"Ah! That hurts."
Killer Bee suddenly gasped, sucking in a cold breath. When he saw the condition of his body, he almost wanted to cry. He was covered in wounds from head to toe—just the gashes on his front numbered eight or nine, each one deep into the flesh, still bleeding. He could even feel a burning pain from his back. Though he couldn't see the wounds there, he knew they wouldn't be any better.
He hadn't felt much during the heat of battle, but now that it was over, the pain was unbearable. In both of his lives, he'd never been this battered. His clothes were torn to shreds, clearly beyond repair. While quickly taking out a sealing scroll from his ninja pouch, he released the seal and immediately grabbed disinfectant alcohol and bandages. He created a shadow clone, gritted his teeth through the pain of disinfecting his wounds, and began tending to them.
Gotta admit—learning the Shadow Clone Technique is super useful. No need to rely on anyone else. As he patched himself up, Killer Bee thought to himself:
"I wonder when Big Bro and Sensei will get here. Probably still a while. I've finished dressing my wounds, and I even changed into new clothes from the scroll. Gotta buy replacements when I get back. What a waste! These clothes and pants only lasted a few days, and I even lost my scarf. That's over two thousand ryo gone just like that."
This mission should count as an A-rank, right? A-rank missions reward between 150,000 and 1,000,000 ryo.
That reminds me—here's the mission reward breakdown:
S-Rank: Over 1,000,000 ryo
A-Rank: 150,000 ~ 1,000,000 ryo
B-Rank: 50,000 ~ 150,000 ryo
C-Rank: 10,000 ~ 50,000 ryo
D-Rank: 500 ~ 10,000 ryo
Split among the three of us, that's not bad! Even the minimum is 50,000 ryo! Killer Bee thought to himself excitedly.
Just then, a teasing voice rang out:
"My dear student, you really got off to a great start today! What started as a C-rank mission ended up becoming A-rank—and you hit the jackpot twice! Good thing you're strong enough. If it had been any other genin, they'd be dead by now! Are you really only five years old?" Fukai asked, still a bit incredulous.
Hearing his teacher's words, Killer Bee smiled and said, "Even a chunin might've died, right? It was one-on-one, and the opponent was a jonin—not a combat type, but still a jonin-level ninja."
"So don't get cocky. Don't think you're a jonin just because you beat a chunin and a jonin. Even with your kekkei genkai, a jonin might not be able to beat you, but you also can't do anything to them either. If your chakra runs out, you can't use elementalization, and then they can easily finish you off," Fukai warned seriously.
Killer Bee nodded solemnly. His teacher had made some solid points.
Whoosh—a figure suddenly appeared beside them.
Seeing his big brother suddenly show up, Killer Bee pulled out a scroll and said, "Big Bro, this is the only scroll I found on that ninja. Check it out."
A took the scroll, gave it a quick glance, and then destroyed it. Looking relieved, he said:
"The scroll really did contain troop deployment maps. Good thing you retrieved it. Otherwise, we'd have to report it and rearrange the defenses in all those regions."
Then, noticing Killer Bee all wrapped in bandages, A nearly burst out laughing—not because of the injuries, but because of how poorly bandaged they were.
Seeing Killer Bee's clueless face, A chuckled, "You okay? What's with all the bandages? You wrapped them so tight—how are your muscles supposed to breathe? If you don't wrap properly, your wounds won't heal right."
"Uh…"
Killer Bee didn't know anything about proper bandaging, so he could only stare at his brother as if to say, "You know I don't know how—so why aren't you teaching me?"
A held his head in frustration and lectured, "Get over here. I'll redo your bandages and teach you how to wrap wounds properly."
"Oh." Killer Bee walked over, and soon all the bandages were removed.
"Whoa," Fukai exclaimed in surprise. Frowning at Killer Bee's mangled wounds, he said, "That's a lot of cuts… even your thighs got slashed. Good thing your tendons weren't hit, or that would've been bad."
"It was that damned woman! She was ruthless!" Killer Bee said angrily.
"My good student… didn't you use your kekkei genkai?" Fukai asked again.
"Of course not. If I did, how could I end up this injured?" Killer Bee lit up with excitement as he recounted the battle:
"Big Bro said not to rely too much on my kekkei genkai. So! I didn't use it. I just went head-to-head with that crazy woman…"
After hearing Killer Bee's story, Fukai looked at him with admiration and said, "Not bad! Not bad at all. You really are my student—using a jonin to train your combat skills and even managing to knock them out. I'll definitely recommend you for the chunin exams when we get back. With your skills, you'll pass for sure."
"Awesome!" Killer Bee shouted excitedly.
Bonk! A fist landed square on Killer Bee's head. "Ouch!" he cried, rubbing his scalp, glaring at his brother. "Big Bro, why'd you hit me? Don't you know hitting the head makes you dumb?"
Seeing Killer Bee's puzzled face, A growled, "You've got the nerve to ask? I'm wrapping your wounds and you're chatting happily with your teacher? Did you even listen to the bandaging techniques I just taught you?"
"Bandaging techniques?" Killer Bee blinked, confused. "You said something?"
Bonk!
A felt like he'd just been stabbed in the heart. So he didn't hear a word I said?! A roared, "Lariat!!" and in the next instant turned into a bolt of lightning that crashed straight into Killer Bee.
Boom! A muffled thud echoed as a figure was sent flying and slammed into the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
"Ow ow ow!" Killer Bee rubbed his chest, wincing. "Big Bro, I'm still an injured man! Why'd you hit me so hard?!"
"The enemy won't care if you're injured! And your wounds aren't even that bad!" A shouted, before roaring again, "Lariat!!" He once again turned into a lightning bolt and charged at Killer Bee.
Again with that move?! I'm not afraid! Killer Bee's body sparked with electricity as he turned into a bolt of lightning and charged right back.
"Lariat!"
You think that little power of yours can take me on?! A's voice rang out—and boom! Killer Bee was once again sent flying like a parabolic missile, kicking up another cloud of dust.
"Cough, cough… ptooey!" Spitting out sand, Killer Bee cursed internally, "Damn it, I'm too weak! Is it really just the difference in age?"
I'm not giving up that easily! Lightning Style: "False Darkness!" A ball of lightning formed in Killer Bee's mouth and shot toward A.