March

"This guy... he was actually scared to this extent? Still, that counted as good news."

A slight curve lifted at Meikyō's lips.

The more terrified he was, the better. It meant his mind had already begun to collapse.

An idea immediately flashed through Meikyō's mind.

"Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique!"

Looking at Hida Yuichi, who was already under the genjutsu's control, a smug smile flickered across Meikyō's face.

"Now then, tell me where you hid all your money."

A few minutes later.

Lord's Mansion.

All the warriors had been wiped out. As for the others, Inuzuka Ryo and Aburame Nami had not particularly bothered to pursue them.

Over the years, the servants of the Lord's Mansion had relied on Hida Yuichi's influence to bully the residents of Tetsuseki Town. Even if they escaped, if they had truly committed countless evils, the enraged townspeople would be enough to tear them apart without Meikyō and the others needing to lift a hand.

They no longer had the noble Hida Yuichi to protect them.

By the time Inuzuka Ryo and Aburame Nami had finished cleaning up, Meikyō returned with Hida Yuichi's head in one hand and a Sealing Scroll in the other.

The mission requirements stated that it would be best to capture Hida Yuichi alive and bring him back, so they could interrogate him about the enemy-country ninja subordinates working with him.

But Meikyō worried that the village would discover he had taken a large amount of Hida Yuichi's property and reclaim it, so he simply brought down his blade and took the man's head.

As for the intelligence the village wanted, the Yamanaka Clan members from the intelligence division could handle it. The information they obtained might even be more accurate than anything gained through interrogation.

In the world of ninjas, the dead could "speak" too, and they did not lie.

As for Meikyō himself, when he interrogated Hida Yuichi about the location of his treasure at the end, he had merely made him fall into a genjutsu.

And Hida Yuichi himself had never realized it until his death, so naturally the village would not know what Meikyō had done.

"Remember to split up the contents of this scroll once we get back, same as last time."

A broad smile appeared on Meikyō's face.

Just this trip alone had earned them rewards nearly equivalent to an A-rank mission, yet they had only carried out an exceedingly simple C-rank mission.

His luck really was quite good. If they had been escorting an ordinary merchant caravan and clearing out a bunch of penniless bandits, there was no way they could have made so much extra money.

"You really are something, Meikyō!"

Inuzuka Ryo could not help giving Meikyō a thumbs-up, praising him from the bottom of his heart.

"Alright, if we're about done, it's time to find Teacher Kato and head back to the village to turn in the mission."

Meikyō waved his hand, tossed the items to Inuzuka Ryo, then went back to rest with a yawn.

He had stayed up rather late last night studying the genjutsu he had just learned, so he was not in the best spirits now.

Time always slipped quietly through one's fingers when one was not paying attention. In the blink of an eye, another three months had passed.

The scorching days had gone, and winter had arrived.

A wilderness somewhere in the northern Land of Fire.

"Whoosh!"

"Whoosh!"

"Whoosh!"

Three Shuriken cut rapidly through the air in a triangular formation, flying toward a Rogue Ninja dressed in black.

As a Rogue Ninja making his living in this small corner of the Land of Fire, he naturally recognized the Uchiha Clan Crest on Meikyō's clothes. Naturally, he also knew of the Uchiha Clan's peerless Shuriken techniques, famed throughout the Ninja World.

Having prepared himself beforehand, he narrowly avoided Meikyō's Shuriken attack.

Yet the next moment, a short blade blazing with fierce flames swept down at him at incredible speed. The black-clad Rogue Ninja could only dodge in a panic, but Meikyō's Sharingan instantly caught the opening. He kicked the man in the chest, sending him flying.

"Not good!"

Seeing Meikyō take the opportunity to form hand seals and prepare to use ninjutsu while he himself was in midair and unable to evade, the Rogue Ninja could only desperately throw the ninja blade in his hand at Meikyō, hoping to interrupt him.

"Genjutsu: Unknowing Fire!"

The next instant, the Rogue Ninja felt as though his limbs were being scorched by blazing flames. Overwhelmed by the pain, he instinctively released his ninja blade.

With the Sharingan, Meikyō could, when prepared, cast certain simple genjutsu through his eyes without forming hand seals.

A genjutsu of this level naturally would not do much against stronger ninjas, but in a battle of this caliber, it could swiftly help him seize the initiative and force an enemy to reveal an opening.

And once an opening was revealed, there was only one outcome.

"Goodbye."

Meikyō looked at the Rogue Ninja before him, formed half a Tiger hand seal with his right hand, and then...

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Style!"

A massive fireball flew through the air amid the Rogue Ninja's despairing gaze and crashed into him.

The roaring flames immediately burned the Rogue Ninja's body into charred remains.

Had it been before, Meikyō definitely would have thought it wasteful.

After all, directly burning an enemy's corpse would undoubtedly mean losing a great deal of loot. This Rogue Ninja might well have had quite a few Silver Taels on him.

But during a mission a month ago, after killing another Rogue Ninja, Inuzuka Ryo had tried to search the corpse for loot, only to trigger a trap on the body. He had nearly been blown to death on the spot by an Explosive Tag.

Had Dan Katō not been there to rescue him in time, Inuzuka Ryo—a talented Genin with limitless potential and a strong chance of becoming a Jonin in the future—would have died young and perished there.

After that, everyone in Kato Squad completely stopped looting enemy corpses on the battlefield unless they could ensure absolute safety.

No matter how much money there was, they needed to be alive to spend it. Besides, they were not short of money now.

The Silver Taels they had saved from their previous two missions in Tetsuseki Town, combined with the earnings from carrying out C-rank missions over the past three months, were more than enough to last them a long time.

"Meikyō, how did it go!"

The figures of Inuzuka Ryo and Aburame Nami slowly approached from the distance.

They had gone after the Rogue Ninja's companion.

Judging by Inuzuka Ryo's expression, they had already successfully completed their task.

"There. Right there."

Meikyō pointed at the pile of charred remains on the ground.

"Well, after this mission, we'll have completed a full twenty C-rank missions. I wonder when we'll get to carry out higher-ranked missions."

With a foxtail grass stem in his mouth, Inuzuka Ryo stared at the distant sky and murmured.

"Our strength is still a little lacking right now, but we'll get the chance sooner or later."

Meikyō replied as he picked up the Shuriken he had thrown during the earlier battle.

Over this period, they had completed exactly twenty C-rank missions in total. During the intervals, whenever there were no suitable missions to accept, they would take on some D-rank missions instead. At present, their completed D-rank mission count had reached one hundred and thirteen.