Chapter 161: Fishing
Senju Renjiro returned to the beach, where his shadow clone, students, and five Yugakure chunin were waiting.
Takeshita Toshiaki and their unconscious teammates had joined the three Yugakure chunin, who had already set up several tents.
Renjiro walked into his students' tent. Kaito had sensed Renjiro's return as he approached the beach.
All three students greeted him.
Mieko asked, "Sensei, how did the mission go?"
Renjiro dispelled all his shadow clones, absorbing all their memories into his main body.
Renjiro replied, "Their leader, Mitsutsuka, is dead. The other jonin my shadow clone pursued managed to escape."
All three were surprised. It was the first time they'd heard of anyone escaping from Renjiro.
Renjiro looked at their expressions, shrugged, and said, "That was just a clone. It's difficult to stop a jonin with only a clone."
The three awkwardly looked away. Their expectations of Renjiro were way too high!
Kaito asked, "Sensei, what about those who haven't returned? We searched for a long time but couldn't find them!"
Renjiro replied, "There are two possibilities. Either they're already dead—their bodies sunk to the bottom of the sea or taken by the enemy—or they failed their mission and are still searching."
The three nodded. They'd come to the same conclusion.
Renjiro continued, "Let's wait here until nightfall. If they're still alive, they'll return when it gets dark."
The three nodded.
The tent fell silent. They seemed to have nothing else to do but wait. After a while, Kaito said, "I'm tired of ration bars. Want to go fishing?"
Hodaka and Mieko immediately agreed!
Hodaka said, "Absolutely!"
Mieko said, "Let's go."
All three used Body Flicker to leave the tent, leaving Renjiro alone.
Renjiro sighed and muttered, "Whatever. This mission's almost over anyway. There's no harm in having some fun."
Before diving into the water, Mieko announced, "Whoever catches the biggest fish wins! Ten-minute time limit."
Without waiting for her teammates' response, she dove into the sea. Hodaka and Kaito laughed and dove in after her.
Mieko activated her Sharingan to see clearly underwater.
Hodaka activated his Byakugan. He had a clear advantage in this competition.
Kaito deployed his Chakra Field, searching for fish. They dispersed in different directions.
The Yugakure ninja saw them dive into the sea in a hurry. Toshiaki asked, confused, "Did they spot the enemy?"
He immediately alerted the others, who prepared for battle.
The three searched the seabed. Hodaka was the first to find his prey—a massive whale shark. He quickly swam toward it.
The whale shark noticed something approaching and sensed danger. It immediately charged at Hodaka with its mouth open.
However, Hodaka dodged and struck with Gentle Fist, killing the whale shark with one blow.
Kaito was the second to find his target—a giant crab. He thought, "Wow, can crabs in this world really grow this big?"
But then he remembered Jiraiya's massive toads, so it wasn't that surprising.
The crab noticed Kaito and attacked with its huge claws. Kaito used Body Flicker to dodge and concentrated chakra in his fist.
He punched the crab between its eyes. The punch caused cracks to spread across its shell before it shattered completely, killing the crab.
Kaito picked up the crab and started heading back.
Mieko saw several large fish, but none satisfied her.
As time ran out, her gaze fell on an eight-meter-long bluefin tuna. She immediately swam to it, killed it, and brought it back.
Hodaka was the first to return to shore, dragging a twelve-meter-long whale shark behind him. The Yugakure ninja watched with wide eyes. One of them cursed, "These brats went fishing! Our teammates are nowhere to be found, and they're having fun!"
Toshiaki calmed him down. "Relax. They've done more than enough for this mission. There's no need to be angry with them."
The man snorted but said nothing more.
Soon, Kaito returned. He walked across the water's surface, holding up his right arm with the giant crab dangling from his hand. He walked over to Hodaka's whale shark and tossed his crab down beside it.
Hodaka quickly compared them, laughed, and said triumphantly, "My shark is twelve meters long, and your crab is only ten meters, so I win!"
Kaito rolled his eyes and retorted, "Look at the actual size. Your shark is only two meters wide, but my crab is eight meters wide, so mine is way bigger!"
Hodaka was about to argue when Mieko returned, carrying her eight-meter-long bluefin tuna. She saw Kaito's crab and Hodaka's whale shark, and her expression darkened.
Hodaka laughed. "Well, at least we know who came in last."
Kaito nodded. Mieko's tuna was the shortest and thinnest of the three.
Mieko snorted in dissatisfaction.
Hodaka asked, "Mieko, you be the judge—which is bigger, Kaito's crab or my shark?"
Mieko was annoyed at losing. She turned her head away and snorted. "I don't care whose is bigger. Why are you two arguing like little kids?"
Kaito and Hodaka looked at her with blank expressions. Hearing the commotion, Renjiro walked out of the tent. Hodaka looked at him and said, "Sensei, you decide—is my whale shark bigger or Kaito's crab?"
Renjiro's eye twitched. He thought, "Why are they being so childish?"
He looked at Mieko turning her head away, ignoring them while holding the smallest fish, and realized, "This was probably her idea."
Hodaka urged Renjiro, "Sensei, hurry up and tell everyone my fish is bigger!"
Renjiro said, "Stop being so childish. Just cook whatever you caught."
Getting no answer, Hodaka sighed. Kaito was amused by his antics.
The three decided which fish to eat. After some discussion, they chose the crab since they'd never eaten one that large before.
The whale shark and tuna were stored in special storage scrolls that kept food fresh.
Preparing and cooking the crab took considerable time. All four ate their fill. They invited the Yugakure ninja to join them, but they politely declined.
Later that afternoon, Tokuhei and the remaining two chunin returned to the beach. Renjiro asked, "What happened with your opponents?"
Tokuhei replied, "Mine escaped."
The two chunin also said, "Ours escaped too. We searched for a while but couldn't find anyone."
Renjiro nodded. "Thirteen chunin and three jonin—now only two jonin and one chunin remain. And we have zero casualties, so the mission's definitely a success. Those who escaped won't dare return here. And once word gets out, other rogue ninja won't dare cause trouble in the Land of Hot Water."
Tokuhei asked, "Which other jonin escaped?"
Renjiro replied, "I killed Mitsutsuka. But Fumimaro managed to wound my shadow clone and escape."
Tokuhei breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. As long as Mitsutsuka is dead, this mission's a success."
Renjiro nodded and handed him a scroll. "His body's inside."
Tokuhei took the scroll. Renjiro looked at Kaito and said, "Give him the bodies of the ninja you killed too."
Kaito nodded and handed over his scroll to Tokuhei.
Tokuhei continued discussing the mission's outcome and spoke with his subordinates to understand everything that had happened.
After getting the full picture, he walked toward Renjiro's squad tent. Upon entering, he saw the two captured rogue ninja. He said, "Renjiro, hand these two over to me as well."
Renjiro shook his head. "They surrendered to me. I'm taking them back to Konoha for interrogation."
Tokuhei understood why Renjiro was so firm. They could provide Konoha with valuable intelligence about the current situation in the Hidden Mist.
However, he still insisted, "Renjiro, many innocent civilians have been killed by these guys. I understand your point, but we need to answer to the people of the Land of Hot Water. Please let me take them back first, then we'll transport them to the Land of Fire."
Renjiro frowned. He understood Tokuhei's perspective, but these two could provide Konoha with crucial information. He thought, "If I stand my ground, I can take these two back to Konoha. Tokuhei won't stop me, and the Daimyo won't say anything. But this was a mission issued by the Daimyo. He'd be displeased with this action, and I'd lose all the goodwill we've built up from this mission."
Renjiro said, "Alright. But you must not harm them. I'll report their situation to the Hokage, and the Hokage will send someone to retrieve them. Pass this message to your Daimyo."
Tokuhei breathed a sigh of relief and immediately agreed to Renjiro's conditions.