#97 - Chapter 97 The Origin of Elder Jiro's Great Shrine Festival - Naruto: I, Naruto, Start With The Full-Level Shining Fruit

Although Ibiki Morino is the person they need to protect in their later mission, their mission hasn't officially started until they meet Elder Jirocho of the Tea Country!

So, Naruto didn't intend to talk to him proactively.

The three sat down at the nearest table and ordered what they liked to eat.

Sasuke ordered jelly noodles, Sakura ordered dumplings, and Naruto... ordered both, plus a serving of red bean mochi.

He always had a big appetite.

As the three were drinking tea, Ibiki Morino suddenly walked over, stood at the door, and looked at the sky outside, sighing, "The weather is so nice, life is so pleasant, being a ninja is such an easy job, Konoha must be very peaceful, right?"

"What do you mean by that?" Sakura frowned, displeased by Ibiki Morino's presumptuous words.

"Oh? I didn't expect to see such a cute girl!"

Ibiki Morino said as if he had just noticed Sakura, "I apologize for what I just said. My name is Ibiki Morino, miss, what's your name?"

"Eh?"

Sakura was a little confused, not understanding why this person's mood changed so quickly.

He looked down on them just now, but now he looks so enthusiastic.

"Get out." Without waiting for Sakura to answer, Naruto said indifferently.

"Hey, I'm talking to this pretty girl, what are you, a stupid ninja, interrupting for!" Ibiki Morino frowned, glaring at Naruto unhappily.

"I don't want to say it a second time," Naruto said calmly, taking a sip of tea.

Bang!

Ibiki Morino slammed the table, "Who do you think you are? So arrogant, I hate Konoha ninjas the most, try staying in the Tea Country if you have the guts!"

"Heh, a guy who was scared out of his wits by the Chunin Exams and wanted to take a shortcut by stealing Konoha's secret scrolls and the Sword of the Thunder God, and then says he hates Konoha ninjas after defecting from Konoha Village?"

Naruto sneered, "You should be glad your brother is Ibiki Morino. If not, you would have been locked up in Konoha's prison!"

It wasn't that he was giving Ibiki Morino face, but he knew that even if he caught this kid and brought him back, it wouldn't do any good.

"How do you know... who are you?" Ibiki Morino glared at Naruto, his voice a mix of panic and anger.

Naruto didn't say much, but gave Sasuke a look.

Sasuke understood, got up, grabbed Ibiki Morino, and threw him out.

"Ouch!"

Ibiki Morino fell heavily to the ground, clutching his butt and groaning, "You Konoha ninjas are so rude! Unforgivable!"

Ibiki Morino cursed, but didn't dare to go back in and argue with Naruto and the others.

He could sense that Naruto and the others were not to be trifled with. It would be just asking for trouble if he went back in!

"Sorry for the wait!!"

At this time, the landlady walked over with the food that Naruto and the others had ordered.

Dumplings, jelly noodles, red bean mochi, dumplings, jelly noodles!

"Naruto, you can really eat," Sakura said in surprise, watching Naruto eat three servings of food by himself.

"The greater the power, the greater the appetite," Naruto said, eating half a bowl of red bean mochi in one bite.

After hearing this, Sasuke immediately finished his jelly noodles, then called the landlady and ordered two more bowls of jelly noodles!

"......"

Sakura watched from the side helplessly, "These boys are really......"

The three left the tea house after they were full and headed towards the town in the Tea Country.

Before long, they arrived in front of a very large house.

There was a sign in front of the door that read—Wasabi Family!

"Wasabi Family, this should be the place."

Sakura said, stepping forward and knocking on the door, "Hello, is anyone home?"

Soon the door was opened, and a little old man walked out.

"You are... the ninjas from Konoha, right? Our boss has been waiting for you for a long time, please come in!"

The little old man recognized their identities from the headbands of Naruto and the others, and immediately welcomed the three into the reception room.

The reception room of the Wasabi Family was very large and quite unique.

There were three strange paintings hanging on the wall,

Two paintings of thick bamboo trunks, but only the trunks.

One painting of something like a sugarcane person... Naruto thought it looked a bit like 'Fruit Warriors' recognizing the thief as their father?

Looking at it this way, those two bamboo poles aren't bamboo poles either, they should be treacherous officials and sneaky rats.

As for why it's not 'A World Without Thieves', that's of course because 'A World Without Thieves' wears an eye mask, resembling Sugarcane Kakashi!

"Thank you for coming!"

Jirocho pushed the door open and came in to greet the three, then walked to them and sat down.

"Nice to meet you, I am Jirocho Wasabi, your client this time," Jirocho introduced himself.

"No need for extra words, just tell us the mission details," Naruto said.

"Good!"

Jirocho laughed, "I like talking to straightforward boys like you, and pretty girls too."

He praised all three of them in one sentence, as expected of a boss.

"This time I invited you here mainly to protect the participants of the Great Thunder Shrine's worship ceremony!" Jirocho said.

"What is the Great Thunder Shrine's worship ceremony?" Sakura asked.

"A long time ago, it is said that in order to calm the storm, people enshrined the Dragon and Tiger Jewels in the Great Thunder Shrine!"

"And not long after the Dragon and Tiger Jewels were enshrined, the storm subsided, and since then it has been passed down as a legend, and now it has become a customary event held once every four years!"

"The event was initially just worshiping the jewels, but starting decades ago, it became a custom where the most powerful person becomes the chief priest to perform the ritual!"

"In recent years, this ritual event has also had another effect!"

"In this port town of Dejima, there have always been two Yakuza groups, our Wasabi Family and the Karashi Family, and from the very beginning of the two Yakuza groups, our two groups have been in constant conflict, often fighting for the leadership of this town!"

"When the conflict was intense, even ordinary villagers would be affected by us! In order to put an end to this conflict, the Daimyo of the Tea Country personally stepped in to mediate, and asked us to turn the conflict into a competition!"

"Which is the Great Thunder Shrine's ritual event competition!"

"Whoever wins this competition will gain the leadership of this town for four years! But four years ago, the Karashi Family hired ninjas and achieved an overwhelming victory!"

"This year they also hired ninjas, so we issued this mission request to Konoha!"

"Now that the origin of the matter has been explained, can you directly tell us who we need to protect?" Sasuke said a little impatiently.

"Of course!"

Jirocho clapped his hands without any displeasure.

The door leading in was opened, and a familiar figure appeared outside the door.

"Elder Jirocho!"

"It's you?"

"It's you guys?"

Except for Naruto, neither side expected to meet each other in such a place.

"Oh? You know each other, Ibiki!"

"Sort of... yeah!"

Hearing Jirocho's words, Ibiki Morino's mouth twitched.