The Helplessness of Life

"Ah, Zhou Duan! It's been ages!"

The turtle named Mizuno was clearly delighted to see Zhou Duan.

"What brings you here today?"

"It's a pain for me, but it should be easy for you..."

Zhou Duan gestured toward the sewage pond in the distance.

"This is our sewage pond. My superiors need me to get one of them cleaned out. I'm counting on you!"

"Oh, don't mention it! You're too kind!"

Mizuno was clearly pleased that Zhou Duan had asked him for help.

"The vegetable gardens on Dragon Turtle Island are always in need of fertilizer. This pond is just what I need. Leave it to me!"

Mizuno crawled to the edge of the pond and slapped the ground with his right claw. At once, a huge crack appeared above the pond. A powerful suction force drew everything in, and in less than twenty minutes, the pond was completely emptied!

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

Zhou Duan took out a scroll and unsealed a bag of seeds, then tucked it into the small pack on Mizuno's back.

"These are fruit seeds I found not long ago. They taste average, but they're not poisonous. You can give them a try when you have time!"

"That's wonderful, Zhou Duan! Thanks! I just cleared out a patch in my garden, so I can plant them there!"

Mizuno excitedly nudged Zhou Duan with his head.

"I can't wait to plant them, Zhou Duan! Come visit me sometime. I've developed a new fruit, and it's deliciously sweet."

Poof!

In a puff of smoke, Mizuno disappeared. Watching the spot where the Ninja Turtle had vanished and the now-clean pond, Water Gate, Hundred Palms, and Nawaki all gazed after him with burning eyes. Nawaki even shamelessly sidled up to Zhou Duan.

"Zhou Duan, your Ninja Turtles are way too useful! Hundred Palms told me you have one that can use defensive ninjutsu and another that's poisonous. Now you've got one that can use Space-Time Ninjutsu, too. They're incredible!"

"Hm?"

Zhou Duan circled Nawaki. It seemed that the kid wasn't only interested in My Unspeakable Secrets with the Jonin Team Captain; he was pretty interested in Zhou Duan's Ninja Turtles, too.

"Nawaki, I'll be honest with you. Not many of these Ninja Turtles have powerful abilities. I enhanced a lot of them with potions, and some of them have fallen asleep so they can fully digest the potions. It'll be a while before they wake up. And don't be jealous of Mizuno's ability. It has major limitations—he can only teleport inanimate objects, and only one way. He can't instantly teleport huge objects, either. As far as teleportation goes, other summoned beasts would be better. Besides..."

Zhou Duan gave Nawaki a suspicious look.

"You're from the Senju Clan. Forget your grandfather, the First Hokage, and your granduncle, the Second. Your clan has so many powerful elders. Surely they've got plenty of summoned beasts to spare?"

"There are plenty, but those summoned beasts are so arrogant!"

Nawaki angrily protested.

"They all say I'm brain-dead and an idiot, and that signing a contract with me would bring disaster upon them. What a joke! I'm going to be Hokage someday, a powerful shinobi who'll lead the whole village to greatness. How dare they insult me like that!"

"No, based on what I've seen so far, I think the summoned beasts are right!"

Hundred Palms couldn't resist taking a jab at him.

"You really need to take a good look at yourself. Aren't you ashamed that even the summoned beasts question your intelligence?"

"Hundred Palms, how dare you insult me!"

Enraged, Nawaki charged at Hundred Palms.

"I'll teach you a lesson!"

Thud!

Zhou Duan tripped the charging Nawaki, then punched him in the back of the head.

"Enough messing around. We don't know when Inuzuka Rui will be back, and when he returns, he'll probably give us more deliberately difficult assignments. We should use this time to gather information on him. I don't want him making our lives miserable all the way until we go to the battlefield!"

"Got it!"

At Zhou Duan's order, Water Gate, Hundred Palms, and Nawaki all answered at once. Nawaki got up from the ground and looked at Zhou Duan.

"What should we do?"

"I only know the basics about Inuzuka Rui. Here's the plan: we'll go to the Inuzuka Clan's temporary quarters and gather everything we can about him. We'll enter from the east, south, west, and north. If anyone asks, we'll say Inuzuka Rui sent us to buy or pick up something from the Inuzuka Clan. They shouldn't get suspicious. Don't worry too much about it. Even if Inuzuka Rui finds out, it's no big deal. He's already making things difficult for us anyway!

"Remember, no matter how much information you gather, you must return here in two hours. The operation meeting will cover a lot and usually lasts more than two hours, but we don't have much time. We'll need to use the information we collect to come up with a counterstrategy!"

"Understood!"

The four nodded to one another, then darted toward the Inuzuka Clan's quarters as four dark figures.

"D-Don't come any closer!"

"Heh, kid, I gave you a chance to think it over. Since you won't agree, I'll just have to use force!"

"No, no! I'd rather die than let you have your way!"

"Don't say that. All you have to do is pay a tiny, insignificant price, and you'll get resources you never even dared to dream of—advanced ninjutsu, Taijutsu, potions, even forbidden techniques. Just give in to me, and they'll all be yours!"

"No! I won't agree. I'll never let you defile me!"

"Kid, I don't even have to make a move. Others would line up to come to me. But you? You don't know what's good for you. Looks like I'll have to use force!"

The oppression of superiors, the helplessness of life, and filthy backroom deals. Anyone listening to the conversation inside the room would have thought it was a helpless yet freewheeling scene of passion. But what the four men crouching outside the window saw was something else entirely.

A wolfhound and a Samoyed were in the middle of some carefree, vigorous activity, completely oblivious to their audience. Nearby, a boy of about twelve was pinned to the ground by Inuzuka Rui, sobbing uncontrollably and unable to move. His eyes were filled with despair as he cried out:

"Inuzuka Rui, you can't do this! My Snow White isn't for your mutt to touch! Your dog has tainted the pure love between Snow White and me!"

"Inuzuka Ryu, cut the nonsense. You're not a Ninja Dog, so how would you know what they're thinking? Snow White and my Demon Wolf Maru are in love of their own free will. Just look at how much they're enjoying themselves. Stop butting in!"

"No, Snow White would never do this..."

The boy glared angrily at Inuzuka Rui.

"You must have used some despicable trick!"

"Sorry to interrupt your lovely time together..."

Standing outside the window, Zhou Duan pulled out a bottle of potion and casually tossed it into the room. The pale-white potion spread like mist, filling the entire room. Seeing the baffled expressions on Inuzuka Rui and Inuzuka Ryu's faces, Zhou Duan gave a strange smile.

"Inuzuka Rui, as punishment for making things difficult for me, try the might of my specially made potions—the Dog Whip Erection Potion and the Husky Potion!"