Counterfeit Goods

With a kind village resident leading the way, the four of them arrived at the village chief's home.

The village chief of Santa Village was an old man in his fifties or sixties. He looked only a little younger than the Third.

As the kind village chief recounted what had happened, the members of Genma Team learned more about details of this A-rank mission that hadn't been included in the intelligence report.

But they still knew very little about the bandit's strength. The villagers and passersby were all ordinary people, and they couldn't judge how strong he was.

After thinking it over, Genma decided they should go into the forest tomorrow and investigate. It would be best to first confirm the bandit's strength. If he wasn't very strong, they could take him down right away.

After explaining the details of the next day's operation to Kamizuki and the others, Genma decided it was getting late and asked the village chief to arrange lodging for the night.

The kind village chief arranged two houses for Genma Team to rest in.

The houses weren't particularly nice, but they were clean and tidy. Kamizuki and Genma shared one room, while Mangetsu and Mai shared another.

The night passed without incident...

At dawn the next day, everyone in Genma Team got up, washed, and ate a little of the breakfast the village chief had prepared for them. Then they set out for the forest where the bandit often appeared.

The members of Genma Team leaped from tree to tree through the forest, searching constantly for the bandit.

Kamizuki tucked Adou inside his clothes, leaving only its head exposed. With his Byakugan activated, he searched for the bandit as well.

Perhaps the bandit thought it was too early to start work and hadn't come out yet, or perhaps something else had happened. The team searched the forest all morning but couldn't find the slightest sign of anyone.

Genma told his subordinates to find a flat spot where they could rest and have lunch. Kamizuki deactivated his Byakugan.

Mangetsu found a reasonably flat spot and motioned for the others to head over and take a break.

The moment everyone jumped from the trees to the ground, a tremendous bang suddenly rang out. Boom!

After the blast, a cloud of smoke rose, and the two large trees on either side of it snapped in half.

When the smoke cleared, the members of Genma Team were standing unharmed in front of the cloud as it slowly dissipated.

As the smoke dispersed, a giant man nearly two meters tall emerged from it, looking bewildered. He held a spiked club as thick as a man's thigh and slowly walked out.

The giant wore a Konoha forehead protector and staggered forward with each step. He casually lifted the enormous club and rested it on his shoulder before speaking:

"Your luck runs out today! I planted this tree, and I opened this road. If you want to pass, leave your money behind!"

When Kamizuki heard that, he couldn't help laughing. Damn, that classic line has made its way into the Naruto world too? I have to hand it to those great minds back in my homeland!

Even the two girls beside him couldn't hold back their laughter after hearing the giant's opening line.

Sakura Mangetsu managed to keep herself in check. Though she had a tomboyish personality, she still cared about her appearance in front of strangers. She simply covered her mouth and giggled to herself.

Mai Shiranui, on the other hand, laughed heartily.

Mai's uninhibited laughter left the giant utterly bewildered.

A moment later, he finally came to his senses. He looked at the youngsters in front of him, who hadn't even finished growing, and realized they were openly laughing at him.

The giant's anger shot up, and his face began to flush red with rage.

As the giant's face turned crimson, Kamizuki pointed at him and asked:

"Are you the bandit who's been robbing travelers in the forest around here?"

"And what the hell is that forehead protector on your head?"

When the giant heard Kamizuki's questions, his anger vanished in an instant. Instead, a smug expression appeared on his face.

The giant said arrogantly:

"Listen up, you little brats who haven't even finished growing! I am none other than the former captain of the Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze's bodyguard unit, Genma Shiranui of the Hidden Leaf Village in the Land of Fire!"

After hearing the giant introduce himself, Mai Shiranui and Sakura Mangetsu, who had managed to stop laughing, exchanged strange looks between the giant and the silent Genma Shiranui standing beside them.

The two girls couldn't hold it in any longer. They burst into laughter, and even Sakura Mangetsu, who had cared about keeping up appearances, completely forgot about it this time. They laughed so hard that, in the end, they clung to each other and kept laughing.

Kamizuki, who had just questioned the giant, was also struggling to hold back his laughter, his face contorted with the effort.

Genma Shiranui had remained silent the whole time. After hearing the giant's words and seeing the expressions on his three subordinates' faces, he felt embarrassed too.

After rattling off the lines he had long since memorized by heart, the giant expected the people in front of him to look terrified when they heard his impressive introduction.

He had done this before, after all, and he had plenty of other lines. He had a whole collection of grand titles from various ninja villages and could change things up whenever he wanted.

But as the giant waited eagerly for them to show the fear and terror he thought they should, what he heard was laughter even more uproarious than before.

Hearing the laughter, the giant said in confusion:

"Uh! Something's wrong with the way this scene is playing out! Shouldn't you be looking terrified? Why...?"

Kamizuki tried to compose himself. Damn it, where did this clown come from? He's way too funny! I'm struggling so hard to hold it in...

Once he had finally calmed down, Kamizuki looked at the giant and said:

"Uh... Hey, you. If you're Genma Shiranui, then who's this man beside me?"

The giant looked at the middle-aged man Kamizuki was pointing to and scoffed as if he were an idiot.

"Are you stupid or what? You're asking me who he is, but you don't even know your own companion, and you still—"

Only when the giant said "and you still" did he notice that everyone in front of him was wearing the leaf-shaped forehead protector used by ninja from the Hidden Leaf Village.

At once, sweat beaded on the giant's back. He realized he'd apparently picked a fight with someone he shouldn't have. He hadn't expected to run into the real deal while out working today.

But then a thought suddenly occurred to him. If he'd run into the real deal today, and he managed to kill them, wouldn't that make him the real deal from then on?

The giant's thoughts immediately fell into place. With a nasty grin, he raised the enormous spiked club in his hands and said to the brats in front of him:

"Since you all know who I am, don't blame me for showing no mercy! Take this, my spiked club!"

As soon as the giant finished speaking, there was a loud BANG as the club slammed into the ground.

Another cloud of dust rose with the impact. A moment later, it cleared to reveal the giant lying on the ground, his face bruised and swollen. Even his own mother probably wouldn't have recognized him.

And just like that, Genma Team easily subdued the bandit. After tying him up, they took him back to Santa Village and handed him over to the village chief. They also confiscated all the tools he had used to impersonate ninja from other villages.

After receiving the bandit who had been impersonating a ninja from Genma, the village chief of Santa Village sent him to the authorities. He also gave Genma Team proof of their mission's completion to take back to Konoha.

That afternoon, the villagers of Santa Village saw Genma Team off as they left and began their journey back to Konoha.