Mizukage's Pokémon Ninja Scroll

Chapter 54 Successfully Returning to the Village (Fifth Update! Please Subscribe!)

A somewhat unfamiliar flash of light slashed through the air.

The masked ninja retreated effortlessly, dodging the attack.

However, before he could even feel relieved, a short figure appeared behind him without him noticing.

"Bang!"

With a dull thud, the masked ninja's back caved in, and he coughed up blood before collapsing to the ground.

Only then did the slender blue figure come into view.

It was the newly evolved Blue Boy.

"Lanzi, well done!"

Seeing that all the enemies had been dealt with, Jianchuan Ju immediately stepped forward and patted Lanzi's head.

"Quack~(～￣▽￣)～" Bluey happily enjoyed his master's praise.

Seeing that the battle here was over, Mei Terumi walked over to Ao and said something with a hint of sarcasm.

"Teacher Qing, the enemy seems to be underestimating you, sending out even a genin."

Qing could only smile helplessly.

These past two days, since they disembarked from the passenger ship and returned to the Land of Water, this has been the third attack the Ao Squad has encountered.

During the very first attack, the enemy even sent a Jonin to lead an attack team of several Chunin.

Fortunately, thanks to Tachibana's reminder, Ao was able to hold off the opposing Jonin for the first time.

After a brief probing, the Jonin, seeing that he could not kill any member of the Blue Squad, seemed to choose to retreat to avoid revealing his identity.

In this attack, the enemy only left behind a few Chunin corpses before hastily ending the operation.

Upon examination by Ao, it was discovered that each of the Chunin corpses contained a tooth engraved with a spell, revealing the attacker's identity.

After the first attack, the three little ones were on high alert for a long time, fearing that they would be attacked silently again.

Who would have thought that the Jonin never reappeared during the subsequent attacks, and the quality of the attackers deteriorated with each attack, showing a visibly perfunctory attitude.

In this final attack, most of the enemies were even ordinary genin.

Ao didn't make a move; he simply stood guard beside Shimotsuki Ichiro. As a result, the three of them, including Kenkawa Tachibana, easily dealt with all the enemies.

In truth, Ao didn't quite understand why the enemy had arranged the attack this way, or why that Jonin hadn't reappeared.

Moreover, he had already sent the information back to Yagura Karatachi several days ago.

The account books I have now, and the two ninjas from the Land of Craftsmen, are merely ordinary evidence. Ninjas don't usually value evidence; a result is enough for them.

"Alright, let's go. We'll be back in the village soon. Let's quicken our pace."

Qing shook his head helplessly and gestured for his disciples to follow.

They resumed their journey, and Zabuza walked up to Tachibana Kenkawa with small steps, speaking with a hint of disdain.

"I think you should give that knife back to me. Don't let using it lead to you being killed by the enemy."

Clearly, Zabuza, who had dealt with his opponent so quickly, had come to complain after seeing Tachibana's appalling swordsmanship.

Jianchuan Ju smiled somewhat awkwardly and began to defend herself.

"Well, I only dared to try it out because Teacher Qing was there to support me."

Previously on the passenger ship, Tachibana Kenkawa finally agreed to Shimotsuki Ichiro's suggestion and decided to use some of the "Peacock Flying Twin Swords" as payment and materials to have him help forge a new weapon.

However, forging a weapon is not something that can be done in a short time, so Tachibana asked Zabuza for one of his spare short swords.

Firstly, you can practice your knife skills whenever you have free time.

Secondly, Tachibana Kenkawa thought that even if his swordsmanship wasn't up to par, carrying a short sword could mislead his opponents, making them hesitant to get close and allowing him to better utilize his ranged advantage.

"Tch, with your skill level, it's pointless to even try it out. You should be practicing your fundamentals."

It's no wonder Zabuza mocked him; Tachibana's current swordsmanship level isn't even among the top students at the Ninja Academy.

However, he is only 10 years old, so he can still practice a little more later.

Moreover, Tachibana Kanagawa was also thinking about the scene of fighting pirates before. Ninja battles always inevitably require some close combat. Having a better close combat weapon would prevent the embarrassing situation of being directly cut in half by the opponent.

"Hmph, maybe your swordsmanship won't even be as good as mine in the future."

Kanagawa Tachibana thought that maybe one day she would draw a few melee skills, and then her swordsmanship would immediately soar to new heights, so she no longer cared about Zabuza's words.

However, Zabuza didn't think so. He glanced at Tachibana with disdain and didn't want to talk to this guy anymore.

"Hehe, don't worry. Even if I'm better than you, I won't fight you for the long knife and needles."

Tachibana Kanagawa put her arm around Zabuza's shoulder, forcing him to continue listening to her boast.

Zabuza's eyes were practically rolling to the sky at that moment.

However, Tachibana Kanagawa noticed that there was a ring on the hilt of his short sword, with the steel wire ninja tool that he had given him tied to it.

"Those two guys."

Ao and Mei Terumi, who were walking in front, exchanged a glance, feeling somewhat helpless about their two constantly bickering teammates behind them.

The five of them sped back to Kirigakure and, thankfully, did not encounter any further attacks, completing their mission safely.

"I'm back. It felt like this mission lasted forever."

As she entered the village, Terumi Mei unconsciously stretched, clearly having relaxed considerably.

"The main problem was the long travel time; the actual task itself didn't take much effort."

Jianchuan Ju casually replied that it took more than ten days just to travel back and forth, and during that time he also had to find opportunities to do his daily tasks.

Although they were all relatively simple tasks, Tachibana Kenkawa really didn't want to jump into the sea in front of everyone again to clean the seaweed off the passenger ship.

"And the attack on the way back."

Zabuza spoke up to remind him, clearly also suffering greatly from the torment.

Seeing that the disciples were all complaining, Qing decided to speak up to attract the attention of the three of them.

"Alright, let's take Mr. Shimotsuki back first, then take the mission certificate to the Mizukage Building to hand it over, and after that, we can all go home."

Then Qing looked at the three of them and, seeing how tired they looked, added a comment.

"Take a day off tomorrow."

"Hooray!"

Mei Terumi cheered immediately after hearing this.

Even Tachibana Kanagawa and Zabuza showed a hint of joy in their eyes.

"In the Mizukage Building," the Third Mizukage said meaningfully, looking through the glass window of his office at the figures of the Ao Team entering the building.

"Young people these days are pretty good, aren't they?"

Elder Yuan, sitting to the side, smiled and adjusted his cane as he answered.

"They are indeed all very good young people."

However, both Yagura Karatachi and Yukikaze, the head of the Yuki clan, who were standing in front of the desk, kept their heads down quietly and did not say a word.

Once the four members of Team Ao had completely entered the building, the Third Mizukage withdrew his gaze.

He turned around and sat back down at his desk, his expression indifferent as he glanced back and forth between Yagura and Yukikaze.

He tapped his fingers lightly on the table and spoke slowly.

"Now that Team Ao is back, tell us how you plan to handle this situation."

Five chapters today, and there should be five more tomorrow.

(End of this chapter)