Rogue Ninja

The next day, Chiba Shun collected the reward for the S-rank Mission: the minimum amount again, one million ryo.

He immediately went to Aoki Yuyi and repaid the money he owed.

When Aoki Yuyi first saw Chiba Shun, his face was still dark. He thought Chiba Shun had come to borrow money again.

Over the past half year, Chiba Shun had borrowed a total of 400,000 ryo from him.

At first, he had lent him 200,000 ryo because he wanted to build a good relationship with Chiba Shun.

But Chiba Shun seemed to have gotten addicted to borrowing money. Every payday, he would come borrow another sum.

Other people got paid and repaid their debts. He, on the other hand, got paid and conveniently borrowed more money.

If Chiba Shun had not sworn that an S-rank Mission reward would be credited soon, Aoki Yuyi would never have lent him any more money.

Aoki Yuyi regretted reconciling with him more than ever!

Seeing Aoki Yuyi's dark expression, Chiba Shun grinned and took out 400,000 ryo, placing it on his desk.

Aoki Yuyi froze for a moment, then counted it as if he could not believe it before asking, "Where did you get so much money? Did the reward for that S-rank Mission come through?"

"You really had a secret S-rank Mission?"

Chiba Shun smiled. "Yes. Actually, the mission was completed long ago. It was only confirmed successful last night."

"So I came to repay my debt as soon as I got the money."

Aoki Yuyi put away the money and nodded.

Then Chiba Shun said, "In a while, I'll have to leave the village again."

Aoki Yuyi raised a brow. "Don't tell me it's another secret S-rank Mission?"

Chiba Shun thought for a moment. "Probably not this time. It's likely an A-rank Mission, though it is indeed secret."

Aoki Yuyi did not understand. Shouldn't a normal mission have its rank determined first, then have suitable shinobi assigned to complete it?

Forget it. He could not be bothered to care anymore. He simply waved his hand, signaling for Chiba Shun to get lost.

Chiba Shun happily left Aoki Yuyi's office.

Repaying money was a happy thing for Aoki Yuyi, the creditor, but it was equally happy for Chiba Shun, the debtor.

Half a month later, Chiba Shun left Kumogakure with a large amount of intelligence the village had provided about the surviving members of the Uzumaki.

Just as when he had persuaded Akira Hyuga, the village once again assigned Chiba Shun the task of persuading the Uzumaki survivors.

However, the village placed far less importance on the Uzumaki survivors than it did on the Hyuga Clan. In theory, Chiba Shun could leave the village alone this time.

Still, Chiba Shun selected three children from the Ninja Academy and formed a temporary squad.

Of the three children, two were Ayana and Shosuke, who had previously gone to Konoha with Chiba Shun.

The two children had encountered an assassination attempt on their way back from Konoha. They had survived by luck, and Chiba Shun had taken the chance to instill the Will of Lightning in them.

From then on, their mindsets changed, and their resolve improved.

By Chiba Shun's judgment, once they graduated, their resolve alone would qualify them as Genin.

Of course, that still did not change the fact that both children had ordinary physiques.

However, Chiba Shun had taken notice of Ayana's talent with Sealing Scrolls, so he brought her along to give her experience.

As for Shosuke, the boy mainly had a good personality. He neither fought nor competed with others. When Chiba Shun gave him something, he happily accepted it. When he did not, he simply trained by himself. He was rather likable.

With no more suitable candidates, Chiba Shun brought him along as well.

The third child was also an orphan, and his talent was not enough to catch Aoki Yuyi's eye.

His name was Hayata. Like Ayana and Shosuke, he had no surname.

Chiba Shun had chosen Hayata because of his chakra control.

The first time he climbed a wall, he reached its top. That was no easy feat for a seven-year-old child.

Strong chakra control was extremely useful. Whether performing jutsu, learning Sealing Techniques, or practicing Medical Ninjutsu, all required a shinobi to possess excellent chakra control.

Even the simplified hand seals Chiba Shun had been working on required exceptional chakra control.

Therefore, when Chiba Shun searched the Ninja Academy for children with special talents, he paid particular attention to this aspect.

Hayata was the student he had selected from more than five thousand students for his talent in chakra control.

However, like every shinobi of mediocre talent from a civilian background, Hayata had far too little chakra.

Just how little chakra did he have?

He had less than every peer his age who had already extracted chakra. Based on his age, by the time he graduated, his total chakra would probably only be enough to cast one C-rank Jutsu.

No matter what, such talent would never earn Aoki Yuyi's approval.

Forget catching Aoki Yuyi's eye—Hayata would have difficulty even graduating normally!

His frail body truly was not suited to becoming a shinobi.

If Chiba Shun had not taken in all the orphans throughout the Land of Lightning and enrolled them in the Ninja Academy, Hayata would never have qualified to attend.

Yet Chiba Shun had chosen him.

In Aoki Yuyi's view, chakra reserves were extremely important, a necessary prerequisite for becoming an outstanding shinobi.

But in Chiba Shun's view, chakra reserves could hopefully be improved.

For example, through better food and a stronger physique, or through increased training and greater resolve.

Of course, neither improvement would be significant. At most, they would allow Hayata, who could originally cast one C-rank Jutsu, to cast two. That had little meaning.

But Chiba Shun knew another method: developing a Kekkei Genkai!

That was right. In ordinary people's eyes, such a method did not exist, because what shinobi capable of developing a Kekkei Genkai was not an exceptional genius?

For example, the future Fifth Mizukage, Mei Terumi, developed two Kekkei Genkai.

Yet Chiba Shun placed this hope on a student with scarce chakra.

Because Chiba Shun knew that an ordinary Kekkei Genkai was the fusion of two types of chakra.

And fusion required extremely advanced chakra control.

Hayata happened to possess talent in chakra control.

Thus, Chiba Shun left Kumogakure with three seven-year-old children, bound for the Land of Grass.

The intelligence division had provided plenty of information about Uzumaki survivors. Some was true, some false, and much of it was merely hearsay. In truth, even Chiba Shun could not judge it.

But Chiba Shun knew that the target in the Land of Grass was most likely real.

This journey required them to pass through their own Land of Lightning first, then the Land of Moon, the Land of Hot Water, the Land of Fields, the Land of Iron, and the Land of Waterfalls before finally reaching their destination, the Land of Grass.

Of course, they could also pass through the Land of Fire, but in Chiba Shun's eyes, the Land of Fire was a place of trouble. With his current strength, he would avoid it if possible.

It was only because this was a peaceful era that any Jonin would dare lead three newcomers such a great distance on a mission.

Hayata was rather excited. This was his first time leaving the Land of Lightning. More precisely, aside from the orphanage before and the Ninja Academy afterward, he had never been anywhere else.

But Ayana and Shosuke felt completely differently.

Having experienced the assassination attempt by Kirigakure shinobi, the two had been nervous ever since leaving Kumogakure, staying alert throughout the journey for possible enemy ambushes.

Chiba Shun smiled but did not comfort them. Comfort from others was useless in such matters; they had to get used to it themselves.

Besides, the shinobi world was dangerous by nature. Staying vigilant was a good thing.

The group of four did not travel quickly. They stopped and went along the way, while Chiba Shun occasionally guided the three children in their training.

Once their chakra was exhausted, he treated them to lavish meals, let them learn about the local customs, and gave them enough time to rest.

Thus, it took the four of them nearly ten days from leaving Kumogakure to exiting the Land of Lightning.

After adapting for those ten days, Hayata had lost his initial sense of novelty, while Ayana and Shosuke had finally become much more normal. They were no longer like startled birds.

However, ever since leaving the Land of Lightning, Chiba Shun's pace changed.

He no longer allowed the three to waste their already limited chakra on training.

Although the Land of Lightning could not be called absolutely safe, Wandering Ninja and Rogue Ninja still existed there. But upon seeing Kumogakure shinobi, most would choose to avoid them.

But once they left the Land of Lightning, everything was different.

The shinobi villages in these countries could not even deal with the Wandering Ninja and Rogue Ninja within their own borders, so public security in these places was very poor.

Forget Kumogakure shinobi—even shinobi from Konoha, the hegemon of the shinobi world, could come under attack.

Some powerful Rogue Ninja even specifically targeted shinobi from major villages, because shinobi from those villages usually carried one or two valuable items.

Chiba Shun's group was no exception. On their first day entering the Land of Moon, they encountered a group of Wandering Ninja, or perhaps Rogue Ninja.

Wandering Ninja referred to shinobi who had not been trained by a shinobi village, and they could be divided into two categories.

The first category: some had parents who were Wandering Ninja, while others had decent talent and were noticed by other Wandering Ninja, who took them on as disciples.

There were the most of these people. At this point in time, only a few decades had passed since Hashirama and Madara established the shinobi villages.

During the Warring States era, many shinobi had not joined shinobi villages. They became the earliest Wandering Ninja, and their descendants were generally Wandering Ninja as well.

Some of them also made a living by completing missions. Many small countries and daimyo posted missions on the black market.

Some of those were normal missions, such as helping civilians.

Others could not be brought into the open, such as bounty missions.

In short, these missions supported those Wandering Ninja.

The second category: some shinobi villages had been destroyed, such as Whirlpool Nest Village. Shinobi who came from the former Whirlpool Nest Village became Wandering Ninja.

The target of Chiba Shun's journey could actually be considered a Wandering Ninja as well.

The relationship between Wandering Ninja and village shinobi was one of competition. Both treated mission completion as their profession, and conflicts frequently occurred.

The vast majority of Wandering Ninja hated village shinobi for competing with them for missions.

As for Rogue Ninja, there was no need to explain. They were naturally traitors from the various shinobi villages.

These were dangerous individuals. Many Rogue Ninja harbored deep resentment toward their villages and could not stand seeing village shinobi doing well, even if the other party was not from their former village.

After observing them, Chiba Shun judged that the group of enemies they had encountered consisted of four Rogue Ninja.

Four Rogue Ninja banding together was actually a rare sight.

Traitors generally did not appear in groups.

But these four seemed to have originally been a squad. Perhaps they had accepted a suicide mission and therefore chose to defect together.

Fortunately, judging from their auras, they were only four Chunin. There were no Jonin among them.

Chiba Shun guessed that the four had originally been a Chunin squad: one Chunin leading three Genin.

But now, all three Genin had grown into Chunin.

Perhaps because Chiba Shun had concealed his aura, the four Rogue Ninja misjudged his strength and considered them easy prey.

Newcomers from a major shinobi village might be carrying some good things.

They might even find one or two jutsu scrolls!