15 15. Sabotage of Supplies?
System: [-_-]
"Ahem… I mean go on! That was out of habit. You know, old habits die hard."
Akio coughs slightly.
[Emergency Quest Initiated: Someone intents to sabotage the supply of the shop. Safely escort the supplies to Shop.
Time Remaining: 11: 58: 08
Reward: Bullet time]
"Hmm!"
Akio frowns as he reads the description of the emergency quest.
"If the security of the supplies is in jeopardy, doesn't that means uncle Kazuha is in danger! Someone is about to attack him during his journey?!"
His expression turns grim.
"I can't let him die like that. But… what can I do in this situation?"
Akio has a helpless expression as his heart feels heavy from the revelation.
Haah…
He takes a deep breath to calm his nerves as the passive effect of the Sage Ring kicks in.
He opens the quest menu and reads it again.
"I still have almost 12 hours to act. It's 9 am currently, so the attack will take place at night. Usually, uncle travels with a convoy of merchants from the Land of Iron. The bandit's target is most likely the supplies from the convoy."
Akio raps his finger on the counter and ponders over the matter.
"System, do you have GPS?"
He asks the system.
"Of course!"
The shop menu appears on his reticle.
[GPS System: Global positioning system with a package of 4 satellites.
Cost: 20,000 system points.]
"Forget it!"
Akio shakes his head and asks again.
"You should have something like a radar, right?"
[Affirmative: Host can spend system points to perform a radar scan in a radius around him. The scope and quality of detection depend on the number of points spent.
Low-quality scan: 1-100 system points. Range: 1m- 10 km.
Medium Quality Scan: 100-1,000 system points. Range: 10 km- 1000 km.
High Quality Scan: 1,000-10,000 system points. Range: 1000 km-entire planet.
Note: Host can permanently purchase the ability for 100,000 system points.]
"That's useful!"
Akio nods his head as he mumbles.
'The leaf village has a radius of approx. 10 km. But the radius of the residential sector, including various clan compounds, is around 3 kilometers.'
Akio performs a mental calculation.
"Alright! Let me test it out."
He opens the system menu and presses on the fresh icon of a compass.
"Scan all shinobis in a radius of 200 meters around me."
[Confirmed: Deducting 2 system points]
Swoosh…
A wave of invisible nature energy is released from Akio's body. The wave quickly travels outwards and covers a radius of 200 meters.
Argh…
Akio clutches his head as he feels dizzy from the overload of the information.
His stamina and spirit rapidly drain as the information overwhelms his senses.
Stamina: 7/15 Spirit: 8/13
A wave of exhaustion washes over Akio as he slumps on the counter. There is a splitting ache in his head.
"Huff… Huff… That… that was… a lot to take in!"
He rubs his forehead as red number flashes on his screen.
He raises his head and stares at a tree in distance.
'Hmm… So Hiruzen kept his promise! This pair of Anbu is patrolling this area,'
He rests for an hour to recover from the previous exhaustion.
"System! What will happen if any of my expandable stats hit zero?"
Expandable stats are stamina, chakra, and spirit.
Akio inquires out of curiosity.
[Note: If the host reaches zero stamina, then his bodily functions will stop and the host will enter a vegetative state.
If the Spirit hits zero, then the host will lose his sense of being and turn into a mindless creature moving on pure instincts similar to a zombie.]
"Damn!"
A shiver runs through his spine as the consequences are too fatal to handle.
'I almost turned myself into a vegetable!'
"For now, I have to plan the rescue mission."
He takes out a map of Land of Fire from a nearby shelf.
Akio scans the routes from Land of Iron to Konoha.
'Uncle follows the route from Land of Iron through the Land of Earth, Land of Grass, and finally Land of Fire.'
It usually takes four days for the convoy to reach the leaf village.
The journey from the Land of Iron to the border of the Land of Earth lasts 12 hrs. It takes around two and a half days from Land of Earth to Land of Grass, since the road is quite bumpy with all those mountains and rocks.
Akio marks the area between Land of Grass and Land of Fire.
'It takes an entire day to cross Land of Grass and another 7 hours to reach the border and then 5 hours to reach Konoha village.'
Akio reads the map based on the recount of the journey by his uncle.
He stares at the remaining time of 10: 17: 58 on his reticle and clicks his tongue.
"So, the most probable spot of ambush is in Land of Grass." He deduces the location based on the hints from his uncle's letter.
Haah…
Akio takes a deep breath and rests against the counter.
"System! I have several questions but I don't know how to ask."
[Then you better not ask!]
"…"
Cough… cough…
"I mean, how do you expect a civilian like me to magically appear in Land of Grass and kill a bunch of bandits? I can only assume that you don't want me to save my uncle!"
Akio has a pitiful expression.
[The host doesn't have to worry about the safety of his uncle. Host's mission is to protect the supplies to preserve the reputation of the shop. As for the issue with the travel!]
System's monotonous voice rings in his ears.
[Ding… A new item has been updated in the shop.]
Akio hurriedly opens the shop menu. There is a new item featured at the topmost corner of the shop.
[Ring of Contracts: Summon a random grade of creature using the nature energy. Energy Cost: 25 Nature energy points No. of Summons: 1]
Cost: 500 System Points (Discount: 75%)]
"Woah!"
Akio's mouth opens wide at the description.
"System, give me a loan of 200 points?"
-------------------
At the entrance to Konoha,
"You are late!!"
Kakashi is resting against a tree as he stares at the newcomer.
A boy with black eyes and short-spiky hair dashes towards the entrance while panting.
"Ahaha… I was escorting a granny with lots of luggage to her house."
The boy scratches his head.
"Obito! Let's go or else we will be late for our first C-Rank mission."
A girl with short brown hair and brown eyes drags him away.
"I am sorry, Rin!" Obito's face turns red from embarrassment.
"Alright! Since everyone is here, then let's depart for your first C-rank mission." Minato nods his head.
Swoosh… swoosh…
The group quickly flickers out of the village as Minato explains to them.
"Usually, a genin team will handle D-rank missions for at least a month before any C-Rank mission arrives their way. But in your case, the situation is a little different.
Your teammate Kakashi is already a certified chunnin and has completed quite some C-Rank missions in the past. Also, since the village is short of manpower; this mission was sent your way."
"Ohhh! Incredible!!"
Rin's eyes glow brightly as she stares at Kakashi.
"Wow! Kakashi is amazing. He was already a chunnin even before we graduated from the academy."
Tch…
Obito clicks his tongue.
"There is nothing amazing about it. Give me another year… NO! Give me six months and I will also become a chunnin."
Obito crosses his arms and replies smugly.
"Mmm… I will also do my best!"
Rin nods at him.
Ahem…
Kakashi clears his throat.
"Let's hear the details of the mission from Sensei!"
Ah!
Obito and Rin hurriedly turn towards Minato and apologize as he continues.
"This time your mission is to clean up a band of bandits at the border of Land of Fire and Grass. This group has been quite active recently, and they even robbed a convoy of goods meant for Lord Daimyo's wife."
Minato explains the details to them.
Whoosh…
He takes out a scroll from his pocket and throws it towards the group for more information.
