Mission Complete

"So what were we supposed to do now?" Menma casually threw a shuriken at the boar, but unsurprisingly, it failed to pierce its defenses.

"We couldn't beat it or kill it. Did either of you know any powerful ninjutsu?"

"There was no way around it. Even the Fire Release I knew couldn't kill it." Sasuke looked at the boar, which was still struggling endlessly in a futile attempt to pull itself free.

"How about trying Explosive Tags?

Sasuke, shoot a kunai tied with Explosive Tags into its eye, then detonate them." After observing for a moment, Sakura offered a constructive suggestion.

"No. Explosive Tags were only a little stronger than the Great Fireball Technique, and their power was limited. They might not be enough to kill this boar.

If they failed to seriously injure it and instead blew apart the trunk, letting the boar escape, catching it again would be troublesome." Sasuke objected as he stared at the enormous boar head, nearly as tall as a person.

"I say we just get Kakashi-sensei over here. As a Jonin, he should be able to kill it easily." Menma thought of calling in outside help.

"No, no. Asking Kakashi would certainly be the easiest method, but our mission rating would undoubtedly be the lowest possible. That would affect our future ninja promotion exams." Sakura rejected Menma's idea.

The three sat in a circle, frowning as they thought of a solution.

"I have an idea. It was a bit cruel, but it should work if nothing unexpected happened." Sasuke suddenly had an inspiration.

"Let's hear it."

"We'll chop some wood, pile it around the boar, then I'll use Fire Release to ignite it. We'll slowly burn it to death." Sasuke said darkly.

"Setting aside whether it's cruel or not—ninjas were a profession that did whatever was necessary—but had you considered how to control the fire?

If it caused a forest fire, we'd probably spend the rest of our lives in Konoha Prison." Sakura calmly pointed out the flaw in Sasuke's plan.

"Sasuke's idea isn't bad. At least the general direction is right," Menma added. "In other words, we just need to solve the issue of controlling the fire."

"And how would we do that? Just so you know, I only knew a simple Water Release. There was no way I could put out a huge fire." Sakura asked.

"We didn't need to burn the whole boar. We only needed to burn its head.

Even if it didn't burn to death, the hot smoke and dust should scorch its respiratory tract and suffocate it.

Besides, as far as I knew, living creatures gradually lost strength and consciousness while suffocating.

That would prevent it from making a desperate counterattack and injuring us before it died." Menma analyzed calmly.

"I object!

You can't do that!" Pakkun crawled out from somewhere.

He had heard the entire discussion between Menma and the others. If he did not step out to stop them now, the three of them might embark on a path of no return.

"Why?" The three were confused.

"This is an unwritten rule of the Shinobi World: unless it's necessary for extracting intelligence through interrogation, ninjas must not abuse or torture enemies who have lost the ability to resist," Pakkun said.

"Though this rule has become largely meaningless after several shinobi wars, I still hope you'll follow it.

Ninjas can use any means necessary when carrying out missions, but I still hope you can retain your bottom line as human beings."

"Sigh... got it." After sighing, Menma said to Sakura and Sasuke,

"I have a way to kill this boar, but I won't say what it is.

If you trust me, hand over all the Explosive Tags on you, then leave and hide behind that big tree."

"What method?

Using several Explosive Tags in a combined blast? Forgive my bluntness, but that probably won't do much." Sasuke spoke frankly.

"Trust me. You won't want to see that scene. The only thing I can guarantee is that it'll definitely kill this boar."

Menma's expression was grave, and he refused to reveal his plan no matter what.

"Fine, then give it a try." Hearing that, Sakura handed all the Explosive Tags on her to Menma, then turned and walked away.

Sasuke wanted to say something, but in the end, he said nothing. He took out his Explosive Tags and handed them to Menma before following Sakura away.

After thinking for a moment, Menma grabbed Pakkun by the scruff of his neck and threw him toward Sasuke. "Pakkun, you shouldn't watch either."

Then he wrapped all the Explosive Tags around a kunai's handle and walked toward the boar.

Sasuke and Sakura, who had already gone some distance away, suddenly heard the boar release an enormous scream that pierced the sky, utterly miserable and inhuman.

Then came a violent explosion. Before long, Menma walked over with a gloomy expression and said, "All right, the boar's dead. You can go look now."

Sasuke and Sakura exchanged looks before returning to where they had been. What greeted them was a bloody scene fit for hell, along with a nauseating stench.

The boar's relatively intact head was still wedged in the tree trunk. Its upper body hung halfway down, lying on its side in a pool of bloody mud, while its lower half was a complete mess apart from the barely recognizable shapes of two hind legs.

Unidentifiable tissue and chunks of meat were scattered all around in a radial pattern, dripping thick, unidentified fluid.

In any film, a scene like this would have been turned black and white and covered in heavy censorship mosaics.

Sasuke and Sakura could no longer hold it in. They turned and ran back, bracing themselves against trees as they vomited.

"Go get Kakashi. Tell him the mission target has been successfully defeated, but we don't have suitable tools for cutting meat and need to borrow his knife."

Menma stopped Pakkun from going back for a look and gave him a mission.

He was afraid that seeing that hellish scene would traumatize Pakkun enough to make him dispel the summon immediately.

Though Pakkun did not understand what Menma meant, he obediently ran back the way they had come to find Kakashi.

Before long, Sasuke and Sakura finished vomiting and looked at Menma with complicated expressions. Menma said nothing, merely sitting quietly against a tree.

How nice would it be to have a cigarette right now? Too bad our team's Jonin wasn't Asuma, or I could've asked him for one. Menma's thoughts drifted.

"It's okay. Even though you're a pervert, we're teammates, so I won't dislike you for it."

After thinking it over, Sakura still walked over to comfort Menma.

"Go away. I don't want to talk to you." Menma did not look pleased.

As smart as Sakura and Sasuke were, the moment they saw the carnage, they understood how Menma had killed the boar.

It had to be said that the method was indeed extremely powerful and did not involve excessive torture.

But if the boar had a spirit in heaven, it would probably have preferred to be smoked to death. At least that way, it could have retained its final shred of dignity.

A little while later, Kakashi strolled over. After glancing at the three pale-faced children, he silently followed the scent of blood into the place where the boar had died.

When Kakashi came back out, he had a massive boar foreleg slung over his shoulder.

As expected of a veteran Jonin who had endured seas of blood and mountains of corpses. He could still remain completely unfazed by such a scene.

"How did you manage that?" Kakashi asked curiously.

"Konoha's secret taijutsu ultimate technique: Thousand Years of Death—Explosive Tag Version," Menma answered.

Kakashi understood instantly.

"Well then, let's head back. Sensei will make you some grilled meat."

The moment they heard the words grilled meat, Sakura and Sasuke's faces turned green again.

After returning to the village, none of the three had much of an appetite.

Kakashi understood the reason and did not say much.

He merely forced the three to eat grilled meat before dismissing them to do as they pleased.

Afterward, Kakashi found the village chief and led several villagers into the forest.

First, they needed to confirm the mission target.

Second, although the boar had died horribly, much of its meat could still be butchered for food.

For an ordinary small village, after all, meat was something they might only eat a few times a year.

Naturally, the meat was not free. Besides adding to the mission payment, the villagers also had to pay an extra fee to purchase the pork.

The price was not high. It was raised to the upper limit for a D-rank mission—fifty thousand ryo. Compared to over a thousand pounds of meat, the villagers had made an enormous profit.

Thus, the villagers unanimously decided to hold a grand bonfire party that evening to honor the achievements of the Konoha ninjas and celebrate the village's additional income.

Night fell. Kakashi and Menma's group sat around a small bonfire. After resting for an afternoon,

the three had barely calmed down, but none of them were in high spirits. They seemed completely out of place among the laughing, cheerful villagers.

Kakashi knew they had merely been temporarily shaken by the bloody scene and were feeling mentally drained, so he decided to say something to ease their minds. After all, helping subordinates manage psychological issues was also one of a supervising Jonin's responsibilities.

"Cheer up. Each of you, summarize what you learned from today's mission!" Kakashi casually picked up a branch, snapped it, and tossed it into the fire. "Menma, you first!"

"Yes." Menma leaned forward slightly, accurately sticking the wooden branch in his hand into the bonfire before beginning his analysis of the day's mission.

"Today's mission was to eliminate the boar attacking the villagers and, if conditions allowed, kill the target.

Although we ultimately completed the mission, there were still many shortcomings during its execution. If not for a coincidence, one of the three of us might have been injured.

First was the issue of intelligence gathering. After accepting the mission from the mission hall, we did not thoroughly gather information on the target, which resulted in us lacking sufficient strength to kill it."

"Very good! Anything else to add?" Kakashi said.

"Mm... I think the mission target we encountered was somewhat abnormal." Menma thought for a moment before answering honestly.

"It was too large, too fast, and its defenses were too high. Rather than a large wild beast, it seemed more like a summoned beast that had cultivated chakra within its body."

"Mm, I had the same feeling." Sasuke interrupted, agreeing with Menma's assessment.

"We lacked effective methods for controlling and attacking large targets, and in a forest environment, I couldn't use powerful Fire Release ninjutsu."

"Not bad. Anything else?" Kakashi continued asking.

"There was also the issue of preparation before battle. When we saw the mission target, we should have made a battle plan first, then started fighting." Sakura said.

"Especially Sasuke. Rushing in recklessly at the beginning would only create danger." Menma also criticized Sasuke without mercy.

"But we only had half an hour to eliminate it. There wasn't enough time to hold a strategy meeting." Sasuke was still somewhat unconvinced.

"That still didn't mean you could act rashly. If I hadn't rescued you in time, you would've already been stabbed through with a huge hole." Menma said.

"Did I ask you to save me? What a busybody! Even if you hadn't come out, I could've dodged it!" Sasuke's face reddened as he angrily retorted.

"All right, all right..." Seeing that the two were about to argue, Kakashi quickly interrupted.

"Next, let me say a few words..."