The Secret of Sweet Water Town

"Ten million?"

Hatake Jiangyi came from a traditional samurai family, so he naturally knew the going rates for bounties on the black market.

"A bounty of over ten million ryo is already the kind of price they put on a Chunin or an elite Chunin."

Misaka 0015 nodded. "When he defected, he was already a Mist Ninja Chunin."

Uchiha Hezi smiled reassuringly at everyone. "Don't worry too much. I've mastered the Two-Tomoe Sharingan, and Jiangyi and Nonō are both at Chunin level now.

"More importantly, we learned quite a few jutsu during this special training. Taking down a Chunin will be a piece of cake."

Hezi glanced at the strapping Misaka 0015 beside her and teased with a grin, "Besides, we have our Moon Sister. Big Sis is crazy strong—one punch, one kid down."

Her remark made Jiangyi and Nonō laugh.

Hatake Jiangyi and Yakushi Nonō had been a little anxious to begin with. After all, they were in the Land of Rain.

The two newcomers felt some pressure at the thought of fighting ninjas from an enemy country.

If not for 0015 "Moon," who was so strong and muscular that she looked like an expert Taijutsu ninja,

they would have felt even more nervous. She made them feel much safer.

0015 also tried to lighten the mood. "Our main objective isn't to kill Nagashima Ryosuke. It's to find the stock of Military Ration Pill drugs he commissioned Salamander Hanzo to make."

Looking at Uchiha Hezi and the others, 0015 continued to explain.

"These Military Ration Pills and drugs are most likely still hidden somewhere in this town. If we can't seize them, we'll have to try to destroy them."

Yakushi Nonō truly lived up to her future title of "Walking Shrine Maiden." As soon as she heard this, her keen instincts gave her an idea for the mission.

"I'm very familiar with how Military Ration Pill drugs are made. When I was training at Konoha Hospital, I helped produce them on a large scale.

"There are two steps that can't be avoided during production.

"First, you need a large amount of clean water to soak the various medicinal ingredients.

"Second, you need a space where the drugs can be baked and dried into their final form."

Jiangyi and Hezi exchanged a glance. They understood, too. "You mean the wastewater from soaking the ingredients and the smell of the drugs released while the Military Ration Pills bake could give us clues?"

Nonō's eyes lit up as she said, "Exactly! For the first step, we'll need Hatake Jiangyi's tracking Ninja Dog."

When talking about Hatake Jiangyi's inherited Ninja Dogs, Kakashi and his later team of Eight Ninja Hounds were worth mentioning.

Kakashi loved dogs more than life itself, and his knack for raising them was a family skill.

The Hatake Clan had a samurai heritage. Though their Ninja Dogs weren't as well-known as the Inuzuka Clan's, they were every bit as capable in battle.

Hatake Jiangyi could summon three Ninja Dogs, each with a different specialty.

[Gurin] was a huge, dark brown combat Ninja Dog. It weighed over 300 pounds and wore sharp spikes around its neck.

[Akira] was a medium-sized yellow Ninja Dog that wore sunglasses. Because it had exceptional night vision, it wore small, round black sunglasses even during the day to protect its eyes.

This Ninja Dog looked a lot like Kakashi's later Ninja Dog Akino, who also always wore sunglasses.

The last one, [Paru], was a special tracking Ninja Dog passed down through the Hatake Clan from generation to generation.

This kind of Ninja Dog was highly intelligent.

It could use special ninja-beast techniques such as [Dog Hair Clone] and [Dog Ninjutsu: Olfactory Spiritualization], and could even speak with people.

This small scent-tracking hound looked a lot like a pug.

It was tiny and rather cute.

If Fucheng saw this dog, he would definitely mistake it for Pakkun.

Paru and Pakkun were probably related.

Since they planned to rely on a Ninja Dog's sense of smell, Hatake Jiangyi summoned the hardworking little Paru.

"Yo!"

Paru emerged from a cloud of white smoke and waved a little paw at them. "Hello, everyone! I'm Paru. Huh? Aren't you Hezi and Nonō? Long time no see!"

The girls adored Paru's cuteness.

Even Moon Sister 0015 couldn't resist rubbing Paru's soft little head.

A doggy head pat!

At Jiangyi's request, Paru nodded. "Do you have any of the Military Ration Pills they made? Different pills might smell different, so let me have a sniff first."

0015 had already prepared some.

She had seized quite a few Military Ration Pills from the Rain Ninja.

Paru sniffed them, then pointed the way with a paw.

"Follow me. It rained here just a couple of days ago, so the scent left behind is very faint."

With Paru tracking the scent, four people and one dog began searching Sweet Water Town.

They made their way along several streets, looking for the facilities used to make the drugs and store the Military Ration Pills.

Sweet Water Town, in a gloomy underground cavern.

Nagashima Ryosuke looked displeased as he stared at the Mist Ninja deserter he had hired at great expense, Taketori Eitaro.

In private, Taketori Eitaro liked to call himself "Kaguya Eita."

Kaguya Eita was always eager for a fight, and he had been complaining nonstop about the damp cave hidden underground.

If Nagashima Ryosuke, his employer, hadn't repeatedly talked him down, he would have run up to the surface two days ago.

He wanted to fight the Konoha Ninja occupying the area with all his strength.

"Madman. A complete madman!" Kai Muyu, a guard from the Land of Rain skilled in Water Release and Ibuse's poison, also kept his distance from this mentally unstable "teammate."

The samurai guards, on the other hand, got along quite well with Kaguya Eita, who was passionate about hand-to-hand combat.

They had gone drinking together four or five times, and he had joined them for three or four of those outings.

Kai Muyu approached his employer and carefully relayed the information brought by the summoning beast Ibuse. The latest battle news made everyone immediately wary.

"Are you saying Salamander Doshin was killed by a Konoha Uchiha?" Nagashima Ryosuke asked in surprise.

Kai Muyu nodded helplessly. "Yes. The summoning beast contracted to Salamander Doshin, Giant Salamander Izawa, has already been killed by Konoha. This is the latest news from the Ibuse clan."

Before they had taken refuge in the underground cavern, the Rain Ninja led by Salamander Doshin had been the largest resistance force in the area.

And it had taken less than a few days.

Konoha had wiped them out?!

Salamander Doshin's defeat made Nagashima Ryosuke feel even more threatened.

He even began considering surrendering to Konoha.

"Found it!"

Paru's tail spun as he looked at them, brimming with excitement.

Still crouched at the well, Paru leaned over the opening and sniffed hard.

"Near the water's surface, there's a side passage branching off from this well.

"The scent of the Military Ration Pills is very strong here. I'm sure this is where the supplies are hidden."

Paru sniffed, speaking with certainty.

"But be careful. I can smell several enemies mixed together. There are definitely multiple people hiding here."

0015 and the others were delighted.

They hadn't expected Sweet Water Town to have a drug warehouse hidden underground.

Hatake Jiangyi grinned.

He happily handed Paru a handful of baked dog biscuits, then patted him encouragingly. "Well done!"