The flame haired male stood at the edge of the lake, clutching the mission requirements in his hand and huffing slightly. The hell was the point of retrieving bags of trash? Better he just burn the crap he could; recycle what they could reuse instead of moving it from one dump pile to another. Shit, anything that was flammable he could take home to use for his clan's fires; save the non-existent sanitation system from dealing with it. But noooooo.~ He wanted his ryo; he had to hand over bags of trash. Joyful times; these where.

Fucking idiots.

He did acknowledge the problem though. The line of trash along the shore was several feet deep in places; extending well into the lake and an obvious source of pollution to the only clean water they had.

Fucking morons.

Seriously, who the hell tosses trash into the main water source for the entire village? Had civilians gotten to be that stupid? Where the ninja suicidal? Or where the people of Iwa so downtrodden and ready to die that they'd decided that a slow death via self poisoning was a good idea? The boy couldn't wrap his head around it; he really couldn't. Sure, life in the Fire Temple was a site easier then the rest of the village; but it wasn't like they hoarded all the supplies they got via their own trade agreements. The Tsukino made sure the Jun Chi didn't go wanting; and the Jun Chi returned the favor by forging and repairing their cousin clan's weaponry in ways that the blacksmiths and weaponsmiths of Kumo never could. It worked; and it kept the Jun Chi from suffering like much of Iwa had.

Then again, the Jun Chi also gave out half their supplies to feed the homeless and destitute; any that came to the temple was given a warm meal, a few ryo, and clothing, if needed. Or even blankets. Toys for children. Anything they could spare to keep the village alive. And now they poison the only water they had with trash. Despicable.

He should just boil the lake and sanitize it now; before anyone really got sick off it. But then the hunger from the lack of fish... fuck. Another solution would have to be found. Maybe lend some of the acolytes for guard duty... hnnn...

Well; fuck them and fuck the stick they gave him. The hell where they thinking, only giving him one basket to fill. Thing was tiny as heck too; what did they think he was, weak? Che; screw that. Compress it using the basket, tie the crap up; take three loads in at once and then some. He had rope; he always carried rope. In a place surrounded by cliffs and mountains, a rope and some good anchor rods were life savers. That and some heat to shock the rocks and make it easy to set the anchors, and he could safely climb out of anywhere. If he had some kind of sweeper; a board or something equally long and flat; he could rig a rudimentary crane mechanism and use it to sweep the trash closer to shore; and a lot more of it then he could just with a stick and his hands. Too bad everything in or near the water was molding and too soft. Goddamn, how long had this shit been sitting? Maybe sterilizing the lake wasn't such a bad idea. They could easily repopulate it with the fish from the temple's lakes and ponds, it would just be a few months before anyone would be able to fish there again. Given they where coming into the spring harvests, and the fields down the mountains where looking bountiful for once... it might be worth it to 'discuss' with what little government was still actively working.

For now... he'd have to do things the hard way. Joy. Maybe his whips would work to gather the trash? Eeeeh... not likely. They where all heat and no mass. No way to pull or push effectively with them. Uuugh. Time to get wet and nasty and dirty and all those things he didn't like to do.

Simple enough; don't bother with the stick and just get hands in. Pick it up, squeeze the water out of possible, and drop it. He even fed hot air into the basket to act as a drying agent, shrinking anything that was waterlogged and making more room for additions. The basket's small size had it filling quickly; but that wouldn't stop him. He'd merely drop it on the shore; compress it down with a mixture of weight and more heat; then top it off until he couldn't anymore. At that point; dump it out, tie it up with rope and leave it waiting for him to get more. This was repeated far more then three times; the bundles of trash piled high on the shore; well out of reach of the mild tides that the lake had. Hell; he didn't stop until there was nothing left to be seen; covering the entire sandy shore area that people gathered in. So; basically removing all the trash he could possibly get without diving into the lake. The water was still nasty though; a film of oil and grease and... he didn't even know what.

"On second though... sanitize it." Or just the surface; boil the very top layer to clear the gunk away. The water was deep and cold; so his heat would only penetrate a few inches, just enough to burn away the gunky layer. It took him half an hour of pumping chakra into the water, and boy was he exhausted afterwards; but the deed was done; and they lake was cleaner then it had been in months. A sharp whistle and a burst of red sparks into the sky was all it took to summon his clansmen; he'd have them haul the extra bundles away while he took in his three and collected the measly reward. The Jun Chi was hungry; and that 50 ryo would be just enough to get him a decent meal in town.

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