Kakashi led the team consisting of Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, and Sakura Haruno to escort Tazuna to the Land of Waves.
Naruto, who was leaving Konoha for the first time, felt curious about everything around him.
To reach the Land of Waves, they first needed to arrive at the border of the Land of Fire before taking a boat across.
Since the trip felt a bit too quiet, Sakura hesitantly asked, "Mr. Tazuna, your country is the Land of Waves, right?"
Tazuna replied, "Yeah, why?"
Sakura then turned to Kakashi, asking, "Kakashi-sensei, does that country have ninjas too?"
Kakashi explained, "No, the Land of Waves doesn't have any ninja. Although many countries differ in culture and customs, nearly all have ninja villages and shinobi. Across the continent, most countries rely on their ninja villages as their military backbone. In other words, they use their ninja villages to maintain diplomatic relations with other countries. However, these villages aren't controlled by the nations but hold equal standing with them. Small island countries like the Land of Waves, which aren't easily influenced by others, don't need a ninja village at all.
"In countries that do have ninja villages—especially the five great nations of Fire, Water, Wind, Lightning, and Earth—their vast territories and powerful national strength have earned them the title of the Five Great Shinobi Countries.
"The Kage of these Five Great Ninja Villages are seen as the ultimate rulers among shinobi worldwide."
Tazuna grumbled unhappily while taking a sip of his sake. "Unnecessary? Because we didn't have our own ninja village during the Third Great Ninja World War, the Land of Waves became a battlefield between your Land of Fire and Land of Water, causing many innocent people's deaths!"
The others didn't respond to Tazuna's complaint.
Sakura questioned thoughtfully, "The so-called strongest ninja?"
Naruto casually remarked, "Isn't it obvious? It means there are even stronger ninja out there than the Kage."
Kakashi agreed, "You're right, Naruto. After all, the Kage must manage entire villages, so selection as Kage isn't based purely on strength alone."
With a chuckle, Kakashi continued, "Alright, let's keep moving. Although this mission might involve some fighting since it's a C-rank assignment, there definitely won't be any ninja battles."
Ever since she learned that combat could occur on a C-rank mission, Sakura had been frightened. Hearing Kakashi's reassurance that there wouldn't be any ninja battles, she visibly let out a breath of relief.
Relieved, Sakura cheered, "Great! That means we won't have to worry about encountering foreign ninja."
Looking somewhat guilty, Tazuna lowered his head silently.
Naruto curled the corner of his lip, inwardly muttering about how funny Kakashi thought he was.
Meanwhile, Kurama inside Naruto had already warned him: two enemy ninja had been tailing them.
As Chinya's disciple, Naruto couldn't believe Kakashi hadn't noticed either.
Continuing forward, the group encountered a puddle by the roadside.
Kakashi, Naruto, and Sasuke glanced at the puddle simultaneously before continuing on their way.
After Kakashi and the others walked past, the two ninja who had followed them emerged stealthily from the puddle behind.
A ninja swung a chain with full force, hurling both the chain and the ninja attached to its other end toward Kakashi, who was walking at the very back.
The two ninja worked together, binding Kakashi tightly with their sharp chain.
The sudden attack left Sakura Haruno and Tazuna momentarily stunned.
"First one down!"
With a strong pull on the chain, the two ninja crushed Kakashi completely.
The next moment, the same two ninja reappeared behind Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha, aiming to crush them the same way they did Kakashi.
Sasuke Uchiha immediately leapt upward, throwing a shuriken that pinned the chain to a tree trunk. Then he threw a kunai into the circular hole at the center of the shuriken for reinforcement, preventing the two ninja from pulling the chain back.
By then, Sakura had snapped out of her shock and already drawn a kunai to block in front of Tazuna.
The two ninja released the chain and tried to jump past Naruto directly toward Tazuna.
Naruto pushed open a section of his ninja sword from his waist with his thumb and exhaled sharply.
[Wind Breathing, Second Form: Claws of the Ko Wind!]
In an instant, Naruto drew his blade and slashed forward, unleashing four claw-shaped wind blades.
Taken completely by surprise, the two ninja couldn't react in time—one was cut clean into three pieces by three wind claws, the other losing his left arm.
Just as Naruto prepared to execute another Sword Technique to finish off the remaining ninja, Kakashi appeared beside him and grabbed his hand.
"Leave one alive—we need answers."
"I understand."
Naruto slid his blade back into its sheath.
Sakura stared blankly at the three segments of the corpse on the ground. It was her first time witnessing death—and such a bloody one at that.
Frowning slightly, Sasuke shot a sharp glance at Naruto, eyes narrowing as if trying to figure out who this guy really was.
Back at the Ninja Academy, Naruto had always been a solid student—never top of the class, but never a slouch either.
But just now, that slash hadn't been merely decent—it had been far beyond ordinary.
As much as he hated to admit it, the truth was undeniable—Naruto wasn't just stronger, he was way stronger.
Could it be that Naruto had intentionally played weak during his time at the Academy?
Kakashi walked up to the surviving enemy ninja—one-armed now—and grabbed him, tying him securely to a tree trunk.
Once the ninja was secured to the tree, Kakashi turned to Tazuna. "There are a few things I'd like to discuss with you, Mr. Tazuna."
Tazuna's expression grew uneasy.
Kakashi glanced at the bound ninja's forehead protector. "This is a Mist shinobi's chunin badge, right? You guys are famous for fighting to the bitter end regardless of the cost."
Bound to the tree, the wounded ninja glared at Naruto with hatred. "We never expected to be seen through so easily… and beaten by a kid no less!"
Kakashi sighed helplessly. "It hasn't rained in days—it's bright and sunny today. So tell me, what kind of idiot thinks puddles belong on a road like this? Isn't that even basic ninja sense?"
"Obviously you already know the answer," Tazuna stammered, clearly confused. "Why would you let children get involved in a fight like this?"
Kakashi glanced sideways at Tazuna and replied, "If I wanted to, I could take care of these two riffraff in an instant. But I had to confirm who exactly is the enemy's target."
Looking away guiltily, Tazuna still stubbornly shot back, "W-what do you mean? I don't understand what you're talking about."
Kakashi called him out bluntly, "In other words, I had to confirm whether it was you who was being targeted, or someone from our team. But now the result is obvious—Mr. Tazuna, it's you who're being targeted by ninjas!"
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