In the ruins, the few remaining ninjas from the Land of Grass scattered in all directions.
Judging by the power of their ninjutsu, they were nothing but weaklings—useless Genin.
Konoha Genin, sit down. I'm not talking about you.
Rie glared at the fleeing figures, her body brimming with killing intent. She gritted her teeth and remained still.
She could chase them down and kill them, but she still had two teammates—this wasn't the time to act like a lone hero. Besides, her brother always said: control the darkness within, use it, and unleash it only when the time is right.
From a rooftop nearby, Reiji watched the three of them standing back-to-back, alert and ready. He nodded in approval.
That girl Rie, almost flawless most of the time.
The other two weren't bad either—at least they knew how to protect their teammates.
Barely passable!
Without wasting time, Reiji jumped down from the roof, pulled out a thick wad of cash, and shoved it into the hands of the dumbfounded shop owner still standing in the ruins.
"Go to No. 66, Tea Street in Konoha, find Miss Meiko. Tell her the chairman sent you. She'll get you set up with a new shop."
The izakaya owner stared blankly at the money, then glanced at the Konoha forehead protector on Reiji's forehead. Suddenly, something clicked—his eyes lit up, and he nodded rapidly, beaming.
Once the unlucky owner was gone, Reiji and Tsunade approached the three Genin. Reiji grinned wickedly.
"Well, that's great. The mission hasn't even started, and you've already beaten someone up. Got any idea how you're gonna deal with those punks coming back for revenge?"
Rie pouted and bowed deeply, guilt written all over her face.
"Reiji-sensei, I acted on impulse!"
Just then, Teuchi quickly stepped forward, shielding Rie behind him, and bowed deeply.
"Reiji-sensei, this isn't all Rie's fault! If she hadn't made a move, I would've beaten them up myself!"
As he spoke, he yanked Fugaku Uchiha forward and shouted,
"Fugaku, you thought the same, right?!"
Hearing that, Fugaku's cold little face froze. He gave the slightest of nods.
Wait, when did these three get so close?!
Reiji scratched his head, confused, but quickly brushed the thought aside. Ignoring the dusty ground, he sat cross-legged.
He took out a mission scroll, unrolled it on his knee, and grabbed a brush.
Looking up at Rie and the others, Reiji gave a mischievous smile and said quietly,
"You've picked a fight and pissed off the ninjas from the Land of Grass. Who knows if they'll all come after you now? Either way, the intel-gathering mission is a bust."
Teuchi looked like he wanted to argue, but the moment he met Reiji's sharp glare, he swallowed his words.
"In that case, let's change the mission objective!"
He moved the brush tip toward the scroll—
Just then, Tsunade quickly reached out and grabbed his arm.
"Reiji, what are you doing? You can't alter the mission scroll!"
Reiji shot her an exasperated glance, then straightened up with an air of authority.
"Tsuna, are you forgetting something? I'm Reiji Sakuhō!
Right now, I'm representing the client—Daimyō Reiji Sakuhō of the Land of Rain—to request a revision to the mission!
Effective immediately, this mission is upgraded from C-rank to S-rank. The new objective is to eliminate all ninjas from the Land of Grass!
Do you agree, assigned shinobi from Konoha, Jōnin Reiji Sakuhō?"
He paused, then immediately switched to a groveling tone, nodding eagerly.
"Yes, Daimyō-sama, whatever you say! I'll do exactly as you command—how could I possibly object?"
With that, he shamelessly nodded again and began rewriting the scroll.
Watching Reiji's one-man performance, Tsunade and the three Genin were completely speechless.
What the hell was that?
A never-before-seen move!
Changing his own mission? Talk about audacity!
And that acting? Could it be any more over-the-top?!
After finishing the changes with a smug look, Reiji rolled up the scroll, stuffed it into Rie's hands, and grinned darkly.
"Alright, Team Eleven! Your mission now is to wipe out every last ninja from this country!
But for now, your immediate task is to handle the counterattack from your enemies.
Oh, and here's the good news—
From now on, I'm not stepping in. You're on your own!"
He pushed off his knees and slowly stood, retreating to Tsunade's side and taking her hand.
"Bye-bye, brave warriors~"
With a lazy wave, Reiji and Tsunade vanished in an instant.
Staring at the spot where Reiji had stood, Teuchi scratched his head, dumbfounded.
"He's really gone… Reiji-sensei! Come back! We're just Genin!"
Rie calmly patted the other two on the shoulders.
"Chill, Teuchi. An S-rank mission comes with an S-rank reward. Finish this, and your ramen shop is guaranteed!
Fugaku, don't worry. As long as I'm here, I won't let either of you die."
Fugaku looked at Rie's firm expression, pursed his lips, and gave a strong nod.
There was no turning back now.
All they could do was push themselves harder and complete the mission!
...
Not far away, Reiji and Tsunade walked side by side into a ramen shop.
"Reiji, they're just Genin. There's no way they can pull off something like this on their first try."
Tsunade's worried expression didn't faze Reiji, who waved it off casually.
"It's fine. You're here to heal them if they get hurt. If they're really in danger, I'll step in and save them.
Besides, who says it's impossible?
Kids need a little pressure."
A little... pressure.
Tsunade stared at Reiji speechlessly.
What she didn't know was that Reiji truly didn't care.
Just think—someday, two 17 or 18-year-old Konoha Genin, Loudmouth and Broody, would take down mini-boss Obito Uchiha, then go head-to-head with big boss Madara Uchiha, and finally seal off Mother Kaguya.
So really, until you're pushed to the limit, you don't know your true potential.
And Reiji was pretty satisfied with their current enemies.
The ninjas from the Land of Grass were, hands down, the most despicable of the small nations.
Not because they copied jutsu, or sold secrets, or betrayed allies—
What disgusted Reiji most was that after finding out about Karin and her mother's unique physique, these bastards literally bit Karin's mom to death.
If Karin hadn't been so tough, she'd have been killed too.
Reiji planned to reclaim Amegakure one day, and there was no way he was going to live next to a bunch of honorless freaks.
Just as he was thinking this, the ramen was served. The rich aroma snapped him out of his thoughts. He grabbed his chopsticks and dug in.
...
Meanwhile, Rie and the others stepped out of a ninja tools shop.
Each of them had two heavy packs strapped to their backs, stuffed with kunai, shuriken, and explosive tags.
"Rie, big sis, you really bought us all this gear? Can we even use it all?"
Teuchi excitedly twirled a ninja blade, bouncing on his feet.
Rie shot him a side glance and replied in a playful tone, "Of course we'll use it all—maybe even run out!
You all know this mission's going to be a drawn-out fight. We need to be fully stocked and ready."
Beside her, Fugaku Uchiha gave a solemn nod of agreement.