New Mission, A Fifty Million Ryo Big Fish

A half-month-long garrison mission brought Qingye's squad seven days of rest.

Because they successfully intercepted an Iwagakure Jonin's infiltration, the mission's rating was upgraded from A-rank to S-rank, with a bounty of a whopping 1.6 million Ryo!

After giving Yūhi Kurenai and Hyuga Himon 200,000 Ryo each, the rest of the large sum was all taken by Qingye.

Of course, it was all exchanged for Explosive Tags again.

With another 600 Explosive Tags, Qingye's stockpile finally broke through the thousand mark again.

During these seven days of rest, Qingye still didn't put down his training.

As a result, after seven days, Qingye checked the system's personal status panel. As expected, his Ninja stats hadn't changed at all.

"As expected, I need a cheat!"

With his own talent, plus this 12-year-old body, his strength couldn't possibly see a leap in improvement in a short period.

At this moment, the repayment period for the Three-Tomoe Sharingan had only five days left.

Konohagakure Camp, Command Center.

"Qingye-kun!"

Shikaku Nara stood up from behind his desk when he saw Qingye being brought in, his expression solemn. "There's an important mission that needs to be entrusted to your squad."

What is this for?!

Qingye was unaccustomed to Shikaku Nara's overly formal attitude.

On the way here, he had grown accustomed to the envious, admiring, and even jealous glances from the Konohagakure Ninja he encountered.

The fact that he had taken down an Iwagakure Jonin without taking any damage during the last mission had already spread throughout the Konohagakure camp.

But that shouldn't have caused Shikaku Nara, the highest commander, to change his attitude so drastically, right?

Damn!

Could it be that they want me to blow up a bridge?!

Is Minato Namikaze's squad already on their way here?

"Qingye-kun, look over here."

Shikaku Nara cleared his throat twice and pointed to a spot on the map hanging on the wall behind him. "Go twenty ri deep from the battlefield front line here, and there's an Iwagakure village outpost."

"According to the intelligence we've obtained, a large amount of vital medical supplies, such as blood plasma and medicine, are stored there!"

It's not to blow up a bridge, that's good.

Qingye breathed a slight sigh of relief and thought for a moment before saying, "So, the important mission you mentioned, Shikaku-senpai, is for our squad to infiltrate and blow up the supplies stored there?"

Blowing up the medical supplies on the front line would probably slow down Iwagakure's offensive.

However, for such an important outpost, the defense force of Iwagakure village would surely not be to be underestimated.

Qingye directly raised his question. Shikaku Nara listened with a helpless expression and said, "Our intelligence personnel have only scouted this much... but we estimate there shouldn't be more than two Jonin at most."

"..."

Is this reliable or not?

If Iwagakure's defense force was a bit stronger, even if he managed to blow it up, he might not be able to escape!

Qingye fell into hesitation for a moment.

It's been five days, and there are only five days left... Can't they let me get through these five days safely?!

"This mission is indeed quite risky. If you accept it, I will provide each of you in the squad with two hundred Explosive Tags."

"Of course, if the mission truly cannot be completed, self-preservation should be the priority, and you can retreat directly if necessary."

Shikaku Nara added.

This left Qingye speechless.

With things said to this extent, he had no reason to refuse.

"Hiss! Something's not right!"

Qingye suddenly frowned. What's wrong with me?

Before obtaining the system, faced with a dangerous mission of this level, he probably wouldn't have hesitated at all.

Don't be a coward, just do it!

Want to awaken the Mangekyo by being timid and afraid of trouble?

Now that he had a cheat, he seemed to have suddenly gone from being a pauper to a small wealthy family, becoming hesitant when encountering risks.

This isn't right!

"...I accept this mission. I will do my best to complete it." Taking a deep breath, Qingye said in a deep voice.

He couldn't become cautious and timid just because of the existence of his cheat!

Otherwise, even if his strength improved further in the future, the flaws in his personality would likely remain.

"However, to ensure the mission's success, shouldn't we...?" Qingye rubbed his fingers together, hinting at Shikaku Nara.

Speaking of which, one really couldn't be too cautious, but a little carefulness was always appropriate.

Within the Land of Grass.

This area, bordering the Land of Fire's Kinrin Mountain Range, was characterized by undulating terrain. The further west they went, gradually entering the heart of the Land of Grass, the flatter the land became.

After traversing dozens of miles of forest and crossing the Kannabi Bridge, they would reach the plains of the Land of Grass's hinterland.

And on the rolling hills at the front line, various Iwagakure ninja strongholds were stationed.

At this moment.

On a small hillside twenty ri from the Land of Fire's border.

In the shadow of a protruding boulder on the slope, the three members of Qingye's squad had temporarily dug a trench, covering it with vegetation for concealment. They then hid inside the pit.

"One more hour, and Lord Gari's convoy should reach the foot of the mountain, right?"

Hyuga Himon, his Byakugan active, said softly with a blank expression.

He was currently crouching in the pit, using his Byakugan to gaze at the Iwagakure stronghold on the mountaintop. The Byakugan's vision pierced directly through the vegetation on the trench and the boulder in front, allowing him to clearly see the faces of the Iwagakure ninja outside the stronghold from afar.

He could even make out the subtle movements of the Iwagakure ninja's lips!

"I never thought the lip-reading taught at the Ninja Academy would actually be useful," Yūhi Kurenai couldn't help but comment.

Speaking of which, the Konohagakure Ninja Academy had a wide variety of courses. Besides the essential courses related to the Will of Fire, ninjutsu, and taijutsu, there were also mathematics, geography, chemistry, and cryptography classes!

Yūhi Kurenai had almost doubted her sanity while studying back then, wondering if all these miscellaneous subjects would ever be useful.

But today, the lip-reading had actually come in handy!

"Glad I paid attention back then," Hyuga Himon said with a sense of relief.

Qingye sat cross-legged on the ground, his fingers constantly brushing over the back of his Tachi: "Gari, the Explosion Release ninja, will arrive in half an hour. Everyone, adjust yourselves and prepare for battle."

After infiltrating the Land of Grass, they had been lying in this trench for a day and a night!

Thanks to Hyuga Himon's Byakugan, they had easily assessed the situation nearby.

In the Iwagakure stronghold on the mountain, the strongest individual was a Special Jonin named Sumoshi. The rest were merely a dozen or so Chunin and Genin.

With just these people, Qingye could have wiped them out single-handedly!

He had initially intended to act immediately, but Hyuga Himon had deciphered another important name through lip-reading:

Gari, Explosion Release Gari!

A member of Iwagakure's Demolition Corps, possessing the Kekkei Genkai Explosion Release, he was a renowned elite Jonin in the ninja world!

Most importantly, Gari had a bounty of 50 million ryō on the black market!

The moment Qingye heard this name, he was hooked.

If he could take down Explosion Release Gari, it would be worth using up all the Explosive Tags he had!

Qingye, who had originally planned to rush in, eliminate everyone, and then blow up the stronghold, had forced himself to lie in ambush, waiting for this big fish for a day and a night.

Ahead, on the mountaintop.

Hyuga Himon had just deactivated his Byakugan when a figure wearing a Konohagakure forehead protector suddenly emerged from underground, walking with a grin towards the Iwagakure ninja ahead.