Konoha Notes

Chapter 29 Test
"Red Bean, Itachi, you two will be in charge of watching over Mr. Hiroyama's warehouse from now on."

After Itachi and Anko agreed, he looked at Jirocho and said, "I understand what you said. As you said, Wasabi-san's situation is probably not very safe."

After all, Wasabi Jirocho's initiative to approach the Konoha ninjas would be noticed and perceived as a threatening move.

Shuji had assumed that Jirocho would invite him over, but after hesitating, Jirocho said, "I'm fine on my end for now, but I have some things to arrange. If you don't mind, Shuji, please wait a moment. I'll come to apologize in person after I've finished taking care of them."

"Then, I won't disturb you any longer, Mr. Wasabi. Please go ahead."

Jirocho excused himself and left. Shuji watched him leave with a few guards from upstairs, feeling a little strange.

“That guy is the one who needs help, but now that you, Shuji, are offering to help, he’s making excuses.” Anko understood what Shuji meant: he wanted to go directly to protect her, but Jirocho’s attitude clearly indicated that he was refusing.

"He's probably been protected, but it's inconvenient for him to meet, so we need to go back and make arrangements first," Xiu Si said calmly.

"This mission is really complicated," Anko sighed. "As expected of someone who can become a Jonin, Shuuji's brain works really well. He doesn't seem to be bothered by this at all." As she spoke, she threw herself onto the bed, looking very tired.

The weasel glanced sideways.

"Since the Hokage accepted the Wasabi family's request, why couldn't he just say so when assigning the mission? Instead, he was being secretive," Anko complained. "If we had known about this situation earlier, we could have taken care of those people at the city gate."

The youngest member of the group finally couldn't help but say, "As ninjas, we can't deal with government officials openly, Anko-senpai."

"Is that so? Then why bother with that cloth merchant? The mission is already complete, right? Since we can't do it openly, why not just do it at night? They're just a bunch of ordinary people anyway."

“Because the village assigned two extra missions, those bandits are in contact with those wandering ninjas, or there are ninjas among the bandits…” Itachi recalled the first mission he did with Shuji, which was just a group of a dozen young bandits according to intelligence, but in fact the leader was a rogue ninja. “That’s why the captain decided not to act rashly.”

"But ah..."

"Would you like some water?"

Shuji poured himself a glass and looked at the two of them.

“I want it.” Hongdou stood up and sat opposite Xiuji.

"As Itachi said, the fact that the Chayama Gang could be recruited means that there is another force behind them. As for why the Hokage doesn't directly assign missions..." There are similar cases in the original work. For example, in the first mission in the Land of Waves at the beginning of Naruto, Tazuna couldn't afford the reward for the anti-ninja mission, so he cleverly issued a C-rank escort mission in Konoha.

Before becoming a ninja, you might not think much of this, but after becoming a ninja, especially a Jonin, you will understand.

The village has its own review mechanism. It's not that you can define a mission's level just by saying so. Tazuna is connected to the entire Land of Waves, so Konoha couldn't possibly be completely unaware of it.

From a realistic perspective, Kakashi Hatake must have realized something was wrong when he encountered the Oni brothers, Chunin from Kirigakure.

Kakashi continued with the request, which led to his fierce battle with the S-rank rogue ninja from Kirigakure. It's hard to say that he didn't have other intentions behind it. It's true that ninjas from ninja villages can deal with rogue ninjas, but that refers to low-ranking rogue ninjas, which is easy for them to do. So they just do it casually. But someone of Zabuza's rank, with three students in tow, would definitely have to act cautiously.

The most likely explanation is that Konoha was recovering from the shock of the Uchiha clan massacre and was looking for new sources of mission requests. They were also trying to probe the situation in the Land of Waves, so they pretended not to know what Tazuna was up to.

In the Land of Waves incident, it is actually more reasonable to say that Konoha and Tazuna went to each other's aid.

This escort mission wasn't a two-way trip; rather, it just so happened that Hongshan Cheng had assigned a top-tier C-level mission. Taking advantage of the opportunity, and seeing that the reward was about right, the village raised its level to B and dispatched the fifth team to handle the affairs of Jiegang.

Since the role of the Black Eclipses is uncertain, the two additional quests are optional.

This escort mission for a Rank B is the only one that absolutely must be completed properly. As for not saying it outright…

The person being tested is probably me... Shuji probably knows that.

His behavior was different from that of the previous Shuji. From the first mission he chose after recovering his health to his attitude when accepting the second mission, it was not in line with the original Shuji who was determined to prove that the glory of the Thousand Hands bloodline still existed.

Even in my past life, when a company's model employee suddenly stopped working as hard, the boss would personally come down to talk to them and find out what had happened.

That's why this is the task.

There is actually no difficult task involved; how well it is completed depends on Shuji himself.

He can complete only the minimum escort mission for the caravan, and the village will not hold him accountable for not helping Wasabi Jirocho, since Jirocho has no token to prove that the village accepted his request.

This B-rank mission was considered a reward for a war hero, adding another insignificant entry to his resume. Afterwards, the village assumed that Shuji had lost his spirit after his near-death experience, and planned to make other arrangements for him.

This is probably the path that best meets Granny Taohua's expectations.

This also aligns with Shuji's own thoughts; he was just an ordinary person who was both unfortunate and fortunate, with neither talent nor wisdom.

However, the future will not allow him to make such a choice. Take the possible Uchiha clan massacre as an example. This would essentially weaken the village and worsen his living environment. To prevent these things, he cannot be too powerless in the village.

"It's always inconvenient to talk about ninja villages interfering in the daily affairs of other countries. We can make arrangements according to the situation ourselves. That's why we let the Jonin team with decision-making power take on this mission," Shuuji explained to Anko.

"Hehe, then I'll leave everything to the Jonin-sama." Anko chuckled. "Someone like me is only fit to obey orders."

The lazy look of the purple-haired female ninja made Shuji glance at her. If he could, he would prefer to only use his hands.

As Jirocho finished his visit to Shuji and the others, the current captain of the guard at Izuku Port reported the events that had occurred at the city gate to a tall man wearing a brown kimono and a white haori, who was carrying a samurai sword.

"Lord Jubei, what do you think we should do with those ninjas? And what about the city gate tax..."

"Keep an eye on them. Don't let them clash with the Konoha ninjas. Put aside the city gate tax for the next few days until they leave." Jubei looked at the guard captain with a sinister gaze. "Keep an eye on your men, understand?"

The guard captain trembled and knelt down, quickly agreeing.

Meanwhile, Jirocho, who had returned to Wasabi's house, was talking to another person.

"Oh... Jonin, Shuji..."

"It doesn't matter. Since he's willing, let him come."

“In that case, I will go and invite him over again. My previous refusal probably made Jonin Shuji quite suspicious, and he might even be worried about whether I am trustworthy.” Jirocho smiled at the person in front of him, and then stood up.

"Ah, it's alright. He'll understand once he sees me."

"That's natural."

(End of this chapter)