Chapter 12: Uzuki Yugao?
"Alright, we've received information that a large number of mysterious ninjas have suddenly appeared near the border of the Land of Water. They may pose a threat to the Land of Fire. Your mission is to investigate and gather intelligence."
"Land of Water?"
Mingyu's brows furrowed slightly.
The Land of Water — that was the country of Terumi Mei and Kisame, right? In his previous life, he had been a huge fan of Terumi Mei. Her mature, seductive charm was something most men couldn't resist.
As for Kisame, he should have already joined the Akatsuki by now.
"This mission will be very dangerous. You must be extremely careful," Shimada said with a serious expression.
"Understood!"
The three of them nodded.
The ninja world was cruel and dangerous — they all knew that very well. Especially during this tense period, relations between the great nations were extremely strained.
After receiving a few more instructions, Mingyu and his teammates went to prepare and set off.
Ten minutes later, outside Konoha Village.
The three gathered.
"Kid, this mission is extremely dangerous. Don't drag us down, got it? If you do, I won't let you off easily," the burly middle-aged man said coldly.
From the earlier introduction, Mingyu knew this man's codename was "Ox". He didn't care why the man chose such a name. To Mingyu, this guy was just an average jonin. With his current strength, he could handle him head-on without any problem.
"You should worry about yourself first. If you die, I'm not burying you," Mingyu replied with a cold smirk.
He was the type of person who would speak nicely if you did the same. But if you acted arrogant and looked down on him… then sorry, he could be even more arrogant.
"You—!"
"What? Want to fight right here?" Mingyu challenged.
"Enough," the purple-haired woman interrupted. Her voice was surprisingly pleasant. "Since we're working together, let's act professionally. This mission concerns the safety of the Land of Fire."
"Hmph! I'll let you off this time for Yugao's sake. If you slow us down, I won't be so nice," Ox snorted coldly and shot forward into the distance.
The purple-haired woman gave Mingyu one last glance before following.
Mingyu, however, stood frozen in place with a stunned expression.
"Yugao…? Don't tell me it's that Uzuki Yugao?"
He remembered there was an Anbu member in Konoha with that name. In his past life, he had a pretty good impression of her — mainly because she was quite beautiful.
"Whatever. Doesn't matter if it is or not."
Mingyu shook his head and quickly followed after them.
At the same time, the system notification rang out.
Ding! New mission unlocked: Steal Terumi Mei's underwear.
"Nani?!"
Mingyu nearly fell off the tree he was jumping on.
Steal Terumi Mei's underwear?
Boss, are you kidding me?!
She's the Mizukage! Even though she's incredibly beautiful, she can spit lava from her mouth. If he got caught, she might give him a lava bath. That would be an instant bloodbath!
Ding! Completing this mission will reward a rare treasure. This is also an excellent opportunity to train the host.
"A rare treasure?"
Mingyu's eyes lit up. This was the first time he had heard about a rare item reward.
Stealing Terumi Mei's underwear?
Fuck it. Let's do it!
The journey was dull and exhausting.
The three of them barely spoke. They only stopped for meals and water, spending almost the entire time traveling in silence.
This kind of atmosphere was hard for the usually energetic Mingyu to get used to, but he had no choice. Anbu members were usually like this.
A full day passed. By the evening of the second day, they finally arrived at the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Water — a small nation called the Land of Whirlpools.
The moment they arrived, they sensed something was wrong.
There were too many ninjas here.
Ninjas were generally rare in the world, yet this small area was swarming with them. Many didn't even wear headbands, making it impossible to tell which country they belonged to.
Inside a small room, the three of them sat facing each other.
"Looks like this mission just got complicated," the purple-haired girl said.
The ninjas here wore different outfits, clearly not from the same nation, and without headbands, their origins were unknown. Gathering information would be difficult.
"How about this? We split up and follow different groups to gather intel. We'll meet back here at the same time tomorrow," Ox suggested, glancing at Mingyu.
It was obvious he didn't want to team up with the kid, afraid he would slow them down.
"I have no objections," Mingyu shrugged indifferently.
"Good. It's decided then."
The three split up.
Since they were gathering intelligence, Mingyu removed his Anbu mask and changed into casual clothes. He headed toward a tavern in the village.
No matter where you were, taverns, teahouses, casinos, and even brothels were the best places to collect information. That was common knowledge.
"Hey there, young man. Here for a drink?"
As soon as he entered, a middle-aged woman with two massive "steamed buns" on her chest walked over with a big smile.
The other patrons also glanced at him, but quickly lost interest when they saw how young and casually dressed he was. They assumed he was just some local rich kid.
"Yeah, I'm buying alcohol for my old man. What kind of good stuff do you have here?" Mingyu nodded.
Pretending to be someone else was one of the first skills every Anbu learned. He was very familiar with it.
"Oh? In that case, we have excellent Leaf Wine and Flower Name Sake. They're the best in the area!"
The woman smiled brightly as she introduced the drinks.
Mingyu's mind screamed internally: Damn, those are huge!
Even Tsunade, the top busty woman in Konoha, probably wasn't much bigger than this.
"I don't really know much about alcohol. Why don't you recommend something good? If it's nice, I'll buy a lot."
"Oh! A big customer!"
The woman's eyes lit up with joy and she began enthusiastically introducing the options.
Mingyu listened casually while his eyes discreetly scanned the other patrons.
He noticed that everyone was drinking and eating quietly with very little conversation.
It was obvious these people were likely from some organization — just like him.