>>5925335“Hmm…” He says, before giving you a coy look “If I had to give you advice, I’d say two things. First, that these people just hate ninja on principle. The opportunists among them will probably be willing to surrender if you outclass them enough, but there are probably some diehards who would rather be martyred than negotiate. And… Well, the timing of this group is concerning. The Fire Daimyo just recently disbanded his personal guard of samurai to replace them with a permanent cadre of ninja bodyguards, which has brought an end to whatever vestigial remnants of prestige that samurai held in this country. Not too long later, the Lords of Fire spring up. A real coincidence. If I knew anything about that it’d be classified for a genin, but I’d be really wanting to tell you more. Understand?”
“Yes sir, I understand.” You say.
“Good.”
“Speaking of the Fire Daimyo’s former samurai bodyguard though, and for totally unrelated reasons, what can you tell me about them?”
The man smiles at you. “Well, they weren’t integrated into our intelligence stream, so not much. Four of them. Not much of note, really. To be frank, the reason they were disbanded in favor of ninja is probably because they’re just not the right tool for the job anymore, especially with the relationship between the village and the Land of Fire being tighter than it's ever been now. Replacing them symbolically guarantees our continued position as the unopposed military of the Land of Fire, both in literal terms and philosophical terms. If I were them, though? I might be a little upset about it.”
You take that all in. So, most likely, the Lords of Fire are an anti-ninja rebel group, possibly controlled by discarded samurai. That does beg a question though. “Sir?”
“Yes?”
“Why is this a C-rank? If I recall correctly, D-ranks feature no legitimate threat of violence, C-ranks feature potential violence against non-ninja, and-”
“Well, there you have it.” He says “Samurai aren’t ninja.”
“With respect, that’s stupid. If they were the daimyo’s bodyguard they not only use chakra, but are probably really strong. How in the world would interfering with them be anything less than A-rank?”
“I agree with you, but let me paint you a picture: Yours isn’t the only ninja team the village has. If you’re expected to only handle civilian bandits, that’s likely all you’ll have to handle. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were other forces in motion to handle the harder parts, but that’s beyond the scope of your mission and your clearance.”
“Got it.”
“Good. Now, unless you want to buy something, I need to get this finished.” He says, waving you off firmly but politely.
“You sell poison?” You ask.
“Hah! No, that’s not our clan’s thing. It’s just a flower shop.”
You nod, then turn to leave, noticing a young blonde girl scurrying out of sight and beyond some bushes as you do so.
“Don’t mind Ino.” He says. “She’s just shy.”
