Chapter 75: Accepting a Mission – Intelligence Reconnaissance
For the next few weeks, the Rain ninja showed no signs of launching another major offensive against Konoha.
Because of Ling Yu's overwhelming display, Hanzō—who had suffered greatly in the last battle—didn't dare take any reckless risks.
After retreating, he immediately ordered his forces to pull back several kilometers, maintaining a safe distance from Konoha.
Even after regrouping his army, he didn't dare attack lightly. He only occasionally sent small squads to harass Konoha's lines.
Noon – Fire Country Border, Konoha–Rain Battlefield
Ling Yu and the others were inside Tsunade's tent. As the deputy commander, Tsunade had already left early for a meeting.
This left Kushina and Ling Yu sitting face-to-face at the table, waiting for Mikoto to finish cooking in the small kitchen area.
"So boring! We've been training every day for the past few days, and the Rain ninja aren't even attacking anymore. It's all your fault—you scared them off!"
After several days of monotonous training, Kushina finally couldn't take it anymore. She sprawled across the table and glared resentfully at Ling Yu.
Because the war between the two countries had entered a stalemate, the medical unit currently had almost no patients.
So for the past few days, with nothing else to do, both Kushina and Mikoto had been stuck in the tent practicing the Mystical Palm Technique that Ling Yu had taught them.
After all, since they were now officially medical support ninja, they had to at least master one healing technique.
"How is this my fault? Who knew they'd be so cautious? They must be terrified because I'm just too strong."
Ling Yu knocked lightly on Kushina's forehead with a helpless expression.
"Hey! How about we go accept a mission? Since they won't come to us, we'll go to them!"
Kushina suddenly perked up with a bright idea and excitedly suggested it to Ling Yu.
"Accept a mission? What kind of mission?"
Mikoto just happened to walk out carrying the finished food. Hearing Kushina's words, she asked curiously.
"I don't know yet—we'll see when we get there. Anyway, sitting around here is boring too. If we take a mission, we might even get to explore the Land of Rain!"
Pulling Mikoto down to sit with them, Kushina explained enthusiastically to both of them.
"That actually makes sense. What do you think, Ling Yu?"
Mikoto's eyes lit up with interest as she looked at Ling Yu.
"Since you both want to take a mission, I don't mind. Let's go right after we eat."
Ling Yu nodded in agreement.
"Yay!"
They quickly finished lunch. Afterward, Ling Yu and the girls went to find Tsunade to see if there were any suitable missions available.
"What? You want to go out on a mission? Have you even finished learning Mystical Palm?"
Tsunade frowned as she looked at the three of them standing in front of her.
"Not completely… but there's nothing to do right now. We're tired of training ninjutsu every day. It's boring—so we figured we'd take a mission to have some fun."
Kushina gave an awkward laugh before continuing her explanation.
"No, I don't have any missions for you right now. And battlefield missions aren't something you take just for fun."
Tsunade shook her head.
Thanks to Ling Yu's earlier display, the pressure on the front lines had eased considerably. As a result, there were far fewer missions being assigned at the moment.
"Ling Yu—you guys want to take a mission? I just happen to have one. Interested?"
Just as the three of them looked disappointed, Jiraiya poked his head in from the side and called out to Ling Yu.
"Oh? What kind of mission?"
Ling Yu's eyes immediately showed interest.
"Reconnaissance. Basically, infiltrate Rain ninja territory and gather intelligence on their next moves. How about it—want in?"
Jiraiya pulled out the mission scroll and handed it to Ling Yu and the others for them to read.
"Sure."
After glancing over the scroll detailing the reconnaissance mission against the Rain ninja, Ling Yu nodded without hesitation.
"Jiraiya! What are you doing? You're not doing your own mission and instead dumping it on them? And reconnaissance is dangerous—they have no experience!"
Tsunade frowned slightly and reached out to snatch the scroll back.
"It's fine, Sis. This level of difficulty is nothing to us. We'll head out now—wait for our good news!"
Before Tsunade could stop them, Ling Yu quickly tucked the scroll away, said goodbye, and dragged Kushina and Mikoto away at a run.
…
Around 6 p.m., after preparing, Ling Yu and the two girls slowly arrived at the mission assembly point.
"This is the place? Didn't they say there would be three more ninja joining us? Where are they?"
Kushina pulled out the mission scroll again to double-check, looking around at the empty clearing in confusion.
"There—up in the trees."
Ling Yu pointed toward several figures perched on the branches not far away.
At that moment, the Konoha ninja waiting in the trees also noticed Ling Yu and the girls. They leaped down.
"What the hell? They sent three kids to join our team? Aren't they just going to drag us down?"
"This mission is already dangerous enough. Now we've got three more burdens—how are we supposed to complete it?"
One of the Konoha ninja—a sharp-faced, monkey-like man—swept his gaze over Ling Yu and the girls. Seeing the mission scroll in Kushina's hand, he spoke with clear disdain.
Damn it! How dare he look down on us!
A huge vein popped on Kushina's forehead. She stepped out from behind Ling Yu, clenching her fists and preparing to teach him a lesson.
At that moment, his teammate hurriedly stepped forward, bowed apologetically to the group, and said:
"Sorry—my friend was recovering in the camp during the last battle with the Rain ninja, so he doesn't know your strength. I apologize on his behalf."
With that, he dragged the sharp-faced ninja away and whispered an explanation into his ear.
He himself had fought in the previous battle against the Rain ninja and still clearly remembered the terrifying sight of Ling Yu wiping out thousands with a single technique. He absolutely didn't dare provoke him.
"Hmph."
Seeing the sincere apology, Kushina didn't pursue the matter further. She gave a cold snort and returned to stand beside Ling Yu and Mikoto.
"Ling Yu—nice to see you again."
The last of the three ninja was Katō Dan. He smiled warmly and greeted Ling Yu.
"You three are the other members for this mission? You look pretty average. Just don't drag me down."
Ignoring Katō Dan's fake friendliness, Ling Yu spoke coldly to them.
He was already annoyed by the earlier mockery, and now Katō Dan—this hypocrite who wanted to get close to Tsunade—was here too.
Ling Yu immediately cut off any intention of cooperating with them. He planned to finish the mission and leave. As for their fate—he couldn't care less.
"You damn brat—how dare you talk to us like that?! Katō Dan-senpai is one of Konoha's elite jōnin. Don't act so arrogant—"
The sharp-faced Konoha jōnin couldn't hold back. Ignoring his friend's warning, he started cursing at Ling Yu.
After all, he hadn't personally witnessed Ling Yu wipe out thousands of Rain ninja—so he felt no fear toward him at all.
BOOM!
Before he could finish speaking, a massive chakra fist grazed past his ear and slammed into the ground behind him with explosive force.
Cold sweat poured down his forehead. Turning around, he saw a huge tree—four or five meters thick—completely shattered, leaving an enormous crater.
"Watch your mouth. If you don't have the strength, don't run your mouth. Next time it might be your head."
Ling Yu's gaze was ice-cold—his expression showed he wasn't joking.
People like this—who ignored even their friend's warnings—wouldn't survive long on the battlefield anyway. He might as well teach him a lesson now.
"Alright, everyone—we're all teammates. Let's get along and avoid conflict."
Seeing Ling Yu's anger, Katō Dan quickly stepped forward with a warm smile, trying to smooth over the tense atmosphere.
He felt helpless. He had originally wanted to build a good relationship with Ling Yu to get closer to Tsunade—but now a pig teammate had made everything awkward.
"Hmph. Let's go."
With a cold snort, Ling Yu led Kushina and Mikoto toward the mission destination.
As for the three teammates behind them? Whether they followed or not didn't matter to him. This mission was trivial—he could have used Space Power to infiltrate deep into enemy territory, collected the intelligence with Kyōka Suigetsu right in front of Hanzō, and left gracefully.
He was only doing it this way to accompany Kushina and Mikoto.