Chapter 33: I Would Rather Err Than Do Nothing

Mui needs to extract chakra from a Tailed Beast to open the Box of Ultimate Bliss. Furthermore, Pain never specified whether he required a plump, healthy Tailed Beast or a malnourished one. Naturally, neither Pain nor Konan would know.

This guy, Uzumaki Sika, is toxic! After spending some time by his side, Kakuzu became sleep-deprived, malnourished, and in terrible physical condition. And that was just the beginning! When tasked with capturing a Tailed Beast, he actually managed to make the beast itself malnourished!

Kisame and Kakuzu both breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing Sika’s words. They had been deeply worried that this young brother might go off the rails, get distracted by a feast, and forget the mission entrusted to him by the organization. They were even more concerned that Sika might be blinded by beauty. If that had happened, when the two of them returned to the Akatsuki, they would have had to tell Pain: "It's a disaster! That young brother, Sika, is obsessed with women and is beyond redemption."

Fortunately, this worst-case scenario had not yet come to pass. Not only was Sika clear-headed, but his confidence was through the roof. Aside from being slightly conflicted about the issue of feasting, he had not set aside his enthusiasm for the mission at all!

Sika patted Kisame on the shoulder and said, "Lead the way. There is a large lake near the Hidden Mist Village where the target is hiding."

Kisame: "???"
Kakuzu: "???"
Mei Terumi: "???"
Gonbei and the others: "???"

Sika had truly outdone himself; with a single casual remark, he left all six people present utterly bewildered. Kisame really wanted to say, "No, Big Brother, it turns out you have absolutely no idea where the Three-Tails is, do you?" And yet, he had spoken so confidently to Pain, claiming he knew exactly where a lone Tailed Beast was and that he could easily bring it back!

Kisame twitched the corner of his mouth and couldn't help but say, "The area around the Hidden Mist Village is basically nothing but lakes. I can find any kind of lake you want and take you there, but which one of these many lakes holds our target, I have no idea."

Upon hearing this, Sika became indignant: "What use are you then?" In his team, there was no room for dead weight! Karin served as a scout, provided emotional support, and acted as a human money-counting machine. Kakuzu served as the "century-old shop, gold-plated signboard" for taking on missions, acted as a secondary damage dealer when necessary, and doubled as a second human money-counting machine. If Kisame didn't even know which lake near the village the Three-Tails was in, wasn't this kid completely useless?

...

"Swish, swish, swish!" Kondo No and a group of Blood Mist ninjas moved continuously using the Body Flicker Technique. While traveling, one of the ninjas spoke up, sounding somewhat uneasy. "Lord Kondo No, are we really going to do this? If the Three-Tails goes on a rampage, the village will suffer too!"

Kondo No glanced coldly at the ninja and replied, "Our influence in the village is constantly waning. Therefore... I would rather make a mistake than do nothing at all. By provoking the Three-Tails into a rampage, and then—when Yuan Shi and the others are helpless against it—we will appear, use our secret techniques to subdue it, and return it to the lake. In this way, the Blood Mist ninjas can once again become the heroes who saved the village. Only the Blood Mist ninjas can save the Hidden Mist Village!"

The conversation between Kondo No and the Blood Mist ninjas was entirely under the surveillance of Sika’s "Heart Net." He realized that Hozuki Mugetsu, Mizukage-candidate-level figures like Koji Takiichi, and Kondo Takashi combined were not as suited for scheming as Kondo No. This impulsive maneuver by Kondo No completely outperformed those three spinning tops.

Greatness requires no explanation! This one is definitely worth keeping.

This was Sika's assessment of Kondo No. With such talent in the Hidden Mist Village, why worry about not receiving mercenary missions from them in the future? If Kondo No could pull off such a grand scheme on a whim, imagine what he could do with proper planning and development! By then, would the missions not come rolling in?

Upon discovering Kondo No's plan, Sika spoke casually to those around him: "Follow me, I know where the target is now. Everything is going according to plan!"

Kisame and the others looked at each other in confusion. Where was this part of the plan? This was clearly going off-script! They were all absolutely certain that Sika had no idea where the Three-Tails was.

Kisame, Mei Terumi, and their respective groups followed Sika, using the Body Flicker Technique to keep up. Kisame’s group was there to execute the capture, while Mei Terumi’s group was there to monitor Sika to see what he was up to. After traveling for a while, they spotted Kondo No and his team. Sika’s voice reached everyone’s ears: "Kondo No and his men are planning to use a secret technique to provoke the Three-Tails into a rampage to destroy the village. Mei Terumi, do you intend to handle this yourselves, or will you hire me?"

Sika had become increasingly adept at "killing three birds with one stone." Since Tailed Beasts were the ultimate weapons of the Great Shinobi Villages, anything involving them was a major event. Mei Terumi, while moving, asked anxiously, "Is there still time to stop them?"

Sika shook his head. "It seems it's already too late."

In another direction, Kondo No and his three companions arrived at the surface of a large lake. "Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!" The four of them focused their chakra into the soles of their feet, standing steadily on the water. They quickly formed hand seals and slammed their palms into the surface!

"BOOM!"

The entire lake shuddered. Before long, a terrifying and violent aura began to radiate from the depths of the lake. Kondo Takashi wore a cruel smile as he said, "The show is about to begin. Let's go!"

As he spoke, he and the three ninjas vanished. The lake, which had been calm for untold ages, began to churn and boil violently. "Splash—" "Whoosh!" Great waves crashed against the shore. The entire lake looked like a glass of red wine being shaken by hand.

"Rumble!" The earth began to groan and tremble. A tyrannical aura surged from the bottom of the lake. "BOOM—" Amidst flying pillars of water, a massive grey, turtle-like Tailed Beast rose from the depths. It was enormous, covered in grey scales, and trailed three long tails. This was the powerful Tailed Beast weapon of the Hidden Mist, the Three-Tails, Isobu!

The massive commotion was quickly discovered by the village. A large number of Hidden Mist ninjas rushed to the scene immediately. Mei Terumi’s group, of course, arrived faster than the others. Seeing the Three-Tails rising in such a violent state, Mei Terumi’s heart turned to ash. The current Hidden Mist Village did not have enough combat power to deal with the beast. Although the Blood Mist faction might eventually step in to clean up the mess, countless people would die from the rampage before that happened.

Mei Terumi had no choice but to hire Uzumaki Sika to defeat the rampaging Three-Tails. She looked at him and asked, "If we hire you, what do you intend to do?"

Sika replied nonchalantly, "I will defeat the Three-Tails and force it back into this lake."

Mei Terumi nodded. "Very well. I, on behalf of the Hidden Mist Village, hire you for 10 million ryo to defeat the Three-Tails, prevent it from harming the village, and return it to the depths of this lake."

[New mercenary mission discovered!]
[Employer: Hidden Mist Village]
[Mission Objective: Defeat the Three-Tails, prevent it from rampaging, and return it to the bottom of the lake.]
[Mission Reward: 10 million ryo]
[Mission Rank: S-Rank]
[System Reward: 10,000 Mercenary Points]

Upon receiving this mission, Sika felt delighted. He had managed to "kill three birds with one stone" again. The Akatsuki wanted the beast, Mui wanted the beast, and Mei Terumi needed him to defeat it. He could fulfill all three requests without any conflict.

After Mei Terumi issued the mission, Sika smiled and said, "Happy to be of service. However, you should have those Hidden Mist ninjas stand down."

After the Three-Tails began its rampage, many Hidden Mist ninjas had rushed forward without fear of death to stop it. Though their courage was commendable, their strength was insufficient to stop a rampaging Tailed Beast. Mei Terumi immediately spoke up: "Everyone, retreat at once! Go assist the nearby villagers in evacuating. Do not stay here!"

Mei Terumi’s words had an effect. Many ninjas began to move. Others, however, shouted, "We will stay to hold off the Three-Tails! The rest of you, follow Lord Mei Terumi’s orders!"

Seeing some ninjas leave while others remained, determined to die, Mei Terumi was furious. Did they really think those puny ninjutsu, which couldn't even compare to a Uchiha spark, could stop the Three-Tails?

The remaining ninjas had already begun forming hand seals. "Water Style: Water Pillar Wave!"

"Splash—" "Whoosh!" Dozens of ninjas performed the technique simultaneously, creating a massive display. Huge waves formed and rushed toward the Three-Tails, barely managing to submerge its front claws.

Isobu: "???" Even in its rampaging state, Isobu was slightly puzzled. Had it just been attacked by ninjutsu? It hadn't felt a thing.

Seeing the Three-Tails hesitate, the Hidden Mist ninjas on the shore were overjoyed! "It's working!" "Keep going! Don't let Isobu get closer to the village!"

Mei Terumi stood there with a dark expression; those attacks were doing absolutely nothing to the beast! As expected, Isobu simply trudged through the relentless waves, closing in on them quickly. To the Three-Tails, their efforts were like a light tickle.

Mei Terumi shouted again, "Retreat! Everyone, retreat immediately!"
Gonbei also roared, "Get out of here! Leave now!"