"How did this happen? Did Hokage-sama give you such a rare mission?"
"That doesn't seem right!"
Neji stopped walking. "There's something off about this mission!"
"I found it at the trading market. It wasn't issued by the village."
Qinglong smiled awkwardly. The village hadn't even assigned him a mission yet.
"What?!"
Neji stared at Qinglong in shock. Tenten and Little Lee were just as astonished.
Kid, you've got some nerve! Was this really a mission that ordinary Genin—or even a Genin who had only just become a ninja—could take on?
Qinglong helplessly waved a hand. That was just how it was.
Neji sighed.
"We'll go with you and do our best to help you complete your mission. If things become impossible, Qinglong, you need to be prepared to give up and retreat at once."
"Don't worry!"
Qinglong gave them a thumbs-up.
"Stay behind me. If the mission becomes impossible, we all need to retreat at once."
After crossing a hill, they saw their target up ahead.
As Little Lee and the others approached, they spotted a huge, striped tiger sleeping atop a boulder.
The three of them instantly felt their hair stand on end. The tiger's enormous nostrils rumbled like thunder with every breath, and one of its paws was as big as a person. A teenage boy wouldn't even be as big as one of its slaps!
But Qinglong was already itching to take on the giant tiger.
Little Lee and the others hurried to stop him, trying to pull him away so they could sneak off.
But it was too late. The tiger was incredibly alert. It suddenly opened its eyes; the four of them had already awakened it with their faint noises.
"ROAR!"
The giant tiger roared, shook its head, and looked at the four little people before it.
Imagine waking up to find food delivered right to you! The giant tiger was delighted.
Its gaze softened as it looked at them.
"Run!"
Neji shouted. At his command, Little Lee and Tenten instantly turned and ran.
After running some distance, they looked back and saw Qinglong still standing where he was.
The three of them stopped and shouted at him.
"Qinglong, are you stupid? Run!"
Qinglong looked back and gave them a thumbs-up, then said confidently,
"Don't worry. I can handle prey like this."
"ROAR!"
The giant tiger leaped high into the air and pounced.
Just as its claws were about to grab the person before it, the little figure vanished in a flash.
The giant tiger roared in frustration, thinking it still hadn't woken up.
"I'm up here!"
Qinglong shouted from above. The moment the giant tiger raised its head to look, he was already plunging down with his fist raised!
"BOOM!"
He slammed his fist into the giant tiger's head.
The tiger roared as its entire jaw crashed into the ground. It tried to lift its head, but it was as if a mountain were pressing down on it, leaving it completely unable to move.
The giant tiger roared again and again, its claws digging enormous pits in the ground. But that small-looking hand on its head kept it pinned in place.
Qinglong turned his fist into a palm and held the tiger down, but it kept roaring, its enormous eyes fierce and defiant.
Qinglong raised his other hand and punched it. Then he punched it again.
"YOW!"
The giant tiger gave a pained cry. Dazed circles spun above its head, and its whole body went limp.
Little Lee, Neji, and Tenten stared at the scene, dumbfounded.
Then they watched as Qinglong grabbed the giant tiger by the tail, hoisted it onto his shoulder, and started walking back with the still-unconscious animal in tow.
Little Lee and the others swallowed hard. The sight of Qinglong dragging a giant tiger that was taller than him even lying down was burned into their memories.
The once fearsome Tiger King was now being dragged along like a dead pig, leaving a long, deep furrow in the ground.
Neji swallowed and asked nervously,
"Um, Kiyotaki-kun, shouldn't you tie up that giant tiger?"
"Oh! No need. It can't hurt anyone!"
Qinglong replied reassuringly.
Neji and the others were still a little uneasy, so they kept well ahead of the tiger and led the way. With Qinglong behind them, there was no way the tiger could get past him and hurt them, right?
They dragged the tiger along until they were halfway back. At last, it woke up. Seeing the scenery gradually moving away from it, it finally realized what was happening.
That terrifyingly powerful human was holding its tail and dragging it along.
The giant tiger roared in terror and tried to run back on all fours.
But it couldn't move at all!
It galloped on all fours, yet kept sliding backward.
Little Lee, Neji, and Tenten watched the tiger try to run on all fours while still being dragged backward. It looked like Michael Jackson doing the moonwalk, and they couldn't help feeling a little sorry for it.
At last, it let out a mournful cry and dug all four paws into the ground, leaving four deep claw marks as it was dragged along.
As for fighting back, how could it possibly dare?
At the gates of Konoha, the village's gate guards, Izumo Kamizuki and Kotetsu Hagane, were both stunned. A boy was dragging a tiger along as if it were a little cat.
Qinglong greeted them at the gate, then dragged the giant tiger through the Konoha Gate. The tiger seemed to sense its fate and suddenly struggled with all its might, trying to escape.
Qinglong turned around and gave it a smack.
"Behave yourself. Don't worry, I'm not selling you off to be made into tiger meat soup."
Before you continue