Freebie Mission

"I'm guessing this is a Freebie Mission!"

A Freebie Mission referred to a situation where, after paying the deposit, the client lacked the means to pay the remaining reward. Once the mission was completed, Konoha would have worked for them for nothing!

Of course, Kakashi had learned the term "freebie" from Ye Liang. This type of mission had originally been called a "False Mission."

"I think so too."

Ye Liang nodded.

A trace of confusion appeared in Rin Nohara's eyes.

"Teacher, should we still continue with this mission? Since it's a False Mission, shouldn't we cancel it outright?"

"Let's wait and see. Something might still develop later on," Ye Liang replied.

Meanwhile, Obito Uchiha looked dumbly at the others.

"Kakashi, what's a Freebie Mission?"

He did not understand such common-sense matters, so he was rather confused.

But Kakashi ignored him.

Obito turned to Rin Nohara, but she ignored him as well.

Ye Liang did the same.

What could he do? He was just a hopeless blockhead.

After a while.

Uncle Kaizoku came out carrying a basin of sweet potatoes.

With a grin, he placed the sweet potatoes on the table and began, "My lords, please enjoy."

Obito glanced at the sweet potatoes before him and immediately reached out.

However, Ye Liang clearly saw a flash of reluctance in the child's eyes when he saw Obito take one.

Ye Liang immediately understood everything.

That basin of sweet potatoes was probably all the food they had left.

"Everyone, eat up. There's more in the kitchen, so don't hold back."

Kaizoku warmly urged them on, but aside from Obito, no one else touched the food.

Seeing that they had not moved, Kaizoku sent the child away before returning.

"My lords, I truly have to trouble you this time!"

He bowed to Ye Liang. It seemed he intended to get straight to the point.

"My lord, the Rogue Ninja are hiding in the moat of the Land of Waves. They rob every merchant trying to travel to or from the Land of Waves along the river. If we want to trade in or out of the Land of Waves, we can only use fishing boats. But if this continues, no merchants will come to the Land of Waves anymore!"

He looked anxious, but Ye Liang remained expressionless.

"I understand what you mean. But I have a question. The reward for this mission is three thousand ryo. Are you sure you can afford it?"

"Are you doubting me?!"

Kaizoku immediately shouted.

Yet he looked embarrassed, and everything above his neck had turned red. Clearly, he lacked confidence.

"So what if I am?" Ye Liang said coldly.

There was no such thing as a free lunch. As someone from the modern world, Ye Liang naturally understood that principle.

If they wanted help, they naturally had to pay for it. Even if Ye Liang wanted to be a great philanthropist, he did not have that kind of ability right now. Besides, the three-thousand-ryo reward went to the village. They would only receive a few hundred ryo at most.

Seeing Ye Liang's expression, Kaizoku immediately became dejected.

"My lord! It's not that I don't want to pay the reward. It's that the money meant for the reward was stolen by the Black Merchant Guild this morning." After saying that, he added, "All the fishermen in our trade pooled that money together."

"The Black Merchant Guild?"

A trace of confusion appeared on Ye Liang's face.

"That's right. The Black Merchant Guild is a local tyrant in the Land of Waves. Their leader is named Gato. Over the years, he formed the Black Merchant Guild and took control of all maritime transport and transportation construction!"

"Over the years, they've used their Mafia to suppress their competitors. I believe it won't be long before they completely control the lifeblood of the Land of Waves. We fishermen are the only trade disrupting his guild!"

"So that's why they suppressed you?"

"Uh, yes."

Ye Liang fell into thought.

The moment he saw that the mission was in the Land of Waves, he recalled the Land of Waves mission from the original story.

That had happened ten years later.

The protagonist, Naruto Uzumaki, had accepted bridge builder Tazuna's commission to protect the bridge. The evil merchant who had wanted to destroy it had been none other than Gato!

Ye Liang remembered that this man had eventually been killed by the Rogue Ninja Zabuza Momochi!

Of course, Zabuza was not around yet. This was still twelve years earlier, but Ye Liang had not expected Gato to have already seized control of the Land of Waves' lifeline at this point.

"Looks like it's time to meet this dark merchant."

Ye Liang decided to investigate him.

Although Kaizoku's mission was for them to clear out the Rogue Ninja in the moat, Ye Liang knew that the true mastermind had to be Gato of the Black Merchant Guild!

This dark merchant not only controlled countless Mafia members, but also frequently hired passing Rogue Ninja to commit crimes!

The fishing trade conflicted with the transportation industry he had monopolized. Now that the fishermen were in trouble, there was a high chance that Gato was behind it.

After considering every possibility, Ye Liang led Team 7 out of the mud house amid Kaizoku's repeated thanks.

"Teacher, are we really going to help Uncle Kaizoku? This is a False Mission!"

"Kakashi, be a good person before you do good work!"

Although Ye Liang knew Kaizoku could not afford the reward, the matter now involved the original story, so he could not ignore it!

And besides!

Ding dong!

"Congratulations, Host, for triggering the SSS-rank Mission—Eliminate the Dark Merchant Gato!"

Condition One: Kill Gato directly!

Reward: Random A-rank Ninjutsu.

Condition Two: Kill Gato and eliminate his Mafia!

Reward: Random A-rank Ninjutsu ×2.

Condition Three: Kill Gato and eliminate all of Gato's forces! (Mafia, Rogue Ninja!)

Reward: Random S-rank Ninjutsu!

"Holy crap! Another S-rank skill!"

Ye Liang was stunned!

This mission actually gave him three choices!

This was the first time he had seen such a mission since he had first transmigrated. It was bound to be an extremely important mission!

The last mission like this had rewarded him with Shinra Tensei!

"Damn it, for the reward, I'm going all out this time!"

Kakashi froze where he stood.

"Be a good person before you do good work?"

Be a good person before you do good work!

He was instantly shaken.

"Teacher truly is Teacher! I never expected him to speak such a moving and philosophical line!"

Back inside the mud house, Kakashi had forgotten about the teacher who had once spoken of "peace for the world" because of Ye Liang's practicality.

But upon hearing those words—"Be a good person before you do good work!"

He was instantly awakened again!

As expected, Teacher's coldness inside the mud house must have had a reason! I knew it—how could Teacher possibly be some money-grubbing country bumpkin?!

Rin Nohara was also touched. She slowly moved closer to Ye Liang's arm, and the stars in her eyes shone even brighter.

Obito Uchiha, meanwhile, nodded with profound meaning.

"Awesome!"

Gato's Black Merchant Guild ran rampant throughout the Land of Waves.

After half a day of investigation, Ye Liang had roughly learned the Black Merchant Guild's distribution of forces.