Training in the Land of Waves

If ten thousand prayers in a past life could only bring about one meeting,

then Ye Liang would rather not have had this one.

After the "shit" incident ended, Ye Liang had received only one hundred thousand ryō in compensation. It was a huge sum!

But Ye Liang would rather not have had that huge sum.

Once the Summoning Jutsu had been activated, it was extremely difficult to obtain other Summoned Beasts. If you performed another summoning ritual, you could only summon something similar to your original Summoned Beast.

For example, Ye Liang had summoned a piece of "shit," so he could only summon close relatives of that shit—perhaps a snail, perhaps another mollusk.

But there was no denying that they would all be weak.

If Ye Liang wanted to summon other Summoned Beasts, he would have to obtain an ancestral scroll, but that was simply impossible.

He was depressed.

Such an important opportunity, and all he had gotten was a piece of trash!

Even though Hiruzen Sarutobi had compensated him with one hundred thousand ryō, it could not ease the grief in his heart.

"Kakashi, what's been wrong with Sensei lately? He keeps staring at a piece of 'shit' and giggling like an idiot. Don't tell me he's gone crazy."

"Obito, don't talk nonsense! I heard the Third Hokage say that this is Teacher Ye Liang's Summoned Beast. It's a god-tier Summoned Beast, with strength no less than the sage Summoned Beasts of the Three Great Sacred Lands! I even heard that not even Gamabunta of Mount Myōboku could defeat this kind of Summoned Beast!"

"What?! That thing is actually that strong?!"

Obito instantly sucked in a sharp breath.

They were currently on their way to carry out a mission.

Since they had already rested for many days, their second mission was about to begin.

Ye Liang listened carefully to his team's conversation and felt slightly relieved.

To prevent his prestige from being damaged, Ye Liang had not only extorted a large sum of money from the Third Hokage, but had also threatened him not to reveal the fact that he had summoned a piece of "trash."

To outsiders, they could only say that this "shit" was an incredibly powerful Summoned Beast!

But he had not expected the Third Hokage to exaggerate the abilities of this "shit" so outrageously!

On par with the sages of the Three Great Sacred Lands!

"Ruǎnruǎn, are you really that amazing?"

Ye Liang stroked the soft-bodied summoned creature on his shoulder. Ruǎnruǎn was the name he had given it.

After some time spent figuring things out, Ye Liang suddenly discovered that his Summoned Beast was not entirely useless. Aside from having absolutely no combat ability, it could even transform into the appearance of any creature it touched. Although it was slightly smaller in size, Ye Liang believed that if it were given enough time to grow, it would definitely become an extraordinary Ditto.

According to their tests, even sensory-type ninja could not tell whether a creature Ruǎnruǎn had transformed into was real or fake!

"That's an unexpected delight." Ye Liang nodded in satisfaction.

Today, they were heading to the Land of Waves to wipe out a group of Rogue Ninja.

Because wars had become so frequent, most ninja who feared death chose to defect from their villages. But defecting was one thing—why did they have to go around causing trouble, robbing homes and plundering people?

That was not acceptable.

Ye Liang looked at the map. They were about to reach the Land of Waves.

"First, we'll find a local household and ask about the situation. The Land of Waves is close to Kirigakure and is very dangerous. We shouldn't reveal our identities."

"Yes, Sensei!"

Kakashi and the others answered, then followed Ye Liang as they slipped into the village.

They were heading for the home of a fisherman named Kaizoku.

The Land of Waves was surrounded by an enormous moat, so people had to rely on fishing boats to travel. As a result, fishermen were very common in the Land of Waves.

"This should be the place."

After asking quite a few passersby, Ye Liang finally found Kaizoku's courtyard.

It was a dilapidated mud house. Seeing how ruined it was, Ye Liang suddenly doubted whether Kaizoku could even afford Konoha's reward.

Although this was a C-rank mission, it still paid several thousand ryō.

In these war-torn times, several thousand ryō was nearly half a year's wages for a fisherman—but that was only if he had customers every day. Most fishermen earned money from ferrying people across only occasionally, since there were simply too many others in the same trade in the Land of Waves.

"Let's go in."

Ye Liang called out to the team behind him and pushed open the door.

But at that moment, a wooden stick swung toward his face.

Ye Liang was startled.

However, he immediately realized that the swing had no strength behind it. He merely tilted his head slightly and dodged it.

"Get lost! You black-hearted merchants, there's nothing left in our house for you to take! Get out!"

A child rushed out through the doorway.

He held a rotten, thick wooden stick in his hand. Clearly, he had been the one who had just attacked Ye Liang.

"Hey, kid! You've got the wrong people. We're ninja from Konoha, not black-hearted merchants." Ye Liang looked calmly at the little fellow and casually explained.

"Hmph! Stop trying to trick me! This month, you've pretended to be Konoha ninja several times already. You won't fool me!"

The child swung the stick again.

Ye Liang shook his head helplessly. With a light grab, he took the child's wooden stick away.

"Give it back! You bastard!" The child immediately tried to snatch the stick back.

But just then, a dark-faced fisherman hurried out of the mud house.

The reason Ye Liang knew he was a fisherman was that he immediately smelled the scent of seafood on the man. Only fishermen who had spent years fishing carried such a distinctive smell.

"Kaisha, stop messing around! These are honored ninja from Konoha!"

He rushed over at once and pulled the child away.

"Honored ninja?"

The child stared at Ye Liang in a daze.

"I'm sorry, sir. I'm Kaizoku, the client for this mission. The child doesn't know any better. Please forgive him."

"It's fine. I don't mind."

Ye Liang replied calmly.

He examined the fisherman again, and his expression instantly darkened.

Just as he had suspected, the man was sallow and emaciated, reeking of sweat from not having bathed in a long time. He had clearly been starving for several days. How could someone like that possibly afford the hiring fee?

He unconsciously glanced at Kakashi and found that Kakashi had frowned as well.

He must have noticed it too.

"Uncle Kaizoku! Do you have anything to eat? I'm starving to death!"

Obito suddenly shouted.

He was a simple-minded brute. They had traveled through mountainous terrain the entire way and had never had a chance to eat. Ye Liang had also been in such a hurry to find the client that Obito's stomach had already started growling.

"Uh..."

A troubled expression immediately appeared on Kaizoku's face, but after hesitating for a moment, he still welcomed them into the mud house.

"Uncle! Your house is so rundown. Won't you catch a cold sleeping here at night?" Obito looked at the walls around him, which were full of holes. He could even see that a large section of the roof was missing.

"Uh, it's summer now. It's better to be a little cooler."

After greeting them, Kaizoku took the child to the kitchen.

"Kakashi, what do you think?"