Mizukage's Pokémon Ninja Scroll

Chapter 24 Let them see what a ninja is like

Watching Qing's retreating figure.

Zabuza, who rarely showed concern for others, asked the question.

"Won't it be dangerous for Captain Qing to chase after them all by himself?"

However, when she turned around, she saw that Mei Terumi seemed to be indifferent, and she immediately felt that her words were somewhat superfluous.

"Don't worry, Ao-sensei's ability to protect himself is among the best in the village's Jonin. Let's focus on the upcoming mission instead," Mei Terumi said, easing Zabuza's concerns.

Hearing this, Tachibana Kanagawa silently thought to herself, "Don't underestimate Ao's survival skills. He's the kind of man who could survive being hit by a Ten-Tails' Tailed Beast Ball in the future."

Mei Terumi naturally couldn't hear Tachibana Kenkawa's inner complaints; she only felt that as the acting captain, she had done a good job of calming her two teammates down.

He then instructed the two to head towards the pirate camp.

However, in order to bypass the observation point at the port, the fishing boat was moored at a shallow beach that was a little distance away from the port where the pirate camp was located.

The three of them moved quickly through the forest, but Zabuza was still thinking about the two ninjas who seemed to be impersonating ANBU members.

After a moment's hesitation, Zabuza spoke first.

"Those two people just now seemed to have a deep hostility towards us."

While focused on getting to his destination, Kanakawa Tachibana jumped to the next tree and was somewhat surprised by Zabuza's keen senses.

"Indeed, their initial plan was probably to launch a sneak attack when we landed."

Tachibana Kanagawa was quite certain of this, as he had seen other ninjas in the village before.

Those passerby ninjas, who have no hostility or desire to attack you, will not trigger the 'danger prediction' alarm, especially not such a strong one.

If we hadn't spotted them in advance and taken precautions, we might have been attacked by their ninjutsu the moment the ship docked.

"And now that I think about it, the other party really doesn't seem to be an ANBU ninja. Almost every ANBU ninja in the village carries a sword, and their clothes have hoods to help them hide their identities."

Mei Terumi joined the conversation as she walked.

However, these were things that Jianchuan Ju hadn't noticed before. She was too embarrassed to directly complain to her teammates about her village and the like, especially regarding hiding her identity.

"So, what is their purpose in coming to this remote island and disguising themselves as members of the ANBU?"

This time, neither Mei Terumi nor Tachibana Kenkawa could answer Zabuza's question.

Although she had a slight suspicion in her heart, Jianchuan Ju did not speak it out at this time, but instead quickened her pace.

"Alright, investigating those two is Teacher Qing's job. Let's focus on the rescue."

Ultimately, it was Mei Terumi who ended the conversation.

Although the three were discussing the two ninjas, it did not delay their journey.

They gradually slowed down when they approached a low hill in front of the camp.

Contrary to their expectations, it was already past midnight, and they thought that even if there were any pirates in the camp, they would have already gone to sleep.

However, there were still many figures moving around in the camp below the low hill.

By the light of the torches in the camp, the three of them looked down and carefully surveyed the area. The most conspicuous thing was an open space that looked like a training ground, surrounded by a group of houses.

At this moment, there were more than twenty children fighting each other in this open space, while at the edge of the open space, a few slovenly-dressed pirates stood in twos and threes, pointing and gesturing at the children.

The three even saw a child who looked to be only 5 or 6 years old, who had been stabbed in a vital spot by his opponent's kunai and was lying on the ground, his life hanging in the balance.

One of the pirates guarding the area walked up to the fallen child with practiced ease, picked him up with one hand, and casually tossed him into a corner at the edge of the arena as if he were throwing away trash.

It was only then that Tachibana Kanagawa noticed that several children, their fates unknown, were haphazardly piled up in that corner, unattended.

Throughout all of this, the pirate never stopped chatting and laughing with his companions.

The child who had just defeated his opponent, ignoring his injuries, threw away the kunai he was holding. He staggered to a table with food on it on the other side of the open space, grabbed some food, and began to gulp it down.

This caused the pirates to laugh wildly.

The other children who were still fighting only paused for less than a second when they saw this scene before immediately resuming their fierce battle.

"Is this... a combat training exercise? Are the pirates selecting backup personnel?" Mei Terumi, who witnessed the whole thing, spoke with a voice full of anger.

Tachibana quickly grabbed Mei Terumi's shoulder to prevent her from acting too impulsively. Her hand, pressing on Mei Terumi's shoulder, could clearly feel the slight trembling of her skin.

Kanakawa Tachibana naturally knew that this was not fear, but a trembling of anger.

"Calm down! Pirates are desperate criminals who don't think about the future, much less spend time raising children."

Upon hearing this, Mei Terumi suppressed her anger and looked down at the pirates.

Zabuza also spoke up, saying, "Those pirates who are in charge of guarding the area are very weak; they are basically just ordinary people."

The three of them were not too far from the camp at this time. Judging from their figures and movements, it was not difficult to see the strength of these pirates. In fact, it could be said that most of them were not even as good as the students who had not yet graduated from the Hidden Mist Ninja Academy.

Moreover, judging from their weaponry and attire, they don't seem like ninjas.

On the contrary, the children who were fighting were all holding kunai, and their fighting movements vaguely resembled those of the Hidden Mist Ninja.

The three of them then exchanged a glance.

"Those two fake ANBU," Tachibana Kanagawa said with a serious expression.

"This is serious." Although Mei Terumi said that things were serious, there was not a trace of backing down in her tone.

Even Zabuza, who was standing to the side, appeared calm on the surface, but in reality, he was also filled with rage.

Zabuza always considered himself a reformer, and he never liked Kirigakure's so-called Blood Mist policy.

However, he had only just ended the decades-long bloody trials of Kirigakure by using the most brutal methods and paying a huge price.

These despicable pirates are actually clumsily imitating these outdated and obsolete things in this unknown corner.

"Give the order, Captain," Zabuza said to Mei Terumi, reaching for the short sword on his back.

Tachibana Kanagawa also looked at Mei Terumi with a serious expression.

I glanced once more at the pirates who were chatting and laughing.

Mei Terumi's voice, unusually tinged with a hint of bloodlust, addressed her two teammates.

"Since these pirates are so eager to train ninjas, then let them see what real ninjas are like!"

(End of this chapter)