The Ninja World is a distorted world. Ever since Higashino Shin was reborn into this world and became a part of it, he has felt this realization deeply.
Standing on a high point outside Hemo City and looking down at the city, you can feel a strong sense of spatio-temporal dislocation.
There are many high-rise buildings in the city, the streets are crowded with pedestrians, and dense power lines connect every corner of the city like a spider web. Some dark places are already lit up.
From this perspective, it already has the rudimentary appearance of a modern city.
But there are no modern means of transportation on the road. People still use various carts pulled by oxen and horses, as if in an ancient society, forming an extreme contrast with the high-rise buildings and neon lights in the city.
The technological development of the Ninja World is severely unbalanced. Various electrical appliances have even become popular in civilian households, and biomedical technology is also remarkable, but the development of transportation facilities and tools is seriously lagging behind.
Higashino Shin did not study this point deeply, but only guessed that it might be related to the scarcity of oil resources in the Ninja World.
Traditional fossil energy sources that supported modern industry, common in his previous life, are not abundant in this world. Perhaps this is the difference between the Ninja World's Earth and the Earth of his previous life.
After all, the moon here isn't even natural; it's a solitary garden built by two brothers for their mother. Truly commendable filial piety.
Unlike Higashino Shin, who often felt it was strange, as native residents of the Ninja World, Gekkō Hayate and the other two didn't feel there was anything wrong with this world.
When they looked at Hemo City, they only mentally compared it with Konoha. The final answer was that it had the characteristics of a port city, but Konoha was still better, and that was it.
However, the destination of their mission this time was not in Hemo City, but in Donghe Town, dozens of miles away.
By the time they arrived at the town, it was already late. Gekko Yun Jian led the team to check into a hotel.
While enjoying the special seafood feast included with their stay in the room, Gekko Yun Jian said, "Now I will explain the detailed intelligence of this mission."
"Recently, a group of bandits called the Sea Shark Gang has appeared around Hemo City. No one knows where they came from. It's only known that since they appeared two months ago, they have committed several major crimes in a short period."
"Including robbing surrounding Villages, kidnapping young women, kidnapping families of wealthy local businessmen for ransom, and so on. Their last crime was in Donghe Town, and then they disappeared. The local security personnel couldn't find any clues, so the request was sent to our Konoha."
Gekkō Hayate asked, "Sensei, can you confirm if there are any Ninjas?"
"It's not certain, so the minimum Rank for the mission is C-Rank, but it could rise to B-Rank or higher at any time."
Higashino Shin didn't care, but Yūgao Uzuki was full of energy: "Great, then let's find those bastards and knock them all down, and let them know the consequences of making trouble in the Land of Fire."
"Good, very spirited!" Gekko Yun Jian praised his female Disciple at the right time and then instructed, "After dinner, you will go out separately to gather information. You should have been taught in school how to do it."
"Okay, Sensei!" x3
---
After dinner, Higashino Shin and the other two used Transformation Jutsu to change their appearance, concealing their Konoha Ninja characteristics, and leaped out of the window.
The town's night was not prosperous. It was just the beginning of the night, but the streets were already desolate. Only a few shops were open with lights on, and most pedestrians on the road were in a hurry, as if they were afraid of something.
Higashino Shin's current image was that of an adult. He found a small izakaya, went in, ordered some snacks and sake, and sat at the long counter in front of the kitchen, listening to the head chef chatting with a half-drunk customer.
After a while, he also joined in, while his ears picked up the grumbling of other customers in the izakaya, distinguishing useful information from it.
It looked like he drank the sake, but it was actually all poured into a storage bag on his body.
If Gekko Yun Jian found out he was drinking, he would definitely report it to Higashino Megumi when they got back.
Well, so this world is really bizarre. He has already graduated and can legally go out and kill people, but he can't drink. Fortunately, he didn't like drinking in his previous life and had no addiction.
The noise in the izakaya remained as usual; no one noticed that a 9-year-old kid had snuck in. It was too simple for a Ninja to deal with ordinary people. They had no possibility of resisting and wouldn't even find out who did it until they died.
At the appointed time, the three returned to the hotel simultaneously.
"How was it? Did you gain anything?"
Yūgao Uzuki said indignantly, "Those bastards really aren't human. They've made this town panic. I heard from others that several remote Villages outside have been ransacked, many people died, and there was even a Village with no survivors. It's really too much."
The little girl's sense of justice was still very strong, and she couldn't understand such things, but Gekko Yun Jian didn't explain. This was the Ninja World; you get used to it after seeing more.
Gekkō Hayate said, "I managed to sneak into the house of that wealthy businessman in town. He was indeed extorted. It was his daughter who was kidnapped. She's back, but her mental state is a bit abnormal, maybe..."
He didn't say what "maybe," but everyone understood. Even Yūgao Uzuki knew. Although she was only 9 years old, she had received a formal Ninja education after all. Children in the Ninja World are generally precocious and understand matters between men and women.
So she seemed even more angry, wishing she could kill those bastards immediately. She had only heard about it before, but now, such a thing appeared vividly before her eyes. It was simply unforgivable.
Gekko Yun Jian nodded and looked at the last Disciple: "Did you drink?"
Higashino Shin immediately shook his head and denied: "I didn't, no way, Sensei, don't talk nonsense. The smell was picked up in the izakaya."
"Good if you didn't, otherwise Megumi would beat you to death. So, what did you find out?"
"This group calling themselves the Sea Shark Gang, their exact numbers are unknown, and they didn't appear suddenly. They are likely pirates from the sea because someone who used to ship goods by boat had been plundered before and recognized some of the guys."
"I guess it might be the war between the Hidden Mist and Sunagakure in the south that caused them to temporarily lose their living space, so they fled to the land."
"Hmm, not bad, quite likely. In that case, Rogue Ninja or Wandering Ninjas might appear among them. Can you confirm this?"
"No, no one has seen any of them use Ninjutsu."
"You all did well. Good. Rest first; we'll start investigating tomorrow morning."
---
The next day, Higashino Shin's group appeared in a remote Village.
It was already deserted; the entire Village had been burned to ruins. Outside, there were isolation ropes put up by local security personnel, and there were also positions of bodies marked with lime on the ground.
However, many days had passed, and the bodies had long been taken away for disposal. After being washed by rain, the lime only left faint, loose white marks.
The group carefully checked for possible traces in the Village but found nothing.
Gekko Yun Jian asked: "Can you see any signs of Ninjutsu being used?"
"No!"
"The remaining traces were all left by ordinary weapons."
"The fire broke out from multiple points; it was just ordinary arson, not Fire Release."
Gekko Yun Jian said: "Good, you checked very carefully. Let's go to the next location."
The speed of the four was naturally incomparable to that of ordinary security personnel. They soon arrived at an abandoned shrine not far from the sea.
This place used to be where the Sea God was worshipped, but it had been abandoned for many years. The reason for coming here was that the wealthy businessman, in order to save his daughter, had sent someone here to trade with the kidnappers.
This happened a few days ago, so there were still many clues left. Although they were intentionally hidden, how could they escape the eyes of a Ninja?
While teaching his Disciples tracking experience, Gekko Yun Jian led them to a cliff by the sea.
The terrain here was steep and rugged, with a huge drop. Even if a Ninja accidentally fell, it would be extremely dangerous. It simply couldn't serve as a port for ships to dock.
Once there, he threw the problem to his students.
Soon, after searching once, the three found an underground passage covered by turf.
Yūgao Uzuki looked at Higashino Shin and asked: "Brother Shin, was this created with Earth Release?"
Only Higashino Shin knew Earth Release here. He looked at the stairs leading underground: "You're right."
Gekkō Hayate: "Looks like those bastards fled by boat."
Gekko Yun Jian smiled and posed a difficult question: "So, now there are two problems. First, there are Ninjas in the Sea Shark Gang, but we don't know the opponent's strength."
"Second, they disappeared into the sea by boat. Although the sea area of Tea Island Bay isn't large, there are many islands. How to drag the mission target out depends on your ability."