Chương 41: You Did Well, Don’t Do It Again

Before long, Yunmi Gekko led the squad to a village called Yoshida-machi, where they met the client for this mission. He was an old man named Inamori Yoshida, with hair and a beard as white as snow. He leaned on an aged cane that had been polished to a glossy patina from years of use; he was the chief of this village. Chief Yoshida was still quite vigorous. He greeted the four members of the squad cheerfully and, after handing over the mission details, led the group to the farmlands outside the village.

A small river meandered through the area, and the surrounding forest acted like a natural wall. Along the riverbanks, layers of terraced fields of varying heights were distributed across the low hills. On the higher ground, wheat was planted in dry fields; at this time of year, the wheat had already headed, though it hadn't turned golden yet, remaining a vibrant, sturdy green. On the lower ground along both sides of the river were continuous paddy fields.

They had all been leveled and prepared, appearing like mirrors embedded into the earth. In many of these paddies, farmers were already busy at work. Indeed, the task for Dongye Zhen and his teammates today was rice transplanting. According to Chief Yoshida, several households in the village were elderly, and since their children had left to make their way in the world, there was a shortage of labor. Every year during the busy farming season, they would post D-rank missions in Konoha to hire ninja for help.

Although the price of a D-rank mission was expensive for them, ninja were incredibly capable; one person could do the work of ten, making it quite a bargain. Of course, Konoha wasn't foolish either; they wouldn't treat Genin like oxen. After evaluation, a D-rank mission was calculated based on a fixed acreage of land. Today's request from Yoshida-machi consisted of five mission units in total. Asking ninja who wielded supernatural power to farm?

If this were some dark cultivation world, these "mud-legs" would probably have been turned to ash on the spot. I'm a cultivator, for heaven's sake; even if I farm, I should be growing spirit rice for a Foundation Establishment master. But this was the peculiar shinobi world. A mission was a mission. A ninja was one who endured all things. Chief Yoshida left after introducing the scope of the fields they were to serve.

There was no need for further explanation; he had seen plenty over the years and knew that a ninja's learning ability was extraordinary, even if they appeared to be just children. In truth, Zhen didn't need to learn. He had been born in the countryside in his past life and understood the process of raising seedlings and transplanting rice; he had done it before. However, he still went through the motions, standing by the fields with Hayate and Yugao to learn from the farmers.

He found that it was no different from his previous life. Next came the routine work: pulling seedlings, bundling them, and carrying them to the edge of the fields to toss them in. Ninja were ninja; the difference from ordinary people could be seen in the details. The trio moved with incredible speed. Through their earlier observation, they had already calculated how far one bundle of seedlings could cover.

When tossing them, they even applied shuriken-throwing techniques; the landing point of every bundle was precise to the inch, as if measured with a ruler. When people are extremely busy, they often say they wish they could split themselves in two, but the thing was, ninja actually possessed the Clone Jutsu. Hayate Gekko and Yugao Uzuki were both capable of the Shadow Clone Jutsu. Thus, the three performed hand seals.

Hayate and Yugao only dared to create two clones each, unlike Zhen, who conjured over a dozen with a series of poofs. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Using ninja for farm work wasn't a metaphor when people said one person could do the work of ten; it was a fact. To conserve chakra, neither Hayate nor Yugao used water-walking techniques.

Instead, they took off their shoes and stepped directly into the paddy fields, not minding in the slightest that their feet were covered in mud. Yugao, this fair and pretty young girl, said nothing; she didn't even frown before stepping into the field. Ninja never considered themselves noble "cultivators." For a thousand years, no one in this world had ever instilled such a concept in them. On the contrary, the idea of ninja as tools was deeply ingrained.

Zhen had no interest in changing this mindset—or rather, he didn't need to, as change had already begun. Since the establishment of the One Village, One Country system decades ago, the era of ninja being bound solely by clan ties had ended, and a large number of clanless civilians began becoming shinobi. The subsequent wars produced many rogue ninja. These people lacked the courage to stand against a hidden village, but they had plenty of courage to lord it over the world of ordinary people.

Then, everyone discovered that, damn, a ninja could actually live such a happy life. Was it fun for a ninja to bully defenseless ordinary people? Those rogue ninja, with women on each arm and piles of money, would tell you: you can't imagine our happiness. Starting from some unknown point in time, whenever civilians in the shinobi world saw a ninja, they had to fearfully address them as "Lord." This change was a good thing for ninja, but for ordinary people, it was a disaster. But that was how the world worked.

Even the ordinary world of Zhen's past life couldn't achieve so-called equality for all, let alone this shinobi world governed by supernatural power. Any attempt to promote the concept of universal equality in this world, or the idea that "red" could change the world, was highly unrealistic. The villagers of Yoshida-machi once again witnessed the efficiency of ninja labor, despite seeing it several times every year.

In the mirror-like paddy fields, over a dozen figures moved like lightning, their hands blurring as green seedlings were rapidly thrust into the earth. The paddies were transforming into rice fields at an exaggerated pace. A week's worth of labor for a whole family could be handled by a single ninja in less than a day. Every time they saw this spectacular sight, the villagers would sigh in their hearts: It's such a waste that ninjutsu isn't used for farming.

This psychology was similar to thinking that an emperor surely uses a golden pole to carry manure. Everyone understands the logic, but it's never realistic; an emperor doesn't need to carry manure. For Zhen and the others, transplanting rice was a village mission. They felt no internal resistance; in fact, they found it quite interesting and full of novelty. Zhen even found the feeling of being in the field with his father in his past life—those were truly nostalgic childhood years.

But if someone wanted them to do this every day, year after year... that would be another matter entirely. Whoever suggested that would be asking for death. Soon, through the trio's efforts, the task was completed by around 3: 00 PM. This made Zhen marvel at how great and wonderful chakra was; after a continuous half-day of work, he didn't feel any back pain or soreness. Even Hayate and Yugao were only slightly tired.

He remembered that as a child in his previous life, his back couldn't take it after only a short while of transplanting with his family, and his whole body felt broken by the end of the day. Hayate Gekko was about to suggest they go wash off the mud, but Yugao Uzuki looked at the villagers still working.

"Hey, since it's still early, let's keep helping them so they can finish and go home sooner." Hayate looked at Zhen, who shook his head slightly but said nothing. Yugao was a kind-hearted girl, but sometimes, being helpful isn't a good thing, especially for a ninja. Yunmi Gekko had disappeared since assigning the mission in the morning and only reappeared in the evening. When he returned, he saw the three of them receiving praise from the villagers.

The continuous paddy fields by the river, which had been as clear as mirrors in the morning, were now planted with seedlings; dots of green grew within the silver-white water, looking beautiful and pleasant. After confirming the mission's completion with Chief Yoshida and getting his signature, Yunmi Gekko led his disciples away from Yoshida-machi. On the way, Yugao happily recounted the squad's good deeds to her teacher. After listening, Yunmi didn't praise her immediately.

Instead, he shot a glare at Zhen and Hayate, who both immediately looked away, admiring the fiery clouds of the sunset.

"Yugao, you did well, but don't do it again!" Yunmi didn't explain further. Instead, he stood in the forest outside the village, seemingly waiting for something. Hayate Gekko whispered, "If we help every time, it will cause the villagers to develop unnecessary ulterior motives when posting missions in the future, causing losses for the village. At the same time, it will make things very difficult for comrades who perform the same mission later."

Yugao didn't quite understand, but she knew she seemed to have done something foolish. After a short while, Yunmi Gekko finally spoke.

"Alright, let's go. It's not far, anyway; we'll walk back slowly." It was a rather strange decision.