Chương 18: Chapter 18

(Even I don't know why I wrote all this, but the whole chapter is filled with bs. I know it is bad, but I want you to specify what is bad about this, so that I can correct my mistakes. Thank you.)

After hearing her explanation, even I think that it is a very good technique. So. for the next two hours, we both trained in kinjutsu and I didn't have a problem with the strength, as nature energy substituted for the lack of chakra.

We then set off on our journey after training and this continued through the day. We would stop for breaks and instead train before hitting the road again. This went on for four days and we finally arrived at the mine.

Since the ore mined at this mine is precious and special, it had guards all over the place. We stopped near a tree and Yugao asked "So, what do you want here and what's the plan?" I asked in return "I thought you were not going to help me."

She just clicked her tongue and said "If I help you, we can return soon and I can go back to my work. Also, there are ninjas here, which will not get me into trouble even if I attack them."

"Ok, here's the plan. I need the ore mined here and since this is a mine illegally owned by a businessman, he can't complain to anyone about this incident. This place is guarded by 200 people, among whom 50 are mercenaries or rogue ninjas. Since we are just here to steal something, we should not cause too much trouble.

I have the positions of all the guards and the warehouse is heavily guarded, because it is where all the ore is stored and it's where the boss stays. So, I am going to get into the mine as one of the workers and I need you to cause a distraction to divert the guards near the mine." I finished explaining and looked at Yugao for her response.

She then said "Fine, but remember that if you get caught, you are on your own." but I could tell by the look on her face that she is worried and would definitely come to help me if I was in danger.

I nodded and Yugao disappeared from the place. I headed towards the mine and was waiting for her distraction. Slowly, the whole area was covered with mist, making it difficult to see.

I immediately ran through the mist towards the mine, using observation haki to know where I was going. I got in without any problem and started looking around for the ore I needed. I studied how the ore looked and it was called Carunium. This ore produced the metal that conducts chakra and it is what Asuma uses now.

When I entered the mine, I thought that I would get caught and have to fight, but surprisingly the mine was huge. I looked around extensively and finally found people. It took me a while, as they were very far below the ground.

I hid and observed the miners. It didn't take me long before I realised that this was a gold mine. I wasn't going to leave immediately, as I need someone to confirm all this.

I then found two guards far away from the workers and were guarding the exit I think. I slowly approached them from their side and when I was close enough, I heard a guard saying "I heard boss Rengoku is going to betray that woman tonight."

The other guard said "Although she looks like a woman, she is only 17 years old. I wonder how she would look when she grows up." to which the other guard added "I wonder if the boss would let us play with her after today. She is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen."

While they were listing over someone, I threw a rock in the other direction to distract them. They turned to the other side, allowing me to take down a guard with a single blow to his head with my fists enhanced with armament haki.

Hearing his partner fall to the ground, the second guard immediately turned back and tried to swing his spear at me. I easily blocked it with my elbow and kicked him in his gut, pushing him back.

He dropped the spear and held his stomach in pain. I picked up his spear and pointed it at his face. I said "Now, I have some questions for you. If you give me the answers I want, I will leave and you can all pretend that you never lost to a kid."

The guy was pissed, but still agreed. I then asked "Is this mine registered?" to which he replied with a nod. "What are you mining here?" I asked and he replied "Gold"

I sighed and asked "Explain about the betrayal thing, and tell me everything about that woman and your boss."

The guard hesitated, forcing me to bring the spear near his eyes. Seeing the tip of the spear so close, he gave in and said "Fine..fine...the woman we were talking about, her name is Akiko. We don't know her clan name, but I heard our boss Gunde say that she is from a rich family.

She ran away from her family to escape a political marriage arranged by her family. She ran away with a lot of money and brought this mine, hiring us to guard this mine. Our boss is planning on capturing her, and blackmailing her family till she is alive."

I then asked the last question "Why didn't your boss attack her till now?" to which he replied "She has a bodyguard who is completely loyal to her and he is a chunin level ninja. Our boss waited so long to find someone who could defeat him."

When he finished answering, I didn't have any use for him. I immediately spun the spear, hitting him in the head with the back of the spear. He lost consciousness and I immediately left the mine.

Since Yugao is also a sensory ninja, she sensed me leaving the mine and immediately appeared before me when I was far enough from the mine. "How did it go?" she asked and I replied "Sadly, I wasn't given proper information. We will have to return back to the village."

Yugao was happy when she heard that we were returning back to the village. I guess she is missing her boyfriend. We both left the place and on the way, we relaxed in a hot spring. I decided to stay there for another day, convincing her to do the same since it was the last day of my monitoring. She agreed and we just relaxed and trained a bit.

The next day, we left the inn and Yugao said "Now, back to the village. I am not going to guard you from now. I will leave first, report to the hokage and get back to work. You can take your sweet time back to Konoha." and immediately took off towards Konoha, which is exactly what I wanted.

I made her waste a day so that she would leave me here and return. I am very much interested in what's happening in the mine. I am poor and what I really need now is money. If I can somehow get that woman to help me, I can live peacefully. She should be captured by that man Gunde by now. I can ask for her help in return for her freedom. I first needed information and I need to get back into the mine.

I headed towards the mine and this time, it wasn't heavily guarded. I guess they were injured or killed in the fight yesterday. This made it easy for me to get into the mine pretty easily. I then went to the same place and the guards I beat up were still guarding the same place.

This time, I just walked to them and waved at them. The guard who answered my questions yesterday immediately recognised me and pointed the spear at me. "Why are you here again?" he asked in an angry tone, but made sure not to shout.

This made the other guard look at me and ask "Did he really knock me out with a single punch?" to which I replied "Want me to show it to you again?"

Now both were pissed at me. I casually walked towards them and said "You can't defeat me. So, it is better if you just co-operate with me and answer a few more questions."

Although the guard from before, who tried to fight me the day before yesterday, was pissed, he still knew that he couldn't win against me. He asked "What do you want?"

"What are you doing? He is just a kid. He took us by surprise last time. If we both attack we can...." the other guard said, but I didn't let him finish. A kick to his gut is all it took to take him out.

The other guard said to his fallen partner "I am going to blackmail you with this for a long time." and then turned to me. He said "I will co-operate only if you promise not to knock me out like the other day." and I accepted.

I then asked "What happened after I visited this mine and asked you questions?" to which he replied "Well, after you kindly asked us questions and put us to sleep, we got a good scolding from our boss. We then went on with our plan and attacked Akiko's guard. I don't know how much that woman is paying her bodyguard, but it is too little. He was almost jonin level and managed to take down 100 of our men before he got tired and lost to the ninja our boss hired. We did manage to capture that woman and our boss is going to contact her family after the ninja we hired, heals from his wounds. I don't know what you are planning, but we still have 100 men and it is not possible to take down all of us."

I didn't need his advice, so after he was done reporting what I needed, I did a roundabout kick to the side of his head, knocking him out again. This time however, I didn't just leave. I picked up the spear and stabbed both of them in the heart. I had to take them out one by one, that too by the end of the day. Even though this was my first kill, I didn't feel anything. I feel that seeing my wives eat humans for years, I got used to seeing people die.

With the guilt part sorted out, I then headed deep into the cave, looking for more guards. I found 5 more and easily took them down. They all just came rushing towards me with their spears pointed towards me. They didn't have any experience in combat. It was just a matter of a few seconds for me to deal with them.

I then went on and searched the whole mine and didn't find anyone else. So, I exited the mine and killed the people guarding the mine. I then went around and killed all the people who were looking out in groups of 2 or 3. It took me a while, but I had dealt with around 47 people. Their lack of combat experience is what made it easier for me. Also, the training and the constant flow of nature energy increased my stamina. So, even after all the killing, I wasn't tired.

I was looking around for more men, when I felt like I could sense my wives. I didn't know what it was, but it was telling me that I was going down the wrong road and I had to stop what I was doing. I don't know if it was actually my wives doing something, or it was just my conscience, but I started thinking again.

I could have handled this situation without even killing more than one person, but I decided that killing is the most convenient way. I just thought that seeing people die everyday for a few years, their lives don't matter if you don't know them, but then I remembered the words of Tagori "Hatsuo, you might feel disgusted by the way we eat humans, but I want you to know that it was difficult for us too. We are forced to do this for survival, but if there was any alternative, we would definitely quit eating humans. Remember that if you kill someone, it should be because you didn't have any other choice." After introspecting myself and clearing my head, I was ready with a plan that involved less killing.