Uchiha Akaishi Tour

The southern part of the Land of Fire, a city of commerce and travel, the capital of flowers.

"This is the City of Flowers... It's so lively." Lan Wu looked at the small town in front of her and felt a sense of emotion.

"Yes, Flower Capital is a trade center in the southern part of the Land of Fire, so of course it's bustling. The only downside is that food and lodging here are too expensive," Jiraiya said.

"It's more than just expensive... This C-level bounty is barely enough to cover our expenses for this trip." Akashi's lips twitched.

"Let's just treat it as a graduation trip," Minato said, not wanting to spoil the mood.

Jiraiya then asked with a thoughtful air, "Do you remember the details of the mission?"

"Of course! After entering the Flower Capital, we need to go to the government office to find the sheriff first," Lanwu said immediately.

The three of them had been reprimanded by Jiraiya before for not reading the commission letter carefully, so they were now well aware of the mission details—it was a mission issued by the Flower Capital Office, hoping that the Konoha ninjas could help them catch a group of thieves who had been rampant in the Flower Capital recently!

Because it doesn't involve ninjas, it's only a C-rank mission.

However, given the cost of living in the City of Flowers, if we delay even a little longer, the reward money might not be enough to cover our expenses!

The reason why the Flower Capital dares to issue missions like this is that they are waiting for ninjas to come by while they are carrying out other missions in the area.

Jiraiya specifically chose this C-rank mission, which involved leaving Konoha, to train his three students—it wasn't too dangerous, but it was challenging enough, mainly because it involved traveling far away and providing valuable experience.

After entering the Flower Capital, Jiraiya became even more unrestrained...

"Oh right, I'm going to gather materials now. You guys can find the office yourselves, right?" Jiraiya said casually.

"Huh? This... of course." Lan Wu was surprised, seemingly not expecting such a high degree of freedom on her first mission.

Keep in mind that all three of them are still genin. Even ignoring the fact that they "just graduated", they theoretically have no right to complete a C-rank mission independently. Even a senior genin should have a chunin leading the team!

However, all three were very confident in their abilities, believing they were far superior to ordinary Chunin; their only deficiency was experience in mission execution…

"Here's your money bag for now, we'll settle the rest after the mission is complete," Jiraiya said, tossing the money bag to Akaishi.

Although Jiraiya also felt that Minato, being the youngest, had a more mature personality, he also understood that given their personalities, Minato wouldn't object if Akaishi took the lead, and Akaishi would listen to Minato's advice. However, if Minato took the lead, Akaishi would definitely cause trouble...

Seeing that Jiraiya really waved and left, the three of them found the location of the office on their own, following the map.

The Flower Capital is so lively it's almost as bustling as the Leaf Village.

Of course, its area and population are much smaller than Konoha's...

The three of them soon arrived at the office and, using their Konoha ninja credentials, met with Sheriff Naku, who had issued the mission.

"Eh? A child?" Sheriff Naoki looked conflicted when he saw Akaishi and the other two.

"Don't worry, have you heard of the Uchiha clan of Konoha? Because of us, there have never been any thieves in Konoha!" Akaishi said, patting the family crest on his chest.

"The Uchiha clan... I've heard of them." The sheriff was still uneasy about the three people's ages.

Seeing that Lan Wu was also getting impatient, Minato stepped forward and said gently, "Uncle, we did just graduate from the Ninja Academy, so we actually had a Jonin instructor secretly supervising us. After completing the mission, we would appreciate your praise."

Instructing Jonin?

Hearing the blond boy say this, Naijiu's eyes lit up, feeling that the money was well spent—I'm relieved that you can call in more people!

"Well... please follow me, you three." Sheriff Naku's attitude immediately improved.

"Heiji, these three... cough cough, they are all Konoha ninjas. You will assist them from now on. You must catch those audacious thieves!" Naju then called over another catcher.

Heiji looked to be in his thirties and appeared quite capable. He had a jitte sword tucked into his waistband. When he heard Naku say that, he also looked at the three "kids" with surprise.

However, it seemed the name of "Konoha" had an effect, because Kurokichi immediately replied, "Yes! Three ninja lords, please feel free to ask if there's anything you need my assistance with!"

"Well then, I'll trouble you, Blackie." Akaishi nodded politely.

Naiku then left first, clearly because the "sheriff" was very busy, which is why he arranged for Kurokichi to be the "guide".

"Three ninja masters..." Heiji was about to say something else.

Lan Wu interrupted first, saying, "You can just call us by our names. My name is Lan Wu, and they are Akashi and Shuimen."

"Yes, should we go to Flower Street first?" Blackie asked.

This theft occurred frequently in Flower Street, the area where tourists and business travelers from the City of Flowers congregate most.

"No, before that, let us see the case file about the theft," Akaishi said unhurriedly.

After receiving the case file, Akaishi said to Kurokichi, "Okay, let's study it first. See you at the red-light district at four o'clock this afternoon."

"Huh? Yes." Heiji seemed surprised that these three children were so serious.

……

Afterwards, the three left the office. Akaishi found a reasonably priced inn and booked a room—since they were sleeping on the floor anyway, just like in the wild, there was no need to care about the difference between men and women at this point.

Once inside the room, the three discussed the mission.

"The surge in thefts started two months ago, and it's concentrated in the red-light district where tourists are most numerous. On the worst days, there were hundreds of reports every day, which has already affected the image of the Flower Capital. No wonder they came to Konoha to issue the mission," Minato analyzed, looking at the case files.

These petty thefts are usually handled in a "dynamic equilibrium," and as a commercial city, Flower Capital is capable of resolving them on its own, given the large number of catchers it employs...

But now so many have suddenly appeared, shattering the reputation of the Flower Capital.

"What does this 'cut thread' mean?" Lan Wu asked, pointing to a word on the case file.

This is not within the scope of the Ninja Academy's curriculum.

"It's a theft method where people pickpocket on the street. In contrast, 'breaking into a house' is burglary. Most of the reports in the red-light district are for pickpocketing, and the number of burglary cases hasn't changed much." As a member of the Uchiha clan, Akaishi understands this kind of terminology. After all, the police force is not only responsible for "ninja surveillance" but also for "village security."

The fact that Akaishi immediately asked for the case files shows that he is quite professional in this area.

"However, the problem is that the number of cases has been decreasing for the past seven or eight days..." Akaishi noticed the change in the numbers in the case files.

"Isn't it good that there are fewer?" Lan Wu asked doubtfully.

"Of course not! How can we complete the mission if he doesn't commit a crime?" Akaishi said matter-of-factly.

Perhaps fearing Lan Wu still didn't understand, Chi Shi emphasized, "Regarding the bounty for this mission, and the expenses in the Flower Capital... if we don't resolve this within three days, we'll have to pay for our own food and lodging!"