While Konoha was holding a meeting to discuss how to proceed after being attacked during su important mission, Iwa was also having a meeting in the Kage's Office.

  Onoki, the Kage of Iwa, hunched over, said to one of his sultants,

  "How the hell did we fail such a simple mission? We khe path they would take, the number of ninjas they would deploy, the timing of the missiohing about them was taken into sideration. So how the hell did we end up taking the loss?"

  "We don't know, sir. Acc to the report, they were unlucky because they entered Yukihiro on this mission. He is sidered an S-rank ninja, at least when it es to kenjutsu, and his ninjutsu is also nothing to scoff at."

  "They had only one Jonin, and we sent 20 ninjas. Are you saying one Jonin mao kill 15 of our men and save everyooo?"

  Another sultant spoke up,

  "Sir, the report mentions they fell for an ambush, which is why they suffered such a loss."

  "Are you a fool? That’s exactly why I'm so angry! We made so many preparations to ambush them, not the other way around!"

  "Sir, Konoha has many s that excel in sensing and trag teiques. I believe it was the Inuzuka brat oeam who somehow sehem. Also, acc to Kazuki's statement, one of the genin, who we hadn't taken into sideration, was more powerful than him. He alone mao hold Kazuki off until Yukihiro handled our Jonin. Eveher genin were somehow able to pete against our in."

  Onoki's expression stiffened upon hearing this. With a serious demeanor, he said,

  "How the hell is Konoha able to produce such geniuses again and again? First, that Yellow Fsh was able to hahousands of our ninjas, and now these brats hold their ground against a trained Jonin. Hah! I'm getting too old for this shit."

  Even though Onoki was visibly pissed, one of the sultants gathered the ce to ask the question that was on everyone's mind.

  "Sir, what should we do about them now?"

  "What the fuck are you talking about? Obviously, we have to deal with them as soon as we ; otherwise, the future of Iwagakure will be even darker than now."

  "But sir, if we want to successfully elimihem, we will have to send at least 30 more ninjas, with three or four of them being Jonin. And even though we’re ier dition than Konoha, we are still fag a she of ninjas. It will take at least three days to assemble the team, and even more time for them to reach the Land of Noodles. I don’t think we have that much time for this."

  "What if we set another ambush on their way back? we mao send our ninjas there at least?" Onoki asked.

  "Sir, we mahat, but I don’t think they’ll be stupid enough to use the same path again. There’s a very high ce we’ll just waste manpower without results."

  "So, we don’t have any way to deal with some brats and a single Jonin? How did Iwagakure bee so weak?" Onoki said, his anger rising.

  "Sir, there are ways we hahe situation, but in most cases, we would lose more than we would gain. If you make a move yourself, we could easily elimihem, but Iwagakure would bee a ughingstock among the other vilges. Alternatively, we could recall some Jonin from other missions early, but that would also damage our reputation."

  "Leave it. It's not worth it. We've already taken too many losses for such a simple mission. But make our spies in Konoha active and have them find out more about this f***ing team. Now, you go."

  Onoki sat deep in thought. For three secutive Great Ninja Wars, Iwagakure had always been on the losing end. Their single goal during each war was to acquire fertile nd so that the vilge could bee self-suffit. Not only had they failed to obtaiile nd, but they had also lost a signifit number of shinobi.

  Despite Onoki’s power, he hadn’t been able to secure what his vilge needed most—fertile nd. The main reason for this was Konoha's ability to sistently produce geniuses capable of single-handedly ging the course of battles. Sihe founding of the vilge, Konoha had been the only oo produce multiple S-rank ninjas at the same time.

  Onoki had a sinking feeling that it was Iwagakure’s fate to be stuck with iile nd. Despite being one of the most united hidden vilges, Iwa still struggled with shes, from fertile nd to finances. Onoki was sure that if he left this team alohey would no doubt grow into Jonin of those same genius ranks. He was determio elimihem as soon as possible, to avoid dealing with unknown variables in the Great Ninja War.

  …

  While higher-ups were rag their brains over the mission Team 13 had faced, Team 13 was enjoying their time in the Land of Noodles, trying various types of noodles. By the time the meeting ehey had already tasted most of the noodle varieties avaible in the vilge. Afterward, Yukihiro called the team for a meeting.

  "So, did you guys enjoy your stay here?" Yukihiro asked.

  "Yes, sehe vilge isn’t as rge as Konoha, but the variety of noodles is unimaginable. I didn’t even know some of them were edible," Kaida said.

  "Hahaha, I know! The first time I tried them, I had the same rea. Have you tried the noodles with stooppings?"

  "Yes, sensei," Ryota said, patting his pocket.

  "Well, I’m gd you enjoyed your stay, but it’s time for us to head back. I got a letter from the Hokage's office stating that we o carry those two back just as we brought them. The vilge doesn’t want to take any risks this time. Also, we have to take a different route on our way back, and since we’re ordered to return as soon as possible, we’ll be leaving in 30 minutes. You’ll o take a soldier pill."

  "But we’ll still have to stop so *Renji-sama* take his mueeded rest," Ryota said with clear disdain.

  "Hahaha, don’t worry, Ryota. This time, we won’t be taking any breaks. They’re going to take soldier pills too," Yukihiro said, ughing.

  "They’re ninjas? I thought they were part of the Civil cil," Kaida said, surprised.

  "Well, calling them ninjas is a bit of a stretch. They barely have enough chakra to qualify as genin, but their political skills are very high, especially Hiroto-sama. He’s made many deals with other vilges that have beed us greatly duriime. Due to their low chakra, they ’t use movement jutsu, so even if they had taken the soldier pill before, we still would have had to carry them. Plus, they’d have needed a full day's rest afterward, which is why they hadn’t taken it."

  "And now they take the soldier pill because they rest all they want in the vilge," Kaida finished Yukihiro's sentence.

  "Exactly. Now, get ready. We leave in 30 minutes."

  Thirty mier, they set off for the vilge. Sih Renji and Hiroto had already taken their soldier pills, they didn’t have to stop for breaks. Despite taking a longer route, they reached the vilge in just a day and a half.

  ********

  (A.N.: Thank you for reading! If you liked the chapter, please don’t fet to vote for the novel ^~^)