The Helplessness of Life

"Ah, it's Zhou Duan, it feels like ages since I've seen you!"

Seeing Zhou Duan, the turtle named Mizuno was clearly very happy:

"Is there something you need today?"

"It's a bit troublesome for me, but it should be fine for you..."

Zhou Duan gestured towards a nearby sewage pond while speaking to Mizuno:

"This is our local sewage pond. The higher-ups want me to clean one of them, so I'm counting on you!"

"Nonsense, nonsense, you're too kind!"

Mizuno was clearly pleased with Zhou Duan's request:

"The vegetable patches on Dragon Turtle Island have always needed fertilizer. I happen to need this sewage pond, so leave it to me!"

Mizuno crawled to the edge of the sewage pond, patted the ground with its right claw, and instantly, a huge crack appeared above the pond. With a powerful suction, the entire pond was cleaned out in less than twenty minutes!

"You've been a great help, Mizuno!"

Zhou Duan took out a scroll, unsealed a bag of seeds, and placed it in the small pack on Mizuno's back:

"These are some fruit seeds I found not long ago. The taste is average, but they're non-toxic. You can try them when you have time!"

"That's fantastic, Zhou Duan, thank you! I just cleared out a section of my garden, perfect for planting them!"

Mizuno excitedly nudged Zhou Duan with its head:

"I can't wait to plant them! Zhou Duan, come visit me sometime, I've developed a new type of fruit, it's incredibly sweet."

"POOF!"

With a puff of smoke, Mizuno disappeared. Watching the direction the Ninja Turtle had left and the now-clean sewage pond, Minato, Hyakusho, and Nawaki's eyes lit up with excitement. Nawaki, in particular, walked up to Zhou Duan with a fawning expression:

"Zhou Duan, your Ninja Turtles are too amazing! I heard from Hyakusho that you have Ninja Turtles with defensive ninjutsu and poisonous Ninja Turtles. And now you even have one that can use space ninjutsu, that's incredible!"

"Hmm?"

Zhou Duan circled Nawaki, realizing that this kid wasn't just interested in My Unspeakable Little Secret with the Jonin Female Captain, but also quite keen on his Ninja Turtles:

"Nawaki, to be honest, not many of these Ninja Turtles have such powerful abilities. Many of them were enhanced with potions, and some are still in hibernation to fully digest the potions. It'll be a while before they wake up. And don't be envious of Mizuno's abilities, he has significant limitations – he can only teleport inanimate objects, and it's a one-way trip. He can't instantly teleport extremely large items. For teleportation alone, other summoning beasts would be better than him. Besides..."

Zhou Duan glanced suspiciously at Nawaki:

"You're from the Senju Clan, aren't you? Not to mention your First Hokage grandfather and Second Hokage grand-uncle, with so many powerful elders in your clan, would you really have few summoning beasts?"

"I have quite a few, but those summoning beasts are too arrogant!"

Nawaki said angrily, puffing out his chest:

"They all call me an idiot, mentally challenged, and say that signing a contract with me would bring them disaster. What a joke! I'm the future Hokage, a strong individual who will lead all the ninjas of the village to their peak. How can I be insulted like this!"

"No, based on current observations, I think the summoning beasts might be right!"

Hyakusho interjected bluntly:

"You really should reflect on yourself. A guy whose intelligence is doubted even by summoning beasts, don't you feel ashamed?"

"Hyakusho, how dare you insult me!"

Nawaki became enraged and charged at Hyakusho:

"I'll teach you a lesson!"

"BANG!"

Zhou Duan stuck out his leg, tripping the charging Nawaki, and then punched him on the back of the head:

"Alright, stop messing around. We don't know when Inuzuka Rui will be back, and he'll definitely have more troublesome missions for us. While we have this time, we need to gather intel on Inuzuka Rui. I don't want to be constantly harassed by him before we go to the battlefield!"

"Yes!"

Hearing Zhou Duan's mission, Minato, Hyakusho, and Nawaki responded in unison. Nawaki got up from the ground and looked at Zhou Duan, asking:

"What do we need to do?"

"I only have a general understanding of Inuzuka Rui. So, we'll go to the Inuzuka Clan's temporary base to gather all information about him. We'll enter from the north, east, south, and west. We'll say that Inuzuka Rui instructed us to go to the Inuzuka Clan to buy or retrieve something. They shouldn't be suspicious. Don't worry too much; even if Inuzuka Rui finds out, it's no big deal since he's already trying to make things difficult for us!

Remember, no matter how much information you gather, you must return here to gather in two hours. There's a lot to discuss in the strategy meeting, and it usually takes more than two hours, but we don't have much time either. We need to make timely countermeasures based on the information we collect!"

"Understood!"

The four nodded at each other, then transformed into four black shadows and darted towards the Inuzuka Clan's base!

"You, don't come any closer!"

"Hehehe, kid, I gave you a chance to consider. Since you won't agree, I'll have to use force!"

"No, no, I'd rather die than let you succeed!"

"Don't say that. You just have to pay a small, insignificant price, and you'll gain resources you wouldn't even dare to dream of – high-level ninjutsu, taijutsu, potions, even forbidden jutsu. If you comply, they'll all be yours!"

"No, I will not agree! I will never let you defile me!"

"Kid, I don't even need to think about it, others will be lining up to find me. But you, you're ungrateful. It seems I have no choice but to use force!"

The oppression from superiors, the helplessness of life, dirty backroom deals. Listening to the conversation from inside the house, anyone would think it was a scene of helpless yet free passion. However, what Zhou Duan and the other three, squatting outside the window, spied into the house was a completely different scene:

A wolfdog and a Samoyed, at this moment, the two ninja dogs were engaged in a delightful up-and-down, front-and-back motion as if no one else were around. Off to the side, a boy of about twelve years old was crying his eyes out, pinned to the ground by Inuzuka Rui, unable to move. His eyes were filled with despair as he shouted:

"Inuzuka Rui, you can't do this! My Snowflake isn't some stray dog you can touch. Your dog has defiled the pure feelings between Snowflake and me!"

"Inuzuka Ryu, spare me the crap. You're not a ninja dog, how would you know what they're thinking? Snowflake and my Kiba are in love, look at their expressions of enjoyment. Just stay out of it!"

"No, Snowflake wouldn't do this..."

The boy looked at Inuzuka Rui with a furious expression:

"You must have used some dirty trick!"

"I'm sorry to interrupt your pleasant time..."

Zhou Duan, standing outside the window, took out a bottle of potion and casually tossed it into the room. Watching the pale white liquid disperse like mist throughout the entire room, and seeing the bewildered expressions on Inuzuka Rui and Inuzuka Ryu's faces, Zhou Duan flashed a sinister smile:

"Inuzuka Rui, as punishment for your retaliation against me, try the power of my specially made potions – the Dog Whip Erection Potion and the Husky Potion!"