Check out the new FIC I'm translating, "Unhinged Uchiha Survivor"
Chapter 145: Leaving the Newbie Village
Seeing Satsuki's already unsheathed kunai and Tazuna, who was paralyzed on the ground, his clothes soaked in cold sweat from the substantial killing intent, Kakashi finally fully realized something was wrong.
Satsuki's reaction far exceeded appropriate anger at being lied to.
"Wait! Satsuki! What are you doing?" Kakashi immediately spoke to stop her. "Even if the client deceived us and concealed the mission rank, we absolutely cannot attack the client!"
Tazuna was completely terrified by this sudden killing intent, collapsing to the ground with his hands instinctively raised in front of him. "W-wait! I can explain! Really, I can explain! Don't kill me!"
However, Satsuki seemed not to hear Kakashi's warning or Tazuna's pleas. All her attention remained locked on Tazuna, her grip on the kunai tightening even more.
Just at this tense moment—
"Satsuki, put down the kunai."
Naruto's voice sounded nearby as he reached out and steadily grasped Satsuki's wrist that tightly gripped the kunai.
The moment his words fell, Satsuki's tense body almost instinctively relaxed. That hand holding the kunai obediently loosened its grip, and with a "clang," the kunai dropped to the ground.
Her body, ahead of her thoughts, had already made the most instinctive response to this familiar voice and touch.
Satsuki whipped her head around, her crimson Sharingan looking at Naruto, eyes filled with hostility that hadn't completely dissipated and a trace of interrupted confusion. But when she met Naruto's concerned and puzzled azure eyes, that terrifying killing intent receded like a tide, the blood color in her eyes gradually fading back to their original black.
"What's wrong?" Naruto frowned slightly, carefully examining Satsuki. "Your state just now was a bit off. What happened?"
Satsuki finally realized that she seemed to have completely failed to control the emotions surging from deep within her heart just now... The nearly obsessive protective instinct and intense possessiveness toward Naruto that she had always carefully suppressed beneath her calm exterior had accidentally leaked out due to Tazuna's deception and the potential danger it could bring to Naruto.
She quickly restrained all exposed emotions, lowering her head slightly to let her black hair conceal her somewhat panicked gaze. "...Nothing, I'm fine. I was just angry because this guy nearly brought us all into unexpected danger for his personal gain."
"I see," Naruto smiled reassuringly upon hearing this, very naturally reaching out to ruffle Satsuki's hair. "It's okay, don't be afraid. If we really encounter any danger, I'll definitely protect you. Trust me."
Looking at Satsuki who quickly calmed down, her posture showing no resistance to Naruto's touch and revealing dependence, and Naruto's natural promise, Kakashi appreciated the mutual trust and care between teammates...
But his intuition told him that Satsuki's reaction just now and Naruto's influence over her seemed a bit... excessively beyond normal bounds?
It seemed after this was over, he needed to find an opportunity to have a good talk with Satsuki about ninja rules and boundaries.
Kakashi mentally noted this.
"Well then, Tazuna-san," Kakashi redirected his gaze to the client still collapsed on the ground, his tone returning to business-like. "Regarding your deliberate misrepresentation of the mission rank and putting my subordinates in danger, I will report this truthfully to the Hokage. As for your commission, Team 7 will no longer participate. We're returning to Konoha immediately."
With that, Kakashi began calling the three to prepare to leave.
"No! Please wait! Don't leave!" Tazuna completely panicked, scrambling to try to stop them. "Please! I beg you to continue the mission! If you leave now, not only will I die, but the entire Land of Waves will be finished!"
After witnessing that ninja were actually coming to assassinate him, Tazuna acutely realized that without Konoha ninja protection, he would never make it back to the Land of Waves alive.
In his original plan, if the mission rank deception was exposed, he had actually prepared arguments for moral blackmail, such as "if I die, my daughter and grandson will hate Konoha ninja forever"...
But remembering Satsuki's murderous gaze that seemed ready to tear him apart the next second... he immediately swallowed all those schemes. Saying such things now would probably really get him killed.
In the end, under Naruto's somewhat surprised gaze, Tazuna abandoned all wishful thinking and scheming, sincerely bowing his head in apology, admitting his mistakes, and repeatedly promising that as long as the mission could be completed, he would personally go to Konoha to explain everything to the Hokage and make up all employment fees according to true B-rank or even A-rank mission standards.
Kakashi looked at Tazuna's complete attitude reversal and, after pondering for a moment, decided to leave the choice to his students.
After all, he had executed countless high-difficulty missions himself. Even if more ninja attacked later, he had full confidence in handling them. Moreover, his students—except for Sakura—were all exceptionally strong.
Unless some major nation's "Kage" personally came to intercept them, or that mysterious Ember organization suddenly took a dislike to Tazuna...
Kakashi calculated the worst possibilities in his mind, then dismissed the thought. The probability of that happening was basically zero, right? How could it be possible?
Finally, Naruto proposed continuing the mission. His reasoning was practical: since Tazuna had sincerely apologized and promised to make up the proper fees, he was willing to try whether he and his companions could complete this dangerous mission involving actual ninja combat. This would also be valuable experience for their growth.
Immediately after, Satsuki almost without hesitation expressed that she would follow Naruto's decision.
Though Sakura was still somewhat afraid inside, seeing both Naruto and Satsuki choose to continue, she also gathered courage to follow the team's lead.
Thus, without encountering any moral blackmail, Naruto successfully ensured the mission continued.
After several more hours of walking and a simple lunch with their portable rations, the group finally reached a seaside dock at the Fire Country border.
Next, they needed to cross the sea by boat to reach the overseas Land of Waves. When Naruto saw the ship moored at the dock, he once again experienced the absurdly skewed technology tree of the ninja world.
Clearly, land transport still mainly used horse-drawn carriages, so how was this ship powered by electricity? And this motor sound...
Looking at the vessel emitting a slight hum and clearly not relying on sails or manpower, he couldn't help but internally complain again.
After successfully boarding and reaching the fog-shrouded island nation of the Land of Waves, Kakashi finally found an opportunity to ask Tazuna the key question: who exactly were those Kirigakure ninja attacking him, and why were they willing to cross the sea to assassinate him?
Tazuna began describing the Land of Waves' predicament. Simply put, it all stemmed from a black-hearted merchant named Gato.
According to Tazuna, Gato used vast wealth and violent methods to almost completely blockade all maritime transport routes from the Land of Waves, thoroughly strangling this island nation's economic lifeline. His goal was to completely control all maritime traffic and economy of the Land of Waves, turning it into his private domain.
As for Tazuna himself, for the sake of the entire country's future, he was determined to build a large maritime bridge connecting to the outside world to break Gato's monopoly and restore vitality to the Land of Waves. It was precisely this action that angered Gato and brought deadly danger upon himself.
In Tazuna's emotionally charged story, Gato was portrayed as:
A evil-hearted merchant implementing monopolies through capital and violence - using unfair competition and violent threats to suppress all competitors.
The mastermind hiring ninja to assassinate patriots - he would ruthlessly eliminate anyone obstructing his plans.
A yakuza boss oppressing civilians and committing all manner of evil - his subordinates ran rampant in the Land of Waves, making the people suffer.
A despicable, treacherous, cold-blooded scoundrel - he had no credibility or bottom line, seeing only profit.
...Though Tazuna's account was mixed with much personal indignation, Naruto knew the core content was basically true.
Villains like Gato with pure motives who were "simply" evil seemed rather "rare" in the Naruto world filled with complex hatred and destiny.
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