https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-496-Racing-Through-the-Grass-Ninja-Village/12558746/
Chapter 497: The Unexpected Whirlpool Clan
Chapter 497: The Unexpected Whirlpool Clan
Unfamiliar with the Grass Ninja Village, Kakashi first took his team to various locations in the main urban area to survey the area and plan their future routes.
Unlike Mu Yue, Kakashi didn't think finding the Anbu base would be easy, and he believed there was a simpler way to gather evidence.
To remain inconspicuous, Kakashi instructed Obito and the others to use transformation techniques to disguise themselves as ordinary adult males from the Land of Grass, commonly seen on the streets.
"Kakashi, are you alright? It feels like we've wasted so much time with nothing to show for it," Obito questioned, his doubt evident.
He felt less like they were on an infiltration mission and more like they were just wandering around.
"Less talk, more action. I'm the team leader," Kakashi replied nonchalantly, offering no further explanation.
If Obito wanted to understand his reasoning, Kakashi would have to explain the intricate cause-and-effect relationships and details, which he didn't have the leisure for during a mission.
Obito glared angrily, conveying his displeasure, but he refrained from saying more.
He knew that if he persisted in arguing, he, as a team member, would likely be in the wrong, and having Rin take Kakashi's side would break his heart.
Kakashi led the team into a bustling tavern, feigning the search for a table while surreptitiously scanning the room for any Grass Ninja Village ninjas.
Spotting a group of inebriated Grass ninjas, Kakashi guided Obito and the others to a table nearby.
The Grass ninjas' faces were already flushed from drinking, their speech slurred.
Kakashi, maintaining his cover as a regular customer, ordered three bottles of clear liquor and several side dishes.
"Hey, Kakashi, are we really going to drink? Isn't that prohibited?" Obito whispered, unable to contain his curiosity.
Although they had graduated and become ninjas, and were now allowed to take assassination missions after their genin protection period, drinking alcohol was strictly forbidden for minors in Konoha. Even selling alcohol to minors was illegal.
So, the idea of drinking was thrilling for Obito; it felt like flirting with Konoha's laws.
Kakashi shot him a withering glance, making it clear that not ordering drinks in a tavern like this would be suspicious.
"Just pretend to drink; don't actually consume any," Kakashi whispered back.
While they were on a mission, he wasn't about to break the law.
Moreover, as ninjas, it was easy for them to pretend to drink and fool both ordinary people and the already intoxicated ninjas.
Obito nodded reluctantly, a hint of disappointment on his face. He had a nagging desire to experience what all the adult ninjas seemed to enjoy so much.
He reasoned that alcohol must be a delightful beverage, restricted only because of its harmful effects on minors.
Kakashi went through the motions of pouring drinks for everyone, further solidifying their disguise.
"This smells weird. Is it really tasty?" Obito asked curiously, sniffing at the glass. The aroma didn't quite match his expectations.
In his experience, beverages that smelled pleasant tended to taste good, and conversely, those with unpleasant odors often didn't taste very nice.
Bang!
"Damn Konoha and Iwagakure! They can't fight in their own countries; they have to bring their war to our soil," a Grass ninja exclaimed, downing his drink in one gulp, his cheeks reddening further. He slammed the empty glass onto the table, voicing his anger at the two warring ninja villages currently battling on the Land of Grass territory.
"Aren't the major powers always like that?" another Grass ninja sneered.
"They never give a damn about us smaller nations, relying on their superior military might."
Bordering the Lands of Earth and Fire, the Grass Ninja Village often bore the brunt of the conflicts between Konoha and Iwagakure, which bred a deep-seated resentment among its ninjas toward the two larger villages.
It was a matter of might; if they could, the Grass ninjas would gladly take on one of these powerful enemies.
"There are battles everywhere these days. It's the same everywhere, and it's not all bad. We've recently received some pretty decent new tea shipments," a Grass ninja with stubble commented with a laugh.
The others shot him disdainful looks, feeling he was trivializing the grave matters affecting their nation.
"Which merchant brought in the new tea? Have you tried it?" the tipsy ninja asked quietly.
Despite their contempt, they were still curious about the tea.
"I tried some yesterday after returning from a mission. I heard that several merchants have brought in new teas lately. After all, times are tough, and we've been receiving quite a few refugees recently," the stubbled ninja shared his intelligence.
"You're quite the energetic one, thinking about tea even with the recent high-intensity missions."
"However, the Grass Ninjas seem to hold a grudge against the Rock Ninjas. I wonder if they're not cooperating with each other?" Kakashi extracted a slightly useful piece of information from the plethora of useless chatter.
Kakashi shook his head internally; such scant information was not enough to make a sound judgment.
Ninja villages rarely turned on each other over minor grievances; they would usually collaborate if there was something to gain.
Seeing that he wasn't going to get any valuable information, Kakashi signaled to his team, and they left the tavern.
"We were just wasting time there, those guys kept talking about tea and didn't say anything useful." Once they were in a less crowded area, Obito voiced his frustration.
Obito had also been discreetly observing the Grass Ninjas with his peripheral vision, and he couldn't fathom why a group of people would be so enthusiastic about discussing tea. He wondered if the Grass Ninja Village had a tea-drinking culture unique to ninja villages.
Looking into Obito's clear and innocent eyes, Kakashi ultimately decided against revealing the truth, figuring that a little naivete wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
"Let's go take a look somewhere else." Kakashi intended to explore areas outside the main urban district.
After all, this was an S-rank war mission, and Kakashi had mentally prepared himself for the possibility of having no leads on the first day.
It was typical for missions of this caliber to take a month or two to complete.
The team continued their reconnaissance of the Grass Ninja Village, eventually reaching the area where the village managed the influx of refugees.
From a distance, Kakashi and his team could see a large gathering of people being loudly reprimanded by Grass Ninjas wearing their village's forehead protectors, who were trying to maintain order.
"If you want to eat, then honestly declare your skills and register. Write down your name, age, and any special abilities or techniques you've mastered. Ninjas will be given priority in the registration process, and those who perform well can become Grass Ninjas," the Grass Ninja in charge of maintaining order shouted.
The Grass Ninja Village wasn't exactly affluent, so they couldn't afford to support the war refugees without getting anything in return. Those with useful skills would be allowed to stay and work, while the rest would be turned away.
As for what happened to those who were turned away, that was none of their concern, especially since some of the refugees weren't even from the Grass Country.
Kakashi watched as seven Grass Ninjas struggled to control the crowd of over a thousand refugees, deep in thought.
While it was true that the superhuman strength of ninjas made maintaining law and order feasible, from an efficiency standpoint, they would need at least a dozen or twenty ninjas to manage a crowd of this size effectively.
"High-intensity mission, small number of ninjas..." Kakashi vaguely sensed that there was something amiss.
However, he quickly shook his head, acknowledging that the information they had was still too scarce to jump to conclusions.
"Look, Rin, there's someone with red hair over there," Obito said as he scanned the crowd, suddenly spotting a rare hair color. He quickly alerted Rin Nohara.
In the ninja world, a variety of hair colors existed, and in Obito's experience, black hair was the most common, while red hair was the rarest. The only person he knew with natural red hair was Kushina.
"Yeah, and it looks a bit like Kushina-neechan's," Rin agreed.
Hearing this, Kakashi also turned his attention to the red-haired figure that Obito had pointed out.
"Could it be a survivor from the Whirlpool Clan?" Kakashi wondered silently.
Red hair was a distinctive feature of the Whirlpool Clan, and if someone had red hair and also possessed a large amount of chakra, it was highly likely that they were a member of the clan.
Kakashi quietly moved closer and activated his Sharingan.
With the Sharingan's enhanced vision, Kakashi could see the flow of chakra within the red-haired figure's body, revealing an abundance of chakra hidden within.
Kakashi was surprised by this discovery.
While it was true that members of the Whirlpool Clan typically had red hair, that didn't mean everyone with red hair was a member of the clan. There could also be naturally red-haired civilians.
However, when combined with an unusually large amount of chakra, it was almost certain that this person was a member of the Whirlpool Clan.
"Name, age, and special abilities. Hurry up, or move to the left," the registering Grass Ninja said impatiently.
Even a job one enjoyed could become tedious and frustrating, especially when it involved repeatedly performing the same boring task. If it weren't for the fact that this was a mission directly assigned by the Grass Ninja Village leader, the ninjas would have likely started slacking off by now.
"Hua Ling, 20 years old. Does sewing count as a special ability?" Whirlpool Hua Ling asked cautiously.
"Move to the left," the registering Grass Ninja replied brusquely, not even bothering to answer her question.
With only this single skill, it was obvious that she wouldn't be able to earn her keep in the Grass Ninja Village. Even for manual labor, they preferred someone stronger.
Seeing the dismissive response, Hua Ling obediently moved to the left queue, feeling a bit lost and uncertain about her future.
The only other place that offered similar safety and prosperity was the country's capital, but one needed money to survive there—it could be even more challenging than the Grass Ninja Village.
There was a way for Whirlpool Hua Ling to be accepted by the Grass Ninja Village, and it had nothing to do with her sewing skills. It was her unique Whirlpool body constitution that could be her ticket.
But Hua Ling dared not reveal this ability. She knew that the entire ninja world harbored deep ill-will towards the Whirlpool Clan, and she never dared to disclose her surname when outside.
Whirlpool Hua Ling yearned for a peaceful life, and if she exposed her capabilities, that dream would be shattered. This contradiction ultimately led her to choose concealment.
"I'll just have to take my chances out there," Hua Ling sighed inwardly.
She didn't harbor any grand ambitions of restoring the Whirlpool Clan to its former glory; she only wanted to live a quiet life until old age. Yet, even such a simple wish seemed like a luxury in the current ninja world.
"Take them out," the leading Grass ninja instructed one of his companions as he saw that the left group was almost ready to be escorted out of the village.
Kakashi began to back away, preparing to create a shadow clone to follow them.
Although this unknown member of the Whirlpool Clan had nothing to do with their current mission, the Whirlpool Clan was one of Konoha's closest allies. If they were in trouble, Kakashi was willing to lend a small helping hand.
"Wait, what's going on here?" Yokokawa Tsutomu, who had come to inspect the situation, asked casually as he noticed the group walking towards the village entrance.
He was concerned that his men might mess up and expose their collaboration with the Grass Flower organization, so he decided to take a look himself.
"Leader, they are all people who cannot contribute to the Grass Ninja Village, and we are about to send them out," the Grass ninja explained respectfully.
Yokokawa nodded, not sensing anything amiss.
"Hmm, that red-haired person, stop." Yokokawa, about to turn back, suddenly showed a curious expression.
As the leader of the Grass Ninjas, Yokokawa was far more perceptive than an ordinary Grass ninja.
Hearing Yokokawa's voice, Hua Ling's mind went blank as she realized someone might have discovered her secret.
However, as someone who had not undergone ninja training, she knew she had no chance of escaping from a group of ninjas. Reluctantly, she stopped.
Sensing the surrounding gazes filled with envy and jealousy, Hua Ling sighed inwardly. This was definitely not a good sign.
Hua Ling tried her best to control her expression, praying that no one would uncover her identity.
Yokokawa walked up to Hua Ling and, focusing his chakra, used a secret technique to sense her chakra.
This sensing technique was not very useful in combat, but it could be handy for detecting chakra in everyday situations.
"You can stay," Yokokawa said with a slight smile as he sensed the chakra within Hua Ling's body. He was pleased to have stumbled upon such an unexpected bonus.
With the unique traits of the Whirlpool Clan, sacrificing Hua Ling to the Bliss Box would be like having a hundred ordinary ninjas.
After giving the order, Yokokawa gave a few instructions to the Grass ninja and left.
The next batch of corpses would be arriving soon, and he intended to dispose of Hua Ling along with the ninja corpses.
Yokokawa's appearance disrupted Kakashi's plans. To avoid any impact on their mission, Kakashi refrained from acting rashly.
Instead, he decided to report this information to Mu Yue and let her decide whether to make contact with this surviving member of the Whirlpool Clan.
In the evening, after a day of investigation, Kakashi's team returned to their inn.
"Today, we just walked around and didn't accomplish anything. Kakashi, as the team leader, you need to take responsibility," Tobirama attempted to shift the blame onto Kakashi.
Kakashi gave him a look, "You should talk less; otherwise, people might think our team didn't gather any intelligence."
Every time he wanted to think better of Tobirama, the latter would open his mouth and ruin it.
"Alright, it looks like Mu Yue and the others are back. Let's go to them," Rin said with a helpless smile, trying to mediate the situation.
Seeing that Rin had spoken up, Tobirama dropped the matter and followed her toward the room.
PS: Sorry, the number of updates may be reduced in the coming days as I adjust my physical condition.
I will definitely continue with more frequent updates when my eyes recover. I even coded words until four or five in the morning recently. Do you think I'm the type of person who doesn't want to write?
Updates mean money for authors—it's a straightforward equation. Of course, I want to earn more, but my body isn't allowing it lately. Please bear with me, brothers.
(End of Chapter)
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