Inside one of the Gatō Company's bases in the Land of Waves, the short and stocky Gatō was currently fuming with rage.
"What Grass Village elite jōnin? They're all a bunch of useless trash! They can't even deal with a team of one adult and three brats! I'm telling you, I'm not paying them the rest of their fee—no matter what!"
With his hands clasped behind his back, Gatō paced back and forth across the room, his temper flaring.
Once he had vented enough to calm himself, Gatō finally turned and looked up at the subordinate beside him.
"I can't count on those rogue ninja from Kusagakure anymore. In the ninja world, who else is powerful enough for us to hire?"
Hearing the question, the subordinate fell silent for a moment, digging through his memory before recalling two possible choices.
"If we're talking guaranteed strength, then at this point, the only ones we can contact are the Integration Movement and the Akatsuki Organization."
Ever since Yagura's reforms changed Kirigakure's bloody system, the village no longer produced elite rogue ninja, cutting off Gatō Company's supply of strong freelancers.
"The Integration Movement? That crazy organization that dared to attack a daimyō's mansion?"
Having close ties with noble families, Gatō had certainly heard of that group—and knew very well that they charged a fortune for their services.
For the sake of appeasing his influential backers and protecting his own wallet, he couldn't afford to hire them.
That left him with only one choice—The Akatsuki Organization.
"Fine then. Go and contact them."
After a brief hesitation, Gatō waved his hand, signaling his subordinate to take care of it.
"Uh, boss..."
The man didn't move right away. He stood awkwardly, hesitation written all over his face.
"Spit it out!"
"Y-Yes, boss. It's just... that organization isn't exactly the kind you can pull a double-cross on..."
He knew full well what kind of man his boss was—and what kind of tricks he liked to pull.
"I know that."
Gatō waved his hand impatiently. He wasn't an idiot—he knew very well which people could be messed with and which couldn't.
"Right, and send someone to get in touch with the nobles of the Land of Fire. See if there's a way to get Konoha to stop this mission."
Before his subordinate left the room, Gatō gave one last instruction, just to be safe.
Once everything was set, Gatō finally relaxed, letting out a long sigh as he sank deep into the soft couch, his whole body melting into its cushions.
...
"Anko-sensei, where are we going for this mission?"
Two days after Asuma's team had already departed, Anko's team was making their way along the road toward the Land of Waves.
Karin looked around curiously, taking in the scenery as she turned to Anko to ask about their destination.
"That's classified for now."
Anko's attention was completely consumed by the four or five dango sticks in her hands—her favorite food—so she didn't have much energy left to respond to Karin's question.
"Are we sure our captain's okay?"
Watching how Anko treated the mission like a field trip, Sasuke leaned closer to Naruto and whispered in his ear.
"Relax. Anko-sensei is a special jōnin—she must have her own plan."
Naruto knew that every jōnin had their quirks, so he didn't think too much of Anko's carefree attitude. Facing Sasuke's complaint, he could only whisper back words of comfort.
"Tch, still... the way she's acting reminds me of someone..."
Sasuke clicked his tongue and stopped talking, but the expression on his face betrayed that he was thinking of a familiar person he hadn't seen in a while.
"You mean Takeshi, right? I thought the same thing—their styles are pretty similar."
Failing to get any real information out of Anko, Karin joined their conversation.
"Exactly! I knew it wasn't just me."
Sasuke's expression relaxed a little when someone agreed with him.
Hearing the trio whispering behind her, Anko smirked. As a special jōnin, even though they kept their voices low, there was no way their little chat could escape her ears.
Still, she didn't mind their gossip. Instead, she was already thinking about how she'd make Asuma pay up once they got to the Land of Waves.
The reason she could afford to be so relaxed was simple—Asuma's team had already gone ahead and likely tripped most of the traps along the way. Her squad was mainly there for support; the heavy fighting would all fall on Asuma's side.
"I just hope the Land of Waves has some good dango..."
What Anko couldn't have known was that at that very moment, Asuma—whom she imagined cutting through enemies left and right—was facing a grave threat.
The second wave of attacks came fast.
Standing before him was a pale-skinned man, eyes closed, wearing a long white robe. Feeling the oppressive aura coming off the stranger, Asuma drew his chakra blades without hesitation.
The man's presence was overwhelming. Even as a jōnin, Asuma could feel his exposed skin tingling painfully just from being near him.
"Who are you?"
Asuma shifted his stance, moving slowly, occasionally glancing behind to check on Shikamaru and the others.
Damn it—this isn't someone ordinary people can handle.
After confirming that Shikamaru and the others were already in defensive formation, Asuma decided to test his opponent's strength first with his best skill—taijutsu.
Activating the Body Flicker Technique, Asuma appeared in front of the man in an instant, swinging his chakra blade straight toward the man's chest.
The resistance was immense. Without even opening his eyes, the man casually raised his arm, blocking Asuma's strike with his forearm.
"Ras."
"Nani?"
Just as Asuma was preparing his next move, the man spoke.
"My name... is Ras."
----------------
Fanfic is finished on Patreon (445 chapters in total.)
Patreon(.)com/Jixo (for only $4.50, read this entire fanfic)