A day had passed since Yami left the village to undertake his fourth C-rank mission. So far—just as the client had predicted—they had been attacked by mercenaries, though only once.
The half-Senju was at the head of the caravan. He glanced back at the three wagons: two carried merchandise, while the third held supplies for the journey. Bringing up the rear was Shisui.
"Everything alright?" the client asked, noticing Yami's gaze.
"Yes, just checking to make sure everything is in order," the young, black-haired boy replied, turning his attention back to the path ahead.
The older man watched Yami for a moment; his smile vanished abruptly, and he retreated back inside his wagon.
At their current pace, it would take at least another day to cross out of the Land of Fire and reach the Land of Hot Springs.
...
Upon reaching the border, they decided to take a short break. While the eight members of the caravan ate lunch and rested, Yami remained perched in a tree, keeping a watchful eye on the surroundings for any potential threats.
"I think it's time to swap," Shisui's voice remarked, appearing beside the half-Senju, holding out a tin of food.
"I can stay up here a bit longer," the young disciple said, shaking his head.
"And end up fighting poorly because you're hungry?" Shisui countered, shaking his head as he extended the tin further. "It's been quiet so far, but now that we're outside the Land of Fire, there's a strong chance we could be attacked by ninjas. I need you well-fed so you can back me up if we're hit by a surprise assault."
Hearing his master's words, Yami looked down at the tin—it contained a mixture of corn, carrots, beans, and meat. It was the first time Yami had ventured completely outside the village on a mission. He had always stopped at the border—never going beyond it—so he couldn't exactly tell Shisui that such a thing wouldn't happen; doing so would have been a lie.
Without a second thought, he picked up the tin of food.
"You keep a lookout while I finish eating," the half-Senju declared, leaping down from the tree.
"Sure, whatever you say," Shisui replied with a smile.
...
As they traveled along the roads in the Land of Hot Springs, the atmosphere felt remarkably tranquil.
Despite his confidence in his own strength, Yami had to admit he felt a bit uneasy. He remained hyper-vigilant, keeping a close watch on his surroundings—but to his growing concern, he couldn't hear a single thing.
Taking a steadying breath, he tried to steel himself.
*Yami, it's no big deal,* he told himself. *If nothing's happening, maybe that's actually a good thing.*
"Is something wrong?" asked the man driving the lead carriage.
"Huh?" The half-Senju realized he had stopped in his tracks, lost in his own thoughts. "Oh, no—nothing at all. I was just keeping an eye on our surroundings."
"Really?" the man asked, scratching his head.
"Did something happen?" Shisui asked, appearing suddenly at Yami's side.
"No, not really... I suppose I might just be overthinking things," the young disciple admitted.
"Hmm—did you hear something?" the master couldn't help but ask.
Yami possessed sensory abilities, though he wasn't particularly skilled at them; he struggled with both their application and their development. Since Shisui himself wasn't a sensor, he wasn't quite sure how to help him in that regard.
"No, I haven't heard a thing," the half-Senju replied.
The Uchiha initially took this at face value, but as he reflected on his disciple's words, something clicked.
"Wait a moment—you said you haven't heard anything. Since when?" he pressed.
"Well... I haven't heard a sound since we crossed the border," Yami answered, trying to recall as he held his head.
"Hey, is something going on?" someone called out from inside the carriage.
"Just a moment," Shisui said before turning back to Yami. "Nothing at all—not a bird, not an animal, not a single thing." "No, it's not..." Just as he was answering the question, he noticed an anomaly—and simultaneously sensed several presences moving toward his location. "Sensei!!!" he exclaimed.
Instantly, a mist flooded the path, obscuring the area and rendering everything around it invisible.
"So, that's what this is," the Uchiha said, glancing around. "Ninjas from Kirigakure."
"Look who we have here—none other than Shisui of the Body Flicker," a mocking voice rang out.
The two dark-haired figures turned toward a ninja wearing a Kirigakure headband, who was wielding a highly recognizable sword.
"Yami, how many do you sense?" the Uchiha asked his disciple.
"About twenty ninjas—several with significant chakra levels," the half-Senju replied, a kunai already in his hand.
"Heh, heh," the current wielder of the *Kabutowari* chuckled, revealing his shark-like teeth.
Shisui realized that the enemy ninjas were focusing more on him than on Yami. He immediately deduced that this stemmed from a past encounter during the Third Great Ninja War—though the question remained: how did they know he would be here?
"Doesn't matter; I'll figure it out later," he thought to himself, then looked at Yami. " Focus on protecting the client; I'll keep them distracted," he said, outlining the plan.
The young man simply nodded. He wasn't about to let his ego take over or insist on taking on some of the enemies himself. His mother had taught him that there are two top priorities for any ninja. mission: completing the objective and ensuring one's own survival.
Therefore, staying behind to protect the client was the most logical and rational choice.
"Hiki, Amanai—take care of the brat," the Mist swordsman ordered.
In the blink of an eye, Shisui vanished using the *Shunshin* technique, drawing eighteen of the Kiri ninjas after him, while two remained behind to deal with Yami.
Relying on his sensory abilities, Yami gauged that one opponent was at the *gennin* level, while the other was a *chunnin*. It wasn't an impossible fight; he had full confidence in the results of his training. The eight people in the carriage stepped out from their safe spots—the client included—to see what was happening.
"Boy, what's going on?" the client asked.
"Don't worry, sir. I'll handle these two," Yami replied, his eyes fixed on the two Kiri ninja, who remained motionless.
"Oh? Are you sure about that?" The client's voice sounded hollow, devoid of any emotion.
"Huh?" Yami realized it too late; the eight individuals—who had seemed like ordinary civilians—suddenly saw their chakra levels spike.
As they moved, Yami dodged an attack from the client, who had tried to sever his head with a kunai.
A spray of blood hit the ground. The half-Senju clutched his neck, realizing the wound was only superficial.
In an instant, he found himself surrounded by the six supposed civilians and the two Kiri ninja.
The client, staring coldly at the young man, tossed his bloodied kunai to one of his companions, who then vanished using a *shunshin* (body flicker) technique.
"My first mission outside the village, and it's a trap—talk about rotten luck," Yami muttered, mocking himself as he surveyed the nine enemies surrounding him.
"It's nothing personal, Senju. We're just following orders," the client said, as all the ninja surrounding the youth drew kunai, *tantō*, and various other weapons.
Quickly letting go of his neck, Yami performed five hand seals with lightning speed.
"Now!" one of the Kiri ninjas commanded, prompting them all to lunge at Yami. Without uttering a single word, Yami spat out a massive cloud of smoke, further obscuring vision—compounding the effect of the mist-concealment jutsu already in play.
"A smokescreen, and he didn't even say a single syllable," thought the client—the leader of the unknown ninjas leading the assault.
"He's trying to escape!" one of the ninjas shouted as the frantic clashing of metal rang out.
Yami emerged from the smoke, hurling a kunai—affixed with an explosive tag—back into the haze.
"Watch out!" someone cried, just as an explosion rocked the area. Several enemies leaped backward, though the blast struck only one of them.
Yami drew more kunai and flung them at his attackers, who returned fire in kind.
As the half-Senju landed near the carriage, the client performed a hand seal; the carriage—along with the other two—instantly erupted in a massive explosion.
"A substitution," the leader of the attack muttered, noting that no trace of the young man remained among the wreckage.
Hidden amidst the destroyed carriages, Yami kept a close watch on his enemies—until one of the ninjas appeared directly above him, attempting to strike him down.
The raven-haired youth reacted just in time, dodging the slash while swiftly performing three hand seals and striking the ground.
Earthen spikes shot toward the ninja, inflicting severe injuries—the attacker had clearly not anticipated how quickly Yami could execute the jutsu. Unfortunately for the Konoha genin, however, the attack failed to kill his opponent.
"Water Style: Water Bullet!" The two Kiri ninjas could be heard chanting; Yami responded by performing three hand seals and spitting out a fireball that intercepted the enemy's attack.
At the same time, a barrage of shuriken headed his way. Reacting quickly, he threw a kunai—to which a wire was already attached—toward a tree; pulling hard on the wire, he slid away at high speed, narrowly evading the incoming projectiles.
"If I keep this up, I might not make it," the half-Senju thought to himself, realizing that fighting nine ninjas simultaneously was no easy feat—especially given his lack of experience in multi-front combat. He needed help, and fast.
Grabbing his own neck—where the blood was still fresh—he smeared some of it onto his palm and began weaving hand seals, just as two of the ninjas lunged toward him.
"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" he declared, and a great cloud of smoke appeared, interposing itself between the enemy's attack and the young man.
One of the ninjas' eyes widened, and he threw himself to the ground; his companion, however, did not—and was met by an axe infused with wind-style chakra, which sliced him in half.
A polar bear, standing about four meters tall on its hind legs, appeared in the midst of the fray. It took one look around to grasp the situation; no explanation was needed.
In less than a second, it pulled a massive shuriken from its back and hurled it at the remaining ninja. The ninja barely managed to raise a kunai in defense, but the sheer force of the throw knocked the kunai aside, and the giant shuriken buried itself in his neck—effectively decapitating him.
"He's fast!" the client exclaimed, leaping backward—a movement the others mirrored instantly.
The path was left empty, save for two corpses lying on the ground.
From within the mist, the sound of metal clashing against metal began to ring out.
A gravely wounded ninja leaned against a tree, staring at the gash in his abdomen—from which blood continued to pour—when a sudden noise caused him to duck.
He watched as the tree was split in two, then looked up to find the polar bear staring fixedly at him.
He tried to react, but his injury slowed him down just enough for the bear to finish him off with a single blow.
Elsewhere, Yami drew a kunai covered in explosive talismans and hurled it toward his enemies.
Most managed to escape, but one was caught in the blast and died instantly. The other ninjas lost sight of the half-Senju, searching in every direction—only for one of them to feel two hands grab his feet, pulling him deep underground.
The moment Yami emerged from the earth, the spot where the enemy had been standing lit up and exploded, blowing him to pieces.
"Headhunter Jutsu combined with an explosive tag," the client thought, staring at the remains of the ninjas.
In the distance, the shouts of other ninjas could be heard, while Yami found himself locked in close-quarters combat with several opponents.
The leader of the assault had never imagined that his target would possess such a powerful summon. The plan had been to overwhelm him with numbers—either to capture him or, failing that, to kill him. Drawing his *tantō*, the leader lunged forward at full speed, intent on a lethal strike—only for Shisui to appear before him, his *Sharingan* fully activated.
"Sharingan: Genjutsu," the Uchiha declared, causing the man to veer off course.
The sudden arrival of the Konoha *jōnin* caused the ninja fighting Yami to lose his focus; the man threw a *kunai* and began weaving hand signs.
The *kunai* multiplied, striking the enemy ninjas and killing them instantly.
Silence. For several seconds, not a sound stirred in the forest.
"Well done, Yami. You managed to hold your own without needing to resort to your secret weapons," Shisui said, commending his disciple, who sat on the ground, breathing slowly.
At that same moment, Polar appeared before them, his body stained with blood.
"Enemies eliminated," he stated.
"Good work," Shisui remarked—he was already well-acquainted with the creatures bound to Yami's summoning contract.
"Thanks, Polar. You can head back now; I'll reward you when I get home," the half-Senju replied.
The bear simply nodded and vanished in a puff of smoke.
"I must say, I'm surprised you chose to summon him," the Uchiha commented.
"Out of the three, only Polar is a sensory type," Yami explained, rising to his feet to approach the fallen enemy ninja and begin searching his belongings.
Shisui merely nodded, then turned his gaze toward the client—a man who was supposedly a civilian. "Tell me, who sent you, or who told you to do this?" he asked, looking him in the eye with a piercing, intense gaze.
The man opened his mouth but said nothing. Shisui narrowed his eyes.
"Where do you come from? Who is your leader?" he asked again, but the result was the same.
Without a second thought, he grabbed the man's face and forced his mouth open; just as he had suspected, he saw the "Cursed Tongue Eradication" seal.
Faced with this revelation, the Uchiha could only sigh.
"I need to tell the Hokage about this as soon as possible," he thought.
With that in mind, he took a kunai and slashed the man's throat, killing him.
"Sensei, look at this," he heard Yami say.
Turning around, Shisui approached his pupil, who was examining the ninja's corpse—specifically, a seal marked on his body.
"A chakra-suppression seal... no wonder I couldn't detect him as a ninja," the young man said, clearly frustrated.
"These things happen. You just need to learn from this mistake so you don't repeat it," the Uchiha remarked, placing a hand on Yami's shoulder. Yami simply nodded.
"Also, I should mention that one of them got away. There were ten of them, but one managed to escape—so it ended up being nine against one," the half-Senju explained to his master.
"I see. That's not ideal, but it's not worth chasing after him. It's best to burn all the corpses and return to the village to report what happened," he said, turning away.
Yami nodded in response, then quickly performed a series of three hand seals, exhaling a fireball that incinerated the ninja's corpse.