Chapter 37: The System's New Mission
***SMACK!*** Just as Jiraiya resumed his peeping, Tenchi slapped him again.
"Damn it! Is this bathhouse haunted or something?!" Jiraiya spun around, but again, found no one. A seed of doubt was planted in his mind.
"Forget it, I'm getting out of here. Maybe there really is a ghost." Grabbing his towel, Jiraiya scrambled out of the bath.
"Hahaha! That idiot Jiraiya! Hahaha! He actually got scared off by that! You're killing me!" Tenchi burst out laughing, emerging from the water and clutching his sides.
"It's a bit mean to scare him like that," Tōka commented mildly.
"Tōka, you don't understand. This is the fun of being young. As the saying goes, laughter adds years to your life. You should laugh more. It'll keep you young," Tenchi said with a grin.
Tōka looked at him with disbelief. It was obvious Tenchi just wanted to mess around and was making up excuses. Besides, with his country suffering, how could he possibly laugh?
After their bath, the two men didn't go anywhere else. They returned to their respective rooms and went straight to bed.
***
The next morning, after everyone had washed up, the group set off again.
"That hot spring inn was no good. It's haunted. I'm never going back," Jiraiya complained. Convinced the place was haunted, he had barely slept, and dark circles hung under his eyes.
"Haunted? Jiraiya, what nonsense are you talking about? There's no such thing as ghosts. Are you still half-asleep?" Tsunade didn't believe a word of it. She was sure he'd just had a bad dream. Orochimaru, a firm non-believer, nodded in agreement.
"You guys don't believe me? I'm telling you, when I was in the bath yesterday—" Jiraiya started, but Tenchi quickly clamped a hand over his mouth.
"Okay, shut up," Tenchi said firmly. "There are no ghosts in this world, let alone gods. We're getting closer to the Land of Rice now. Stop daydreaming and stay focused." He was afraid Jiraiya would spill the truth and get him in trouble. It wasn't a glorious story, especially with a girl present, so it was better left unsaid.
Seeing Tenchi's stern tone, everyone dropped the subject and began carefully observing their surroundings. Only Tōka gave Tenchi a strange, knowing look.
"There are two ninja lying in ambush up ahead. You three go and take them out as quickly as possible. Clear the path for us," Tenchi ordered, having sensed the enemies' chakra.
"Understood!" The three genin's expressions turned serious. They moved out, heading toward the location Tenchi had indicated.
***BOOM! BOOM!***
Not long after they left, the sounds of clashing ninjutsu erupted from the forest.
"I told them where the enemies were, and they *still* got discovered? And it escalated into a ninjutsu battle? Did I overestimate them, or is their skill level just this low?" Tenchi watched the site of the explosion with a worried frown.
*'It seems I can't rely on them completely for this mission. The Sannin are still too young. A mission of this level might be too much for them.'*
When the explosions stopped, Tenchi led Tōka to where the other three were.
When they arrived, Tenchi saw the trio looking disheveled, with minor injuries on each of them. It was clear—the future Legendary Sannin were still just rookies.
"Two enemy ninja put you in such a sorry state? It makes me doubt your strength. Can you even complete this mission?" Tenchi asked, his brow furrowed in disapproval.
"Brother Tenchi, you can't blame us for this," Tsunade explained. "The truth is, those two were high-level Chunin, almost Jōnin-level. The fact that we won against two near-Jōnin is pretty good!"
"That's right, Brother Tenchi! It's not that we're weak; the enemy was just too strong! We barely managed to win!" Jiraiya chimed in.
"The opponents were indeed quite powerful," Orochimaru confirmed with a nod.
"Stop making excuses," Tenchi scolded, cutting them off. "You clearly underestimated the enemy. I gave you their location, and you were still discovered, leading to a direct confrontation. Especially you, Orochimaru, with your Chunin-level strength, you failed to eliminate them quickly."
"With a numbers advantage, you still ended up in such a mess and even got injured. It makes me wonder if you're really ninja. I'm disappointed." He pointed at them, his criticism sharp. Their performance had genuinely let him down.
The three of them hung their heads, looking thoroughly chastised. They didn't dare talk back; they knew they had been careless.
Seeing them so dejected, Tenchi let out a sigh.
"Hey... I can't put all the blame on you. I didn't expect these rogue ninja to be so skilled. They're comparable to ninja from a proper minor village."
"Fine. I'll take point from now on. You three will provide backup. I'll deal with the main threats. Your job is to protect Tōka," he said, his tone softening.
"Yes, Brother Tenchi! We'll definitely get stronger!" all three promised, nodding vigorously.
"Good. I hope you won't let me down next time." With that, Tenchi vanished in front of them.
"W-Wait! Where did he go?" Tōka panicked, his sense of security vanishing with Tenchi.
"He must have gone ahead to clear the path," Orochimaru reasoned. "Uncle Tōka, how much farther to the Land of Rice?"
"Not far now. We're only about three kilometers away. We'll be there soon," Tōka said, recognizing the surroundings.
"So close! Alright, Tsunade, you protect Tōka. Jiraiya, you and I will handle perimeter security." With Tenchi gone, Orochimaru, as the strongest, naturally took charge. Jiraiya and Tsunade agreed with his plan without argument.
From the shadows, the person watching them nodded in approval. It wasn't the real Tenchi, but a shadow clone. Although the real Tenchi had gone ahead, he was still worried and had left a clone behind to protect them.
***
Meanwhile, the real Tenchi had advanced about two kilometers when he detected three more ninja. *'More ninja? These guys seem to be trying to turn the Land of Rice into their own small ninja village. There's definitely a bigger scheme here.'*
Just as he had this thought, the system's voice rang in his mind.
***Ding!***
**New Mission Issued: Disband the occupying force. Successfully expel all foreign powers from the Land of Rice.**
**Mission Reward: 30 System Points. One chance for Sharingan Evolution.**
**Mission Failure: Immediate Erasure.**
"Holy...! Thirty points and a chance to upgrade my Sharingan?! This is a jackpot!"
*'An evolution for the Mangekyo Sharingan... that means the Eternal Mangekyo! I've been hesitant to use Susano'o because it's incomplete and has major drawbacks in this form.'*
*'But with the Eternal Mangekyo, I can use the full Susano'o anytime! That would scare the life out of my enemies!'*
*'And with that, I could even combine it with the Tailed Beasts to use the Tailed Beast Susano'o (also known as the Majestic Attire Susano'o)! That move is ridiculously powerful. In the original story, only Hashirama Senju's "True Several Thousand Hands" technique could beat Madara Uchiha when he used it.'* Tenchi grew more and more excited just thinking about the rewards.
As for the "immediate erasure" for failure, Tenchi wasn't worried at all. With his Kamui and the power of multiple Tailed Beasts, how could he possibly fail?
"System, even though you still want to kill me sometimes, I've noticed your missions are getting easier and the rewards are getting better. I won't call you a dog-system anymore," Tenchi said cheerfully to the system. The system, as usual, gave no reply.