At noon on this day, Shangguan Mo's group was resting by the roadside. In the direction ahead of them, some low-lying buildings were faintly visible. It seemed to be the edge of a small city.
Shangguan Mo and the other three were each chewing on the dry rations in their mouths, their eyes somewhat unfocused, looking listless. The few of them had all trained until late last night, and had been woken up by Watanabe Mousse before the sky was even bright this morning. This tedious journey... once noon passed, it made one feel even more sleepy. Only Mousse was leaning against a carriage, studying the map in his hand.
"By the way, why do we have to pass through Ghost Dream City ahead? It's crowded and will just add unnecessary trouble to our mission!" Tianfeng said with some dissatisfaction. Then he swallowed hard, as if he were choked by the dry rations, and quickly took a large gulp of water.
"I don't know, but at that time in the mission hall, Jonin Zuo Xun specifically instructed me," Watanabe Sheren said faintly.
"Oh? He actually went to the mission hall? Doesn't he usually hate dealing with those merchants and nobles the most?" Tianfeng was a little surprised, but didn't think much of it. They were all comrades from the same village. Since he had given instructions, he must have been doing it for their own good.
Only Shangguan Mo was at a loss. "Jonin Zuo Xun? Who are you talking about?"
"It's the other male jonin in the village! No way! You don't even know him?" Tianfeng looked at him with an exaggerated expression.
"Oh..." Shangguan Mo nodded slightly, the image of a cheerful middle-aged man appearing in his mind.
...
On the day Shangguan Mo left the village, in Yugakure...
Mission Hall.
The space here was quite spacious, but the decoration of the hall, in the eyes of outsiders, seemed very simple, which made the merchants who came to issue missions have a bit more frivolity on their faces, the contempt in their eyes not concealed in the slightest.
Until the appearance of a thin old man.
"Lord Zhi Yujing!"
"I heard you were injured. I was just worrying about your health. Now it seems my worries were unnecessary. Aren't you fine?"
"Yes, Lord Zhi Yujing, why do you have time to see us little merchants today? It should be me who prepares a gift and comes to visit you..."
The hall instantly became lively, even exaggerated. Zhi Yujing walked in slowly, a smile on his face. If Shangguan Mo were here, he would be able to see at a glance that the leader of the Hidden Hot Water Village looked much more senile than when he had seen him last time.
He was closely followed by two Yugakure ninja, their eyes never leaving him for a moment, a trace of worry in their gazes. And in front of these wealthy patrons, Zhi Yujing seemed very happy, smiling and greeting the few people who had come to issue employment missions. After talking for a while, seeing that the leader of the Hidden Hot Water seemed a little tired, these merchants also tactfully left, no longer disturbing him.
After slowly walking a circle in the hall, Zhi Yujing prepared to leave. He had come to the mission hall this time just to use the mouths of these merchants from the Land of Hot Water to spread the news that he was fine. For the past month or so, he had barely shown his face in the village. Whether inside the village or outside, there were some rumors, which had caused some instability among the residents of the village.
At this time, the injuries he had suffered in the battle with Jizo before had basically recovered. But the severe damage to his internal organs had caused his physical functions to decline rapidly. Plus, he was already a sixty-year-old man. After that great battle, although he had saved his life, his strength was no longer what it used to be. Whether he could even make a move again, even he himself was not yet sure.
Just as he turned to leave, a person in the hall caught his attention. Slightly taken aback, Zhi Yujing walked towards a Yugakure ninja sitting in the hall.
The mission hall was a place to accept employment and also to issue missions to the village's ninja. So, usually, there would be one to several ninja stationed here. When business was busy, there would be several ninja in the mission hall accepting employment from the people of the Land of Hot Water, rating these employment missions according to their difficulty level, and finally, issuing them to the ninja of the corresponding strength according to the mission level and difficulty.
With the scale of Yugakure's ninja, these ninja stationed in the mission hall were generally genin. And now, the cold winter had not yet completely passed, so there were not many ordinary people who came to the village to issue missions. But what made Zhi Yujing feel a little strange was that although it was the off-season for missions, the one stationed in the mission hall was actually a chunin.
And he also recognized him. He had single-handedly established and developed the Hidden Hot Water Village. Aside from some genin whose names he couldn't call out, he was all too familiar with the other chunin. Each and every one of these chunin in the village had been personally recruited by him or he had watched them be promoted.
"Li, what are you doing here?" Zhi Yujing looked at a male ninja of about thirty years old sitting behind the office desk.
That ninja quickly stood up and said respectfully with his head bowed, "Lord Leader, I just happened to not be on a mission today, so I came to the mission hall to take a look."
"Mm..." Zhi Yujing nodded noncommittally. "I see. It's nothing. I was just a little curious. Then I'll have to trouble you to continue your work." He said with a smile.
"Yes! To serve Lord Leader, your subordinate does not feel it is troublesome at all!" Li shouted with a沉着 (chénzhuó) - composed/calm - face, but a trace of relief flashed imperceptibly in his eyes.
But what kind of person was Zhi Yujing? Half of his body was already buried in the ground; he could be said to be old and cunning. He naturally took in Li's performance. But his face was still smiling, and he nodded kindly at Li before leading his two ninja and turning to leave the mission hall.
The moment he stepped out of the mission hall, Zhi Yujing's face quickly became grim, his eyes thoughtful.
"You, go and find out who in the village has taken on new missions today. Remember, do it secretly."
"You, go and find out which ninja have entered the mission hall today, including the records of leaving the village. After you've found out, come back and tell me."
After just a moment of thought, Zhi Yujing quickly spoke to the two trusted subordinates behind him.
...
"Lord Leader, there weren't many ninja who took on new missions in the village today, only three squads. But one of them... er, is a bit strange." In a room, Zhi Yujing was listening to his trusted subordinate's report.
"How is it strange?" Looking at his subordinate's strange expression, Zhi Yujing's white eyebrows raised slightly.
"It's Jonin Watanabe leading his son and Tianfeng, these two young chunin, and... that genin who just graduated from the Ninja Academy—Shangguan Mo!" That ninja paused for a moment, then continued, "Oh, right, they took on an escort mission in the Land of Fire."
"Mm..." Zhi Yujing's heart relaxed after hearing this, and he nodded faintly. He had personally arranged this lineup. It was to pave the way for that young man, Shangguan Mo, on whom he had placed high hopes. He already had a premonition that his time was not long, but he was always worried about the future of the Hidden Hot Water Village.
Although Shangguan Mo was not yet an adult, although he was just a fledgling genin who had just graduated from the Ninja Academy, he, who had long since learned about Shangguan Mo's character from Inoshita Rino, was very optimistic about this young man. He also believed that choosing to hand over the village to him in the future was a wise choice.
But in fact, he had no other better choice. Shangguan Mo, who had performed so outstandingly in several battles, had naturally long since been in his eyes. Mature for his age, with a meticulous mind, bizarre techniques, a kind heart, and powerful abilities... aside from being a bit lazy and unwilling to take responsibility, in his eyes, Shangguan Mo had almost no flaws.
And Watanabe Mousse was treated by him like a real younger brother. With his jonin strength, he would be the most powerful supporter for Shangguan Mo's rise in the future. Tianfeng and Watanabe Sheren were the most talented young people in the village. It should be no problem for them to be promoted to jonin in the future. To have a good relationship with Shangguan Mo at this time, they would naturally become his left and right arms in the future.
It could be said that he had already arranged Shangguan Mo's future path clearly.
-------
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