Our hero was now tasked by his village into checking up on outlying homes on the border of the Hidden Jungle Village and the Hidden Moon Village. The region is infamously known as “The Borderlands,” and it was probably the most crime-filled region of the world. No shinobi were assigned to guard the place here, no walls either. The closest police force that the Borderlands could manage was a levied vigilante force known as “The Guard.” The Guard labels itself as a justice-seeking force aimed at peace in the region. In truth, they were just a bunch of thieves and petty criminals that kill and steal for resources and for increasing the power of their gang.
Unfortunately, many people actually live in this border region. Many refugees or poor people that struggle to rise up in the social ladder in their respective village find solace and comfort here, though it isn’t proper to use those words to describe what they go through everyday. Food was scarce, crime was rampant, and worst of all, disease was spreading rapidly, due to poor conditions. The Kage of the Hidden Jungle has tasked our hero with a daunting task: to somehow make sure the people here are okay and to report anything wrong with the Borderlands.
Our hero made his way out of the Hidden Moon Inn that he was staying. He was still exhausted from the recent previous mission he just had, but he wanted to make his clan and village proud. As he went outside the village, he took a deep breath to take in the fresh Hidden Moon air, and finally, he dashed towards the direction of his own village, to reach the land border between the Hidden Moon and the Hidden Jungle. After a long night’s travel, our hero was more than halfway to his destination. He stopped for a rest and made camp in the middle of the woods. It was about an hour past midnight.
Our hero thankfully was smart enough to bring a couple pieces of wood with him, and he lit them up with Candlelight Jutsu to build a small campfire. The weather was pretty chilly, and the forest was foggy. It seems foolish to build a fire when there might be dangerous things like wild animals or bandits lurking around, but our hero wasn’t perturbed, he was Senju Yuumaru, after all. As he took a nap, he suddenly found himself in a pinkish-white realm all too familiar with him. It was none other than Jiraiya’s Lewd Realm, or as it is more commonly called, Heaven.
“What do you want, Jiraiya-sensei?” Our hero asked. Suddenly, white and orange leaves swirled in front of him, and there was the God of Perverseness! Jiraiya himself! He did a pose, but unlike his other student, the Goddess of Genjutsu, Yuri-chan, Yuumaru didn’t seem too impressed. “Well?” Our hero asked again.
“Yuumaru-kun! Lighten up will you?” Jiraiya smiled, but then suddenly turned serious. “Actually you can keep your foul mood. I am here to assist you on this mission.” The god sensei said. “No need, master Jiraiya. This is no more than a C-Rank mission. It is quite an easy mission for me. All I need to do is--” Jiraiya motioned with his hand. Yuumaru felt silent. Our hero felt that the Pervert God was serious for once.
“I am here because what you’re about to see might change your perspective on the world. The Borderlands of the Hidden Jungle and the Hidden Moon are infamous because of their state of affairs.” The god paused for a moment. “Remember what I told you about my previous students? Well one of them, Nagato, was very much like you, but he became corrupted when he was exposed to the realities of this world. Unlike my other student, Naruto, your previous incarnation, Nagato failed to grow up.” Yuumaru was stung, because he was quite defensive about his ideological but sometimes naive beliefs. “SOmetimes, my student, we need to grow up and face the facts of this world. BUT,” He stopped to emphasize the point he was about to tell our hero. “That doesn’t mean be corrupted. In fact, it means the opposite. Accept the truth and learn from it. That is the path to peace. Now, Yuumaru-kun, don’t you agree with me?” Jiraiya waited for his student’s answer. Yuumaru looked down, a bit overwhelmed, because he had never questioned his beliefs until now.
“Sen-sensei...I believe…” Yuumaru now looked up to his master’s face. “I understand everything you’re saying. It seems logical. BUT,” Yuumaru emulated his master’s previous emphasizing technique. “If you’re right, then I want to be wrong.” Jiraiya was shocked at his student’s reply. Yuumaru continued. “I’ll stick with my beliefs. My ideals. Peace...through trust. I believe in the deep-seated goodness of humankind. Trust. THAT is the path to peace. THAT is my nindo. My ninja way.” With that, the God of Perverts smiled at his student. “You really are Naruto’s reincarnation, Yuumaru-kun.” Jiraiya then snapped his fingers, and our hero suddenly found himself back in the forest. It was now morning, and his campfire had burned out. Thank you for that, Master Jiraiya. Our hero thought to himself.
As our hero continued onto his journey, he kept his conversation with Jiraiya in mind. Without even noticing the time pass by, he was already in the region infamously referred to as “The Borderlands.” The God of Toads and Perverts was right, the place seemed like it was taken right from a dystopian novel. Screams can be heard from afar, there was waste and human feces littered in the streets, if you can even call poorly made dirt roads streets. The “homes” were nothing more than ramshackles comprised of steel and wood. Everywhere, people had this glum and hopeless look on their grime-filled places. Immediately, Yuumaru felt his heart sink. Maybe...Jiraiya was right...maybe I can do nothing about this world...Immediately, however, our hero pushed away his thoughts. No. I am a Senju. I am a Jungle Ninja. I will prevail. He encouraged himself.
He approached a man hanging out with his friends, verbally harassing a poor woman and what looks to be her husband. “Hey! Give us some money!” The man said. “Or else we kill you both!” The men then started laughing. “Actually, we’ll just kill the man. But the woman…” They then smiled at each other and laughed even harder. Our hero, as he drew ever nearer, was soon noticed by the bastard bandits.
“Now what the hell is a Jungle Ninja doing here?” The man taunted, seeing Yuumaru’s belt buckle depicting the Hidden Jungle Village symbol. “On second thought, we could use your fancy ninja garments and also your weapons!” Yuumaru stared at the man coldly, without making a sound. The man looked at his friends and then back at our hero. “Looky here, men! We got a tough guy over here!” The man then took a more serious tone. “Look, you bastard. I am Goro, the leader of the Guard. We take what we want whenever we want from whoever we want. That is the way of the Jungle. That is the way of life.” Yuumaru looked down. The speech was similar to what Jiraiya had said. Then he looked up at the man. “No, you’re wr--” Before our hero could finish, the man, with an evil smile, suddenly stabbed the man in the head, instantly killing him. The man’s wife was so shocked, no tears came, only gasps while she held her husband’s bleeding head, the bandit’s kunai still lodged deep within the poor man’s skull. Yuumaru was astounded. He was frozen in his tracks. The bandit leader, Goro, laughed at our hero. “What were you saying, you runt? I told you. I get to do whatever I want. I AM the Borderlands. I AM the Guard!” The man, upon seeing that our hero just stood there, with no reply, finally said, “Men, kill this mute. Looks like he was too shocked to see a little blood.” Goro then looked lustily at the dead man’s wife. “And you, my dear, I haven’t forgotten about you!”
Yuumaru looked up. Then what happened next, our hero couldn’t really remember. Blood. Severed heads. Blood. Cut off limbs. Blood. Broken bones. Blood. There was so much blood. “What did the innocent man ever do to you!!!” Our hero shouted in uncontrollable rage. More of the Guard came, about twenty more men. Our killed all of them. He didn’t even pay attention to Goro, the leader of the gang. He was just another casualty of Yuumaru’s rage. Then, he passed out.
When he finally came to, he saw the wife of the man who was killed by Goro sitting beside his bed, watching him. “Tha- Thank you...for what you did earlier…” The woman began. Soon after, however, she broke into tears. “If it wasn’t-- if it wasn’t for you, I-- I would have been--” Our hero hugged the woman. “It’s okay. It’s okay. It’s all over now.” After hugging for several minutes to comfort the poor, grieving woman, our hero asked her, “By the way, what is your name?” “Kyoko. Just Kyoko.” She replied. “What’s yours?” She asked our hero. “I am Senju Yuumaru. A Jungle Shinobi. Thanks for taking care of me.”
It turned out that Kyoko and her deceased husband had many connections in the Borderlands, and was attacked by the Guard for their rising influence. Unlike the Guard, who had gained power through terror, the couple gained power through kindness. “You are very much the embodiment of my Nindo, Kyoko. I believe you have the power to change this place. Just keep doing what you’re doing.” Our hero smiled at Kyoko. “Okay, come with me and tell me everything about the inhabitants of this place. I need to make a report to my Kage, and the Hidden Jungle will send supplies in no time.” Suddenly, Kyoko kissed him on the cheek. The same cheek Umeko had kissed. “Yuumaru-kun. I believe you have the power to change this world. Count on me, and I’ll count on you!”
With that, Yuumaru soon sent a marmoset to his Kage, with the report of all the region’s concerns. Mission Completed once again.
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Subject: Mission 5: Outlying Homes (C-Rank)