Anbu's rules are extremely strict. When Anbu is out on a mission, the rules and regulations are even more so. As the captain of the Anbu team, Ren's decision in this mission carries the highest authority, and everyone in the team must obey his orders.
Inside the Land of Hot Water bistro, Ren looked at the people before him and sighed. Moth seemed to have eaten dynamite and was very dissatisfied with him... Ren wasn't angry with him.
"Did you misunderstand something?" Ren began.
"Our task is to find out why the secret agent of the Land of Hot Water didn't report information to the village normally, not to rescue him."
"As a ninja, especially an Anbu ninja, shouldn't you know the mission parameters?"
"Hmph, Seaisland, let's go!" The angry Moth called out, telling Seaisland to leave with him. In their opinion, Ren had chosen the third option, one they didn't agree with.
"Captain Echo Feather, they..." Seeing the two team members leave, Sunflower hurried to Ren's side to try and persuade him.
Ren waved his hand. "It's okay, they should have gone back to the hotel." When they arrived in the Land of Hot Water, it was already late. Ren had booked a room for them at a nearby hotel before leading the Anbu team to connect with their contact.
"As the shop owner said, the companion who was controlled by the mysterious casino has the combat power of a Jōnin..."
"Controlling a living Jōnin is much more difficult than beheading one."
"Even if you want to take action against this casino, you can't act rashly. The power and strength of this casino are definitely not weak!"
After speaking, Ren looked in the direction where Moth and Seaisland had left, and sighed, "Young people really can't hold their breath."
"Uh, eh?" The shop owner was astonished. Sunflower, on the side, was also dumbfounded.
"Captain, you're the youngest in our team!"
Shaking his head, Ren didn't answer Sunflower's words. He got up and walked outside the pub. "The longer we stay here, the easier it will be to be exposed. Let's go, let's go back to the hotel to rest."
"Yes! Captain Echo Feather!" After obeying, Sunflower followed Ren back to the hotel.
---
That night, the moon and stars were sparse. Ren was lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling in a daze. He was still a little conflicted. To be honest, he really wanted to choose the third option. Their mission on this trip was to find out why the spies weren't reporting information normally. Now... they had done that.
As for saving the spy... Ren's intuition told him not to get involved in these troublesome things. As a traveler, Ren was very clear about White Fang... If he didn't handle things well, his future could easily mirror White Fang's past.
Aside from his special ninja tools, Ren, with the power of an elite Jōnin at the age of 12, and his appointment as captain of the Anbu... When news of him spread, some people in Konoha would be watching his every move, and if he made even a small mistake, they would pounce on him. This was definitely not an alarmist statement; Konoha really had people like that! For example: Shimura Danzō!
Ren really wanted to choose the third plan, and his reason also told him that to avoid future trouble, choosing the third plan was absolutely fine. But... he was born here, and he lived here. Before him was a Konoha ninja who had done his best for the village and hadn't participated in any Konoha conspiracy. A dutiful fellow village ninja was being controlled by a mysterious casino... Ren was still a little conflicted. He really didn't know how to choose!
---
"Seaisland, Seaisland!" The bright moon hung high. The Konoha Anbu ninja, codenamed Moth, crept to the outside of his companion's room and called softly.
"Moth?"
"What do you want?"
"Seaisland, pack up and go to that casino with me to save our guy?!"
"Moth, you're not obeying the captain's orders, are you? Are you going to violate Anbu's rules? Are you crazy?!" Seaisland's face was full of disbelief. As Anbu ninja, they knew exactly what happened to those who violated Anbu's rules. Mild punishment was a skinning, and serious punishment... was death.
"Moth, don't bring this up again. You hurry back. I'll pretend I didn't see you, and I don't know anything about this!"
Click
With that said, Seaisland closed his door.
"Don't!" Moth arrived at the door, preventing Seaisland from shutting him out.
"Seaisland, listen to me..."
"Moth, are you crazy?!"
"Shhh... keep it down, don't wake them up!" Seaisland looked left and right through the crack of the door, and when he saw there was no unusual noise, he lowered his voice and said to Moth, his companion, "Moth, hurry back and stop talking to me about these things. I will not violate Anbu's rules!"
"Seaisland, Seaisland... Don't worry, just listen to me!"
"No, Moth, don't make the wrong choice. I won't be involved in this matter. I advise you not to act recklessly! This will lower the evaluation of our entire Anbu team!"
"Don't you think that if we return to Konoha without saving him, that won't lower the evaluation of everyone in our Anbu team?!"
"Seaisland, you're also from a branch family, you should know!"
"For those of us who are separated from the main family, it's pitiful that we have little support from the clan. Now that we can get to this point and become members of the Anbu, it's all our own effort!"
"Think about it!"
"We rescue him, and we not only complete the mission, but also save our companion!"
"Returning to Konoha with such a result, with a good reputation, can't we finally get some support?"
"This..." Seaisland was silent.
The night wind was blowing, making the night even colder. The cool wind lifted the ends of Moth's hair at the door, adding a mysterious atmosphere to the night.
"Okay, I'll go with you!" In the end, Seaisland gritted his teeth and made his decision.
---
"Captain, Captain Echo Feather!"
Thump, thump, thump
A hurried knock on the door sounded, waking Ren, who had finally put aside his troubles and fallen asleep.
"Is that Sunflower?"
"What's wrong?"
Ren walked over and opened the door for Sunflower. As soon as the door was opened, Sunflower delivered a startling message.
"It's terrible, Captain Echo Feather!"
"Moth and Seaisland are gone!"
Boom
Ren, who had just woken up from sleep, was startled and completely lost his sleepiness. "Gone?!"
"They... they're not going to the casino, are they?!"
"Captain, I think so too!" Sunflower responded anxiously.
"No rush... I haven't confirmed whether they went to the casino to save him. Let's go to the connection point to find out. They might be there."
After a brief exchange, Ren quickly walked out of the hotel with Sunflower and rushed to the tavern at the corner of the hot spring town.
After finding the shop owner who had connected with them yesterday, Ren's face was grim. The members of the Anbu team he was in charge of... had disobeyed his captain's decision and really broken into the casino! And more than that, before they broke in, they had also visited the tavern to ask about the owner's strength, and wanted to invite him to help them break into the casino together to save their comrade!! Fortunately, the tavern owner refused. And the owner had also tried to persuade Moth and Seaisland to turn back, but the two of them hadn't listened at all and went straight to the casino!
"Captain, I, we..."
"What do we do now?"
"Enter the casino!" Ren's words were heavy at this moment. The mission... was complete. If he was beheaded or captured by the enemy due to the disobedience of these two team members, he would be criticized by those who were looking for a chance to attack him when he returned to Konoha. By now, he also had to enter the casino to rescue them. For Ren, the only good news was... he didn't have to worry about making that choice anymore.
"Okay, Captain, I'll go get the ninja gear now..."
"Don't make a fuss. We're entering the casino as guests!"
"Ah?!" Sunflower was stunned.
Ren explained to Sunflower, "Moth and Seaisland want to save him, and we're in the Land of Hot Water..."
"The two of them definitely won't lurk in the casino for a while before taking action, because the two of them are afraid that we will find them."
"Then they should be using the first plan—force their way in to save him."
"They don't even know how to evaluate the opponent's strength, and they dare to force their way in? They're fools!"
"If I guess correctly, the best-case scenario is that they're captured, and the worst case is that they died along with the spy."
"The casino was forcibly broken into by the two of them yesterday, so they must be on guard. We have to find another way."