Naruto: The Scientific Ninja

Chapter 52: Special Jōnin

The night passed peacefully. With his shadow clone on guard, Sasuke was finally able to sleep through the night. After a hearty breakfast, he dispelled the clone. Though the memory feedback was a bit fierce, he recovered quickly under the nourishment of his food energy.

Swish, swish, swish…

A noise came from the woods. Sasuke gestured to his team not to be nervous. It was the Ebi Squad, arriving to take over their patrol.

The Ebi Squad was a mobile sentinel patrol, responsible for taking over the duties of the nine fixed patrol squads in this defense zone when they returned to base. Each fixed squad had a ten-day cycle, considered a C-rank mission, which ended with a day off. The mobile mission was more dangerous, but the benefits were greater: higher pay, better quality ration pills, and more merit points.

Seeing Ebihiko rushing in with his team, Sasuke was very curious. "Ebihiko," he called out to his old friend, "why are you so early this time?"

"Sasuke!" Ebihiko ran over, ignoring all decorum. "I heard you completed an A-rank mission last night?"

"You found out so soon?" Sasuke was a little surprised, but he figured Torifune must have been boasting about his actions to the other patrol teams.

"No way! It's true! How did you do it?" Ebihiko was stunned. His mobile squad was stronger than the fixed patrols, yet his good friend, who had started from the same line, had completed an A-rank mission on his own. It was unheard of.

"Luck, it's all luck," Sasuke said perfunctorily.

"I don't believe you," Ebihiko said, pulling him aside. They were childhood friends; Sasuke couldn't show him a cold face.

"Alright," Sasuke sighed. "I discovered them early, so I set up traps and ambushes in advance, and used a large number of exploding tags."

"Really?" Ebihiko was still skeptical. Exploding tags weren't free.

"Okay, you've seen through me," Sasuke said, leaning in and whispering in his ear. "I also used poison, you know..." He gave Ebihiko a look that smart people would understand.

His friend's eyes suddenly lit up. "Traps and ambushes, exploding tags… the fragments of the explosion are all poisoned… hiss… good tactic." He clapped his hands, having basically restored the entire tactical process in his mind.

"Sasuke," he said, a mix of happiness and disappointment in his voice, "it seems you'll become a special jōnin faster than me." He then played the emotion card. "We're good brothers, you know. Good brothers should share the good stuff." He was obviously eyeing the poison.

The two of them had a long history together. Their ancestors had both been vassals of the Sarutobi clan. Though their families had gone in different directions—Sasuke's becoming fishmongers, Ebihiko's becoming tutors—they had been friends since childhood.

"Here," Sasuke said, tossing him a bottle of No. 5. "Use it sparingly." He gave some quick instructions and then left in a hurry. He knew his friend was sometimes a bit too clever for his own good; if he stayed longer, his secrets might be exposed.

"Why are you leaving so fast?" Ebihiko called after him, pulling a small book from his ninja pack. "I was going to give you my 'baby' as a gift in return."

With his enhanced hearing, Sasuke heard him clearly. He stumbled and almost fell from the tree. He knew exactly what his friend meant by his 'baby'. Ebihiko always looked serious, reading a book every day, but what he was actually reading was not the Will of Fire, but an adult novel with a modified cover.

No wonder he hasn't become a special jōnin yet, Sasuke thought, shaking his head. He's been infected with the yellow poison. He took Tekudō and the others and headed for the rear army base, planning to stop by the military exchange first.

- - - - 

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