"Why does everyone from the Land of Water look... strange?"
Xin laughed, "Be more confident. It's not just a feeling-they really do look strange, especially the ninja from the Mist Village."
Much like Konoha, the Mist Village was home to many bloodline clans. Ironically, several of them were originally driven out of the Land of Fire after being beaten by the Uchiha and Senju during the Warring States period. Many fled to the Land of Water.
Despite having a variety of powerful bloodline limits, the Mist Village's brutal regime led to many of these clans wiping themselves out in internal conflicts. So Nawaki wasn't wrong. A lot of the Mist Village's ninjas did look rather... abstract.
For Xin, they were downright bizarre. You only needed to look at the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist to get the idea-sharp fangs, wicked smiles.
Minato, meanwhile, was carefully reading through the intel on Mist Village as well. "The ninjas from that village are known for their assassination skills. If we encounter them, we need to stay on high alert."
The squad's mission wasn't too complicated. All they had to do was accompany and guard the merchant ships for two months. If enemies attacked, they were to handle it. Other than that, there wasn't much for them to worry about.
Without enemies, things were downright relaxing. Xin even pulled out a fishing rod to pass the time. As for studying enemy intel... he figured he knew more about the Mist Village than Konoha did, anyway.
Minato noticed how laid-back Xin was, barely even glancing at the reports, and that made him a little uneasy. But with nothing happening at sea, Minato soon found himself joining in with the fishing.
Mist Village had been targeting Konoha's sea routes for some time, but their recent actions had been bolder than usual. That's why the village had assigned elite jonin squads to protect the merchant ships.
Half a month passed since their team started guarding the shipping lanes, and everything remained calm. No incidents. But the mission wasn't over yet.
"The weather doesn't look too good today," Minato remarked, standing on deck. The sea was blanketed in thick mist, far thicker than what Minato had expected from his rare visits to the coast.
Visibility was reduced to barely ten meters, the horizon swallowed by a dense, white fog. It was as if the sea and sky had merged into a single cloud of mist, obscuring everything.
"I heard from the helmsman that this happens a few days every month," Nawaki said casually, though his words made Xin choke on air.
That just made it sound like the ocean had its own 'special time of the month.' Every month, there were always a few days like this.