The Hokage Building.
Out front, a well-decorated carriage—spacious enough to hold six adults—was being pulled by two sturdy horses.
"What?! Genin?! And four of them at that?!"
"I paid you eighty thousand ryō—eighty thousand! And you're giving me four genin?!"
A slightly plump, round-faced middle-aged man slammed his hand down on the mission desk. Nara Yōsuke raised both hands helplessly.
"Mr. Mizutani, this was personally assigned by the Hokage-sama. You can rest assured and trust this team's capabilities."
"Bullshit! Any idiot knows that no matter what, a team should at least have a chūnin leading it. How could there be a team made up of four genin?!"
Hearing this, Nara Yōsuke's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Mr. Mizutani seems quite knowledgeable about ninja affairs."
If he remembered correctly, although Mizutani Shōto had done business in the Land of Fire twice before, this was his first time coming to Konohagakure itself to commission a C-rank mission. Logically speaking, he shouldn't—
"Nonsense! Do you think I only do business in your Land of Fire?!"
"My apologies, my apologies. But this matter—Baixing's team can absolutely complete it. His strength already qualifies him to be a chūnin. He simply has some lingering regrets in certain areas and is determined to resolve them before advancing."
"Regrets about what?"
Mizutani Shōto suddenly had a bad feeling.
"That involves classified information. But you can rest assured—Genin Baixing has a one-hundred-percent mission completion rate every time. You can trust him completely!"
The moment those words fell—
Mizutani Shōto immediately stopped making a fuss, sucking in sharp breaths one after another.
"Hiss—"
"Don't tell me he's some kind of eccentric genius ninja?"
"More or less," Nara Yōsuke said, wiping sweat from his brow, thinking to himself: If I told you his goal was to cast ninjutsu without mistakes during the chūnin exams, wouldn't you explode on the spot?
"In any case, if there are no further issues, shall we leave it at that?"
"Mm. Since it's the Hokage's arrangement, there must be a reason for it. I'm entrusting my safety to you Konoha ninja."
Mizutani Shōto folded his arms.
"Then the time is set for today at exactly noon. Head to the village's west gate at that time."
After Nara Yōsuke finished speaking, Mizutani Shōto nodded and left the Hokage Building. At the same time, Baixing—who had been disguised as a chūnin using the Transformation Technique while pretending to check the public job board—dispelled his transformation.
"So? I took care of the client side for you."
"You know I don't like taking out-of-village missions. My strength really isn't enough."
"There's no helping it. You've already accepted the mission—you can't exactly not do it," Nara Yōsuke said with a smile. His gaze shifted toward the public job board, his eyes dimming slightly.
"Come back alive, Genin Baixing."
"Don't set flags for me."
"You're saying things I don't understand again."
West Gate of the village.
The massive gates on both sides stood wide open. During wartime, the village was almost always on high alert; pedestrians passing through the gates had to undergo multiple layers of inspection—let alone those leaving the village.
After meeting the client for the C-rank mission, Baixing and the client's group exchanged brief introductions.
"My name is A-Jin. I'm Lord Mizutani's guard, and also the coachman."
"My name is A-Yin…"
In short, the two black-haired young men—who carried themselves like wandering swordsmen and wore blades at their waists—were a pair of twin brothers. Both served as Mizutani Shōto's bodyguards, while also doubling as coachmen.
"Alright, I more or less understand. No problems—let's depart," Baixing said, nodding to indicate he had a general grasp of the trio's situation. He then led the caravan through the procedures for leaving the village.
Once all the formalities were complete, the carriage convoy officially set off.
In the late-June heat, a hint of cool breeze mixed in, stirring the green forests lining the main road and lending some vitality to the stifling weather.
Inside the carriage,
When Mizutani Shōto asked why the team consisted of two girls and one boy, Baixing explained that Might Dai's situation was similar to his own—each of them fell short in certain aspects, preventing promotion.
This left Mizutani Shōto mildly surprised.
"You're from the Uchiha clan," he said to Mikoto. "Don't you look down on a genin as your teacher?"
What puzzled him even more was that the Uchiha were rumored to be rather cold and aloof—like those in the Military Police Force. Yet a cute young girl like Uchiha Mikoto was actually willing to take a genin as her teacher. That was unexpected.
"Sensei Baixing isn't weak," Mikoto replied. "Whether genin or chūnin, it's just a rank. It doesn't mean chūnin are automatically stronger than genin."
Seated on the right side of the same row, Yakushi Nono nodded lightly.
"Sensei Baixing is really strong!"
"Don't underestimate Baixing just because he's a genin. In terms of strength, he's more than qualified," Might Dai added from Mikoto's left.
Hearing this, Mizutani Shōto couldn't help but show a trace of surprise. He turned to look at the handsome black-haired youth sitting beside him, thinking to himself what kind of personal charm this kid had to earn the admiration of three fellow genin.
Up front, A-Jin drove the carriage while A-Yin held his blade, guarding the surroundings. After passing through a stretch of uneven road, the carriage's swaying grew more pronounced.
To reach the Land of Hot Water, they needed to pass through the territory of the Land of Iron, then take a ship from a port city called Tieling Fortress to arrive at their destination.
Tieling Fortress was an area surrounded by deep mountains, close to the coast. Despite that, its economic development was rather average—something easily seen from the clothing of pedestrians on the streets.
At this time, the air temperature within the Land of Iron leaned toward autumn, only four or five degrees Celsius, as if light snow might fall in a few days. Meanwhile, the Land of Fire was still in the grip of scorching summer heat.
Near the central area of the fortress city stood a tavern with a signboard. Its colorful, gaudy lights were more than enough to show that this was no respectable establishment.
Inside one of the rooms, three big, dark-skinned men were singing loudly, with dancing girls fluttering before them.
After a while, the lead ninja—wearing the tight, sleeveless vest distinctive to Kumogakure—waved his hand, signaling the dancers to leave.
Once they were gone, he slung an arm around the shoulder of the dark-skinned young man beside him, holding a wine cup in his hand.
"Hahaha! What do you think, Vee? I told you there was a pretty good tavern in the Land of Iron."
The man called Vee nodded, picked up the brimming cup in front of him, and downed it in one go.
"Refreshing!"
He slammed the cup onto the table, but his mood dimmed slightly afterward.
"It's just a shame that we Cloud ninja didn't get to take part in the Second War."
"Next door, Konoha, Iwagakure, and that small country are probably fighting like crazy right now. Makes one jealous, doesn't it? Hahaha—"
"Alright. Being able to avoid a war is something we should be grateful for as Cloud ninja. And this kind of talk shouldn't be said too loudly—if it carries outside, it won't end well."
The last speaker—a long-haired blond man also wearing a blue-and-white fitted vest—finally spoke up.
There was no doubt about it: all three were at least chūnin-level, if not jōnin. The vests they wore were protective flak jackets only those of chūnin rank or above were qualified to wear.
"Heh. We're here on a mission anyway, and the target hasn't even arrived yet. What's wrong with relaxing a bit? Besides, it's just a team of four genin. What is there to be afraid of?"
The bald, middle-aged leader took a sip of wine and replied coldly to the blond man.
"Right, Ritsu?"
"No need to tell me, Captain A-Ye Yi."
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