The shinobi world was a deformed one. Ever since Higashino Makoto was reborn into this world and became a part of it, he had felt this realization with particular depth.
Standing on high ground outside Hema City and looking down over the city, one could experience a powerful sense of temporal dislocation.
Inside the city stood quite a few tall buildings. The streets were crowded with pedestrians, and dense power lines—like spiderwebs—linked every corner of the city together. In some of the darker areas, lights had already been switched on.
From this perspective alone, it already bore the initial appearance of a modernized city.
Yet there were no modern means of transportation on the roads. What people used were still various ox- and horse-drawn carts, as if it were an ancient society, forming an extreme contrast with the city's high-rises and neon lights.
Technological development in the shinobi world was severely lopsided. All kinds of electrical appliances had already become widespread even among civilian households, and biomedical technology was also quite commendable, yet transportation infrastructure and vehicles lagged far behind.
Higashino Makoto did not conduct any in-depth research on this point. He merely speculated that it might be related to the scarcity of petroleum resources in the shinobi world.
Some of the traditional fossil energies that commonly supported modern industry in his previous life were not abundant in this world. Perhaps this was one of the differences between the shinobi world and the world of his previous life.
After all, even the moon here was not native—it was a private garden built by two brothers for their mother. Their filial devotion was truly admirable.
Unlike Higashino Makoto, who often found the world strange, the three—Gekkō Hayate and his companions—who were native residents of the shinobi world, did not feel that there was anything wrong with it.
When they looked at Hema City, they would only compare it with Konohagakure in their minds. The final conclusion was that it had the characteristics of a port city, but Konoha was still better—and that was the end of it.
However, the destination of the four on this mission was not within Hema City, but in a town several dozen kilometers away.
When they arrived at the town, it was already late. Gekkō Kumomi led the squad into an inn and settled in for the night.
While eating the complimentary house specialty seafood dinner in their room, Gekkō Kumomi said, "Now I'll explain the detailed intel for this mission."
"Recently, around Hema City, a bandit group calling itself the Sea Shark Gang has appeared. No one knows where they came from. They only know that after showing up two months ago, they carried out several major crimes in quick succession."
"These include robbing nearby villages, abducting young women, kidnapping the family members of local wealthy merchants to extort money, and so on. Their last crime was in a nearby town, after which they vanished. The local people responsible for public security couldn't find any clues, so they sent the commission to us in Konohagakure."
Gekkō Hayate asked, "Sensei, can we confirm whether there are any shinobi?"
"We can't confirm it, so the minimum mission rank is C-rank, but it could very likely rise to B-rank or higher at any time."
Higashino Makoto didn't care, but Uzuki Yūgao was full of motivation: "Good. Then we'll find those bastards and beat them all down, and let them know what happens when they cause trouble in the Land of Fire."
"Very spirited!" Gekkō Kumomi praised his female disciple at the right moment, then instructed, "After you finish eating, split up and go gather intel. How to do it—your academy should have taught you all of that."
"Okay, Sensei!" x3
...
After the meal, the three of them used the Transformation Jutsu to change their appearances, concealing the characteristics of Konohagakure shinobi, and sprang out through the window.
The town's night was not bustling. It had only just become night, yet the streets were already desolate. There were only a few shops with their lights on and open for business, and most pedestrians on the road were hurrying along, as if afraid of something.
Higashino Makoto's current appearance was that of an adult. He found a small izakaya, went in and ordered several snacks and some sake, then sat at the long counter in front of the kitchen, listening to the head chef chat with a half-drunk customer.
After a while, he joined in as well, while his ears took in the complaints of the other customers in the izakaya, picking out useful information from among them.
It looked like he drank the sake, but in fact he poured it all into the storage pouch on his body.
If Gekkō Kumomi found out he was drinking, he would definitely go back and report his misdeeds to Higashino Megumi.
Mm, so this world really is bizarre. He had already graduated and could legally go out and cut people down, yet he couldn't drink alcohol. Fortunately, he hadn't liked drinking in his previous life either, so he didn't have any alcohol addiction.
The izakaya was still noisy, and no one noticed that a nine-year-old kid had slipped in. For a shinobi, dealing with ordinary people was simply too easy—they had no chance of resisting at all, and would never realize who struck them down, even at the moment of death.
At the agreed time, the three of them returned to the inn at the same time.
"So? Did you find anything?"
Uzuki Yūgao said angrily, "Those bastards aren't human. They've thrown this whole town into panic. I heard from others that several remote villages outside were completely looted, and quite a few people died. There was even a village where not a single person survived. It's outrageous."
The girl's sense of justice was still very strong, and she couldn't understand such things. Gekkō Kumomi didn't explain—this was the shinobi world. See enough of it, and you get used to it.
Gekkō Hayate said, "I found a way to blend in with that wealthy merchant's household in town. He was indeed being extorted. The one who was kidnapped was his daughter. She's already back, but her mental state is a bit unstable. Possibly…"
He didn't say what "possibly" meant, but everyone understood. Even Uzuki Yūgao knew—although she was only nine, she had received formal shinobi education. Children in the shinobi world matured early, and matters between men and women were things they understood.
That only made her angrier. She wished she could kill those bastards immediately. Before, she had only heard about such things. Now they were appearing vividly right in front of her—simply unforgivable.
Gekkō Kumomi nodded, then looked at his last disciple. "Did you drink?"
Higashino Makoto immediately shook his head in denial. "I didn't. Impossible. Sensei, don't say things like that—the smell just rubbed off on me in the izakaya."
"Good. Otherwise, Megumi would beat you to death. So, what did you find out?"
"This group calling themselves the Sea Shark Gang—no one knows their exact numbers, and they didn't just appear out of nowhere. They're very likely sea pirates, because someone recognized a few of them from having been robbed before while transporting goods by ship."
"My guess is that the war between Kirigakure and Sunagakure in the south left them without a place to survive for the time being, so they came ashore."
"Mm, not bad. That's very possible. If that's the case, there may be missing-nin or wandering shinobi among them. Can that be confirmed?"
"No. No one has seen anyone among them use ninjutsu."
"You all did well. Very good. Get some rest first—investigation starts early tomorrow."
...
The next day, Higashino Makoto's group appeared in a remote village.
The place had already been abandoned. The entire village had been burned down into ruins. Outside, local security personnel had set up cordon lines, and on the ground there were lime markings indicating where bodies had once been found.
However, several days had already passed. The bodies had long since been removed for processing, and the lime, washed by rain, had only left faint, loose white traces behind.
The group carefully examined the village for any possible signs, but found nothing.
Gekkō Kumomi asked, "Can you tell whether any ninjutsu was used?"
"No!"
"All the remaining traces were left by ordinary weapons."
"The fires broke out from multiple points—just ordinary arson, not Fire Release."
Gekkō Kumomi said, "Good. You checked very thoroughly. Let's go—we're heading to the next location."
The four of them naturally moved far faster than ordinary security personnel, and they soon arrived at an abandoned shrine not far from the sea.
This place had once been used to worship a sea god, but it had been abandoned for many years. The reason they came here was that the wealthy merchant, in order to rescue his daughter, had sent people to conduct the transaction with the kidnappers at this very spot.
This had happened only a few days earlier, so quite a few clues still remained. Although someone had deliberately tried to cover them up, there was no way they could escape a shinobi's eyes.
While teaching his students about tracking, Gekkō Kumomi led them to a cliff by the seaside.
The terrain here was steep and precipitous, with an enormous drop. Even for a shinobi, falling accidentally would be extremely dangerous. It was completely unsuitable as a harbor where boats could dock.
After reaching this place, he tossed the problem to his students.
Before long, after searching the area once over, the three of them found an underground passage concealed beneath a layer of turf.
Uzuki Yūgao looked at Higashino Makoto and asked, "Makoto-nii, was this made using Earth Release?"
Only Higashino Makoto knew Earth Release. He looked at the stairs leading underground and said, "You're right."
Gekkō Hayate said, "Looks like those bastards escaped by boat."
Gekkō Kumomi smiled and raised the difficulty. "So now there are two problems. First, there are shinobi among the Sea Shark Gang, but we don't know how strong they are."
"Second, they vanished into the sea by boat. The bay may not cover a large area of ocean, but it has many islands. How you drag the mission targets out will depend on your abilities."
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