CHAPTER 263: CHAPTER 263: A BUNCH OF ODDBALLS IN ONE SQUAD—ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

Might Guy really did try running all the way to the Land of Waves.

But...

Halfway through, he burned too much chakra, and eventually had to get on the boat—only to immediately start vomiting the moment he did.

He didn’t recover until they actually reached the Land of Waves.

The Land of Waves wasn’t big. As an island country located at sea, it served as a pit stop for merchant ships from nearby nations. At this time, it still wasn’t under the control of Gato’s corporation.

Thanks to its geography, the people of the Land of Waves weren’t wealthy—but they weren’t destitute either.

Especially this year.

With the war over and merchant traffic increasing, life in the Land of Waves had improved quite a bit.

Which meant...

More missions.

Might Guy’s squad had been given a real mission—not some fake assignment made up by Kyoichi just to stir trouble. So once they arrived, a local contact quickly came to receive them.

However...

Upon seeing the Konoha squad, the contact clearly looked displeased.

Not only were they four kids...

But the squad leader looked like he was on the verge of death—still puking his guts out.

They looked anything but reliable.

"Excuse me... where’s your leading jonin?"

"Apologies. Let me introduce myself—my name is Genma Shiranui. While we may only be around eleven or twelve years old, all four of us are officially ranked chunin. We’re fully capable of completing this mission."

It was only a C-rank mission.

That level of difficulty was well within the capabilities of a chunin team.

The contact didn’t have much to say.

After all, they’d only paid for a C-rank job. Konoha sending this kind of team wasn’t exactly unjustified.

After a moment of silence...

He led Might Guy’s squad deeper into the island.

Though they didn’t look promising...

He could only hope their abilities were up to par. The enemy they were dealing with was known to be thuggish and unreasonable—if they’d hired ninja too, this Konoha squad might be in trouble.

Kyoichi, of course, knew all this.

In fact...

He even knew who was leading the other side.

An old acquaintance—Hozuki Chikage.

Chikage had been captured and interrogated by Kyoichi during the war, then studied for a while before being released post-war.

If it had been any other ninja, they’d probably be "atoning" for something right now.

But...

The Hozuki clan was different.

Their status in Kirigakure was high, and given how short on talent the village was, they weren’t going to kill off a jonin with Hydrification Jutsu so easily.

What’s more...

The subordinates Chikage was leading weren’t pushovers either.

Momochi Zabuza, Ringo Ameyuri, and Terumi Mei.

A squad with serious strength.

Their mission this time was straightforward: escort a company and help it establish operations in the Land of Waves.

The company’s boss?

Gato.

The ones who hired Konoha’s team were local villagers hoping to protect themselves from Gato’s thuggish tactics.

So...

It was inevitable that the Konoha and Kirigakure squads would clash. Given the state of Guy’s squad, Kyoichi didn’t believe Chikage—who had that kind of personality—would let it slide.

This bait? He was definitely taking it.

---

At this point, Gato’s company had grown sizable, but nowhere near the transnational corporate beast it would later become. Most of its activities were still centered around smuggling and underworld operations.

And when dealing with ninja, Gato still maintained a respectful tone—he didn’t dare act arrogant.

"Chikage-sama, I heard a Konoha squad landed in the Land of Waves this afternoon. Should we avoid them?"

Gato had heard of Konoha’s reputation.

They had defeated Kirigakure, Iwagakure, and Kumogakure in succession. Among the Five Great Villages, Konoha was now arguably the strongest.

As a businessman, he didn’t want to make enemies unnecessarily.

Hozuki Chikage was momentarily surprised. "Who did Konoha send?"

"Not sure. Looked like four kids. One of them couldn’t stop vomiting after getting off the boat. My men didn’t dare get too close, so we didn’t catch their names."

Gato answered truthfully.

Chikage breathed a small sigh of relief.

Just kids?

Then there was nothing to worry about.

He gave a cold chuckle. "Four kids? You’re doing business here with the Daimyō’s permission, aren’t you? Konoha has nothing to do with you."

"I just mean, if there’s a conflict..."

"What? You think Kirigakure’s afraid of Konoha now? As long as the mission is legitimate, I, Hozuki Chikage, have nothing to fear."

His voice was chilly with contempt.

Gato quickly nodded in agreement.

They disembarked from the ship and stopped outside a nearby village, pointing and discussing.

"This is the place. Have someone negotiate. See if we can take over this area and build a dock. In the future, all ships will anchor here."

"Yes, sir!"

By "negotiate," of course, they meant coerce.

Gato wasn’t a real businessman—he was a mobster. Though he had just arrived in the Land of Waves, he had no real intention of striking fair deals with villagers.

He’d send his goons to rough them up, throw some hush money around, and secure the land by force.

Unfortunately...

The client who hired Might Guy’s squad?

Was the very village leader they were now targeting.

In fact...

This wasn’t the first time Gato’s men had harassed them.

They’d been driven off before, which was why the villagers sought backup from Konoha in addition to Kirigakure.

When Gato’s goons came knocking again, they ran headfirst into Guy and Obito—who had just eaten and fully recovered their energy.

Guy barely had to lift a finger.

The thugs were beaten to a pulp and fled, bruised and bloodied. Afterward, Guy tilted his head and asked, "So... what’s going on here? Those guys didn’t seem like good people."

"Uhh..." Tazuna glanced at the village elder, puzzled.

This kind of ninja...

Well, he could fight, sure.

But...

Didn’t seem particularly reliable.

"Ahem, they’re from a shipping company," the elder sighed. "Said they wanted to requisition a piece of our land for a dock. But we have no intention of selling. They’ve been coming by every day, threatening us."

Their village was perfectly situated—not too close, not too far from the coast—with a stretch of land ideal for a dock.

Naturally, it had drawn attention.

But that land was crucial—it was the fishing community’s main access to the sea.

How could they possibly give that up?

After hearing the full story, Guy didn’t say much. He just stood there in thought, while Obito had already exploded with fury.

"We’ve gotta drive that disgusting company out!"

"Ahem!"

"So vile! How can people like that exist!?"

"Ahem, Obito—look," Genma tried to remind him gently. "We don’t know the full picture yet. We shouldn’t act rashly. Our mission is to protect the villagers, not forcibly remove anyone."

Obito ignored him completely.

Ebisu tugged at his sleeve and whispered something in his ear.

Obito blinked.

He hadn’t... thought that far ahead.

"I’ve made up my mind! We’re kicking them out—RAAAHH!! My burning youth cannot allow this injustice to continue!"

Guy roared, fists clenched in a full-on motivational frenzy.

Genma and Ebisu sighed in unison, covering their faces.

What was the higher-up thinking?

Managing one nutjob was hard enough. Now they had two.

This was just cruel.

Genma hurried to grab Guy before he charged off again.

But...

They didn’t have to wait long—Gato’s people came back.

And this time...

It wasn’t just thugs.

Hozuki Chikage, Terumi Mei, and the others were with them. As soon as they arrived and saw the Konoha squad, they froze.

These four kids?

"I think we ran into them during the Chunin Exams," Mei said in a low voice. "Don’t know the one in green, but the kid with the goggles is Uchiha Obito—he’s from the Uchiha clan."

"But he’s not exactly a genius, right?" Zabuza said, gripping his blade eagerly.

He didn’t believe he was weaker than Konoha’s bunch. In fact, he still held a grudge from the last exam. Now that he had another shot, he could barely hold himself back.

Unfortunately...

It wasn’t quite time to make a move—yet.

***************************

Read advanced Chapters ahead of everyone else on my P@treon.

P@treon/GodDragcell