Chapter 16: Preparations for Departure
"Captain, what do you think of this mission?"
After a moment of thought, Neji handed the mission scroll to Yugito.
Yugito glanced at it, a sharp glint in her eye. "Why this one?"
Neji scratched his head, looking slightly sheepish. "Well, first off, it's just a simple escort mission. The cargo is just grain—not valuable enough for anyone to hire shinobi to attack it. Second, the destination is the Land of Grass, so we won't have to tangle with shinobi from any of the Four Great Nations. Any trouble that does pop up should be well within our ability to handle."
Yugito listened and then praised him with a smile. "Not bad, kid. That's a solid analysis."
For a shinobi, intelligence was paramount. The first step in accepting any mission was to analyze all the available information from the mission scroll.
Neji just shrugged at Yugito's compliment.
In truth, there was another important reason he hadn't mentioned. He had been in this world for three years, but his activities had been confined to the village. He was intensely curious about the outside world and longed for a chance to see it. The journey from the Land of Lightning to the Land of Grass was a long one. It was a perfect opportunity for an adventure.
Yugito led Neji to get the mission certificate and the village exit permits.
Outside the mission assignment building, Yugito waved the permits in her hand. "Go home and pack your things properly. This mission will likely take us away from the village for about a month, so don't forget anything. We'll meet at the main gate tomorrow at 0800 hours."
Neji didn't linger, quickly leaving to head home.
Yugito stared at his retreating back until he disappeared into the crowd, then she turned and headed straight for the Raikage's office.
It was evening by the time Neji got home.
Samui wasn't there.
Looking at the empty house, Neji felt a pang of disappointment. Usually, when he came home, Samui would have dinner ready and waiting. But ever since he had officially become a shinobi and teamed up with Yugito, Samui had become like a different person. She trained with an unprecedented intensity, often staying out all night.
Samui was eighteen this year. Two years ago, she was already a Tokubetsu Jōnin of the Hidden Cloud, an achievement that would be considered outstanding in any village. But this was a cruel world where bloodline determined everything. While effort wasn't always enough, without it, you had nothing. For an ordinary person to close the gap with a genius from a powerful clan, they had to put in a hundred times the work.
With a silent sigh, Neji went into the kitchen to make dinner.
He prepared enough for two. After eating his own portion, he sat in the living room, waiting for Samui to return.
By ten o'clock, she still hadn't come back. Neji put her dinner in the refrigerator and went to his room to rest and prepare.
The mission details surfaced in his mind.
Mission: The head of the Tokugawa clan in the Land of Grass, Tokugawa Takahara, has purchased 50 tons of grain in the Land of Lightning. An elite shinobi team is required to escort the grain convoy to the Village Hidden in the Grass. The convoy consists of 200 personnel and 50 guards.
Rank: C
Requirements: Depart on October 10th, Kumo Year 53. Safely deliver the convoy to Kusagakure within 20 days.
Payment: 70,000 Ryō
Neji glanced at the items on his desk: twelve kunai, thirty-six shuriken, two rolls of wire, nine explosive tags, two bottles of soldier pills, two rolls of bandages, and two packets of blood-clotting powder.
From the mission details, 50 tons of grain wasn't an incredibly valuable prize. It was unlikely they would face any intense combat. But just in case, Neji prepared double the supplies. All of his expenses were covered by the village, so he didn't have to worry about money and could afford to be well-equipped.
He packed the ninja tools and a few changes of clothes into a storage scroll. His preparations were complete.
Neji lay down on his bed and drifted into a heavy sleep.
Early the next morning, after eating breakfast, Neji didn't leave immediately. He waited quietly for Samui.
At 7:59, she still hadn't returned. With a sigh, he activated his Lightning Release Chakra Mode and dashed out the door.
At the main gate of the Hidden Cloud, a bustling crowd moved in and out. The most conspicuous sight was the long convoy of wagons lined up just outside. The convoy was made up of a hundred carts, with over two hundred personnel accompanying them.
"Captain, I'm here."
Neji appeared just in the nick of time.
It was Yugito's first time leading a team out of the village. Having made her own preparations, she had arrived a full half-hour early. A level of punctuality that would put Kakashi Hatake to shame.
"You finally made it," she said, glancing at the slightly out-of-breath Neji. She didn't ask any questions. "Come on, let's go meet the client."
As they walked, she suddenly seemed to remember something. She pulled a pair of goggles from her ninja pouch and handed them to him.
"I got these for you. Put them on."
"Do I have to?"
"Just wear them!"
Neji looked at the goggles, then at Yugito standing with her hands on her hips and a stern look on her face. He obediently took them and put them on. His identity was sensitive. The goggles would hide his Byakugan and help avoid unnecessary trouble. Neji understood her reasoning. The main reason for his reluctance was that the style of goggles Yugito had chosen reminded him of a certain Uchiha.
Shinobi needed to present an exit permit to leave the village. Anyone caught leaving without authorization could, in serious cases, be branded a rogue ninja. The idea of using a Shadow Clone to sneak out wasn't very realistic. If shinobi could come and go as they pleased, the great villages would lose all credibility.
After showing their exit permits and mission certificate to the gate guards and completing the necessary procedures, the two of them stepped outside.
At the head of the convoy stood two men and one woman. The man in the front, who appeared to be middle-aged, was their client, Tokugawa Takahara. The other two were a voluptuous woman in her thirties and a young boy not yet ten years old.
Yugito's eyes flicked to the woman and the boy, her eyebrows raised. "Tokugawa-san, these two don't seem to be listed in the mission details."
The situation was different from what the scroll described. The client was supposed to be Tokugawa Takahara alone, and the cargo was grain. The woman and boy were clearly not guards or attendants.
Tokugawa looked nervous. "Ninja-sama, these are my relatives. They made a last-minute decision to travel to the Land of Grass to visit family."
"This is not permitted under the terms of our agreement," Yugito said, her expression serious.
"It was an emergency, I didn't have time to amend the mission request," Tokugawa said, offering a sincere apology before adding, "How about this? I'll add five thousand... no, ten thousand Ryō to your payment."
Hearing this, Yugito nodded in tacit agreement.
"Tokugawa-san, we will now inspect the convoy. Once we have confirmed everything is in order, we can depart."
"Thank you, Ninja-sama," Tokugawa said respectfully.
Neji followed Yugito as she began the inspection, listening patiently as she shared her experience.
"For a large-scale escort mission like this, you must memorize the number of people and all of their faces before you depart. If you don't, an enemy could use the Transformation Jutsu to infiltrate the group, and you'd never notice. That's when things can go wrong..."