Chapter 702: Challenging the Strong

Chapter 702: Chapter 702: Challenging the Strong

Chapter 702: Challenging the Strong

After a brief exchange at the harbor, the Mist ninja quickly escorted Konoha’s delegation toward Kirigakure.

Upon entering the village, Obito could not help looking around curiously.

This was not his first time visiting another Ninja Village, but it was his first time setting foot inside one of the Five Great Ninja Villages.

Perhaps for defensive and concealment purposes, Kirigakure had been built deep within the mountains. Massive peaks surrounded the village, and the terrain was incredibly complicated.

"The people living here probably don’t leave the village very often. Just getting in and out would be exhausting," Obito complained inwardly.

Even as a ninja, he found the route unnecessarily complicated.

For ordinary civilians, it would be even worse.

Then again, even without such difficult terrain, Kirigakure’s residents probably would not leave the village frequently. A Ninja Village was ultimately also a military stronghold.

Perhaps because Obito and the others had arrived after nightfall, Kirigakure seemed far less prosperous than Konoha.

"It probably has something to do with the terrain too. Teacher Mugetsu said that if you want to develop the economy, transportation can’t be terrible," Obito analyzed inwardly.

If he were the owner of a merchant caravan, he certainly would not want to do business in Kirigakure.

Finding the village was troublesome enough, and crossing so many mountains just to reach it would be exhausting.

"We won’t disturb your rest any further."

After escorting Konoha’s delegation to the guest quarters, the Mist ninja took their leave.

Considering the long journey the Konoha delegation had endured, the official exchange meeting had been scheduled for two days later, giving everyone plenty of time to recover.

"Rest properly tonight, and don’t wander around Kirigakure without permission," Shinku Yuhi instructed after assigning everyone their rooms.

Kirigakure was unlikely to deliberately cause trouble.

If they stabbed Konoha in the back at a time like this, they would truly have no place left in the Ninja World.

What Shinku was worried about were individual Mist ninja whose relatives or close friends had died fighting Konoha.

Some of them might not be able to suppress their hatred if they encountered members of Konoha’s delegation.

After all, only a few months ago, Kirigakure had still been sending troops to fight Konoha.

Such an incident was entirely possible.

Konoha was powerful enough to demand a satisfactory explanation afterward, but that would not help the ninja who had already been attacked.

It was better to avoid unnecessary trouble from the beginning.

The Konoha ninja responded in unison.

In truth, most of them had no intention of wandering around anyway.

After the long voyage, they only wanted a proper night’s sleep.

The room arrangements were simple.

Two chunin shared each room, while jonin received individual rooms. Male and female ninja were not assigned together unless they were married.

Since it was still too early to sleep, Obito invited Kakashi, Rin, Anko, Izumo, and Kotetsu to his room to chat.

"It’s still too early to sleep. Let’s talk about something," Obito suggested.

Hearing this, some of the exhaustion on Kotetsu’s face disappeared.

"Captain Obito, can you tell us about some of your past missions?"

After hearing Obito briefly mention the Land of Snow mission during the voyage, Kotetsu had become curious about the kinds of missions Obito had experienced.

"Mission stories, huh?"

Obito scratched his head.

"What kind do you want to hear?"

Thinking back carefully, he really had completed all kinds of missions over the past few years.

"Tell us about the really impressive ones. The kind that sound like something straight out of a ninja novel," Kotetsu replied excitedly.

"I see..."

Obito fell into thought.

If they were talking about extraordinary experiences, the Loulan mission was definitely the most ridiculous.

Ninja from the future traveling back through time and appearing in the present was the kind of plot even ninja novels rarely dared to use.

However, time travel was not something Obito could casually talk about.

Besides, it sounded absurd.

If he had not personally experienced it, even Obito would have struggled to believe something like that could happen in reality.

After thinking for a moment, Obito said, "For some reason, Kakashi used to have an amazing talent for jinxing our missions. Several times, a mission went wrong right after he said everything would be fine."

Kakashi fell silent.

He really wanted to refute Obito.

Unfortunately, during that period, it had actually happened.

Every time Kakashi confidently declared that nothing would go wrong, something unexpected followed soon afterward.

"So remember this," Obito said seriously. "When you’re on a mission, never say things like, ’Nothing will go wrong.’ If you suddenly run into someone like the Raikage afterward, you’ll regret it."

"No way."

Izumo looked doubtful.

"You’re saying we could run into the Raikage just because someone says that?"

It sounded even more ridiculous than the stories adults told children to scare them into staying indoors at night.

"We didn’t meet the Raikage himself," Obito replied.

"But we did run into the Third Raikage’s son, the future Raikage, along with several Kumogakure jonin and chunin."

"And at the time, we were literally just passing through the area on a C Rank mission."

Izumo’s eyes widened.

A future Raikage accompanied by several jonin?

That level of danger would already qualify as top tier difficulty even for an S Rank mission.

And they had encountered it during a C Rank mission?

"Oh, right."

Obito suddenly remembered something.

"I don’t think I was even a proper ninja yet. I was still an intern."

Izumo fell silent.

Interns were supposed to pull weeds and pick up trash, right?

Why was Obito’s internship so different from his own?

A trace of frustration appeared on Izumo’s face.

Compared to Obito, he suddenly felt like a background character in a ninja novel.

"That really was dangerous," Guy agreed with a nod. "Fortunately, Teacher Mugetsu was there."

At the time, they had been facing someone as powerful as the future Raikage.

Without Mugetsu, they could have been killed almost instantly.

"With Teacher Mugetsu around, how could there have been any danger?" Kotetsu asked.

The new A and B Combo had become extremely famous throughout the Ninja World.

However, they were nowhere near Mugetsu’s current level.

"Teacher Mugetsu wasn’t as strong back then as he is now, though he was still incredibly powerful," Obito explained.

"He held off the A and B Combo and most of the Kumogakure ninja by himself."

"Only one chunin and one jonin managed to get past Teacher Mugetsu and chase after us."

Kakashi suddenly felt uneasy.

Obito continued with growing enthusiasm.

"And at the time, there was a certain official ninja in our group who was also a chunin."

"He insisted on acting cool and told me and Guy, who were only interns, to escape while he stayed behind alone."

"But as soon as the fight started, that certain official ninja got knocked down after only a few exchanges."

"Then, right when the enemy was almost defeated, he suddenly stood back up and rushed in to finish them off while saying things about being a ’genius’ and..."

Obito’s next words became muffled.

Kakashi had finally reached his limit.

He stepped forward and covered Obito’s mouth with one hand.

Back then, Kakashi had spoken those words in the heat of the moment.

Remembering them now was unbearably embarrassing.

"So who was that chunin?" Anko asked curiously.

"Haha. Who could it possibly have been? It’s almost impossible to guess," Izumo said evasively, slowly raising his gaze toward the ceiling.

"Yeah. Unless Captain Obito tells us, I don’t think we’ll ever figure it out," Kotetsu added with a completely serious expression.

Under Kakashi’s strong insistence, the topic was eventually abandoned.

They moved on to other subjects.

For example, whether the Land of Water sold dango, what famous sights Kirigakure had, and finally the most serious topic of the evening.

The talented ninja of Kirigakure.

"If no new genius has appeared recently, the strongest young ninja in Kirigakure should still be Mei Terumī and Kisame Hoshigaki, right?" Obito said.

During the second stage of the Chunin Exams, Mei’s powerful Water Release had caused Obito considerable trouble and left a deep impression on him.

Of course, that was already in the past.

Obito had defeated her during the third stage of the Chunin Exams.

By the time they met again at the Youth Martial Arts Tournament, the gap between their strength had grown so large that they could no longer be considered on the same level.

"Kisame Hoshigaki?"

Guy stroked his chin confidently.

"Obito, you got it wrong. I remember there was a Mist ninja named Hoshigaki Kisame."

Obito stared at him speechlessly.

Guy, the man who could barely remember people’s names, was correcting him?

"Anyway, I’m not interested in fighting their young jonin," Obito continued.

"If I’m going to challenge someone, I want to fight their powerful veteran jonin."

Fighting someone like Mei now would simply be bullying.

Obito had no interest in that.

If he was going to fight, he wanted to fight the strong.

The famous powerhouses of Kirigakure.

He wanted to show those old Mist veterans exactly what a genius from Konoha looked like.

"Talk to Captain Shinku before you do anything," Kakashi reminded him.

"Don’t suddenly challenge someone during the exchange meeting."

The rules of the exchange were designed around ninja of similar ages and equivalent ranks.

There would be no chunin fighting jonin.

Likewise, they would not arrange for a thirteen year old jonin to fight a thirty year old jonin.

Obito clearly intended to bypass those rules and challenge much stronger opponents.

If he said nothing beforehand and suddenly issued such a challenge during the exchange, Kirigakure could interpret it as deliberate provocation or an attempt by Konoha to probe their strength.

From Konoha’s perspective, Obito would also be acting without authorization and potentially damaging diplomatic relations.

Neither side would appreciate it.

And if Obito still intended to become Hokage in the future, such an incident could become a serious blemish on his record.

"I know."

Obito nodded.

"I’ll report it tomorrow."

If Shinku refused, Obito would not force the issue.

He would simply treat the visit as a free trip.

It was not something important enough to create trouble over.

"This is youth!"

Guy raised a thumbs up toward Obito.

"I also want to challenge a powerful Mist ninja!"

He had joined the exchange specifically because he wanted to challenge strong opponents.

Only afterward had he learned about the restrictions.

Kotetsu and Izumo looked at the two of them with envy.

This was exactly the kind of ninja life they dreamed about.

Protecting princesses.

Stopping conspiracies.

Becoming heroes who saved entire countries.

Possessing strength far beyond their peers and never worrying that an opponent might be too strong, only that they might be too weak.

Even ordinary missions somehow turning into extraordinary adventures.

Izumo thought about that final point for a moment.

Actually, perhaps that part was better avoided.

The kinds of accidents Obito encountered were the sort that could easily get someone killed.

If not for Mugetsu and Obito’s own extraordinary strength, anyone else going through those missions would probably have grass growing over their graves by now.

The next morning, after breakfast, Obito, Guy, and Kakashi went together to find Shinku.

Although Kakashi had not mentioned it during their conversation the previous night, he had also come to Kirigakure partly to train his swordsmanship.

Given the choice, he naturally preferred challenging stronger opponents.

"I’ll contact Kirigakure first and see what they think," Shinku replied.

He did not immediately approve their request.

As a Konoha ninja, Shinku naturally wanted to see Konoha’s younger generation distinguish themselves during the exchange.

However, this involved relations between two Great Ninja Villages.

He could not simply allow Obito and the others to act however they pleased.

Konoha was extremely powerful now.

But casually throwing away an alliance with another Great Ninja Village would still be foolish.

Just because someone earned one million ryō did not mean they should casually throw away one hundred thousand.

More importantly, Shinku did not have the authority to throw away that hundred thousand ryō in the first place.

After the Third Mizukage received the request, he summoned Genji and Yagura to discuss the matter and hear their opinions.

....

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