The morning mist still clung low to the stone archway of Konoha's main gate as Team 43 assembled in full tactical gear.
Standing near the perimeter post, Utatane Ren and Mitokado Kōta looked less like proud elite clan heirs and more like skittish rabbits caught in a trap. Freshly discharged from the hospital, both boys were wrapped in clean medical bandages under their dark mesh undershirts. Whenever their eyes accidentally brushed past Akira, an involuntary tremor ran down their spines, their faces turning pale as paper. They kept a strict five-foot distance from the younger boy, entirely stripped of their former arrogance.
Akira, on the other hand, looked completely relaxed. Wearing his dark sleeveless shirt, tactical trousers, and a dark blue cloth tied around his waist holding his shiny new forehead protector, he leaned casually against a wooden post—chewing contentedly on a skewer of sweet dango.
Noticing the tense silence, Akira turned toward his two bruised teammates, his pale Byakugan eyes wide and full of pure, friendly innocence. He held up his half-eaten stick of dango, offering them a sweet, easygoing smile.
"Hey, Ren-senpai, Kōta-senpai... do you guys want a stick?" Akira asked, his voice dripping with sweet harmlessness. "I bought extra from the dango shop near the gate. It's really good."
Ren and Kōta flinched as if he had just offered them a live paper bomb.
"N-No! We're fine!" Kōta squeaked out instantly, taking a sharp step backward.
"Y-Yeah, totally full!" Ren stammered frantically, waving his hands in a panic. "Eat it yourself, Akira!"
Standing a few paces ahead, Captain Toguro watched the pathetic display and let out a long, silent sigh.
His mind wandered back to two nights ago when he had privately met with Lord Danzō in the shadows of the Root underground facility to report Akira's terrifying combat efficiency and abnormal behavior. Toguro had been nervous, expecting a lecture for failing to discipline the boy.
Instead, Danzō had merely swirled his tea, his single exposed eye cold and dismissive.
'Do not concern yourself with the boy's strength, Toguro,' Danzō had told him coldly. 'The Hyūga Clan's internal dynamic is a caged trap. The Main House elders will never allow a talented Branch member to shine or outgrow their authority. Leave his fate to the frontlines—the fog of war will take care of him soon enough.'
Reflecting on those words now, Toguro stared at Akira, who was happily chewing on his second dango ball.
'Is this brat truly just an clueless prodigy, or is he acting?' Toguro thought, his jaw tightening slightly. 'Even with all my years of experience, I can't read a single intent behind those eyes. Well... whatever. My job isn't to figure him out. My job is simply to deliver him safely to the bloodiest front.'
Toguro cleared his throat, clapping his hands together sharply to draw the squad's attention.
"Listen up, Team 43," Toguro announced sternly. "Orders came down directly from the top brass this morning. Our destination has been updated. We are deploying to the Eastern Front near the Coast—the Land of Waves border, where Kirigakure forces are actively pushing through the mist. Our mission is to transport supplies and conduct reconnaissance on enemy troop movements."
He glanced at the three boys. "Stay sharp. We move out now."
With a sharp rustle of leaves, Toguro leaped into the canopy, with Ren and Kōta jumping immediately after him.
Akira sighed internally as he leaped into the trees, keeping pace with an effortless, fluid grace.
'Two D-rank missions...' Akira thought to himself, a dry, amused smirk touching his lips beneath his calm mask. 'We literally spent three days pulling weeds in the civilian district and chasing a lost cat, and suddenly we're reassigned to an active bloody warzone against Kiri border patrols? Danzō isn't even trying to hide his hand.'
Despite the rigged setup, Akira wasn't panicked. Beneath his easygoing demeanor lay a sharp, calculating mind. His internal cultivation and chakra refinement over the past two months had pushed his combat capability right to the absolute edge—he was literally a single sliver away from breaking through to the Jōnin level.
Once he reached that threshold, his chakra control and raw energy would finally be sufficient to dismantle the Cursed Caged Bird Seal on his forehead once and for all.
'This long trek to the coast is actually a perfect opportunity,' Akira mused, adjusting his internal chakra flow even while leaping through the branches. 'I can use the travel time to grind my chakra circulation and push through that final barrier before we reach the frontlines.'
He glanced subtly toward his three squadmates.
'Two traumatized deadweights... and a captain who pretends to be a standard Chūnin but clearly conceals the chakra signature of a Peak Jōnin.' Akira's eyes narrowed slightly. 'I definitely can't afford to drop my guard until these three take a one-way trip to the Pure Land.'
Sensing the thick, suffocating silence hanging over the squad as they sped through the forest, Akira pulled a second dango skewer from his pouch with a childish, cheerful grin.
"Hey, Captain!" Akira called out warmly, catching up to leap side-by-side on the same heavy branch as Toguro. "Are you sure you don't want a dango? It's really tasty!"
Toguro's eye twitched violently. He turned his head toward the boy, his expression darkening into a fierce scowl.
"Akira! Put that sweet nonsense away and focus!" Toguro barked sternly. "We are on an active deployment! Stop dropping your guard!"
Akira didn't look flustered at all. He popped the last dango into his mouth, chewing quickly before speaking with a bright, entirely innocent expression.
"Ah, what's there to worry about, Captain?" Akira chuckled naively, waving a hand. "We have you, an awesome Shimura clan captain, plus Ren-senpai and Kōta-senpai! With the three of you here, what could possibly happen? Honestly, even if the Mizukage himself showed up, I'm sure you three could handle him easily!"
Silence fell over the forest.
Ren and Kōta nearly lost their footings on the tree branches, looking at Akira with utter, horrified speechlessness. Handle the Mizukage?!
Toguro's mouth twitched, completely robbed of words by the boy's absurdly ridiculous praise. Feeling a migraine coming on, Toguro closed his mouth tightly, refused to respond, and simply surged his chakra to double their movement speed.
Akira offered a sweet, harmless smile, effortlessly matching their accelerated pace as they vanished deep into the green horizon.