Mizukage's Pokémon Ninja Scroll

Chapter 27 Bad Luck

I learned this from several older children.

Not only the seven children from Apple Village, but all the other children were also kidnapped by pirates from some of the more remote villages nearby.

The so-called camp here is not a training ground, but just a transit point.

The pirates would usually only teach these captured children some basic fighting skills and then let them fight each other to the death.

Those who perform exceptionally well have a chance to survive and are eventually taken away by ship to another place.

These children only knew that the people being taken away were going to serve "noble adults," but they didn't know exactly where they were being taken or who they were going to serve.

As for the red-haired child, he was an excellent student but was hiding food in hopes of escaping.

He was eventually discovered by pirates and locked up alone; everyone else thought he was dead.

The more Mei Terumi relayed this information, the more Tachibana Kenkawa's heart sank.

"It's just a C-rank mission, does it have to be so complicated!"

This ambiguous, clandestine approach—does even the elusive "fog" need its own "roots"?

Could it be that we've inadvertently discovered a talent pool for some shady organization?

Seemingly noticing the worry in Tachibana's expression, Mei Terumi patted him on the shoulder generously and spoke up.

"These are things that Teacher Qing needs to worry about. Let's check the ships in the port first and wait for Teacher Qing to return."

This is indeed an important matter. The Blue Squad never expected that there would be so many kidnapped children. The small fishing boat that Daz left behind could not hold so many people.

Fortunately, there were still several small boats moored at the pirate port.

Tachibana Kensuke suppressed his anxiety and got up to walk over with Mei Terumi.

At this moment, Qing was being looked to by her team members.

Sensing the speedboat traveling at high speed hundreds of meters away on the sea surface, Qing poked his head out from underwater, feeling somewhat suffocated.

He had hoped that by relying on his senses and tracking techniques, he could quickly catch up with the two ninjas who were suspected of impersonating ANBU members.

If we can directly communicate and verify the other party's identity as a member of the secret service, that would be ideal.

But Qing trusted her own judgment more; the other party was most likely an imposter.

Based on Tachibana's previous guess, she might know that female Jonin, and she could confirm her identity through a fight.

However, to everyone's surprise, the two seemed to have known all along that someone was following them.

Just as Qing was about to catch up with the other party, the two boarded a small boat at a secluded shore and used water magic to speed away from the island.

Given the approaching war, the possibility of someone impersonating a member of the Dark Guard could be a serious matter or a minor one.

His three subordinates should have no problem dealing with ordinary pirates.

Qing decided to continue tracking the two of them.

However, relying on water-style ninjutsu to dive and track underwater is still somewhat inconvenient, as the enemy's ships are also using water-style ninjutsu to continuously accelerate.

At this moment, the speedboat was finally about to leave Qing's perception range.

Let's not even talk about how Qing will return after the fruitless search.

After inspecting the small boats in the harbor and confirming they were in good condition, Jianchuan Ju and his two companions found some supplies stored by the pirates and began distributing food to the children.

This is where Mei Terumi's excellent interpersonal skills, demonstrated by her full year of experience as a genin, become apparent.

Seeing how Mei Terumi, at such a young age, could so efficiently organize these chaotic children.

And she soothed the children's emotions with a gentle tone that was completely different from before.

This made even Tachibana Kanagawa, a guy with the soul of an adult, feel ashamed.

"This is nothing. I once did a D-rank mission where I played a ninja game with the rich man's kids. That was something else."

It seemed to have stirred up some unpleasant memories, and Mei Terumi involuntarily shivered.

Upon hearing this, Tachibana immediately thought of a series of outrageous actions by a certain "Gold Release Ninja" in the original work, and couldn't help but cast a sympathetic glance at Mei.

"Stop giving me that weird look!"

Seeing Mei Terumi's expression, which resembled that of a fluffy kitten, Tachibana Kenkawa promptly backed down and moved closer to Zabuza.

Zabuza watched the interaction between the two with disdain and continued cleaning his short sword. However, as if he had thought of something, he looked up at the two again.

"After Captain Qing returns, will he order us to continue chasing the pirate ships that have gone out?"

Mei Terumi gave her answer after a moment's thought.

"Probably not. It's too difficult to find a pirate ship at sea, which is why there are so many pirate groups made up of ordinary people around the Land of Water."

"Besides, we are on a rescue mission after all. There are still so many children we need to take back. We can't just stay here and wait for the pirates to come back and die."

"Oh." Zabuza seemed to have asked casually, and after hearing the answer, he only gave a cold reply before continuing to wipe his short sword.

However, Mei Terumi's words are not without merit.

The group had previously woken up a few pirates, but they were just small fry and didn't know much more than the children.

However, the three also learned that the pirate ship had set sail again yesterday, and that a single voyage usually lasted anywhere from ten days to a month.

The Qing team couldn't possibly stay here and wait for their prey to come to them.

The only option is to rush back to the village as soon as possible and report the situation. The village may then issue a mission to send other teams to deal with the remaining pirates.

Oh, right, there's another piece of information. We learned from these pirates that their captain and first mate are incredibly powerful, capable of controlling strong winds and stuff like that.

However, all three of them dismissed this idea with disdain. With the weak strength of these cannon fodder pirates, any genin who knew wind release could probably achieve the strength they claimed.

Even if Zabuza were to unleash his Water Dragon Bullet Technique with hand seals, the pirates would think he was a powerful figure who controlled the sea.

Just as the three of them were idly waiting for Qing to return from the investigation.

Suddenly, a series of warnings were issued in Jianchuan Ju's mind by the "danger prediction" function. Although not urgent, she still subconsciously looked back at the sea.

His pupils then dilated slightly, and he murmured to himself.

"Why are you back at this time?"

A ship with black sails was slowly sailing towards the island in their line of sight; it was the pirate ship that the three of them had just been discussing when it went out.

"What?"

Zabuza, who was standing nearby, heard Tachibana Mizukawa muttering something and asked a question.

Jianchuan Ju quickly stood up and gestured for his two teammates to look over.

"The pirate ship is back. Let these children find a house to hide in first."

Fortunately, thanks to the early discovery by Kanakawa Tachibana, the pirate ship was still quite far from the island.

The three immediately directed the children, who were still unaware of what was happening, to hide in several houses further from the shore.

Seeing that the children had all hidden themselves, the three of them crouched down behind a wooden house at the harbor, watching the pirate ship slowly approaching the island in the distance.

Jianchuan Ju was still somewhat puzzled.

"Didn't you say you just left the island yesterday? Why are you back now?"

Instead, Zabuza, standing to the side, spoke in a sinister tone.

"They're just unlucky!"

(End of this chapter)