Tasks and Money

The Third Shinobi World War had begun with Sunagakure's invasion of Konoha, but the war between the two sides had also ended first.

Both sides were currently bogged down fighting their respective opponents, with no time to start another war. They had only left a small number of troops on the border as a precaution.

As a buffer zone and the main battlefield between the two nations, the Land of Rivers had not improved just because Sunagakure and Konoha had signed a peace treaty. Two years had passed, and the country was still in complete disarray.

War destroyed production, and chaos bred bandits.

Bandits, Rogue Ninjas, wandering ninjas, samurai, and various minor Ninja Clans thrived in the small countries between the Five Great Nations, fighting one another over scraps of profit or pointless convictions.

It was a scene of bustling life, with everything competing to flourish.

The Land of Rivers wasn't small compared to the other minor and middling nations, but it had no Ninja Village of its own. Most missions within its borders were Konoha's to take, though Sunagakure got a share as well.

The Daimyo and nobles of the Land of Rivers were served in turn by two great nations, so they didn't worry about the security of their positions. They didn't care that their country was falling apart.

As long as the important, prosperous towns were safe, that was enough. As for the vast rural areas, no one cared how many people died.

Those people were like leeks, after all. If the lords closed their eyes and opened them again a few years later, they'd be delighted to find the population had refreshed itself. How amazing!

In the forest along the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Rivers, the three members of Higashino Makoto Squad were unusually not leaping through the trees. They were running along the ground instead.

Suddenly, Uzuki Yugao, who was leading the way, stopped and crouched to examine the ground, as if searching for something.

"This is definitely the right direction!"

Gekko Hayate nodded. "Then let's keep tracking them!"

Higashino Makoto brought up the rear without a word, silently changing direction along with his two teammates.

Of the three members of the squad, Uzuki Yugao was currently the weakest, so everyone was making a point of developing her abilities in every area.

Bandits were everywhere in the Land of Rivers. Some clever ones near the Land of Fire's border often crossed into the country to do business.

The villages and towns in the Land of Rivers that could be robbed had already been stripped bare. There was no profit left to be had. Why stay and fight over scraps at home when they could enjoy robbing the wealthy in the Land of Fire?

Sure, it meant taking a risk, but fortune favored the bold. What if they got lucky and weren't caught by ninjas?

They were simply too naive, with no idea of ninjas' tracking and mobility.

Before long, the Squad Trio had entered the Land of Rivers. The forest gradually thinned, and the rolling hills gave way to ridges. At the foot of a mountain crossed by a river, a cluster of log buildings came into view.

They looked new, with a crude, primitive style. They probably hadn't been built long ago.

Uzuki Yugao asked, "Makoto, are there any ninjas inside?"

After getting used to life as a ninja, the girl seemed to have suddenly grown up. She no longer called Higashino Makoto and Gekko Hayate "big brother."

"No. They're all ordinary people."

"Okay, then. Let's finish this quickly, like before."

After speaking, the three drew their weapons and charged straight into the crude stronghold. Their strength gave them confidence. There was no need to sneak around and assassinate a group of ordinary bandits.

The people in the stronghold soon noticed them. When they saw the Konoha Headbands on the three, they immediately knew who had arrived.

But they didn't flee. Instead, they fiercely drew their weapons and charged while shouting. They carried all sorts of swords, spears, clubs, and axes, and their expressions were vicious.

"Damn it, they're Konoha ninjas!"

"They're just three brats!"

"Kill them! We'll be safe as long as we kill them!"

They were simply too naive, with no idea of a ninja's strength or how the Great Ninja Villages operated.

Higashino Makoto's group of three charged into the crowd like tigers among sheep. No matter how hard the bandits swung their weapons, they couldn't touch a hair on their heads.

Screams rang out across the chaotic battlefield. One tall adult after another fell. At last, someone noticed the difference in strength between the two sides and understood one thing: ninjas, even when they looked like children of only a few years old, were more than they could handle.

The remaining bandits scattered and fled, but it was no use. The three relied on their speed to steadily reap lives. There was no disgust in their eyes, nor revulsion, and they felt no excitement either.

Nearly two months had passed since their first killings. After Yugao Gekko's reminder, the Squad Trio had long since taken another look at themselves. They hadn't become killing-obsessed lunatics.

Ninjas had to kill, but they couldn't let killing control them.

This was just a job, and the people they were killing were a band of bottomless bandits.

If they were dealing with ordinary civilians of the Shinobi World, they would still be sunny, youthful, modest, and polite good boys.

The screams abruptly stopped. All the bandits had become corpses, with only their leader still alive.

He was a tall, middle-aged man with long hair hanging over his shoulders and a face covered in scars. He looked ferocious.

Leaning on his long sword, he knelt on one knee. His gaze at the three kids was full of bone-deep hatred.

"I never thought even the children in the Great Ninja Villages would be monsters. Do you hear me? You're all monsters! Why don't you just die?"

Higashino Makoto had grown tired of hearing insults like that long ago. "Yeah, but aren't you one too?"

"We're not monsters. We're rebels! You Great Nation ninjas turned my country into a battlefield and drove us to this!"

"Sorry, maybe you're right. But a mission is a mission. You crossed into the Land of Fire and robbed two villages and a small town, killing more than thirty people. You have to pay for that."

Scarface Leader sneered. "Then when will you ninjas pay for the people you've killed?"

"That day will come. You just won't live to see it. Goodbye!"

That day really would come. The Rabbit Goddess was still hanging in the sky, after all, and ninjas' Chakra was her food.

After speaking, Higashino Makoto raised his right hand, extended his thumb and index finger, and made a shooting gesture at Scarface Leader.

A tiny Chakra Ball coalesced at the tip of his index finger. Sharp Wind Release Chakra swirled around the back of the sphere, spinning wildly until it looked like a miniature shuttlecock.

[Wind Style: Wind Finger Gun]

It was another of Higashino Makoto's hand-seal-less techniques, a weakened variant of [Wind Release: Rasenshuriken]. The idea had come from the Hozuki Clan's [Water Release: Water Gun Technique].

Could the original Higashino Makoto use the real thing? Of course he could. But did killing one person really require that much Chakra? No. Chakra was life, and he hated wasting it, so he'd improved the technique.

Under Scarface Leader's horrified gaze, the spinning Chakra bullet shot into his heart in an instant, accompanied by a faint whistling sound.

The incredibly sharp Wind Release Chakra burst inside him, completely shredding the core of his life. Scarface Leader felt a slight pain in his heart, then simply collapsed to the ground and died.

Gekko Hayate and Uzuki Yugao had seen this technique before. They envied him and wanted to learn it, but they couldn't. It required the ultimate combination of shape transformation and nature transformation in Chakra. They had no idea how many more years they would have to train to pull it off.

"All right, this C-rank Mission is over."

After Uzuki Yugao announced it, the three searched the stronghold, mainly for cash and valuables. Any special intelligence they found would be an unexpected bonus.

Nearly two months had passed since they wiped out the Sea Shark Clan, and they had already completed quite a few similar missions.

Some involved Rogue Ninjas or wandering ninjas, raising the Mission Rank to B-Rank, but most were C-rank missions that didn't involve ninjas.

There were no A-rank missions. Those involved Special Jonin or Jonin, who held respectable positions in the village. Even if they defected, they could make a good living anywhere; there was no need to become bandits, an occupation with no future.

The money they found after each mission was an unexpected bonus. After all, how much did a C-rank Mission pay? Even a B-rank mission paid no more than 200,000 ryo at the top end, and that had to be split four ways.

Take the D-rank mission to clear out wild animals, for example. Why had Higashino Makoto marked each kill on the map? Because the breeding farm had to send people to retrieve them, then pay the squad for them.

The same went for the large ship they had acquired after wiping out the Sea Shark Clan. The officials at Hemo Port would convert it into cash. No one dared embezzle money from their country's ninjas, unless they didn't want to live.

But all four members of Third Squad had agreed to give the money from selling that ship to the victims they had rescued.

Ninjas were tools, but they couldn't be heartless.

After they finished tidying up, Higashino Makoto saw what they had collected and said happily, "Come on, let's head back and meet up with our teacher. I hear the hot springs in town are great. We can relax for a bit."

They'd worked so hard on this mission. Why shouldn't they enjoy themselves?

Besides, none of them was short on money now.

The village wouldn't demand the spoils from outside their missions. Ninjas lived in the village and spent a lot, after all. The money would eventually circulate back into the village, so there was no need to reclaim it by order and risk discouraging the people under its command.