"We might have to call off the mission!"
After hearing Aozora's words, Guy's eyes widened like copper bells as he exclaimed in disbelief, "Call off the mission? Why?"
Junping also looked at Aozora in confusion and asked, "The mission to eliminate the black markets is going smoothly. There's no danger."
Aozora marked Kyoto on the map and circled their mission targets—the black markets.
He asked quietly, "See something?"
Guy honestly shook his head while Junping studied the map and said, "These black markets are all located near Kyoto—within the Fire Daimyo's court influence range."
Nodding, Aozora asked, "Then do you really think the Daimyo's court wouldn't notice these black markets? Some of them are even built directly beneath public toilets!
Unless this was planned from the beginning, who in their right mind would choose a toilet to establish a black market?
Toilets might mask the stench of rotting corpses, but there were other effective ways to deal with corpse odor in the Ninja World. Constructing an underground facility beneath existing public toilets would inevitably draw attention."
Junping and Guy nodded.
"You're saying the Daimyo's court is connected to the black markets?" Junping guessed.
"That's impossible!" Guy immediately denied. "The Daimyo has his own subordinates and can even hire us ninja if needed. There's absolutely no need for him to build black markets!"
Aozora didn't argue with Guy but continued, "The public toilets were built by the Daimyo's court. What cannot be denied is that most black markets located under public toilets possess far more advanced facilities and better personnel compared to other black markets."
Thinking back to what they'd come across, both Guy and Junping nodded.
"I won't say definitively that the Fire Daimyo himself is behind the black markets," Aozora said seriously, facing the two. "But there must be powerful nobles in the Land of Fire supporting them.
If I were alone, I wouldn't care about offending the Fire Daimyo to eradicate evil. But now we represent Konoha!
If we continue clearing out these black markets, we will certainly anger the noble patrons or even the Daimyo himself. This might lead to budget cuts for Konoha, making us traitors to our village."
Guy and Junping instantly grasped the serious consequences of continuing the mission and agreed with Aozora's suggestion.
On their way back, Guy hesitated slightly and murmured, "Even so, will we get into trouble for abandoning the mission ourselves..."
His friend Kakashi's father had been slandered by Rumors and eventually committed suicide because he abandoned a mission. Guy felt anxious.
Aozora shook his head. "It'll be fine! The reason why Master Sakumo endured such immense pressure wasn't simply because he abandoned the mission itself, but rather because of the serious consequences caused by his abandonment.
Normally, although abandoning a mission might result in reprimands and punishment, the consequences won't be too severe."
As he spoke, Aozora shared a story about how he previously abandoned a food supply escort mission, helping ease their concerns.
Aozora darted smoothly between the trees. "Besides, we're not really abandoning our mission," he said lightly. "We've discovered important intelligence and are going to report to Commander Kosuke. If we still need to eliminate the black market afterward, we won't refuse."
Junping and Guy both recognized this was somewhat of an excuse—after all, the back-and-forth would inevitably give the black market more time to prepare.
Nonetheless, hearing this eased their mental burdens slightly.
Just as the trio exited the dense forest, an Anbu clad in white robes surfaced from the ground.
"Did you find anything unusual?" Sho frowned while watching their returning figures.
After a moment's thought, his eyes lit up, and he headed directly in the opposite direction from Aozora and the others.
The three sped forward, talking freely along the way. Aozora intentionally lightened the mood, helping the group grow closer together.
As they conversed casually, suddenly a thunderous explosion sounded behind them.
They looked back and saw three plumes of red smoke rising into the sky.
"A Level-A Emergency Rescue!" Guy stopped, concerned.
Junping also halted and turned toward Aozora.
Observing the flare signals in the sky, Aozora quickly identified the location from which Leaf ninjas had sent the distress signal—it was originally the black market they'd planned to clean out.
Instinctively sensing a trap, he couldn't help but frown.
Guy urged anxiously, "Aozora, what else are you thinking about? If we delay, our comrades from Konoha might be killed!"
Aozora glanced at Guy, sighing inwardly. "Alright, let's check it out."
As shinobi of Konoha, each of them bore responsibility—and obligation—to rescue their comrades.
Without wasting any time, the three swiftly arrived at the source of the emergency distress signal.
They stood atop a tall tree and saw a market completely engulfed in flames.
The roaring fire crackled loudly among wooden houses while terrified civilians scattered in panic, crying out and wailing without cease.
Guy charged straight in first, kicking open a clear path and shouting, "This way!"
However, upon seeing Guy, instead of expressing gratitude, the civilians recoiled in fear, collapsing to the ground and screaming wildly.
"Demon! It's the demon who set the fire!"
"Don't come near us!"
"..."
Hearing the townspeople's shouts, Aozora instantly understood everything.
They'd been framed!
The rescue signal was fake—it was a trap aimed at luring their squad here and pinning the blame for massacring innocent civilians on them.
If they were only eliminating a black market, even if the daimyo became wary, they might just face some secret assassination attempts.
But now, accused of slaughtering civilians, the three could potentially be handed over by Konoha to the daimyo himself.
His eyes turned as icy and piercing as moonlight as he growled coldly, "Let's go! The rescue is fake! We've been set up!"
Guy flinched in surprise, then hesitated after looking at the struggling civilians caught amid the flames. "What about them?"
Junping sighed, conflict flashing in his eyes as he kept flipping a kunai knife in his hand.
These people believed—mistakenly—that they had burned down the market. To avoid any future problems, the only real option was to kill them all.
Aozora glanced at the kunai in Junping's hand and shook his head. "It won't work! Someone must have already gone to report this!"
After speaking, Aozora looked toward the market civilians surrounded by flames and formed a hand seal.
[Earth Release – Earth Rising Spear!]
In an instant, the earth roared like a dragon as spears of earth erupted skyward, piercing through the air. After the smoke cleared, one side of the surrounding fire had completely extinguished.
Aozora turned to Guy and asked, "Can we go now?"
Guy looked at the escape path Aozora had left open for the market civilians and quickly nodded.
Shua! Shua! Shua!
Chakra erupted beneath their feet as if it were free to use, and the three vanished into dark streaks, racing through the forest, quickly leaving behind the Forest Bazaar that contained the Black Market.
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