Although Morino Idate was the person they were supposed to protect in the next mission, before they actually met Elder Jirō of the Land of Tea, their mission hadn't officially begun yet.
So Naruto had no intention of talking to him.
The three of them sat at the nearest table and ordered what they liked to eat.
Sasuke ordered jelly noodles, Sakura ordered dumplings, and Naruto… ordered both, plus an extra serving of red bean rice cake.
He had always had a big appetite.
While they were drinking tea, Morino Idate suddenly walked over, stood at the doorway, and gazed outside at the sky with a sigh. "The weather's so nice, life is pretty relaxing, and being a ninja is such an easy job. Konoha must be a really peaceful place, right?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Sakura frowned at Morino Idate's sudden remark, clearly unhappy.
"Oh? I didn't expect such a cute girl to be here!"
Morino Idate looked at Sakura as if noticing her for the first time. "Sorry for what I said earlier. My name is Morino Idate. Miss, what's your name?"
"Uh?"
Sakura was a little confused, not understanding why this guy's attitude suddenly changed so quickly.
Just moments ago, he seemed to look down on them, but now he was all warm and friendly.
"Get lost." Naruto spoke coldly before Sakura could answer.
"Hey, I'm talking to this pretty girl. What are you butting in for, you idiot ninja?" Morino Idate frowned, glaring at Naruto in annoyance.
"I don't want to say it twice." Naruto took a sip of tea and spoke calmly.
Bang!
Morino Idate slammed the table hard. "Who do you think you are, acting all high and mighty? I hate Konoha ninja the most. If you've got the guts, try staying in the Land of Tea!"
"Heh. A guy who chickened out during the Chunin Exams, tried to take a shortcut by stealing Konoha's secret scroll and the Sword of the Thunder God, then got kicked out of the village… and now you say you hate Konoha ninja?"
Naruto sneered. "You should be glad your brother is Morino Ibiki. If he wasn't, you'd already be rotting in Konoha's prison."
"How do you know…? Who are you?" Morino Idate's eyes widened in panic, mixed with anger.
Naruto didn't reply, but glanced at Sasuke.
Sasuke understood right away, got up, grabbed Morino Idate, and threw him out.
"Ahhh!"
Morino Idate crashed to the ground, clutching his backside in pain. "You Konoha ninja have no manners at all! Damn it!"
He cursed under his breath but didn't dare step back inside to argue with them again.
He could tell these three were not to be messed with. If he went back in, he'd just be asking for trouble.
"Sorry to keep you waiting!!"
At that moment, the shopkeeper's wife came over carrying the food they ordered.
Dumplings, jelly noodles, red bean rice cake, dumplings, jelly noodles!
"Naruto, you really can eat, huh." Sakura looked at Naruto in surprise as he dug into enough food for three people.
"The bigger the ability, the bigger the appetite." Naruto said, eating half a bowl of red bean rice cake in one bite.
Hearing that, Sasuke immediately finished his jelly noodles and called the shopkeeper's wife to bring two more bowls.
"..."
Sakura looked at them helplessly. "Boys are just…"
After they finished eating, the three of them left the tea shop and headed toward the town in the Land of Tea.
Before long, they arrived at a huge house.
A sign in front read — Wagarashi Family!
"Wagarashi Family… This should be the place."
Sakura stepped forward and knocked on the door. "Hello, is anyone home?"
The door opened soon after, and a small old man stepped out.
"You guys are… from Konoha, right? Our boss has been waiting for you for a long time. Please come in!"
The old man recognized Naruto and the others as ninjas from their forehead protectors and quickly welcomed the three of them into the guest hall.
The Wagarashi family's guest hall was very large and quite unique.
On the walls hung three strange paintings.
Two of them were just thick bamboo stalks, nothing else.
The other one showed something that looked like a sugarcane man… Naruto thought it kind of looked like that character from "Fruit Warriors" who mistakes thieves for family?
If that's the case, then those two bamboo stalks aren't bamboo either—they must be traitors and sneaky-looking crooks.
As for why it wasn't "A World Without Thieves," that must be because "A World Without Thieves" was wearing an eyepatch, looking just like Sugarcane Kakashi!
"Thank you for coming all this way!"
Elder Jiro opened the door wide, greeted the three of them warmly, then sat down in front of them.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Wagarashi Jiro, the one who requested your help." Elder Jiro introduced himself.
"No need for extra words. Just tell us the mission details directly," Naruto said.
"Alright!"
Elder Jirouchou laughed heartily. "I like straightforward boys like you. Pretty girls too, of course."
With just a few words, he managed to flatter all three of them. As expected of a leader.
"This time, I've asked you here mainly to protect the participants of the Great Hō Festival ritual!" Elder Jirouchou explained.
"What is the Grand Shrine Festival?" Sakura asked.
"A long time ago, it's said that to calm a violent storm, people offered the Dragon-Tiger Jewel inside the Great Shrine."
"Not long after the offering, the storm subsided. That story was passed down as a legend, and today it has become a traditional event held every four years."
"At first, the event was only about worshipping the jewel. But starting decades ago, it changed into having the strongest person serve as the head priest."
"In recent years, the ritual has taken on another meaning as well!"
"In this port town of Shukke, there have always been two groups—the Wagarashi family and the Wasabi family. From the moment our two groups appeared, we've been in constant conflict, fighting over control of this town!"
"When the fights got intense, even normal villagers would be dragged into it! To put an end to the conflict, the Daimyo of the Land of Tea personally stepped in and told us to turn our battles into a competition instead."
"That competition became the Great Shrine Festival ritual!"
"Whoever wins the competition will lead this town for the next four years! Four years ago, the Wasabi family hired ninjas and won an overwhelming victory."
"And this year, they've hired ninjas again. That's why we issued a request to Konoha!"
"Since you've already explained the background, can you go ahead and tell us exactly who we're supposed to protect?" Sasuke asked, a little impatiently.
"Of course!"
Elder Jirouchou clapped his hands without the slightest sign of annoyance.
The door opened, and a familiar figure appeared.
"Elder Jirouchou!"
"It's you?"
"It's you guys?"
Except for Naruto, neither side had expected to meet here of all places.
"Oh? So you know each other, Idaten!"
"Well… sort of!"
Hearing Elder Jirouchou's words, Morino Idate's mouth twitched.
If getting beaten up counts as "knowing each other," then sure, why not?
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