Rokusuke spoke quickly and urgently, almost as if he was condensing all his information into a single sentence.
"W-What's going on?" Lee, who had been sitting cross-legged while eating, was the most confused, his tongue tripping over his words.
Just moments ago, they were eating and singing, and when Lee looked up, he saw that his three teammates had tied up the clients. If he didn't know them so well, Lee might have thought that they were preparing to defect from the village.
"It's nothing. The clients weren't being honest, so we tied them up for their own safety." Naruto explained briefly and stuffed the rag back into Rokusuke's mouth.
The mountain road of Katabami Gold Mine is shrouded in clouds and fog.
The four of them tied up the three clients and left them in Sansho's curry shop. After getting enough information from them, the four decided to go to move forward and check the situation.
"That… funeral, does it mean they're burying people alive for defying the Kurosuki Family?" Tenten suddenly spoke, breaking the silence.
"Yeah." Neji's expression was also grim.
"That's too cruel. Why would they do something like that?" Tenten looked distressed.
"Exactly!" Lee agreed, turning his head as they hurried along, "Let's rescue all those villagers when we get there!"
"We just need to drive Kurosuki Raiga away, there's no need to do anything unnecessary." Naruto reminded them.
Fortunately, although Team 3 is composed of honest people who are not good at dealing with troublesome clients, they are not rookies and didn't underestimate their enemies.
No one said anything about how the villagers were also pitiable. Naruto mentioned it, and the others agreed.
"This village isn't like other places. They live off the gold mine, so it's bound to be chaotic." Naruto explained, "We are just Shinobi. In other people's countries, all we can do is complete the mission."
A light rain began to fall from the overcast sky.
Naruto stood on a high ledge, with the exposed cliffside beneath his feet, squinting at the group of black-robed figures carrying a white coffin as they slowly walked in the rain.
The entire scene was a gray blur. The mountain was nothing but endless rocks, not a single tree or blade of grass in sight.
In the distance, there were faint sounds of funeral bells and faint wailing.
"If the information from the three clients is accurate, the one mourning should be Kurosuki Raiga." Neji said, standing beside Naruto, "Guy-sensei also said that he met Kurosuki Raiga when he was still a Genin."
"No wonder Kurosuki Raiga likes to bury people so much, it turns out he is an old madman."
Suddenly, a mechanical synthesized voice echoed in Naruto's mind. Unlike the usual dull notification chime, this time the voice was a rapid alarm.
[Ding! Warning! Warning!]
[Hinata's affection, Kyubi's approval is 73%, the host releases Kyubi. Incorrect operation, the task line is lost, and it will be permanently sealed!]
In the pop-up panel, the green task progress bar at the top suddenly soared from forty-something to seventy-three and then stopped. Then the task progress bar turned into a gray locked state.
The task line was then removed from the top and sank to the very bottom.
Naruto stood in the rain, stunned for a moment, 'It turned out that the previous lags were all foreshadowed. Because I removed Kurama in advance, my actions were inconsistent with the task line, so now, the task was directly locked.'
The benefits of releasing Kurama couldn't be measured in terms of profit. Although Naruto himself cannot explain the specific reason, he just instinctively feels that it is better to nurture Kurama as early as possible.
But now, 73% is still acceptable, not too much of a loss, so he has nothing to regret.
"What's wrong?" Tenten asked when she saw Naruto standing there in a daze for a long time.
"It's nothing."
Naruto replied, shaking off his daze. He then pointed toward the area filled with mining tunnels and suggested a bold idea, "How about we make a little profit?"
"No!" Neji rejected the idea without hesitation.
"Naruto, you..." Tenten sighed in exasperation, unsure of what to say, "Why do you always have such weird thoughts in your head?"
"Profit? What profit?" Lee asked in confusion.
Naruto pouted and pointed at Neji, "You, a member of the Hyuga Clan, don't really need more money."
He then pointed at Tenten and said, "And you, rich loli, don't lack money either."
"As for Lee, he doesn't need money."
"But I'm different. I have nothing to my name. Success is my only option."
"Stop saying silly things. No means no." Neji ignored Naruto and walked to the edge of the cliff, looking at the funeral procession from afar, "We can try to get closer first."
Lee agreed, Tenten had no objections, and Naruto didn't care either.
If he couldn't profit, then they might as well finish off Raiga quickly. Although the mission says to drive him away, it actually means seriously injuring or eliminating him.
After all, they were in the Land of Rivers, so the mission details had to be written more subtly to save face for the Land of Rivers.
Four against one, the advantage is on their side.
The funeral was being held on a hillside. The living were nailed shut in coffins as six black-robed figures silently walked in the rain. The path was muddy, slowing the procession's progress.
About ten minutes later, Naruto and the team reached the back of the hillside. The cries grew more harrowing, making people's skin crawl.
"This Kurosuki Raiga buries those who offend him alive, then mourns them himself. In such mental state, he should not have much fighting power." Naruto analyzed in a low voice.
"Let's attack together and finish him off!"
The dull, monotonous crying suddenly stopped, and before Neji could say anything, his body tensed.
"Why is it getting foggy?" Tenten asked nervously.
"We've been discovered! Be careful." Neji warned, his voice turning serious. Lee silently moved to the side, readying himself for combat.
The light rain was still falling, but the white fog was getting thicker.
The gusts of wind passing through the exposed rocks were cold, reminding Naruto of a book he'd read, How the Virgin Mary Was Made. (T/N: It's a title of Chinese Novel.)
There should be a little girl with red eyes Kekkei Genkai on Raiga's back. Her life story is pitiful, and her relationship with Raiga is similar to that of Zabuza and Haku.
Fortunately, what Naruto is best at is severing ties, not holding an umbrella when it rains, and not using a knife to kill people.
'In these times, Virgin Mary had no place.'
Just as Naruto was about to use Lava Release to start the battle, a flurry of mechanical chimes echoed madly in his mind.
[Dear host, the Land of Water Arc: The Ninja Swords Collection Task Line has been activated! (Pinned)]
[Achievement Unlocked: Executioner's Blade – Kubikiribocho.]
[Achievement not yet achieved: Lightning Blades – Kiba, Shark Skin - Samehada, Twin Blades – Hiramekarei, Needle Sword – Nuibari, Blastsword – Shibuki, Bluntsword – Kabutowari. ]
[Reward: Izanagi (Single-Use Item), awarded upon completing all accomplishments.]
[Ding!]
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