Senju Renjiro returned to the beach. He found his clone, students and 5 Yugakure chunins waiting there. Shunso had joined the 3 Yugakure chunins along with their sleeping teammate. They had set up a couple of tents.
Renjiro entered the tent of his students. Fujin had sensed Renjiro when he arrived close to the beach. All three students greeted him.
Meiko asked, "What's the status of the mission Sensei?"
Renjiro's clone dispelled itself to transmit all the memories back to his main body.
Renjiro answered, "Their leader Mitsuzuka is dead. The other Jounin that my clone chased managed to escape."
The trio were surprised. This was the first time they heard someone escaping from Renjiro.
Renjiro looked at their expression and shrugged his hands and said, "It was a clone. It's difficult to stop a Jounin with just a clone."
The trio looked away awkwardly. Their expectations from Renjiro were too high!
Fujin asked, "What about the ones who didn't return Sensei? We searched for them a lot, but didn't find them!"
Renjiro answered, "There are two possibilities. The first possibility is that they are dead, with their bodies at the bottom of the seafloor or taken away by the enemies. Or the second possibility of them failing their mission and trying to search for the enemy fruitlessly."
The trio nodded. They had reached the same conclusion.
Renjiro continued, "Let's wait here till the evening. If they are alive, they will return when their chakra drops low."
The trio nodded.
The tent became silent. They didn't have anything to do but wait. After some time, Fujin said, "I am bored of eating Ration bars. You guys wanna hunt fish?"
Hoka and Mieko immediately agreed!
Hoka said, "Definitely!"
Mieko said, "Let's go."
All three flickered out of the tent leaving Renjiro alone.
Renjiro sighed and muttered, "Oh well. This mission is pretty much over. No harm in having some fun."
Before diving into the water, Mieko announced, "The one who catches the biggest fish is the winner! The time limit is 10 minutes."
She dived into the sea without waiting for the response of her teammates. Hoka and Fujin chuckled and dived into the water as well.
Mieko activated her Sharingan to watch properly underwater. Hoka activated his Byakugan. He had the advantage in this competition. Fujin spread his chakra field to pick up on signs of fish. They dispersed in different directions.
The Yugakure ninjas noticed them diving into the sea in a hurry. Shunso wondered, "Did they find an enemy?"
He immediately alerted others and they prepared themselves for a fight.
The trio searched under the sea. Hoka was the first one to find prey. He saw a big Whale Shark. He ran towards it quickly. The Whale shark noticed something coming towards it and sensed the danger. It immediately charged towards Hoka to tackle and bite him. However, Hoka moved out of the way and hit it with the Gentle fist style. A single hit killed the shark.
Fujin was the next one to find his target. He found a giant crab. He thought, 'Damn, do crabs in this world become so freaking huge? Umm… on second thoughts, there are gigantic toads. So this shouldn't be strange I guess.'
The crab noticed Fujin and attacked him with its giant claws. Fujin dodged and gathered chakra on his fist. He punched between its eyes. The punch caused cracks to appear on its shell. Its brain was smashed due to the punch. It died. Fujin lifted the crab and began making his way back.
Mieko saw quite a few giant fishes. But she wasn't satisfied. When the time began to run out, her eyes laid upon an 8-meter-long bluefin tuna. She immediately went towards it and killed it. She carried it back.
Hoka was the first one to return to the coast. Behind him, he dragged a 12-meter-long Whale Shark. The Yugakure ninjas watched with wide eyes. One of them cursed, "Those brats went fishing! We don't know where our teammates are and they are enjoying themselves!"
Shunso calmed him, "Calm down. They have done more than enough for the mission. No point in getting angry with them."
The guy snorted and stayed quiet.
Soon, Fujin returned. He walked on the surface of the sea with his right arm stretched up. He was carrying the giant crab on his right hand. He walked next to Hoka's shark and dropped his crab there.
Hoka quickly observed and smirked. He claimed, "My shark is 12 meters long. Your crab is only 10 meters in height. I won!"
Fujin's eyes twitched. He countered, "Look at their sizes. Your shark is only 2 meters wide. My crab is 8 meters wide. So mine is much bigger than yours!"
Hoka was about to argue when Mieko returned. She was carrying an 8-meter-long blue tuna fish. She saw Fujin's crab and Hoka's whale shark and her face became upset.
Hoka chuckled, "Well, we know who the loser is."
Fujin nodded. Mieko's Tuna was the shortest and the thinnest among the three.
Mieko snorted in displeasure.
Hoka asked, "Mieko, judge whether Fujin's crab or my shark is bigger!"
Mieko was upset at losing. She turned her head away and snorted, "I don't care which fish is bigger. Why are you arguing like little kids?"
Fujin and Hoka gave her deadpanned looks. Hearing the commotion, Renjiro left the tent. Hoka looked at him and said, "Sensei, you be the judge. Is my shark or Fujin's crab bigger?"
Renjiro's eyes twitched. He thought, 'Why are they being so childish?"
He looked at Mieko who was looking away from them and had the smallest fish and realized, 'Looks like it was her idea.'
Hoka pressed Renjiro, "Come on Sensei! Tell me that my fish is bigger!"
Renjiro replied, "Stop being childish and cook the fish you caught."
Hoka sighed due to not getting any answer. Fujin chuckled at his antics.
The trio decided what fish to eat. After some discussion, they decided to eat the crab as none of them had eaten a giant crab before. The shark and the tuna were stored in special storage scrolls that helped keep food fresh.
Preparing and cooking the crab took quite some time. All four ate it till their stomachs were full. They invited the Yugakure ninjas, but they politely refused the invitation.
Late in the afternoon, Tokuhei and the remaining two chunins returned to the beach. Renjiro asked, "What's the status of your opponents?"
Tokuhei replied, "Mine managed to run away."
The chunins replied, "Our opponent ran away as well. We tried searching, but couldn't find anyone."
Renjiro nodded and said, "From 13 chunins and 3 Jounins, only 2 Jounins and 1 chunin are left. And we suffered no casualties. The mission can be considered a success. The ones who escaped will not dare to return here again. And once the news spreads, other rogue ninjas also won't dare to create chaos in the Land of Hot Water."
Tokuhei asked, "Which other jounin managed to escape?"
Renjiro answered, "I killed Mitsuzuka. Fumimaro managed to injure my clone and escaped."
Tokuhei breathed a sigh of relief. He said, "Good. As long as Mitsuzuka is dead, this mission can be considered a success."
Renjiro nodded and handed him a scroll. He said, "His body is inside it."
Tokuhei accepted the scroll. Renjiro looked at Fujin and said, "Give him the body of the ninja you killed as well."
Fujin nodded and handed the scroll to Tokuhei.
Tokuhei chatted more about the mission. He talked with his subordinates as well to understand everything that took place.
After understanding everything, he walked to Team Renjiro's tent. On entering, he saw the two captured rogue ninjas. He said, "Renjiro, I want to take over these two as well."
Renjiro shook his head and said, "They surrendered to me. I will take them to Konoha and interrogate them properly."
Tokuhei realized why Renjiro was adamant. They could provide Konoha with a lot of important information regarding the current state of affairs in Kirigakure.
However, he insisted, "Renjiro, a lot of innocent civilians were killed by these guys. I can understand your point. However, we have to answer to the citizens of the Land of Hot Water. So allow me to take them back first. Later, we can transport them to the Land of Fire."
Renjiro frowned. He could understand Tokuhei's point of view, but these two could provide Konoha with a lot of information. He thought for a bit and concluded, 'If I stay adamant, I can take these two to Konoha. Tokuhei won't stop me and the Daimyo won't say anything either. But this was a mission issued by the Daimyo. He will be displeased by this action and the goodwill generated by this mission will be lost.'
Renjiro said, "Alright. But, you are not allowed to maim or cripple them. I will report about them to Lord Hokage and he will send a team to retrieve them. Pass this message to your Daimyo."
Tokuhei sighed in relief. He immediately agreed to Renjiro's conditions.
