Chapter 2

"Tian Tian Yuanshi, this kid has really made something of himself!"

A flash of surprise and delight crossed the eyes of Kuroshima Morita. He then hoisted the "unconscious" Mizunuki Ryosuke onto one shoulder, carried the severed head of the Rock ninja in his other hand, and walked off into the distance.

A complete ninja head holds immense value in the ninja world.

Furthermore, Suishi Tatsuo was a Jonin; his brain might contain precious intelligence regarding the Hidden Rock Village.

Almost all large ninja villages possess methods to extract intelligence from the heads of the deceased.

The head of Suishi Tatsuo naturally held a certain degree of value.

What Kuroshima Morita did not know, however, was that the value of this head had already been completely destroyed by Mizunuki Ryosuke.

Three days later.

Mizunuki Ryosuke lay in the Mist Village hospital, looking half-dead (a performance).

Ever since the life-and-death battle two days ago against the invading Rock ninja known as "Suishi Tatsuo," Mizunuki Ryosuke had been in recovery.

During this time, many ninjas in the village who were familiar with Mizunuki Ryosuke came to visit him.

Ryosuke consistently maintained the appearance of someone half-dead from overexertion after a fierce battle, revealing not a single flaw.

This was consistent with the image Mizunuki Ryosuke had always maintained within the Mist Village.

To outsiders, the sequence of events was naturally clear at a glance.

As it turned out, several days prior, the Mist Village had received intelligence.

Unusual activity had been discovered in the deep mountains dozens of kilometers away from the village, though the cause remained unknown.

Consequently, the Mist authorities dispatched the squad led by Mizunuki Ryosuke to carry out a reconnaissance mission near the village.

Unexpectedly, an elite Hidden Rock squad was lurking in those deep mountains.

The ninja squad model was first innovated and invented by the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama; generally, it consists of one veteran ninja leading three ordinary ninjas.

Once the ninja squad model appeared, it was emulated by all major ninja villages due to its outstanding effectiveness.

Ninja squads are generally divided into two categories: elite squads and ordinary squads.

An ordinary squad is like the one Mizunuki Ryosuke led: one Chunin leading three Genin.

An elite squad, like this Rock ninja squad, consists of one Jonin leading three Chunin.

With an ordinary squad facing an elite squad, and the opponent led by a Jonin, the result under normal circumstances would go without saying.

Yet, unexpectedly, Mizunuki Ryosuke had managed to kill the enemy Jonin.

It must be said that Mizunuki Ryosuke was well-liked in the village.

Visitors came in an endless stream, and only after sending off the last one did he finally let out a slow sigh of relief.

"Knock, knock!"

Just then, the door to the hospital room was knocked on again. The sound was very loud; one could hear the impatience of the person outside just from the sound.

Before Mizunuki Ryosuke could respond, the person outside pushed the door open and entered.

Seeing the visitor, Mizunuki Ryosuke showed no surprise, as if he had anticipated everything.

"Mizunuki Ryosuke, I am acting under the orders of the Mizukage to investigate the incident where your squad encountered Rock ninjas in the mountains."

"Please cooperate."

This person's tone was extremely cold, devoid of any emotion.

There were three people in the investigative party, all wearing masks that concealed their faces.

The three were ninjas from the Mist Mist Anbu.

"Understood."

Mizunuki Ryosuke nodded faintly, his expression calm.

"You don't need to be nervous; we are just asking about some basic circumstances."

At this moment, another Mist Anbu member wearing a dog-faced mask spoke up, their tone much gentler.

Hearing this, Mizunuki Ryosuke just smiled and nodded at the dog-faced Mist Anbu, as if he already knew the other's identity.

"Mizunuki Ryosuke, please recount the course of the mission."

"Be sure not to omit any details."

Another Mist Anbu member wearing a purple mask continued the questioning.

Hearing this, Mizunuki Ryosuke nodded slowly and began his account.

"Three days ago, I followed the mission requirements and led my squad to the mission location."

"After arriving at the location, we followed the mission requirements and began searching for suspicious targets."

"Soon, thanks to the abilities of squad member and Genin Tian Yang, we discovered suspicious traces."

Speaking of this, Mizunuki Ryosuke's expression became somewhat somber, as if he had fallen into unpleasant memories.

Tian Yang, a member of Mizunuki Ryosuke's squad, was a sensory-type ninja.

"Following the trail, we found one member of this Rock ninja squad."

"At the time, we mistakenly thought this was just a lone Rock scout."

"We immediately engaged in combat, but soon the enemy's reinforcements arrived, consisting of one Jonin and two Chunin."

"At that moment, I made the decision to disperse and break through."

"So, I drew the enemy Jonin away and ordered the squad members to return to the village immediately to report the situation."

"Then, by exhausting all my strength, I luckily managed to kill the enemy Jonin."

"That is the course of events; I know nothing else."

Soon, Mizunuki Ryosuke finished his account.

The three Mist Anbu ninjas looked at each other.

"Mizunuki Ryosuke, how did you kill a Rock Jonin?"

"Based on our grasp of your intelligence, no matter how we calculate it, your win rate was less than twenty percent."

"We hope you can give us an explanation."

The lead Mist Anbu ninja continued to ask, which was, in fact, the greatest mystery of this mission.

A Jonin is an elite existence within a village, and this opponent was a somewhat famous Rock Jonin.

A great reputation is never without merit; the opponent was definitely not a weakling who could be easily killed by a Chunin.

Any ninja who can become a Jonin is someone who has been baptized in blood.

The high-level ninjutsu mastered by a Jonin is definitely not something a half-baked Chunin can rival.

Not to mention that in terms of elemental affinity, the Earth Release ninjutsu mastered by the Rock ninja countered the Water Release that Mizunuki Ryosuke excelled in to a certain extent.

"This..."

Mizunuki Ryosuke showed a look of hesitation. After a moment, he slowly extended a hand.

On Mizunuki Ryosuke's fingers, several transparent ice crystals condensed.

"Ice Release!"

The dog-faced Mist Anbu said loudly, his tone carrying a hint of joy.

"Good, good, good!"

The dog-faced Mist Anbu said "good" three times in a row.

"Ahem..."

"Watch your emotions, Dog-Face."

The lead Mist Anbu reminded the dog-faced Mist Anbu to the side.

"So that's it. But since you have already awakened the Ice Release Kekkei Genkai..."

"Why didn't you report it to the village?"

The lead Mist Anbu continued to press.

As it turns out, even those born into bloodline clans are not guaranteed to awaken their own bloodline.

Every ninja who possesses a bloodline is a rare talent for a ninja village.

"I only just awakened Ice Release, and I intended to familiarize myself with it for a period before reporting it to the clan."

"But I didn't expect..."

Speaking of this, Mizunuki Ryosuke's tone paused abruptly, leaving enough room for imagination.

For a ninja with a special bloodline, killing an opponent of a higher rank is not impossible.

Facing Mizunuki Ryosuke's prevarication, the Mist Anbu members said nothing more; after all, this was the business of the Mizunuki clan, and they had no right to interfere.

"Mizunuki Ryosuke, are you aware that two of your subordinates have been killed in action?"