"According to reliable sources, the thieves who stole the Daimyo's sister's Golden Statue will either take the forest path by land or arrive at this dock by water. There is a high probability they will appear in one of these two places."
"Therefore, we need to arrive first and split into two groups to wait and see. Considering the need to balance our strength, I will be in one group alone, and the three of you will be in another."
This was the second C-rank mission Team 7 had received since the Land of Waves. Because she had accidentally (on purpose) injured Shikamaru a few days ago, Kano had even filled in for him on several missions.
However, whether she followed Asuma or Kakashi, they were all just doing mundane daily chores. With Kano's efficiency, she could handle both sides and even find time to get close to Ino.
But today she couldn't double-task, as they were out on a C-rank mission.
Kano recalled the original plot; after the Land of Waves, it was straight into the Chunin Exams arc. It seemed this was just a generic daily mission.
This kind of mission was even worse than a D-rank one; at least then she could farm popularity points. Her current progress was stuck, so she could only grind popularity points to save up for forbidden jutsu scrolls.
Back to the present, Naruto was the first to raise a question.
"Why arrange it like this? Are you afraid Sasuke will be a hindrance?"
"You're the one who's a hindrance!" Naruto scoffed at him. Naturally, Sasuke wasn't pleased and turned to Kakashi. "Even though I'm not as strong as you, it doesn't have to be three against one. If you take the deadweight Naruto, eliminating the negative factor would make us evenly matched. How about that?"
Actually, Kano also felt this division was quite reasonable. Now that she had Zabuza, bringing Sasuke along wouldn't be a problem at all, but bringing Naruto would indeed be a bit of a struggle.
"Are you kidding me? Why am I the subtraction? Besides, only someone as excellent as me is worthy of being on a team with Lucy-chan!"
Naruto and Sasuke started arguing again. Kano habitually stepped forward to break it up, but then she saw the bamboo pole in Kakashi's hand, wrapped in Lightning-element Chakra. Frightened, Kano jumped back just as Kakashi slammed the pole onto the ground.
The electric current from the bamboo pole shot straight into Naruto and Sasuke's bodies, leaving them both smoking. Luckily, Kano had reacted quickly and jumped; otherwise, she would have been caught in the shock as well.
"Hey! Don't just suddenly attack! You almost shocked me!"
"Sorry, I'll be careful next time. You two, look here. I'll take the dock, and the three of you will take the forest path. Once the thieves appear, notify me immediately. Don't underestimate them just because they're thieves. Our mission is simply to retrieve the Golden Statue; we must act with caution."
"If I encounter the thieves, I will also use this to signal."
Then Kakashi introduced the Signal Flare Thunder Tube he had made.
"Listen up, do not act on your own."
After assigning the tasks, the three prepared to ambush in the forest. The Thunder Tube was kept by Kano, as Kakashi considered her the most reliable.
The direction of this mission felt a bit familiar. Was it a plot from the filler arcs? Kano couldn't remember those anime-original stories very well.
The three lay in ambush in the trees, and sure enough, the bandit group appeared.
"It's the bandit group..."
"Naruto, don't act rashly. Observe the target first, and once confirmed, notify Kakashi-sensei."
"Okay, got it."
Naruto was very obedient to Kano's words.
A horse carrying cargo was walking along the edge of a slope. It lost its footing on the crumbling ground and was about to fall down the hillside.
The leader of the thieves, like Spider-Man, shot a blue rope from his hand, looped it around the horse's neck, and pulled it up.
"You bastard! It's carrying precious treasure!"
The bandit leader scolded his subordinates as the group scrambled to save the treasure.
Hearing this, Naruto suddenly had a bright idea.
Treasure? Is it in that box? That means the opportunity has come!
"Incredible! Naruto captured the treasure, he's so much better than Sasuke! I want to marry you!"
In his fantasy, Kano hugged Naruto tightly as he held the treasure, acting like a little fangirl.
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