Southern coastal cliffs of the Land of Rivers
As night fell, the seawater continued to crash against the cliffs, creating a soothing melody, which seemed even more tranquil under the bright moonlight.
However, at this moment, three giant six-legged "spiders" appeared on the originally barren cliff. The heads of the "spiders" emitted white light and kept moving on the cliff, as if they were looking for something.
"Click click click"
"Hey! Kyūsha, I've found some more!"
"I've found some too!"
It turns out that there were Rokusuke and three people. After simple modifications and combinations by Kendon, their " Mining Type One " exoskeleton was transformed into eight spider-leg-like mechanical arms. Under the control of the user, it could carry out mining operations on cliffs.
What was originally an extremely difficult sea stone mine became very easy. With the help of the Mining Type One, the three of them mined the equivalent of a hundred people's daily output in just half a day.
Since there was no Raiga to recharge the three's mining tools, Rock Lee stood to the side, calculating the time.
"Uncle Rokusuke! It's time, come on up!"
Upon hearing Rock Lee's call, Rokusuke Zhu skillfully tapped the cliff face with his pickaxe, and a small stone gleaming with a faint blue light detached from the cliff. He placed it in the ore bag behind him, then called to Nanasuki and Kyūsha, who were standing nearby, and together they began to climb upwards.
The three of them were quite proficient in controlling the Mining Type One, and soon returned to Rock Lee's side.
Rokusuke wiped the sweat from his brow. "Phew. Mining sea stone ore, that's quite a challenge, haha."
Mining sea rock involves being completely suspended in mid-air. An ordinary person would probably be terrified at first, let alone achieve any mining efficiency.
Behind Rock Lee, the sea stone mine had already piled up into a small mountain as tall as a person, emitting a fluorescent glow, which was quite beautiful.
Sea stone ore is not hard; in fact, it is somewhat soft. However, after being refined into Sea Stone Gold, it becomes very beautiful and is an excellent material for making luxury goods, which is highly favored by nobles and wealthy merchants from various countries.
Rokusuke retrieved the Mining Type One and looked at the mountain of sea stone ore. "If we sell all this sea stone ore, we'll be set for life!"
"Oh! Look! Tōhachi- kun is back!"
Rock Lee pointed in a direction, and there he saw Tōhachi leading fifteen members of the Golden Shovel Organization back.
Tōhachi's clothes were tattered and stained with blood. Rock Lee asked, " Tōhachi- kun, was there a fight?"
"Ah, I ran into something a bit troublesome. I almost had to use the Limiter Release. How's your side handling it?"
Rock Lee pointed to the small hill at the sea stone mine. "Samples have already been collected."
Rokusuke laughed and said, "There are plenty of sea stone mines here; we can mine them for at least two years!"
Tōhachi forward, grabbed a piece of sea stone, and crushed it. "Tch, so soft. I wonder Kendon used it for. Hey! You guys, what are you waiting for? Come and move it!"
"Ah, yes! Yes!"
Upon hearing Tōhachi's words, the Golden Shovel Organization members dared not disobey, but upon arriving at the ore, they realized they had nothing to carry. "But boss! We have nothing to carry!"
"Then why the hell didn't you guys take your pants off?!"
"Yes, boss!"
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh!"
Just as a dozen or so people were standing naked from the waist down, wearing only underwear and blowing in the cold sea breeze, a sound of something cutting through the air came from afar, standing out particularly abruptly amidst the sound of the waves.
Rock Lee became alert. " Tōhachi Jun! Someone's coming!"
Tōhachi squinted and saw three white dots flying in the night sky. He chuckled, "It's nothing, just my senior brother."
Rock Lee was somewhat skeptical. "Senior brother? Aren't they in the Land of Spring? Pshaw, could they really fly that far?"
Rock Lee had been to the Land of Spring, and it took ten days by ship to get there; he knew all too well how far the journey was.
The three points of light drew closer, seemingly seeing land, and slowed down.
White Chakra shone from Tōhachi's body, illuminating the surrounding scenery. He raised " Nozarashi " and waved it twice. "Hey! Over here!"
The white dot suddenly turned in the air and rushed down towards Tōhachi, its speed decreasing until it finally stopped in front of Tōhachi.
" Tōhachi, what are you doing here? Ugh~ Why aren't these people wearing pants?! It's so embarrassing!"
The newcomers were none other than Kusa Retsu Kyuuichi, Hitsugaya Tōshirō, and Komamura Ujin, Sōretsu Yachiru Thirteen Nuclear Guardian Pillars.
The three of them set off from the Land of Spring and flew at sea for a whole day before arriving here.
Nozarashi retracted his Tōhachi and said, "Ah, the Fourth Elder sent me here on a mission."
Tōshirō tidied his silver hair, which had been blown into a slicked-back style by the wind. "Oh, we're here to help you."
The Ujin, his eyes hidden beneath his helmet, saw Rock Lee and said, "Hey, you're dressed rather strangely."
Rock Lee: "(°ー°)... Huh?"
Sōretsu, still with his eyes closed, shook his head. "Judging from your Forehead Protector, you must be a Konoha ninja."
Rock Lee turned to Tōhachi and asked, " Tōhachi, isn't this beautiful woman supposed to have her eyes closed? How did she see me?"
Tōhachi coughed twice. "Don't ask about this, it's taboo. Just know that she can see you."
Tōshirō looked around and said, "Forget it, it's getting dark. Don't mess around anymore. Let's set off tomorrow."
The group, who were stuffing ore into their trousers, were somewhat at a loss upon hearing this.
Who is this short guy?
"I don't know, should we listen to him or not?"
Tōshirō: "Σ() Shorty! Shorty! Who said that? Step forward, I'm going to roast you!"
Tōhachi held Tōshirō down and shouted to the crowd, "This is my tenth senior brother, also known as the tenth elder brother. This big guy is my seventh senior brother, also known as the seventh elder brother. This is my fourth senior sister, also known as the fourth elder sister. From now on, you all have to listen to them! Do you understand?"
Sōretsu covered his mouth and chuckled, "Hehehe, Tōhachi, you're still as humorous as ever."
When Rock Lee saw Sōretsu's appearance, his eyes overlapped with the image of another person. "You... you look a lot like someone."
Sōretsu became interested. "Oh? Who is it?"
Rock Lee sighed, "A companion named Yuhan, but she's been kidnapped and her whereabouts are unknown. I must find her!"
Upon hearing the name Yuhan, the Tōhachi were somewhat surprised. Yuhan was one of the " Seven Ninja Warlords Under the Shadow " of the Nuclear Ninja Village and also their Ninjutsu instructor.
" Yuhan... Oh, I don't know her, but she must be very important to you."
Rock Lee nodded solemnly. "Yes! That's right, she's the one I need to defeat!"
Ujin: "Hmph, don't trust a mere child's words."
Rock Lee: "(°ー°)... Huh?"
Tōshirō shook his head. "You'll find it. Alright, let's rest."
Sōretsu frowned. " Tōhachi, you've been injured?"
Tōshirō also noticed the bloodstains on Tōhachi's body. "Tch, injured in the first battle, how embarrassing."
"Ah, we've run into something rather strange. We'll talk about the details when we get to the Gold Mine Mountain. You bunch of idiots, why don't you go find something to eat!"
"Oh! Yes!"
Sōretsu laughed, " Tōhachi, you're too fierce!"
"Tch, these people weren't any better before. If it weren't for the Fourth Elder saying he needed more people, I wouldn't have spared their lives."
Suddenly, a member of the Golden Shovel Organization exclaimed, "Ouch! What's going on! This rock is really hard!"
There was a black stone next to the sea stone mine, completely invisible in the darkness, which caused the man to bump into it and bleed from his nose.
Hongshi: "(°ー°) Hey! I'm a human."
"Σ() Oh my god, the rock is talking!"
Upon hearing this, everyone turned around and saw that Hongshi had been sitting there at some point.
Rock Lee: "Oh! It's Hongshi-kun! When did you arrive?"
Hongshi: "(°ー°) Don't be like that! I've been sitting here since you guys started mining! Besides, I've been following you guys the whole time, okay?!"
Tōhachi saw it was Hongshi: "Big Long... Ang!"
The Grand Elder almost blurted it out, but Ujin covered his mouth.
Sōretsu bowed to Hongshi: "So you are Hongshi. Your legend has been passed down through the Land of Spring for generations."
Hongshi rubbed his smooth head. "(°°), everyone says I'm the savior, right? Hahaha, I knew it, don't be so polite."
Tōshirō sighed, "Yeah, especially the part about rolling down the snow mountain, it's already been included in elementary school textbooks."
Hongshi: "(°ー°) Who wrote this textbook? I'm going to blow it up!"
Land of Spring - Nuclear Ninja Village
Shirofukuji Kakuhei: "Hachi! Who insulted me!"
It was only then that Rock Lee remembered, "Wait a minute, Hongshi-kun, didn't you go back to Konoha?"
Hongshi was somewhat indignant. "That's right, I'm just Shadow Clone. My real body is currently training with Hinata and Hanabi. Damn it! Why wasn't it me who went!"
Tōshirō: "Aren't you the same as the original? Oh no... you're actually different."
Recalling the scene where Hongshi swore brotherhood with his clone... ugh...
"I see." Rock Lee nodded. "That's great, we can..."
Tōshirō: "Good my ass, it's in the way."
Tōhachi: "Tch, an eyesore."
Sōretsu: "Why don't you go back first? It's not good for us to do our job while you're here."
Ujin: "May you retreat?"
Hongshi: "(°ー°) Damn it! I'm not leaving... Go ahead and try to kick me out!"
"What's the rush? I can't beat you."
"Tch, chase you away? I wouldn't dare."
"I... dare not."
"Hehe, how embarrassing."
The Lord God: "You're such a useless Elder."
Looking at the group awkwardly chatting, Rock Lee vaguely sensed something was off. "You guys seem to know each other."
Hongshi laughed Hongshi, his deep laughter seemingly cracking the ground. "Hahaha, how could that be? If I knew them, they would have fallen into the sea long ago. By the way, have any of you taken a shower? Can you swim?"
"Hey everyone, I've caught a few pheasants and a wild boar."
"Okay, let's start grilling! We're going back to the Gold Mine Mountain tomorrow."
"Hey! Put your pants on, they're too bright."
"But our pants are still filled with ore!"