Senju Renjiro returned to the beach. He found his Shadow Clone, students, and five Yugakure Village Chunin waiting for him there.
Takeshita Toshiaki and their sleeping teammates joined the three Yugakure Chunin, who had set up several tents.
Renjiro walked into the students' tent. Feng Zheng had sensed Renjiro's return as he approached the beach.
All three students greeted him.
Mieko asked, "Teacher, how did the mission go?"
Renjiro dispelled all his Shadow Clones, transmitting all memories back to his main body.
Renjiro replied, "Their leader, Mitsutsuka, is dead. The other Jonin my Shadow Clone pursued successfully escaped."
All three were surprised. It was the first time they had heard of anyone escaping from Renjiro.
Renjiro looked at their expressions, shrugged, and said, "That was a clone. It's difficult to stop a Jonin with just a clone."
The three awkwardly averted their gaze. Their expectations of Renjiro were too high!
Feng Zheng asked, "Teacher, what about those who haven't returned? We searched for a long time, but we couldn't find them!"
Renjiro replied, "There are two possibilities. The first is that they are already dead, their bodies sunk to the bottom of the sea, or taken away by the enemy. The second is that they failed their mission and are still searching for the enemy."
The three nodded. They had come to the same conclusion.
Renjiro continued, "Let's wait here until nightfall. If they are still alive, they will return when the Chakra descends."
The three nodded.
The tent immediately fell silent. They seemed to have nothing else to do but wait. After a while, Feng Zheng said, "I'm tired of ration bars. Do you want to go fishing?"
Hodaka and Mieko immediately agreed!
Hodaka said, "Of course!"
Mieko said, "Let's go."
All three used the Body Flicker Technique to leave the tent, leaving Renjiro alone.
Renjiro sighed and muttered, "Forget it, this mission is almost over anyway. There's no harm in having some fun."
Before diving into the water, Mieko announced, "The one who catches the biggest fish is the winner! Ten-minute time limit."
Without waiting for her teammates' response, she dived into the sea. Hodaka and Feng Zheng laughed and also dived into the water.
Mieko activated her Sharingan to observe correctly underwater.
Hodaka activated his Byakugan. He had an advantage in this competition.
Feng Zheng deployed his Chakra Field, searching for traces of fish. They dispersed in different directions.
The Yugakure Ninja saw them dive into the sea in a hurry. Toshiaki asked, confused, "Did they find the enemy?"
He immediately alerted the others, who also prepared for battle.
The three searched the seabed. Hodaka was the first to find his prey. He saw a large whale shark. He quickly swam towards it.
The whale shark noticed something approaching and sensed danger. It immediately charged at Hodaka and bit him.
However, Hodaka dodged and struck with Gentle Fist, killing the whale shark with one blow.
Feng Zheng was the second to find his target. He discovered a giant crab. He thought, "Wow, can crabs in this world grow so big?"
But then he thought, Jiraiya's toads were so big, so it wasn't surprising.
The crab noticed Feng Zheng and attacked him with its huge claws. Feng Zheng used the Body Flicker Technique to dodge and concentrated Chakra in his fist.
He punched the crab between its eyes. The punch caused many cracks in its shell, which then shattered, and the crab died.
Feng Zheng picked up the crab and started to head back.
Mieko saw several large fish. But she was not satisfied.
As time was running out, her gaze fell upon an eight-meter-long bluefin tuna. She immediately swam to it and killed it. She brought it back.
Hodaka was the first to return to the shore. He was dragging a twelve-meter-long whale shark behind him. The Yugakure Ninja watched with wide eyes. One of them cursed, "These brats went fishing! Our teammates are nowhere to be found, and they're having a blast!"
Toshiaki calmed him, "Calm down. They've done enough for the mission. There's no need to be angry with them."
The man snorted and said no more.
Soon, Feng Zheng returned. He walked on the sea surface, holding up his right arm. His right hand was dragging a giant crab. He walked next to Hodaka's whale shark and threw his crab there.
Hodaka quickly observed, laughed, and said triumphantly, "My shark is twelve meters long, and your crab is only ten meters long, so I win!"
Feng Zheng rolled his eyes upwards and retorted, "Look at their size. Your shark is only two meters wide, and my crab is eight meters wide, so mine is much bigger than yours!"
Hodaka was about to argue when Mieko returned. She was carrying an eight-meter-long blue tuna. She saw Feng Zheng's crab and Hodaka's whale shark, and her expression darkened.
Hodaka laughed, "Well, at least we know who's at the bottom."
Feng Zheng nodded. Mieko's tuna was the shortest and thinnest of the three.
Mieko snorted in dissatisfaction.
Hodaka asked, "Mieko, you judge which is bigger, Feng Zheng's crab or my shark!"
Mieko was displeased because she had lost. She turned her head away and snorted, "I don't care whose is bigger. Why are you two arguing like children?"
Feng Zheng and Hodaka looked at her expressionlessly. Hearing the commotion, Renjiro walked out of the tent. Hodaka looked at him and said, "Teacher, you judge, is my whale shark bigger or Feng Zheng's crab?"
Renjiro's eye twitched. He thought, "Why are they so childish?"
He looked at Mieko, who was turning her head away, ignoring them, holding the smallest fish, and then realized, "It seems this was her idea."
Hodaka urged Renjiro, "Teacher, hurry up, tell everyone my fish is bigger!"
Renjiro said, "Don't be so childish. Cook the fish you caught."
Receiving no answer, Hodaka sighed. Feng Zheng was amused by his antics.
The three decided which fish to eat. After some discussion, they decided to eat the crab, as they had never eaten a large crab before.
The whale shark and tuna were stored in special storage scrolls, which helped keep the food fresh.
Preparing and cooking the crab took a considerable amount of time. All four ate their fill. They also invited the Yugakure Ninja, but the Yugakure Ninja politely declined.
Later in the afternoon, De Ping and the remaining two Chunin returned to the beach. Renjiro asked, "What happened to your opponents?"
De Ping replied, "My opponent escaped."
The two Chunin also replied, "Our opponents also escaped. We searched for a while but couldn't find anyone."
Renjiro nodded and said, "Thirteen Chunin, three Jonin, and now only two Jonin and one Chunin remain. And we have no casualties, so the mission can be considered a success. Those who escaped will not dare to return here. And once the news gets out, other rogue Ninja will not dare to cause trouble in the Land of Hot Water."
De Ping asked, "Which other Jonin escaped?"
Renjiro replied, "I killed Mitsutsuka. But Fumimaro successfully wounded my Shadow Clone and escaped."
De Ping breathed a sigh of relief. He said, "Good, as long as Mitsutsuka is dead, this mission is a success."
Renjiro nodded and handed him a scroll. He said, "His body is inside."
De Ping took the scroll. Renjiro looked at Feng Zheng and said, "Give him the bodies of the Ninja you killed as well."
Feng Zheng nodded and handed the scroll to De Ping.
De Ping continued to discuss the mission's situation. He also spoke with his subordinates to understand everything that had happened.
After understanding everything, he walked towards Renjiro Squad's tent. Upon entering, he saw the two captured rogue Ninja. He said, "Renjiro, hand these two over to me as well."
Renjiro shook his head and said, "They surrendered to me. I will take them back to Konoha and interrogate them thoroughly."
De Ping understood why Renjiro was so firm. They could provide Konoha with a lot of important intelligence about the current situation in Hidden Mist.
However, he still insisted, "Renjiro, many innocent civilians have been killed by these guys. I can understand your point. However, we must account to the people of the Land of Hot Water, so please let me take them back first, and then we will transport them to the Land of Fire."
Renjiro frowned. He could understand De Ping's point of view, but these two could provide Konoha with a lot of information. He thought, "As long as I stand my ground, I can take these two back to Konoha. De Ping won't stop me, and the Daimyo won't say anything. But this was a mission issued by the Daimyo. He would be displeased with this action and would lose the goodwill accumulated from this mission."
Renjiro said, "Alright. However, you must not harm them. I will report their situation to Hokage-sama, and Hokage-sama will send someone to receive them. Convey this message to your Daimyo."
De Ping breathed a sigh of relief. He immediately agreed to Renjiro's conditions.
