Chapter 77: The Real Goods
Renjiro looked at Fujin and said, "Fujin, make a couple of shadow clones and a dozen wind clones. Examine the dead bodies, and take anything valuable they have."
He tossed a few storage scrolls at Fujin while speaking, "Store the dead bodies of the ninjas in these scrolls."
Fujin nodded and made the clones, who immediately got to work. Renjiro himself made a couple of Shadow clones and a few Mud clones, who began doing the same in the mud river.
He looked at Hoka and Mieko and said, "You two should learn Earth clone jutsu later. Once your chakra reserves grow, learn shadow clone jutsu. Both will be very helpful."
Mieko and Hoka nodded, "Yes Sensei."
While the bandits, valuables, and dead bodies were being cleared, they moved towards the hiding merchants and asked them to come out. The merchants sighed in relief and stopped hiding between their goods and rock shields. However, when they came out, they were shocked looking at the condition of the hills and forest around the area. They were also disturbed by the dead bodies and blood around them.
Iha Tosio walked to Renjiro and requested, "Renjiro-sama, can we please move away from here soon?"
Renjiro replied, "We need some time to rest. We will move soon. You guys can get ready to move."
Hearing that, all the merchants immediately began to prepare to move.
Renjiro looked at Hoka and said, "Take your shirt off." Hoka took his shirt off, and Renjiro disinfected the cut on his chest and wrapped it in bandages.
Fujin's clones first checked the ninjas from the 1st wave. They didn't have anything valuable as all their scrolls were destroyed by Fujin's first attack. Next, they checked and sealed all the genin and Masato. The genins didn't have much. Masato, on the other hand, had a lot of Ryo and weapons. Next, they checked the chunins and Tomio. They all had a decent amount of money and weapons. Tomio also had a scroll that listed some Water Release jutsus and another scroll explaining the mission parameters.
Fujin's shadow clone quickly skimmed through the Water jutsu scroll. However, at the end of it, he was disappointed, 'I thought I'd get lucky and get some op jutsu. Unfortunately, these all are rather lame. I can probably get them all from the library.'
Next, he went through the mission scroll, understanding what exactly their mission was. He was surprised, 'These guys sent 5 teams of similar size to intercept all 5 squads that were sent from Konoha? Aren't they a little too courageous? Also, how the fuck could they enter into the land of Fire so easily? And that too without being detected?'
Fujin sighed at the state of Konoha and Land of Fire, 'If all countries have such a weak border force, even I won't have any difficulty in moving around. No wonder the Akatsuki were pretty unobstructed. I thought it was a testimony to their power, but it seems like even a genin wouldn't have much of an issue.'
In around 10 minutes, Fujin and Renjiro were done. Renjiro's clones were also done cleaning up the bandits and dispersed. Renjiro then sorted all the gains and said, "Not bad. We got over 1.6 million Ryo, 500 shurikens and 100 kunais."
He stored everything in his scroll and said, "I'll divide the weapons equally among us. The money, half will be given to the village, remaining will be divided among us in the same way as we divide the mission rewards.
Hoka and Mieko didn't care about money, so they just nodded. Fujin didn't care much either, but thought, 'Wow! 1.6 million Ryo just from one fight? No wonder so many ninjas go rogue.'
The merchants too heard what Renjiro said. They were shocked, 'He got so much money just with a few minutes of fighting! We risk our lives travelling from one country to another, and don't even make half that amount! Not to mention, we have to split it between twice the people.'
They were very envious, but seeing the state of the forest and hill, they didn't have a single evil thought in them!
While resting, Team Renjiro ate a few ration bars. Fujin wondered while eating, 'Since it's so easy to get money, and since there are so many rogue ninjas trying to earn money, should I form an organization similar to Akatsuki, but for the sole purpose of earning money?'
He kept analyzing the viability, advantages, and disadvantages of the idea he had.
Around the same time, Team Renjiro was attacked, all the other 4 teams were attacked as well.
The force that attacked the Anbus was the strongest. However, they also got annihilated the quickest. Of the 3 chunin squads, 1 managed to defeat their enemy. The remaining 2 caused a lot of damage to their enemy and retreated safely. They would later coordinate with Konoha forces placed on the borders of the Land of Fire and exterminate those forces by multiple ambushes.
The Wagarashi family, which sent many of their high level ninjas and spent a fortune on hiring rogue ninjas, would never imagine that each and every ninja they sent would end up dead! They had another strong force assembled in the Land of Tea to ambush if their initial assault failed. However, after getting no reports from 2 attack forces and getting reports of defeat from the other 3, they cancelled all their plans and disbanded the force they raised. Their plans for dominating the Land of Tea would come to a halt for years.
Team Renjiro completed its mission with no further incidents. After reaching Degarashi Port, Toshio carried the goods into Wasabi property.
There, Renjiro and Toshio met with the Wasabi family head. They removed a huge cubical wooden box that was hidden in between the goods.
On placing the box on the ground, Renjiro made a hand seal and said, "Release" Immediately, multiple seals appeared on the box and began unsealing themselves. Renjiro opened the box. Inside, Wasabi Daichi was sleeping. He opened his eyes as soon as Renjiro opened the box.
If Fujin, Mieko, and Hoka saw this, they'd be very shocked! Neither of the three ever noticed someone to be hidden inside the goods.
Renjiro thought about his discussion with the 3rd Hokage.
Hokage office - 16 days ago.
Hiruzen looked at Daichi and stated, "Daichi, escorting you normally wouldn't be possible with just one squad. So we will be sealing you and transporting you along with other goods of merchants."
Daichi thought for a bit and asked, "The trip to Degarashi Port will take more than 2 weeks. So how will I be sealed?"
Hiruzen answered, "We will seal you inside a box. Inside it, we will inscribe seals that'll ensure a fresh supply of air to you. It'll also make you undetectable by any means. Your water and food will be stored inside scrolls. With enough to last a month. As for your excretions, you'll have to do that inside storage scrolls as well."
Hearing that, Daichi frowned. He asked, "Is it necessary to do all this? Can't I just disguise as one of the merchants and join them?"
Renjiro shook his head, "No. Your chakra level is higher than a normal civilian. Any sensor would be able to detect you with ease. If detected, all the enemy forces will attack us only. I can't guarantee your safety if that happens.
Daichi sighed and put forth a couple more ideas. But Renjiro stated the flaws in them. Reluctantly, he agreed.
Wasabi Family Mansion -
Daichi finally saw sunlight after over 2 weeks. He tried getting up, but his legs trembled. Renjiro grabbed him, got him out of the box, and said, "You have barely moved for over 2 weeks. You'll need some time and might need to do some exercises before you can move properly."
Daichi sighed on hearing that. The Wasabi family head just laughed and patted his back, "Don't worry. At least you are alive."
He then bowed to Renjiro and said, "Renjiro san, thank you for resolving our issues. With the losses that the Wagarashi family took, they won't try anything for a few years at least."
Renjiro nodded and replied, "I can't comment on the internal politics in the Land of Tea, but you should take this opportunity to suppress them completely."
The Wasabi family head nodded. He paid Renjiro for the real mission and invited Renjiro and Toshio to stay as guests in his mansion. They both agreed. The next day, Team Renjiro began returning back to Konoha. They travelled at a very fast speed and returned back to Konoha by midnight. Renjiro dismissed the team and gave them a week's break.