Chapter 144: Uncontrollable Protective Instincts
"The Land of Waves is just a small island nation that doesn't have its own ninja village."
Finally, the group assembled at the village entrance and officially departed. Not long after leaving Konoha Village, as they entered the lush forest path, Kakashi noticed the hidden unease in Sakura's expression and took the initiative to explain the basic situation of this mission, trying to ease her tension.
"Precisely because the Land of Waves has no ninja forces of its own, when they encounter trouble and need to commission missions, they can only travel to other countries, such as coming to our Konoha Village in the Land of Fire."
Kakashi continued in his characteristic, slightly lazy tone, "Therefore, the enemies we might encounter on this trip would at most be ordinary bandits, wandering samurai, and the like. That's why this mission is classified as C-rank. Remember, the theoretical premise of C-rank missions is—no combat with enemy ninja will occur."
Just as Kakashi was casually reassuring Sakura, Tazuna walking nearby had his eyes unnaturally and guiltily drift elsewhere.
Naruto listened to Kakashi's explanation while observing the surrounding environment. The weather today was indeed excellent—fresh air, birdsong and fragrant flowers, a peaceful and harmonious scene.
However, he knew this tranquility would soon be broken. According to the "plot" development, after seeing that unnatural water puddle on the road ahead, the trouble would begin.
Satsuki silently followed at the rear of the group, her gaze mostly fixed on Naruto's back ahead. She really wanted to quicken her pace and walk beside Naruto, chatting casually with him like usual.
But when she noticed that Kakashi-sensei, who was usually so relaxed that he read that inappropriate Make-Out Paradise book while walking, had now unusually put his book away and was occasionally scanning the dense forests on both sides of the road while maintaining an alert posture, she couldn't help feeling disappointed and abandoned the thought of approaching.
She understood in her heart that as a ninja, maintaining necessary vigilance and focus was the most basic requirement whenever executing missions with any potential danger.
So she could only forcibly push down that desire to get close to Naruto and chat with him.
However... even she herself hadn't realized that these longings and dependencies repeatedly suppressed were quietly accumulating and fermenting in her heart. When someday these emotions could no longer be contained and erupted completely, what awaited Naruto would definitely not be gentle-as-water scenery, but more turbulent and obsessive torrents.
It could be said that Naruto himself was completely unaware that in his unconscious "conquest," he seemed to have used a bit too much force.
Shortly after the group crossed a small bridge over a babbling stream, a water puddle appeared conspicuously in an unremarkable low-lying area beside the road.
Kakashi's gaze casually swept over that puddle but said nothing more, still maintaining his unhurried pace.
It seems... the Demon Brothers are about to appear.
Naruto understood in his heart. He clearly knew these two guys' strength was probably only slightly better than that Mizuki from before. With his and Satsuki's current abilities, there was no need to worry at all.
Even so, he still secretly raised his guard and prepared to respond at any moment. At any time, the arrogance of underestimating enemies was the most foolish behavior.
Just as the group nonchalantly passed the puddle by a few meters...
The small puddle's surface suddenly bulged! Two figures burst out, wielding chains connected to sharp claw hooks, striking directly at the most threatening target in the group—Kakashi's back!
"Behind us!"
Hearing the sudden sound of breaking water and sharp wind from behind, Naruto instantly turned around! Almost at the same moment, Satsuki also whipped her head around!
Just as those shrieking chains were about to wrap around Kakashi's body!
"Earth Style: Earth Flow River!"
Naruto's hand seal speed was astonishing—he had already completed them almost simultaneously with turning around! One of the attackers' solid ground beneath his feet instantly softened and collapsed, turning into surging, rotating mudslides!
That ninja cried out in alarm, immediately unable to maintain his footing as his entire body panicked and sank into the suddenly swampy ground. The more he struggled, the deeper he sank, and in the blink of an eye he was firmly trapped, unable to move.
The other attacker's situation was equally dire! His swung chain was violently deflected with a "clang" by a precisely aimed shuriken!
Just as he hurriedly adjusted his posture, trying to dodge several more incoming shuriken, he suddenly felt his body tighten!
The next moment, tremendous pulling force struck. He was completely unable to resist as that force lifted him off the ground and slammed him hard against a nearby thick tree, binding him tightly to the trunk!
Only then did he realize in terror that those seemingly ordinary shuriken were all wrapped with nearly invisible chakra threads! The other end of the threads was gripped in the hands of that cold-eyed black-haired girl.
Kakashi relievedly dispersed the substitution jutsu hand seals he had already prepared. Looking at Naruto and Satsuki who had coordinated almost instantly with perfect teamwork to cleanly subdue the two ambushers, he nodded approvingly.
"Very good, Naruto, Satsuki. Facing sudden attacks, your judgment was accurate, reactions swift, responses appropriate, and coordination excellent. Very impressive performance."
His gaze finally turned to the other side, looking at Sakura who, though somewhat pale, still tightly gripped her kunai and stood protectively in front of the client Tazuna, adding:
"And Sakura, your first reaction was to protect the client. Your positioning and judgment were also very correct."
After praising his students' clean responses, Kakashi turned his attention to the two subdued attackers. He carefully examined their attire.
"This outfit... they're Chunin from Kirigakure, ninja known as the 'Demon Brothers,' famous for stopping at nothing to complete missions." Kakashi identified the attackers and their danger level.
"Truly... terrifying young people..."
Tazuna, who had witnessed the brief exchange, couldn't help but sigh with lingering fear and a trace of barely perceptible guilt.
However, Kakashi didn't respond to his comment, instead turning his gaze to this client. "Well then, Tazuna-san, now I need to confirm who exactly these two were targeting."
Kakashi's gaze became sharp. "If their target was indeed you, then I'm very sorry... this far exceeds the scope of a C-rank escort mission. This means you concealed crucial mission information from us in Konoha, placing us in unexpectedly dangerous circumstances."
Kakashi's gaze swept over his three subordinates before refocusing on Tazuna's pale face, presenting the options: "According to ninja regulations, when clients deliberately misreport mission rankings, Team 7 has the right to immediately terminate the mission and return to Konoha at any time. What are your thoughts?"
Cold sweat immediately beaded on Tazuna's forehead. He hadn't expected his concealment of the mission rank to be exposed so directly and quickly. He didn't know how to make excuses.
Sakura wiped the cold sweat from her forehead. Looking at the subdued Kirigakure ninja on the ground, her heart filled with fear.
Life-and-death combat with real ninja... isn't this too early for us? She instinctively wanted to suggest returning to the village first, but seeing Naruto and Satsuki beside her, she swallowed the words and decided to hear her teammates' opinions first.
However, when she looked toward Satsuki, she was suddenly stunned.
Is Satsuki... not quite right?
Satsuki's originally pitch-black eyes had somehow turned an ominous crimson, with three black tomoe slowly rotating within them.
She was staring fixedly at Tazuna with an extremely terrifying gaze—as if looking at a dead man.
Tazuna, locked onto by those Sharingan, felt even more terrified than when attacked by chains earlier! A substantial, bone-chillingly cold killing intent enveloped him again, making it almost impossible to breathe!
"Tazuna-san..." Satsuki's voice carried no warmth whatsoever. "You don't seem surprised that ninja would attack us along the way."
Faced with this direct, ice-cold questioning that struck at the core, Tazuna's throat felt blocked—he couldn't say anything and could only sweat in terror.
I see... Satsuki instantly understood the general situation. This guy... deliberately lied about the mission rank!
Uncontainable fury instantly swept through Satsuki's heart.
Unforgivable... just to save a bit of mission payment, he dared put Naruto... into this dangerous situation where he knew beforehand there would be life-and-death ninja combat!
If the ones launching the surprise attack just now hadn't been guys of this level... if their target had been Naruto from the start...
If Naruto had been injured because of your lies... or even...
Just thinking of these possibilities made the killing intent around Satsuki increasingly substantial and terrifying, with black flames seemingly burning in her crimson Sharingan.
****
80+advance chapters at patreon.com/Eatinpieces