Mission in the Land of Demons

Uchiha Chen followed the staff member into the interior of the Underground Bounty Station. Deep underground, there was an unexpectedly vast space, complete with quite a few shops.

Seeing Chen appear, many people cast surprised glances his way.

It couldn't be helped; Chen was simply too young. Even with a mask on, his physique was impossible to disguise.

"All combat is prohibited inside the Bounty Association, though we don't care what happens once you leave. If you want to accept a mission, just go to the mission reception desk. If you need to buy out a mission, you must pay a certain deposit. The amount is ten percent of the mission bounty."

"Buy out a mission?"

Hearing this term, Chen felt a bit puzzled.

"Simply put, anyone can accept a mission from the Bounty Association, which means multiple people might attempt to complete the same task. In that case, only the first person to complete it gets the bounty; the others receive nothing. If you want exclusive rights to a mission, you need to buy it out. Once the mission is completed, the buyout fee is refunded. If you fail or the mission is canceled, there are no refunds. If it's a bounty on a head and someone else brings the target's head in before you, there is also no refund."

"Interesting. I'm curious, does the Bounty Association not take a cut?"

Chen was confused. After all, even with missions in Konoha, a portion was always turned over to the village, and the village's development relied on those funds.

"You don't need to worry about that. The mission bounties you see have already had all fees deducted. Whatever the mission is listed for is exactly what you will receive."

"I see."

After following the staff member to the registration desk to sign up, the man vanished instantly. The so-called registration only required a name, and they didn't even ask if it was real. It made sense; in this gray area, many people preferred not to reveal their identities.

Arriving at the mission reception area, Chen successfully found the mission for the Land of Demons.

Judging by the posting date, the mission had been up for a long time, yet no one had touched it. The reason was simple: on one hand, it involved Moryo, and on the other, the bounty was only one thousand ryo. Compared to other missions, the price was far too low.

Without hesitation, Chen accepted the mission and paid the one hundred ryo fee. Aside from the Land of Demons mission, Chen also took the opportunity to accept a few hunting bounty missions.

"In such a hurry to leave, kid?"

Just as Chen exited the Underground Bounty Station, several rogue ninjas followed him. Clearly, these guys were up to no good.

"You're rogue ninjas, right? I wonder if your villages have put out bounties on you?"

Chen didn't recognize the forehead protectors worn by the men trailing him; they were clearly not from the Five Great Shinobi Nations.

"Kid, you think you can earn our bounties? I suggest you crawl back home to your mother's milk. If you're smart, hand over your money. Since we're all part of the Bounty Association, we won't kill you."

The four rogue ninjas surrounded Chen, but he remained unbothered. Although he had killed bandits before, Chen had never truly fought against ninjas until now, so he wanted to see exactly what his strength was worth.

"Come at me together. Extra income is always nice."

Chen's words undoubtedly infuriated the rogue ninjas, and all four charged at Uchiha Chen almost simultaneously.

Facing the enemy's assault, Chen did not panic. He drew his Asauchi and charged directly at the rogue ninja in front of him.

When the kunai met the Asauchi, the blade—which looked like something from a roadside stall—actually snapped the opponent's kunai in two. Even Chen hadn't expected this, and the unlucky rogue ninja certainly hadn't either. Consequently, the poor guy stumbled right into the blade and met his end.

"How about that? How could something provided by this system be ordinary? Someone was quite dismissive of it back then."

The system's voice rang out suddenly, sounding incredibly smug. Chen ignored it; there were still three enemies left.

Chen's instant elimination of one man left the other three stunned, but their attacks did not cease. A second later, all three strikes landed on Chen.

However, just as the trio began to gloat, with a pop, the Chen they had struck transformed into a wooden log, and there were Explosive Tags attached to it.

"Oh no!"

One rogue ninja reacted immediately, but having already escaped, how could Chen let such an opportunity slip by?

"Fire Release, Great Fireball Technique!"

A massive fireball appeared, and this time, Chen deliberately lowered the power of the ninjutsu.

After all, if they were burned to ashes, there would be no head left to exchange for the bounty.

Having easily dealt with the enemies, Chen finally had a gauge of his own strength; he was undoubtedly at the level of a genin, though still some distance away from a chunin.

Of course, Chen was referring to the legitimate rankings within the Five Great Shinobi Nations.

With the bounty collected, Chen's wallet finally plumped up, and naturally, his next destination was the Land of Demons.

Along the way, Chen took care of a few unlucky souls, which served as a way to complete his tasks.

Upon arriving in the Land of Demons, Chen found the atmosphere to be somewhat oppressive, or rather, truly eerie.

"I am the bounty hunter who accepted the mission from your Daimyo."

Presenting his token, Chen met with the Daimyo of the Land of Demons without a hitch.

"Why is it just a brat?"

Seeing Chen appear, the Daimyo of the Land of Demons immediately revealed a look of dissatisfaction, expressing his discontent without any reservation.

However, the next second, he felt the Asauchi in Chen's hand pressed directly against his throat.

It wasn't just the Daimyo of the Land of Demons; even the samurai in the room were restrained by Chen's Shadow Clone.

"I think it would be best if Your Excellency the Daimyo didn't make such jokes. After all, I am a rather impulsive person, and if I were to accidentally do something, it wouldn't be very good."

As Chen spoke, he withdrew the Asauchi and returned to the center of the room, as if nothing had happened at all.

However, the Daimyo of the Land of Demons had nearly wet himself in fear.

Kurai Seiichi, the Daimyo of the Land of Demons, had certainly seen ninjas before, but this was the first time he had encountered one like Chen, who would resort to violence at the slightest disagreement.

The other samurai were so intimidated by Chen's actions that they even forgot to protect their own Daimyo, which was quite laughable when one thought about it.

"Since you have accepted the mission, you should understand that this time it involves escorting the Shrine Maiden to the shrine where Moryo is sealed to retrieve the token of the previous Shrine Maiden.

I will dispatch elites to accompany you to ensure nothing goes wrong."

"Elites? Is Your Excellency the Daimyo referring to them?

If so, I see no need; bringing them along will only drag the Shrine Maiden down."

Hearing this, the samurai in the room all gripped their katanas, as if they were ready to charge forward at any second.

"I advise you all to think clearly. If you draw your blades, I wouldn't mind slicing through both your swords and your heads in one go."