

Torture, interrogating the captain, or even killing every suspect aboard the ship.

Or perhaps accidentally letting the entire ship strike a reef.

This was the Anbu.

The necessary losses made to prevent those on the front lines from losing because of intelligence.

And apart from his habit of giving people cute nicknames, Ishikawa Tatsuya was a proper, methodical captain when it came to missions.

Perhaps intelligence-type ninja were all like that. They had to be serious.

With someone like that as captain, he clearly would not be allowed to make mistakes during the mission.

This was obviously the Water Shadow's second chance for him.

Behind his mask, Jiang Rui clicked his tongue. Hōzuki's influence was enormous!

Is he really treating me like a personal disciple?!

If possible, Jiang Rui did not want to owe the Water Shadow too many favors.

He had many plans and many choices. If he could not become the Water Shadow, some of those plans even involved betraying the village.

However, all of that had been based on his own interests. He had never considered the emotional factors that would arise once he became part of this place.

Right now, he was like a contradiction between kindness and evil.

For his own sake, he could kill hundreds with missiles without changing expression, yet he could not bring himself to kill an unarmed child.

He could attack Ruksinth without hesitation even when she had been friendly to him a second earlier, but he could not simply let Ito Rei die in the war.

He was changing, but clearly not enough.

As Jiang Rui raced toward the docks, he felt a little sad.

I once wanted to become an exquisite egoist.

I tried.

But I failed!

QAQ!!

orz