After the clash, the Kumogakure side, led by A, quickly retreated back to their camp.
As soon as they returned, A noticed something was off.
"Hey, Gandaru, what happened to you all?"
"Why do you look so down?"
The shinobi named Gandaru stepped forward quickly upon seeing A, the son of the Raikage.
"A-sama, this Land of Fields is haunted!"
At his words, A gave him a look like,
"If you're sick, go see a doctor," which only made Gandaru more frustrated.
"I'm not joking, A-sama."
"My squad was fighting with Iwagakure ninjas, but somehow, we suddenly went numb and lost consciousness."
"Everyone in my squad was like that."
"When we came to, all our money and ninja tools were gone."
"Even the Iwagakure ninjas we were fighting vanished."
"And the worst part? Whoever robbed us left a pile of leaves on us!"
The few ninjas behind Gandaru all nodded repeatedly.
A's eyes widened slightly, a trace of confusion appearing on his face.
"Wow! Ghosts? Ghosts? What kind of ghosts? A woman in white? Or a vengeful spirit?"
Killer Bee, now recovered, shouted with his usual awful rapping.
Just as A was lost in thought, another squad returned, wearing the same expression as Gandaru's.
"Momoi! What happened to your team?"
"Why are you all making that face?"
Momoi quickly greeted A, then spoke, further killing off A's brain cells.
"A-sama, we saw a ghost!"
"We were robbed. Our money and ninja tools were taken, and the worst part—we don't even know who did it."
"We just felt completely numb, then woke up and everything was gone."
"Even the Iwagakure ninjas we were fighting disappeared."
A and Killer Bee's eyes widened.
One person saying this, they could ignore.
But now two squads had experienced the same thing.
They couldn't dismiss it anymore.
...
A similar scene was playing out at the Iwagakure camp.
Kitsuchi was listening as his subordinates recounted how they were robbed.
Even more alarming, Iwagakure had suffered more losses. Gekko Chizan had struck three times and robbed nearly twenty Iwagakure shinobi...
For a time, one phrase spread like wildfire through both sides' camps:
The Land of Fields was haunted.
The power of rumors was terrifying.
At first, people just said the place was haunted.
But somehow, as the rumor spread, it evolved.
A Kumogakure ninja was telling his teammate:
"This Land of Fields used to be a mass grave. Dead bodies buried everywhere."
"They say the daimyo of the Land of Fields was extremely greedy. He only cared about collecting money and didn't give a damn about the people. As long as he got paid, he let them die."
"So all the people buried here became greedy spirits."
"Whenever they sense money nearby, they appear in ghostly form, paralyze their victims, and rob them."
"But these ghosts only want money, they don't kill. They even disguise their victims afterward. So remember, never carry money on missions here!"
The same story was circulating among the Iwagakure ranks.
Soon, both sides stopped carrying money.
Even ninja tools were carried sparingly.
...
A day later, Gekko Chizan looked furiously at the fallen Kumogakure ninja.
"Damn it! Why is everyone so broke now?!"
"Not a single coin on them?!"
"This guy is even worse! Who goes to the battlefield with just one kunai, three shuriken, and two explosive tags???"
He turned to the Iwagakure ninja on the other side.
But in the next second, he went ballistic.
Fine, if Kumogakure's broke, whatever.
But how the hell is Iwagakure this broke too???
No more than ten ninja tools per person! Money? Ha!
Not a single ryo!
"Screw this! The Land of Fields is a bust! There's no profit at all! What's the point?!"
"Time to go home! This is so annoying!"
He thought this would be a profitable trip, but everyone had turned into penniless ghosts.
How was he supposed to enjoy himself like this?
Gekko Chizan decisively gave up on completing the mission and headed straight toward the Land of Fire.
...
Unbeknownst to him, while he earned nothing,
the daimyo of the Land of Fields received a letter from his subordinate that day.
This daimyo had been overjoyed, having profited from both Iwagakure and Kumogakure.
He didn't hesitate to open the letter.
The next moment—
"What!!!"
"How did I become a ruthless and heartless ruler?!"
"My Land of Fields is haunted? Nonsense!"
"Who is it?! Who's targeting my Land of Fields?!"
"AHHHH!!"
"Pffft!"
Overwhelmed by rage, the daimyo's blood surged.
He spat out a mouthful of blood and collapsed unconscious.
His terrified attendants rushed to administer first aid.
...
Meanwhile, as Gekko Chizan advanced toward the Land of Fire,
he received a notification that left him baffled.
[Ding! Due to the host's actions in the Land of Fields, the local daimyo suffered widespread condemnation and passed out from rage, vomiting blood. Special reward: taijutsu +2.]
What the hell?
The daimyo of the Land of Fields spat blood and fainted?
Wait, what's that got to do with him?!
Gekko Chizan was completely dumbfounded.
Sure, he got the reward, and he was happy about that.
But he had no idea what just happened.
...
After returning to the Land of Fire, he didn't rush back to the village.
This mission had a very generous time limit.
He first arrived at a lively town in the northwest of the Land of Fire.
Planning to relax, he checked into a hot spring hotel with his stolen loot.
Then, using Transparent Release, he climbed up the wall to the women's bath...
"Hehehe..."
"Holy sh*t!"
The moment he got into position, he was nearly scared off the wall.
What the hell did he just see?!
Blonde hair? Massive?
Why the hell was she here?!
"Shizune, you still haven't graduated..."
"The Land of Fire is getting more and more boring..."
"Hurry up and graduate. When you do, I'll take you away from here. We'll travel to other countries."
The gentle voice was tinged with expectation, and a faint scent of alcohol mixed with the hot spring steam.
Next to the speaker was a little girl, about five or six years old.
"Tsunade-sama, you're drunk. Stop drinking."
Yes—what shocked Gekko Chizan was that in the women's bath were just two people: one adult and one child.
The adult was none other than Tsunade, the granddaughter of the First Hokage and one of the Legendary Sannin of Konoha!
The child was Shizune, the niece of Dan Katō.
"Aiya, I'm not drunk!"
"I finally got a chance to take you out for some fun. Relax and enjoy it!"
"Shizune, you need to grow up quickly. When you do, I'll teach you how to drink! Hahaha!"
Listening to Tsunade's drunken rambling, both Gekko Chizan and Shizune were left speechless.