Chapter 133: The Rich
"Make sure you remember all of this; it might come in handy at any time. Your Captain has made a powerful enemy out there in the past. I didn't manage to kill him, so he might be targeting me or sending assassins to take me out!" Tonbo Tobitake said with a beaming smile.
"A powerful enemy? Is it from the Cloud Village or the Stone Village?" Inuzuka Kairo wondered. The Sand's Kazekage was currently an ally and had suffered huge losses in the Third War, so it was unlikely to be them. The Mist Village was currently closed off, making a confrontation there improbable. That left only two major options.
"The Rain Village. But it's not a big problem. According to intelligence, he's quite settled now. Mostly, I just discovered some enemies of the Hagoromo Clan..." Tonbo smiled as he recounted the events from earlier.
"So these companies aren't much different from our village—lots of infighting. This is the first time I've seen a conflict between big corporations," Inuzuka Kairo remarked.
Hyuga Ren added, "Of course. You probably haven't touched your family's businesses yet. In the Hyuga, the companies we control in the construction industry often face this. It's just that our clan also holds military and political power, which makes those capitalists restrain themselves. Even so, they still dare to hire ninjas to assassinate key company members."
"Yes," Aburame Shenra began, "for the sake of profit, they even dare to hire ninjas to infiltrate our Aburame territory to try and steal our insect-breeding formulas. They are very bold."
The Aburame family raised various specialized insect colonies that could be applied to pharmaceutical industries, providing a steady stream of materials for the medical field. The Hyuga family had the Byakugan; once the workers finished construction, they would send ninjas to use the Byakugan to inspect the structural integrity, earning them high praise in the construction industry. As Chunin, they had inevitably picked up bits of information regarding these ventures.
"Eh? Why doesn't my family have anything like that?" Inuzuka Kairo scratched his head. They were a great clan too, yet he had never encountered this.
Tonbo Tobitake looked at him helplessly. "Your family produces industry specialists—specifically veterinarians and dog breeders. Your profit chain is different from theirs."
"Is that so? Haha!" Inuzuka Kairo laughed heartily.
"In any case, our mission is to help them pass the trial and ensure the safety of their juniors. Their corporate drama isn't our business, but just in case, everyone must be prepared to react. If they are willing to upgrade the mission rank to S-rank, it's not like we can't help out. After all, they've treated us to great food and drink all the way here—it's hard to be ungrateful! However, safety comes first. If the enemy is too strong, we won't do it. We'll slip away first. Understand?" Tonbo cautioned.
"Captain, you apply the Shinobi Rules very... flexibly," Aburame Shenra deadpanned.
According to the Konoha Shinobi Rules, if a Captain determines that the actual danger of a mission differs from its assigned rank, they have the discretion to decide whether to continue. Every mission is assigned by the Hokage based on difficulty, but if the situation changes, the Captain's judgment takes priority.
"Nonsense. Besides having a wife who lets me live a life of luxury, I'm also very good at making money, alright? Encountering extras during a mission is common. If we have the capability, why refuse a chance to get paid?" Tonbo said huffily.
He wasn't just a man living off his wife; he could be tough when needed. Since Konoha established these rules, he was going to make good use of them.
"It's decided. I'll talk to their person in charge tomorrow. They hired sensory ninjas anyway, so they should be mentally prepared for us to be scouting. I won't be too blunt; I'll just tactfully mention they have enemies. I trust a businessman's shrewdness; he'll know what to do."
The Next Day.
Hagoromo Ken looked at them deeply. He didn't say much about their "scouting" activities; in fact, he felt somewhat relieved that the enemy's movements had been detected in advance.
"I will consider upgrading the mission rank. Thank you for the warning."
Swoosh! Swoosh!
A group of ten children, roughly twelve years old, stood outside the Hagoromo Clan's main gate. Leading them was a Hagoromo elder. Tonbo Tobitake and his team landed nearby.
"Sorry for the trouble. I am Hagoromo Genzo, responsible for leading everyone to the trial grounds at the Valley of the Resting Wind." Hagoromo Genzo placed his right hand over his chest and gave a gentlemanly bow.
The Hagoromo juniors beside him all wore Kenseikan (Star-Pulling Braces) on their heads, which served as the symbol of the Hagoromo Guardian Ninjas. They looked at Tonbo and his team with curiosity. They had never seen ninjas from the Five Great Villages before—they only knew that ninjas could be hired with money. Now seeing them, they felt they all looked a bit... off.
The leader was a weirdo whose entire face was covered in bandages except for his mouth; they wondered how he could even see the road. Beside him was someone doing a mission while bringing a dog—a dog that looked quite silly, as if it might point its index finger at them at any second. One wore sunglasses and looked relatively normal, even somewhat fashionable. The last one kept rolling his eyes at people, appearing quite rude.
"So these are Konoha ninjas. They all seem to have weird quirks."
"Yeah. I heard the weirder the outfit, the faster they die. Don't they know that?"
"Shh. Let them be ugly; we'll stay handsome. If they were handsome, what would be left for us?"
Compared to Tonbo's squad, who wore standard ninja flak jackets (except for Aburame Shenra), the Hagoromo Clan's vests were far more ornate. They had just as many functions as Konoha's, if not more. With the development of technology in the shinobi world, these capitalist families clearly utilized high-tech gear.
Their vests obviously had much higher defensive capabilities than Konoha's, likely made of special materials, and had summoning formulas engraved on them, allowing them to summon various ninja tools at a moment's notice.
"Captain, their equipment is so luxurious!" Inuzuka Kairo looked at their gear, green with envy.
Hyuga Ren noted, "Indeed. Their vests are infused with various summoning seals. They're using the latest high-tech headsets from the Land of Lightning's Wireless Co., which can communicate in extreme environments. That equipment is usually restricted from export. Even their under-armor has higher defensive properties than ours."
"It's good to be rich," Aburame Shenra remarked.
Tonbo Tobitake smiled. "It's luxurious, alright. But they still need us to look after them. You can tell this mission isn't simple. They only prepared these things because the Valley of the Resting Wind requires them. We need to make similar preparations. Be careful."
The storage summoning seals indicated they needed to carry a lot of supplies for emergencies. The reinforced vests suggested the valley could cause physical harm, and the advanced radios implied that ordinary communication likely wouldn't work there.
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