Kushina immediately let out a scream.
"Ah! Damn it, the noodles I cooked..."
Clearly, the lovingly prepared lunch Kushina had made for Hayato Ren was ruined, but this actually suited Hayato Ren just fine.
After all, he wasn't very keen on eating Kushina's cooking anyway.
Because Kushina always liked to add her own "special touch" when cooking, the flavors would end up becoming quite strange.
Yet Kushina herself never noticed anything wrong when eating her own food.
After cleaning up the mess in the kitchen, Hayato Ren and Kushina decided to eat out instead.
With their stomachs full, Hayato Ren and Kushina were strolling hand in hand along the street.
Suddenly, Kushina stopped walking and pointed in a direction, saying:
"Ren, look over there - isn't that Mikoto?"
Hayato Ren followed where Kushina was pointing and indeed spotted Mikoto's figure.
However, Mikoto currently had an impatient expression on her face, and trailing behind her was a man wearing Uchiha attire.
Just then, Mikoto also noticed Hayato Ren and Kushina.
She said something impatiently to the person behind her, then jogged over toward Hayato Ren and Kushina.
When Mikoto reached them, Kushina couldn't wait to start gossiping.
"Mikoto, who was that guy just now? Could he be your..."
Hearing this, Mikoto immediately made a disgusted expression.
"That annoying guy is called Fugaku Uchiha. He always acts so high and mighty - I really don't like him. Lately, he's gotten some strange idea in his head and keeps bouncing around in front of me. It's really irritating."
Seeing Mikoto's troubled expression, Kushina immediately spoke up in solidarity:
"That guy looks decent on the outside, but I never expected he'd be that kind of person. Don't worry Mikoto, next time I see him I'll definitely beat him up good, so he won't dare bother you again."
Seeing that Kushina didn't seem to be joking, Mikoto quickly tried to dissuade her:
"It hasn't gotten to that point yet! And I heard that guy has already awakened the Three Tomoe Sharingan - he's not weak at all."
"Hmph, I don't care if he has three tomoe or four tomoe! Next time I see him, I'm definitely going to beat him up. At worst, I'll just borrow some chakra from that stinky fox."
Hearing Kushina say this, Hayato Ren couldn't help but ask curiously:
"You've already gotten on good terms with the Nine-Tails that quickly?"
"No, that stinky fox goes crazy and yells every time it sees me. But I can forcibly 'borrow' some chakra from it."
After saying this, Kushina became surrounded by a layer of red chakra.
Hayato Ren quickly stopped Kushina's actions - otherwise, the Anbu would be showing up at their door.
Releasing the Nine-Tails' chakra on a busy street was still somewhat dangerous.
Because they were in the same squad and came from notable families, Mikoto had long been aware of Kushina's identity as the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, so she wasn't particularly curious about it.
Afterward, Mikoto joined the group, and they spent time wandering together.
In a way, this could be considered a team-building activity for Hayato Ren's squad.
A few days later, Hayato Ren found himself deep in thought as he faced an Anbu member.
"You're saying that a mere Chunin like me is responsible for guarding a supply convoy headed to the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind?"
In response to Hayato Ren's question, the Anbu member replied in a cold tone:
"That is the mission assigned. However, you won't be alone—several Genin will accompany you. The supply squad departs promptly at noon tomorrow. Make sure not to be late."
After delivering the message, the Anbu leaped out the window and vanished from Hayato Ren's sight.
Staring at the mission details before him, Hayato Ren fell into contemplation.
He couldn't shake the feeling that something was off about this mission. Under normal circumstances, protecting a supply convoy would require at least five Chunin.
Even with Konoha's manpower shortage due to the war, it didn't make sense to assign only one Chunin and a few Genin for such a task.
Moreover, the supplies to be escorted were minimal—hardly worth the effort of assigning a dedicated guard detail.
The whole situation reeked of strangeness, as if an unseen hand was manipulating events from behind the scenes.
But the mission assignment had already been issued.
Hayato Ren had no room to back out now, unless he were to injure himself with a kunai—a drastic measure to withdraw from the mission due to injury.
However, the cost of such an action would be too high.
Perhaps it was just a minor coincidence. After all, he was just an ordinary Chunin—why would anyone go to such lengths to target him? He'd simply have to be extra cautious.
Hayato Ren comforted himself with these thoughts.
Time passed quickly, and the next day arrived. After bidding farewell to Kushina and Mikoto, Hayato Ren set off for the border with a group of unnamed background characters.
For the first three days, the journey proceeded without incident, as calm and uneventful as could be.
Just as Hayato Ren began to think he could easily "earn" a B-rank mission completion...
On the evening of the fourth day, an unexpected situation arose.
Hayato Ren had been sleeping in his tent when a strange sensation of being watched jolted him awake.
As he opened his eyes and scanned his surroundings, he realized the sensation was coming from a small insect perched near his tent.
After staring at the insect for a moment, Hayato Ren shook his head and thought to himself:
I've really been on edge lately. It's just a tiny bug—nothing to worry about.
But this thought was immediately proven wrong. Hayato Ren sat up abruptly and summoned Charmeleon.
An insect? That's the specialty of the Aburame clan.
If that were the case, then everything became clear. Someone really was targeting Hayato Ren, and that someone was none other than Konoha's scapegoat king—Danzo.
An ordinary person simply couldn't possess the capability to set up such an elaborate scheme.
After casually crushing that insignificant insect, Hayato Ren headed outside the camp with his Charmeleon.
Outside the camp, a Genin was standing watch. When he spotted Hayato Ren, a puzzled expression appeared on his face.
"Chunin Hayato, has something happened?"