Shiraishi Genzo looked at the Mission Department Chunin and demanded, "I posted a B-ranked job with the highest compensation for a job of this rank to hire a squad of powerful ninjas to protect my caravans…"
He turned his head back, looked at the trio in disbelief, and asked, "...And Konoha sent me kids?"
Once the words came out of Genzo's mouth, the atmosphere in the northern gate of Konoha seemed to freeze.
Seimei didn't have much of a reaction. He had already guessed the reason for the merchant's extreme reaction.
When a client pays for a B-rank mission with the highest possible compensation for the job rank, it's natural for them to expect to receive protection from an elite squad.
An elite squad should naturally have at least three Elite Chunin or a Genin squad led by a veteran full-fledged Jonin.
And Seimei's squad was indeed a team of three kids who were no older than twelve, making it easy to underestimate their strength.
After all, in most cases, a 12-year-old ninja only had the combat strength of a Genin.
Their client was a normal civilian with no chakra or sensory skills. So, it was natural for him to mistake their squad as a group of fresh-faced Genin, just out of the academy.
Seimei understood it all.
He glanced slightly at Reina to see her reaction. And to his surprise, she was as calm as an old dog.
He had half expected her to explode in anger after being belittled by the merchant Genzo.
Then again… Seimei mused. Children mature fast in this world. A teenage ninja is already a little adult. No matter how explosive someone's temper is, when facing clients, ninjas would always maintain a professional demeanor.
No matter how annoying a client is, we just need to finish our mission flawlessly. After all, for powerful ninjas, there is no point in getting angry at civilians whom they can crush at a moment's notice.
If anything, to most of them, watching a few powerless, overexcited monkeys yapping around is rather amusing. It's fun to watch them jump around. There's no need to mind their worlds.
The only reason ninjas never thought about taking over the Daimyo's position is that the ninja population is too small compared to the hundreds of millions of civilians. And administering, ruling, and managing such a large number of people aren't the skills ninjas usually possess.
It would be a waste of time and effort. The current "one country, one village" system is quite efficient. We get money and resources from the Daimyo to protect his country, and we earn money from the missions, giving us more freedom and time to hone our combat skills.
As Seimei concluded his thoughts, he glanced slightly at Hyuga Natsumi, only to see her frown a little.
The little girl seemed quite dissatisfied with the client's behavior. But even she knew that arguing with the client was bad for Konoha's reputation. So, she maintained her composure well.
The freezing, silent atmosphere stretched for a few seconds.
"Sigh…"
Fortunately, a slightly tired sigh from the Missions Department Chunin broke the silence.
Every time. Every single damn time. Whenever these clients without chakra see academy graduates, the same scene happens, over and over. And it's us from the Missions Department who are stuck dealing with this. I am so exhausted…!
The Chunin from the Missions Department thought inwardly as he lamented his fate.
He looked at Genzo and said, "Shiraishi-san, please calm down."
"Although the Squad 13 before you have just graduated from the Academy, they graduated from the S-class or the Special class. Only geniuses with a deep foundation and strength made the cut to become a part of the S-class."
"Moreover, each graduating student from the S-class has Chunin-level strength at the very least."
"And the ones before you are among the top-ranking students, possessing Jonin-level combat prowess, despite being so young."
"So, please be assured. Konoha never takes clients' safety lightly. This ninja squad has been carefully selected to escort you safely."
As a dedicated worker of the Missions Department, this Chunin had received a comprehensive file containing the achievements and strengths of the members of the assigned unit, which was Squad 13 this time.
To avoid complications, he tried his best to carefully and patiently assure Shiraishi Genzo of his assigned squad's competence.
Hearing this, Shiraishi Genzo, who was initially agitated, suddenly calmed down a bit.
Genzo breathed in and out.
He closed his eyes, reopened them, and then spoke, "I see. I was a bit agitated just now."
Seimei, who was watching Genzo's every reaction, found it odd. He didn't understand why he was so agitated just now, considering how quickly he calmed his nerves.
If Genzo had such fine control over their nerves and emotions, he shouldn't have lost his composure so badly.
Although Genzo suppressed his agitation well a few moments ago, Seimei still spotted his tightened jaw, frantic heartbeat, and disordered breathing.
Seimei thought for a bit but decided not to dwell on it.
After all, at the end of the day, Shiraishi Genzo was still a civilian who hadn't unlocked his chakra.
It was normal for him to worry about his safety and become agitated upon seeing teenage kids being responsible for preserving his caravan and his life, especially in a world like this, riddled with vicious chakra beasts.
I just hope I am overthinking, Seimei thought inwardly.
At that moment, Reina calmly stepped forward and said, "Mr. Genzo, please do not worry about your safety."
"I am the leader of Squad 13, Uchiha Reina. Beside me are my teammates, Senju Seimei and Hyuga Natsumi."
Shiraishi Genzo looked at Reina.
Seeing this, she explained, "Our team has long-range reconnaissance capabilities, allowing us to detect chakra beasts and hostile targets from kilometers away. This way, we can avoid most danger with ease before they even reach us."
"Even if we encounter them, there's no need to worry. We specialize in dealing with chakra beasts and human targets. With our wide-area annihilation techniques, we can even decimate chakra beasts in large numbers at once, all while protecting you and your cargo."
"We also have a 100% mission success rate during our Academy times. Many of those missions were B-rank and A-rank."
"So, even if the situation turns out to be more dire than we foresee and this mission's level upgrades to A-rank, we can handle it. We guarantee your safety."
"The enemies would have to step over our corpse before they could reach you."
Reina explained with utmost professional ethics.
Hearing his assigned ninja squad's capabilities calmed the nerves of Shiraishi Genzo quite a bit.
As an experienced merchant who had made a name for himself in the Fire Country single-handedly, he knew that the Uchiha girl's claims were most likely to be true.
Ninja villages and clans were known for their integrity and no-nonsense demeanor when performing missions for their clients.
(Of course, the ninjas' integrity and honest behavior vanish in a moment's notice when they face their enemies. To win the battle and survive another day, they would pull all kinds of cheap tricks and underhanded tactics. No moral ethics at all.)
No ninja would slight or overpromise to shortchange their clients to avoid damage to their reputation. Otherwise, who would hire them in the future?
Genzo nodded at Reina and said, "In that case, I will leave the safety of my caravan and mine in your hands."
Reina hummed in agreement and said no more.
Seimei heard every exchange and gave her a silent thumbs-up.
Nice. So, she does have the talent to be a squad leader after all. It's a good thing. Let's leave talking to the clients and negotiations to her, too. I can finally lie flat and relax during the missions instead of taking care of everything myself, like I did in my academy days.
Seimei mused secretly.
Little did he know that if it were the young Uchiha Reina before regression, lacking the composure of her regressed self, she would have already exploded after being slighted by the clients.
Suddenly, Seimei thought of something and asked Genzo, "So, when are we departing?"
Shiraishi Genzo paused for a bit and replied briefly, "Half of my men are yet to come. They will arrive in thirty minutes after replenishing rations and essentials for the journey. We will depart then."
Seimei nodded, "I see."
As Seimei said that, he secretly activated his Tenseigan and sneakily investigated the merchant caravan and the other regular guards.
There were twelve large caravans to transport things, seven carts to carry people, and a little over thirty guards.
Among the guards, three-quarters of them had already unlocked chakra. Eighteen of them were samurai, who seemed to have enough strength to deal with rogues, bandits, weaker ninjas at Genin-level, and minor chakra beasts.
And five of the remaining chakra-wielding personnel had enough chakra to qualify them as Elite Chunin. From their movements, cautious behavior, and subtle, concealed vibe, they seemed to be trained ninjas.
Normally, Seimei wouldn't be surprised.
The Fire Country had many independent ninja clans. It's not surprising for the nobles and wealthy merchants to keep ninjas from those clans as their retainers.
However…
For a mere back-and-forth mineral delivery, such manpower seems a bit excessive. There are already over thirty people here. And he says at least thirty more people will join in thirty minutes. The total manpower will soar to over sixty.
If most of those people have also unlocked chakra or are trained samurai or ninja, then…
Why is he being so cautious? Judging by his reactions, he wanted to hire a Jonin squad. And he is ready to pay a premium and raise the mission level and compensation to A-rank.
Hiring so many ninjas and samurai must have cost him fortunes.
Just a trip to collect minerals and sell them in the Fire Country couldn't possibly generate enough profit to justify this expense.
A seasoned merchant, no matter how wealthy he is, wouldn't make such a losing deal.
What exactly is he transporting?
As he thought that, Seimei's pupils briefly flashed with an ocean-blue glow.
Although curious, he didn't plan to ask any questions.
They were hired to protect the client and his caravan.
Even if intelligence gathering is important, he couldn't ask sensitive questions about the client's business directly unless the situation was extremely dire.
For now, he would wait.
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