Ep 102: New Mission Has Arrived.
Save Justice, Human Hearts, and the Country of Tea

Summary:

Six guys in large straw hats are on their way to Konoha but they notice that one of them, Morino Idate, is missing. They are from the Wasabi family from the Country of Tea. Suddenly a guy with a Rain forehead protector and an umbrella appears. He sends a shower of needles at them with his umbrella and threatens them to give up the Todoroki Shrine race. The six guys are down but alive and the leader is determined to deliver a scroll to Konoha.

Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura are waiting for a mission. Tsuande tells them Kakashi is not coming as he's on a separate mission and she gives them a B rank mission as bodyguard and escort which may develop into an A rank mission. She explains that every four years in the Country of Tea the Todoroki Shrine Offering Ceremony takes place. They have to escort a runner who is going to participate. They will get details from Boss Jirocho in the Country of Tea. They need to arrive at the Country of Tea by the end of the day.

The team is walking towards the border of Fire Country and the Tea Country. Naruto insists on stopping by a nearby teahouse.

Meanwhile, the rain shinobi Aoi is speaking to a man with a pipe who has hired him to stop the Wasabi family from entering the race. He now has to contend with the Konoha shinobis.

The team places their orders at the teahouse. A young man a few years older than them is about to leave but stops to insult Konoha and ninjas. Then he starts to flirt with Sakura and introduces himself as Morino Idate. Naruto argues with him and is about to fight while Sasuke coolly suggests ignoring him. Idate leaves without any of them noticing. The waitress comes by with their orders and two checks - Idate said they'd pay for him! While Naruto and Sakura rant, Sasuke hears his distant footsteps. They run after him and note that he's really fast and has had a lot of training.

Idate is running way ahead but then trips on a tree root and falls into a ravine, losing his pocket knife. The team catches up. Idate throws himself on the ground and apologizes, claiming someone had stolen his wallet. They start to feel bad for him, then the knife falls on Naruto's head and to the ground. Idate grabs it and leaps to his feet. He takes weights off his legs and is off again. He's super-fast and leaves the team behind in the dust.

The team meet with Boss Jirocho who explains the story of the Todoroki Shrine Offering Ceremony: long time ago legends say people offered the jewels of the Dragon and the Tiger in the Todoroki Shrine to quell the storms. Now it is a ritual that takes place once every four years. At first they only offered jewels to the shrine, but about ten years ago it became a ceremony where the first one to get there became the man in power. But recently another side to the ceremony surfaced. The port town of Degarashi has two main families - the Wasabi and the Wagarashi who fought for control and townspeople got injured. To put an end to the strife, an agreement was drawn up in the feudal lord's presence to use the shrine ceremony instead of fighting to determine which group got control. Four years ago the Wagarashi dominated the competition by hiring ninja and this year they received reports that they hired ninjas again so the Wasabi sent a request for Konoha ninja. Jirocho calls in the person they need to escort - it's the guy from the teahouse!

Naruto and Idate are walking and arguing while Sakura goes into a shop. The souvenirs are 300 ryou each! The shop owner explains things are expensive since the Wagarashi came into power. There's a disturbance outside and Sasuke and Sakura run out to investigate. Three Wagarashi thugs are about to beat up this guy but Sasuke beats them up instead.

Near dawn the race is about to start. Sakura explains the route to Naruto. The starting point is here at Degarashi Port, then head to the halfway point Modoroki Shrine at Nagi Island, where they take one of the jewels of the Dragon or Tiger, and then to Todoroki Shrine on O'uzu Island. Those are the only rules, anything else goes. At dawn the race starts. While Fukusuke is running straight for the boat, Idate makes an unexpected turn.

Review: At least this ties into the other filler episode at the hot springs with the same boss Jirocho.

Notes:

Oomasa - leader of the group on the way to Konoha.

Rokusho Aoi - rain shinobi

Hikyakuya Fukusuke - Wagarashi family runner

Dumplings - 60 ryou

Oshiruko - sweet red-bean soup with pieces of rice cake - 90 ryou

Tokoroten - gelidium jelly - 80 ryou

Souvenirs - 300 ryou

Sakura pays the bill(s) but they leave without eating anything.

Aoi has a big starburst scar under his headband.

Thoughts:

Idate has the same last name as Ibiki the first chuunin examiner so they might be related.

It only took about half a day for the team to travel from Konoha to the Country of Tea and the port. Looks much further away on the original maps.