"So, Tazuna-san," Menma spoke, his voice carrying the clear tone unique to youth, "To maintain their monopoly, the Matsuo Group probably wouldn't rely solely on laws, right? Have they hired samurai, or Ninja, to deal with those who disobey… someone like you, who wants to build a bridge and break their monopoly?"
The question was rather pointed.
The bottle Tazuna was about to raise to his lips stopped abruptly. An unnatural flicker crossed his face, his gaze shifted slightly, then he forced a loud, bluffing tone: "Ni... Ninja? Impossible! Sure, that guy Matsuo supposedly has some noble connections in the Land of Fire and keeps some fierce-looking samurai as bodyguards, but that's just to protect himself! Our Land of Waves is a small place, why would he waste money on that?"
His eagerness to deny it, the way his voice rose, only made him more suspicious.
Kakashi, who had seemed distracted, slightly narrowed his visible dead fish eye. His gaze shifted from the pages of Icha Icha Paradise to Tazuna's slightly flustered face.
The experienced Jonin instantly sensed the disharmony.
A C-rank mission is defined as one where 'no combat with Ninja is anticipated, expected enemies are non-Ninja units like wandering samurai or bandits', with relatively lower pay and risk.
But if a client deliberately concealed the possibility of Ninja attacks, elevating the actual risk to B-rank or higher, the situation would be entirely different.
This not only violated the principle of good faith in mission contracts but also placed the Genin on the mission in unpredictable danger.
Just as Kakashi's suspicion was growing and he was about to ask a question, Naruto, walking ahead, paused with an "Eh?"
He wasn't looking around, still facing forward, but his blue eyes were fixed on an inconspicuous little puddle by the roadside.
The puddle glittered under the afternoon sun, looking just like any ordinary rainwater accumulation after a storm.
But Naruto remembered: it hadn't rained in three days, and it was the hottest part of midday.
"What's up, Naruto?" Menma glanced sideways at Naruto, a hint of a smile on his face, and asked softly, "You noticed it too?"
"Huh?" Naruto was taken aback, then whipped his head around to look at Menma, then at Hinata and Kakashi. He realized their gazes also seemed to flicker, almost imperceptibly, over that puddle.
Understanding dawned on him, his voice rising unconsciously: "Menma-nii! Hinata! Kakashi-sensei! You... you all realized something was off already?!"
Hinata's fair cheeks flushed slightly, and she said a little sheepishly, "Well... because, it hasn't rained for a few days."
Naruto's eyes widened. His suspicion about the puddle was based purely on intuition honed through years of Ninja Games with Menma and Hinata, and experience from many pranks and ambushes.
He looked at Menma and Hinata, then at Kakashi, who even seemed a bit bored turning a page. A huge wave of frustration washed over him.
"Wait—!" Naruto shrieked, clutching his head. "Am I always the last one to figure things out?!"
Tazuna, startled by Naruto's sudden scream, felt his drunkenness dissipate by two parts. He looked blankly at the Ninja. "F-figure what out?"
But Naruto no longer had time for Tazuna. He felt like an idiot!
"Alright! Then let me, Uzumaki Naruto, be the first hero to charge into battle!" Naruto roared, his hands flashing through hand seals… the Ninjutsu he knew best.
"Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!"
Bang bang bang bang bang—!
A series of white smoke clouds exploded onto the road in an instant. Within the blink of an eye, hundreds of Narutos wearing the same orange jackets and sporting spiky blonde hair charged, howling like an orange tide, from all directions towards the suspicious puddle!
The momentum was grand, the aura astonishing.
Tazuna was stunned speechless by the sight of hundreds of live people appearing out of thin air. The sake bottle nearly fell from his hand, his mouth hanging open wide enough to fit an egg.
Kakashi, bringing up the rear, silently raised Icha Icha Paradise. The book made a soft 'smack' against his own face, followed by a helpless sigh: "What an idiot... this isn't how you flush out the enemy."
Though he had noticed long before, he had originally wanted to test the three's ability to react.
Menma could not help but pinch the bridge of his nose, smiling wryly: "Well... Naruto's always like this. He's got enough drive, but he's a bit... overly impulsive."
That said, his own gaze had sharpened instantly, his right hand already touching the clasp of his ninja tool pouch.
Almost simultaneously, Hinata took a deep breath and quietly commanded: "Byakugan!"
The veins near her temples bulged slightly, the skin around her clear white eyes showing prominent veins. Her 360-degree field of vision activated instantly, firmly locking onto the puddle and the two humanoid Chakra Signatures with clear malicious intent hidden beneath it.
"Spotted! Move!" The moment before Naruto's shadow clones landed on it, that puddle of 'water' suddenly 'boiled' violently. Two dark shadows shot out from the puddle like phantoms!
They wore dark tight-fitting suits suitable for stealth, covered by black robes, and menacing gas masks on their faces. On their forehead protectors, the symbol of Kirigakure was marred by a deep scratch.
This was the mark of Missing-Nin!
The two moved with incredible speed and tacit understanding, clearly experienced hands at coordinated sneak attacks.
Their arms were equipped with vicious iron arm claws, their tips glinting coldly.
One of them rasped in a hoarse whisper: "Damn, we've been made! But since we're spotted, you all die!"
They were the Kirigakure Missing-Nin duo, the [Demon Brothers]… Gozu and Meizu!
Though only Chunin level, their combined chain claw technique was enough to threaten an ordinary Jonin.
As their words faded, they swung their arms. From their iron arm claws shot two heavy iron chains connected to sharp blades, whistling through the air as they scythed towards the leading Naruto shadow clones!
Shred!
Squish!
Wherever the chains passed, Naruto's shadow clones vanished like punctured balloons, dissolving into white smoke.
Though numerous, these shadow clones were ultimately too weak, almost powerless against the Demon Brothers' chain claws designed for reaping.
"Damn!" The remaining shadow clones cried out, a flicker of panic on their faces.
The enemies were clearly far stronger than Mizuki, whom he had fought before.
"Don't panic! Stop them!" Naruto's original yelled from behind, but the Demon Brothers were too fast. After clearing the annoying shadow clones ahead, they changed the direction of their chain claws, their icy killing intent now aimed directly at Tazuna in the middle, and at Menma and Hinata beside him!
Clearly, their primary target was the client!
In that split second, Menma, who had seemed to be just watching, moved.
His right hand pulled a standard shuriken from his ninja tool pouch. With a flick of his wrist, he threw it!
Then his hands quickly formed seals.
"Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique!"
That single thrown shuriken suddenly multiplied in mid-air: one became two, two became four, four became eight...
Instantly, over thirty cold, gleaming shuriken buzzed densely as they shot through the sky towards the airborne Demon Brothers!
Their coverage was wide, their angles tricky, seemingly sealing off all possible escape routes for the brothers.
Kakashi, who had been watching Naruto with interest, suddenly widened his half-closed dead fish eye, surprise flashing in it.
'The Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique?' His heart stirred.
While the principle of this technique was not extremely complex, it required high proficiency in both Chakra Shape Transformation and Shurikenjutsu, making it a difficult A-rank Ninjutsu.
'Where had Menma learned it?'
Amidst Kakashi's doubts, every single one of those countless flying shuriken had an exploding tag, hissing and burning, tied to its tail!
"What?!" The Demon Brothers, Gozu and Meizu, faced with this sudden, terrifyingly numerous rain of shuriken, felt their pupils contract to pinpricks.
They swung their chains to block, but it was too late!
"Not good!"
Boom boom boom boom boom—!!!
The next instant, deafening explosions echoed in succession!
Blinding flashes and rolling, thick smoke instantly engulfed the Demon Brothers, also conveniently consuming several dozen of Naruto's shadow clones that had not dodged in time.
The violent shockwave, carrying mud and gravel, spread outwards, knocking Tazuna flat on his backside, his mouth agape. Kakashi's silver hair was blown back.
The roar of the explosions mixed with the roar of the waves, taking a good while to subside.
As the smoke cleared, several scorched, blackened craters were visible on the previously flat road, the earth turned over, a mess.
The Demon Brothers, Gozu and Meizu, lay charred black in the largest crater, their black robes shredded, their gas masks half shattered, revealing faces covered in blood and burns. They were breathing weakly, clearly gravely wounded by the dense barrage of explosions, their combat capability gone.
The few dozen remaining shadow clones not caught in the blast paused, then cheered, swarming forward to tie up the two half-dead Kirigakure's Missing-Nins like stuffed dumplings.
"Yosh! Great success!" Naruto's original body pumped his fist excitedly, giving Menma a big thumbs-up, his face beaming with pride, as if the earth-shattering explosions had been entirely his doing.
"Menma-nii! Our cooperation was flawless! Perfect tacit agreement! Hahahaha!"
Menma looked at Naruto's expression, which clearly said 'Praise me, praise me', and forced a laugh: "Ah, the cooperation was... pretty good."
He really could not bring himself to discourage Naruto.
Hinata, watching Naruto's exhilaration and then Menma's slightly awkward yet indulgent smile, could not help but cover her mouth and giggle. Her Byakugan deactivated, her cheeks flushed from the previous tension and current relief.
Kakashi closed Icha Icha Paradise and sauntered over. After first glancing with his dead fish eye at the bound, groaning Demon Brothers to confirm they were no longer a threat, he turned his gaze to Menma.
"Menma... that Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique, where did you learn it?"
Menma looked at Kakashi as if it were obvious, his clear black eyes even holding a hint of confusion: "This? I just took the Chakra Manipulation skills from the Shadow Clone Technique, modified them a bit, and applied them to throwing kunai and shuriken. Is it that hard? I got it after a few tries."
"Got it... after a few tries?" Kakashi repeated, looking at Menma's expression that seemed to ask 'Isn't this basic stuff?'. He found himself momentarily at a loss for words.
Kakashi knew Menma was highly gifted, the top graduate of this year's Konoha's Ninja Academy. But seeing such a display of talent firsthand still made him, an acknowledged genius himself, feel somewhat emotional.
He shook his head and muttered quietly, almost to himself: "So this is what a genius looks like..."
He thought of his own teacher, Namikaze Minato. Menma's talent was perhaps truly comparable.
The Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique, depending on the user's understanding and Chakra Nature, indeed has various variants.
When the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, used it, it was straightforward shuriken multiplication and precise striking.
When the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, used it, he applied it to kunai, integrating the Space-Time characteristics of the Flying Thunder God Technique, the multiplied kunai flashing like light.
But Menma's version...
It was less [Shuriken Shadow Clone] and more [Exploding Tag Projector: Shadow Clone Luxury Edition].
Kakashi's gaze swept over the messy explosion site again, roughly estimated the number of exploding tags consumed in that one attack, and could not help but twitch the corner of his mouth slightly: "Tch, that one move must have used at least twenty exploding tags..."
The standard market price for one exploding tag was two thousand ryo. Twenty would be forty thousand ryo. (T/N: I don't know why the explosive tag in this story was made that expensive. After all, Konan has 600 Billion explosive tags, which made it sounded very unbelievable.)
And that was just the cost of a single attack.
Even considering possible discounts for bulk purchases, the rate at which it burned money was astonishing.
Indeed, some powerful Ninjutsu required not only talent but also substantial financial backing...
He walked over to Tazuna, who was still sitting sprawled on the ground, not yet fully recovered. Although Kakashi still had his lazy expression, the gaze from his single eye carried an intangible pressure: "Tazuna-san, I think it is time you gave us a more accurate explanation of the actual circumstances of this mission."
"The compensation for a C-rank mission does not cover dealing with hostile Ninja."
His gaze swept over the bound Demon Brothers: "And being able to hire Ninja to kill you... that probably is not just ordinary business competition, is it? What exactly is involved with that bridge?"
Under Kakashi's gaze, Tazuna's face alternated between pale and flushed, his lips trembling. The empty sake bottle in his hand clattered to the ground.