Fast forward to several attempts later, which included several battles, poisoning his food, use of disguise to sneak up on him while he was walking through the village, even the use of seduction to make him lose his guard much to their own embarrassment, and various other attempts they could use which all proved to be fruitless, we are now at this scene.
"Huff Huff Huff Huff… Wh… just what are you?" – Rabbit said while lying on the ground drenched in sweat.
Similar was the case with the other three, "M… Monster… he is nothing short of a monster!"
"Whistle… Well, the four of you failed to steal the scroll from me… so as per the…" – Watatsumi said.
"W-wait Captain… there are still a few minutes left!" – Hana hurriedly interrupted him.
"Yes, moreover, every time we do manage to take the scroll from you, it is either rigged with some kind of trap, just complete blank… or has nothing relevant in it… while the original scroll is pulled out by you from out of nowhere, each time… I have started to feel that you have been cheating this whole time… You have a lot of those scrolls and each of them is just a trap, even the original one is just a trap, there is no original one! When one scroll comes in our hand, you bring out another scroll and make it the original one…" – Akame said.
Weasel was silent, even he started to feel the same thing.
Pointed out by Akame, Watatsumi turned his face to the side, "Humph, I don't know what you are talking about… clearly, you have failed the test, and now you are just making up excuses for your failure."
"What to do now?" – Hana questioned Akame.
Akame is the most experienced of the four, and thus she has been leading them all this time, but nothing seems to be working.
'Should we give up?' – was her thought, but then she remembered her reasons, 'I can't give up!' – and stood up, "I AM NOT GOING TO GIVE UP!"
Seeing Akame's determination, other than Weasel, both Hana and Rabbit also stood up, "Anyway, we still have a few minutes left before the end of time limit… we might as well give it a last try!"
Watatsumi raised his eyebrow, and thought, 'Failed… except for Itachi, the other three failed to see what the true test was!'
Disappointed, Watatsumi questioned in a heavy tone, "Is that so? Do you really plan to not give up?"
"No…!" – was all he heard.
"Is that so?" – with a mutter, Watatsumi said, "In that case, come at me!" – and then instantly released a very heavy chakra pressure.
Boom Boom
Crack Crack Crack Crack
Huala Huala Huala Huala Huala
The chakra pressure was so heavy that it cracked the ground and caused strong winds… even particles, and pieces of stones started to hover in the air for a moment.
"But be prepared, this time I won't go easy anymore!"
And next extreme Blood Lust oozed out of Watatsumi.
Bearing the direct burnt of this Chakra Pressure along with blood lust, the four members of Team – Ro couldn't even bring up enough courage to move a single step.
"What's wrong? Don't you want to continue?" – Watatsumi questioned in a disdainful tone.
"I…" – did not even have enough strength to make out a response, their hair was tingling, and sixth sense screaming them to run away.
"What will it be?" – Watatsumi questioned again.
At this moment, Weasel took the initiative to speak, "Captain I give up, I am not yet skilled enough to be able to complete this mission!"
"And what about the three of you? Are you coming at me or should I be the one to take the initiative this time?" – Watatsumi questioned the three again.
"I… I… I give up!" – Akame worded out ever so slowly.
"I do too!" – Hana said with her head down.
"As do I…. I give up!" – Rabbit also accepted.
With their acceptance of defeat, and accepting that neither of them is capable of completing the task, Watatsumi nodded, and the chakra pressure disappeared, as did the blood lust.
With the Chakra pressure disappeared, and blood lust is gone, their legs gave away and all three instantly collapsed on the ground, covered in sweat and ragged with breaths.
Watatsumi waited for three to recover their breaths, then said, "So the three of you failed…"
Three of them had their head down in disappointment… their thoughts so jumbled up that it took them a few seconds to realize that Watatsumi only said, 'Three?'
"Wait three? What do you mean captain? Did someone pass?" – Hana asked in confusion.
"As I said, the three of you failed, Weasel passed the test." – Watatsumi repeated.
"What do you mean? Why did he pass? He too failed to steal the scroll!" – Akame questioned.
Watatsumi said, "According to the task I gave you four, the four of you had to steal the scroll from me within the 24 hours time limit which neither of you managed to complete… but, you three are forgetting something, that is something which I told you on the first day. 'Learn to give up.' When you realize that you are not capable of completing the mission even when you have tried everything you can, you have to give up, but neither of you did in the fear that you will be kicked out of the Anbu Department.
It is true that Weasel did not steal the scroll, but he chose to give up the first and accepted his defeat… while neither of you did… and insisted on continuing.
Normally this is something to be looked down upon and heavily frowned upon, but do remember that we aren't living in normal times, here if you don't know when to give up, then you will never get the second chance.
A shinobi is taught to never give up his mission even if it means death, but I am teaching you, learn to give up when necessary… if you have exhausted all your means and the result is still the same and won't be changing with anything that you do… then Give up!
I know what I am teaching the four of you is not correct for a shinobi, and not something we Konoha Shinobi have been indoctrinated to follow from our academy days, but this is extremely necessary for us to stay alive given the current situation.
Of course, you all could go ahead and sacrifice yourselves for the greater good of the village, but that sacrifice should at least mean something to the village, to those around you, and to yourselves!
Else what is the point of dying a meaningless death?
While alive we can accomplish much more than if we die midway in doing something that is not worth it and we simply aren't capable of doing.
Now, this does not mean that one should always give up, there are times when one can't back down, but not giving up just so you don't get kicked out of the Anbu department, that's something unacceptable."
The four of them were silent upon hearing Watatsumi's words, and thought, 'Did Captain really say something like on the first day? Why can't I remember?'
Watatsumi sighed after lecturing them, then he took out four scrolls from his shinobi bag, and passed each one of them to the four members.
The four were confused, "This is?"
Watatsumi said, "These scrolls record some basic details of the mission that is assigned to Team – Ro, of course, it does not state what exactly is the mission but it does record the location we will be performing the mission at, as for the further details I will reveal them on our way to the location."
"Wait wait wait cough*… haven't we failed the test?" – Rabbit asked with a frown.
Watatsumi said, "Yes, the three of you failed the test, no doubt about that, but my objective was just to make the four of you understand my point more deeply, and I have made that point clear. As for the matter of kicking out of the Anbu, that was just a Rational Deception to draw out your upper limits."
"Huh…?" – Akame, Hana, and Rabbit muttered in a daze, while Weasel chuckled a little.
"Don't be in a daze, make sure to prepare everything thoroughly and meet me here at 11:00 PM tonight, here we will depart for the mission." – Watatsumi said.
Hana tried to say something, "Capt-…"
But Watatsumi interrupted him, "Now scramble before I change my mind."
Ordered by Watatsumi, the four looked at each other helplessly then flickered away, each of them had the same thought, 'This guy is a total bastard!'
Watatsumi smiled then he also started to walk towards his home, on the way a crow landed on his shoulder, "Kuroto-san, was that alright?"
Kuroto said, "Yes, I just wanted to give birth to a thought in their minds, when I order them to retreat by saying that they are not yet ready for something, then they retreat without any questions asked, else Amatsukami's movements will be hindered."
"Alright." – the crow nodded and then flew away.
.
.
Read up to Chapter - 644 on P.a.t.r.e.o.n. Page: p-atreon.com/Milta_translations