Chapter 32 Mission Ended
Ao returned empty-handed, and when he got back to the island, this was the scene he saw.
About twenty children of different ages sat in a circle, with three slightly older kids in the middle, chattering about something.
It feels like children taking a nap on the playground of an ordinary kindergarten.
But the messy battlefield in the distance, the blood, the weapons, and the bodies of pirates lying on the ground, brought the picture back to what the ninja world should be like.
Ao suddenly appeared in the crowd in an instant.
Seeing an adult dressed as a ninja suddenly appear here, it immediately caused a commotion. Many children took out the weapons they had just hidden and looked at Ao with unfriendly eyes.
It wasn't until Terumī Mei spoke first that all the children let down their guard a little.
"Ao-sensei, you are finally back!"
Ao nodded subconsciously in response, then called the three people aside to find out what was going on.
However, while walking, he still looked at Mirukawa Kaito with a puzzled look.
After Ao instantly came over, he saw that it was Zabuza that subconsciously looked towards his own position.
On the contrary, Kaito, who he always thought had a keen sense and might have the talent of a perceptive ninja, did not notice his arrival at all.
Kaito also noticed Ao's strange look, but seeing that the other party had empty hands and a strange expression, he probably didn't get the results he wanted, so he didn't say anything more.
But it just so happens that there is a guy in Kaito's team who never acts according to other people's feelings.
"Ao-sensei, how's the tracking going over there?"
With the appearance of the epic mouth substitute Zabuza, Ao no longer worried about the level of perception.
He said with a somewhat grim expression.
"I lost them. When they were at sea, they used water style ninjutsu to increase the speed of the boat. They were obviously aware of my pursuit and were on guard."
After tracking the two people on the sea for a while, Ao found that he could not get closer. He was also a little worried about his three disciples, so he simply gave up the pursuit and chose to return.
When he got closer to the island, he noticed the pirate ship and was afraid that something might have happened, so he immediately sped up and rushed over.
But after the reunion, Ao was still a little surprised to see the pirate corpses on the beach and so many children rescued by the three of them.
He looked at Zabuza, who was wrapped in bandages, and simply asked directly.
"Let's not talk about my side. What happened on your side? How did Zabuza get hurt so badly?"
The three of them were a little unresponsive for a moment, looking at each other.
Well, Terumī Mei only had her left calf injured, and after treatment and bandaging, it didn't look serious.
Because Kaito's injury was on the chest, the bandage was basically covered by his outer clothes after it was wrapped. Only the scratches on the clothes and the bloodstains that could not be identified showed that he seemed to be injured.
Only Zabuza, who had multiple bandages covering his body for minor injuries and whose lower face and neck were already wrapped in bandages, looked as if he had been cut by a sword.
It was Terumī Mei who broke the silence first.
"Ao-sensei, after you left..."
As the acting captain, Terumī Mei recounted in detail what happened to the three of them on the island that night.
During this period, Ao did not interrupt Terumi Mei's narration, but at the end Ao still glanced at the three of them and spoke in a serious voice.
"Why didn't you send out a flare for help?"
When Ao opened his mouth, he made the three of them freeze for two seconds. then they become really embarrassed.
Zabuza spoke in a low voice, which was unusual for him.
"I don't have any flares on me."
Kaito didn't have any flares either, but it was hard to say. If he also passed the buck, then the entire responsibility would fall on Terumī Mei, the acting captain.
But in fact, before attacking the camp, the three of them thought that there was no need to interrupt Ao's investigation when dealing with a group of ordinary pirates.
Later, after they attacked the pirate ship and found that the opponent was really difficult to deal with, the three of them were so focused on the battle at hand that they completely forgot about asking for help.
Terumi Mei thought that perhaps it was because she, as the acting captain, did not consider things comprehensively enough, which led to her teammates getting hurt, and she admitted her mistake in a depressed mood.
"Ao-sensei, I am sorry."
Ao's expression returned to gentleness and he interrupted Terumī Mei's words.
"Judging from the results, you did a good job. This mission is quite complicated and the difficulty is far beyond the capabilities of a Genin. I will report to the village in detail after I return."
The three of them breathed a sigh of relief when they heard this.
Kaito immediately handed over some information that he had previously searched in the camp and on the pirate ship to Ao, but there was no crucial information.
Ao then checked the bodies of the two Chūnins, Sakana Obake and Yukiba, and unexpectedly, he made a discovery that the other three had not noticed.
Holding two teeth engraved with strange curse marks in his hands, Ao examined them carefully in the sunlight.
"It's a very crude sealing technique. Nowadays, very few forces use this method to control their subordinates." ( Think of it as Hyuga or Roots seal. That Let person control the life of people who are imprinted with it.)
Upon learning this information, the team members' expressions became more serious.
After all, they knew before that there must be something complicated behind what these pirates did.
But the strength of Sakana Obake and Yukiba was witnessed by all three of them.
Being able to hire such powerful pirates to work for you and being able to train such Chūnins as dead subordinates and instruct them to become pirates are two completely different concepts.
Even ordinary small ninja villages would not be willing to waste their combat power in the latter way.
After all, Ao, as a senior ninja, was able to keep his composure and spoke first.
"Let's take these kids back to Ringo Village and complete the mission first."
Since Ao had given the instructions, Kaito was the first to relax. He immediately ran to the port and organized the children to board the ship.
If the sky falls, there will be someone taller to hold it up. I am just a new Genin, and the most important thing is to think about how to improve my own strength.
But we also have to thank the pirates for bringing back their main ship, otherwise with so many children, the four of us would have to control the small boats in the port to take them back to the Land of Water.
Although this unnamed island is not far from the coastline of the Land of Water, it is still difficult to control a ship through Water Style Ninjutsu at sea.
For ninjas like us who are not skilled in operating boats, it would be more convenient for us to just run across the sea.
No further words were needed.
Team Ao sent all the kidnapped children to the pirate ship one after another, and also stuffed the bodies of the two Chūnins into the sealing scroll.
Although there are sealing jutsu on the other party's teeth, the village's intelligence analysis team will most likely not be able to obtain any information from their heads.
However, the corpse itself can sometimes provide some information, so Ao decided to leave this matter to professionals.
Finally, Kaito helped the dazed red-haired girl onto the splint and looked back at the nameless island again.
"This mission should be considered as overfulfilled, right? I hope there won't be any more troubles in the future."