A few minutes before dawn, two figures flickered over the rooftops of the buildings in Konoha, heading towards the Main Gate.
Karin was wearing a bright smile, happy after the sumptuous breakfast her mother had prepared for her, while Enma was quiet, as usual.
The two suddenly stopped when they sensed two familiar figures running at a very fast speed and passing them on the street below, leaving green blurs behind.
The Uzumaki Princess was surprised as she could sense the Uzumaki Weight Seals on their bodies, which were still active, and yet, they were fast. Very fast. They were not even using the Body Flicker Technique, just running...
"Heh... Lee's a lot stronger now."
Enma smiled at her words and nodded his head before he continued moving to the main gate.
They did not have much time left.
As soon as the watch on Sarutobi Asuma's wrist buzzed, two red figures assembled behind Anko, on either side of Nakagami Shizuka.
"Just on time." The man smiled, and Enma and Karin both bowed to him in greeting before the Princess grinned at her classmates, whom she had not met in a long, long time.
Hana and Yugao were already present there, with the former wearing her Chunin jacket, and the latter in her Tokubetsu Jonin jacket.
The three Haimaru Brothers cutely barked at the siblings in greeting, and then wagged their tails happily as Karin gave them some love.
They did not get the time to chit-chat as Anko soon blurred from her position and rushed out.
"Asuma, Enma, stay by my sides. Karin and Shizuka, form up with Team 10. Hana, Yugao, you will cover the flanks."
"Yes!"
At her orders, the group quickly got into formation, and Shikamaru curiously glanced at their rear, which was wide open.
"Don't worry about it. With me here, no one's targeting our backs."
"Confident as ever, eh?" The Nara smiled at his classmate, and Karin did not say anything in reply as she focused ahead.
"How many missions have you completed so far?" Choji asked curiously, and she answered him.
"Forty-one Missions. Forty D-Rank, and one S-Rank."
The Akimichi was stunned at her words, and both Ino and Shikamaru looked at her in surprise too.
"What was the S-Rank Mission?" The Yamanaka asked, curious.
"We had to rescue Team 7 in the Land of Waves from a mercenary band of Kiri Missing-Nin, which was being led by Momochi Zabuza, the Demon of the Mist," Shizuka answeed.
Shikamaru glanced at her but did not inquire about their mission details.
It did not sound like an S-Rank Mission, but given Naruto's importance to the Village, it made sense.
"What about your Team?" Karin asked, and Choji smiled brightly.
"Twenty D-Rank, and three C-Rank Missions. This is our first B-Rank Mission."
"Nice! Anko-sensei refused to let us take higher missions before completing the quota of forty D-Rank Missions. It was torture."
Ino giggled at her words and nodded her head in understanding.
When the group stopped for a break at noon, the Yamanaka, to everyone's curiosity, went and whispered something in Enma's ear before leaving the clearing with him.
Asuma, who was sitting on top of a tree, quietly left his spot after a while, and he was surprised when he found the Uzumaki training his student as they both hung upside down from a tree and Ino blocked the stick that he was attacking her with.
He was always curious about how his student possessed such refined Chakra Control, and he finally had the answer now.
Leaving them be, he quietly returned to the spot he had been resting at, just in time for Shizuka to serve him food.
"Did you eat?" he asked Ino when she returned to their side two hours later, looking a little tired, and she nodded, smiling at him.
She did not slow down or hold anyone back as they resumed their journey, and when in the evening they camped, she again left with Enma to train after their meal, and this time, Shizuka went with her.
They returned right before midnight, and the two girls went to sleep straight away.
Sarutobi Asuma stared at the tent where his student was sleeping and then took a deep puff of his cigarette.
He exhaled the smoke and glanced at the tent that Shikamaru and Choji were sharing, and his brows furrowed in thought.
If he did not intensify the training of the two boys, they would be left behind in the dust by their blonde teammate, who was hiding a lot more than she showed.
However, convincing Shikamaru to train hard was perhaps just as hard as telling Choji to eat less.
Nonetheless, he had to do something about it now.
"Sleep."
Asuma glanced to his right where Anko was standing on a branch, leaning against the trunk.
"I will keep an eye," she told him.
He nodded his head and simply rested his head back, closing his eyes.
At dawn, all of them used Transformation Jutsu, changing their appearances, and the Sarutobi was quite curious how Enma was capable of using this Jutsu if he could not see.
"My eyes were not always sealed, Asuma-sensei." The boy smiled, and the man sheepishly smiled and scratched the back of his head.
"I see."
All of them then had a small snake slither into their clothes, which were Anko's summons, and they were going to keep her informed if any one of them fell in danger.
"Remember, do not engage. We are only investigating Shizume Village for traces of the people who kidnapped Naho," the Hebi-sensei said to the Genins, who all nodded, acknowledging her orders.
Hana and Asuma stayed in their real forms, and they were officially going to enter the village as Konoha Shinobi, who had come to investigate the Princess' disappearance.
As assigned, Karin and Enma were to stay close to them and observe people who might try to spy on them.
Ino and Shikamaru teamed up and were going to investigate the Eastern District, and Shizuka and Choji were ordered to investigate the Western District.
Anko and Yugao did not tell them what they were going to do. The two stayed back whilst everyone else dispersed.
As soon as Enma and Karin entered Shizume Village, they started acting like lovers, and his little sister wrapped her arm around him as she took him to the shopping street, which was close to the Spring Residence of the Daimyo's eldest son.
The security of the Residence was quite tight, with dozens of Shinobi. If this was the usual security, then it was not easy to kidnap Naho from under their noses.
With the help of his Mind's Eye, Enma saw how Hana and her Haimaru Brothers were led to the Princess' room, where the girl's mother gave them her clothes to sniff and get hold of her scent.
Asuma, on the other hand, was talking to a Shinobi, who was fairly strong, and it looked like the two were acquaintances.
He remembered that the Sarutobi was once one of the Twelve Guardian Ninjas, and the man had served the Daimyo for several years. He likely knew a lot of guards in the Residence.
The two siblings kept searching for any anomalies, but they found none.
Enma even checked for the Chakra Signatures in the underground tunnels that were created to help the Daimyo's family escape in case the Residence was attacked, but except for a pair of Shinobi, who were standing guard there, he did not find any other life.
Karin and he ended up saving a woman who was about to get raped in an alley, but in the evening, when they joined the team at their rendezvous point, no one had found any clues.
After everyone gave their report to Anko, they all fell into a deep thought.
Their first instincts told them that it was an inside job, but they had no evidence for it.
"I am going to create a hundred Shadow Clones and send them out in different directions. They will cover a radius of three hundred kilometres before midnight," he said, and then, to the shock of Team 10, created exactly a hundred Shadow Clones, who transformed into different images, all with their faces covered, and rushed out in different directions.
Anko too created ten Shadow Clones and sent them out in different directions, accompanying some of Enma's clones.
The Uzumaki then sat down against a tree whilst everyone got to work and prepared their meal.
Everyone stayed up until midnight, waiting for Enma or Anko to inform them if they had found any clues, but the two stayed quiet.
In the end, the Hebi-sensei told the group to get some rest, and so everyone went to sleep.
It was in the hour before dawn that Hana woke them up, and she informed them that they had to leave.
Anko and Enma had found Naho...
"What?" Asuma looked at the Hebi-sensei in shock when she told him where the Princess was being held captive.
"Yes, she's being held inside Akagahara, and it's a trap specifically laid out for us." Anko frowned. "They are not targeting the Fire Daimyo, but the Konoha Shinobi. However, they were probably not expecting us to find them so soon."
"How far away is that place from here?" Shikamaru asked, furrowing his brows.
"Five hundred and forty kilometres."
"We need to come up with a plan," he said, and Asuma sighed.
"Do you know what Akagahara is?"
"Isn't that the place where Chunin Exams used to be held until the end of the Second Shinobi War?"
"Yes, it's a forest, full of terrifying creatures, and every part of it is laid with traps. In the centre is a large red clover field, surrounding a white rocky hill, and that clover field is filled with Puppet Seeds, which were planted there decades ago using a Puppet Kinjutsu. No one knows how many puppets are now in that field, and as soon as you step on it, they will be activated." The former Guardian Ninja solemnly told them. "And do you know why we stopped conducting Chunin Exams there?"
"Why?" Ino asked nervously.
"All of our enemies laid traps for us there. Even some Forbidden Jutsus were used, including Explosion Jutsus of Iwa. The year it was banned, Konoha had sent ninety-nine Genins to take part in the exam, and none of them returned. All perished, and the Exam Proctors were killed there as well, falling to the enemy traps."
They all turned very quiet after his words.
"So, they just want the Konoha Ninja to come to them to rescue Naho and die in the process. Once we die, Konoha will send out more Shinobi, and then more Shinobi..." Ino frowned.
"Let's stop thinking about it for now. Pack your stuff. We are heading to Akagahara. If Team 10 is not confident about joining us on this mission, I will not force you to help us deal with the enemies. Your mission is only to help us investigate and find Naho." Anko said to them, and the Genins solemnly nodded.
"There's one more thing I think you should know about." Enma said lightly, and even Anko looked at him and raised her brow. "There are a total of nine enemies in the forest. And all of them can be considered A-Rank Shinobi. Their leader would be considered an S-Rank Shinobi, as he is far stronger than our Hokage."
"Are you sure?" Asuma frowned, and seeing the boy nod his head, he was still sceptical.
"We need reinforcements." Anko, however, did not doubt his words.
"One of my clones is with Team 3 right now. They don't have a mission and are training for the coming Chunin Exams. Shall I call them over?"
"Yes."
Enma quickly created the Seal of Confrontation, summoned a Shadow Clone, gave him the order, and dispelled him. A few seconds later, he nodded his head.
"Done. They will join us at Akagahara," he informed them, and Asuma, Anko, Yugao, and Hana curiously looked at him.
It was, however, Shikamaru who raised the question they had on their minds. He knew about the Shadow Clones much better than other Genins.
"How are you able to communicate with your Shadow Clones? Isn't the information transferred one way, only to the real person?"
"It is, but I have modified the Jutsu a little."
"Your clones are conscious like you?"
"No, they are clones, but my clones." He smiled. "However, for others, it's still possible to send information to their clones."
"How?" Anko asked with interest.
"Create a chain," he said, and she raised her brow at him.
"So, I will create only one clone, and my clone will create another Shadow Clone, and then the second clone will create a third clone, and so on?"
"Yes, but it is important to understand your Chakra limits and control. If your Shadow Clone is too weak, then information will not be passed around. When a Shadow Clone down the line explodes or is dispelled, it sends information to both the real you and the clone who created it, and if you don't have enough Chakra, you should just forget about creating this chain. It would never work."
"Oh..." Anko quickly tested out the method by creating a Shadow Clone, who created a chain of ten Clones, and several seconds later, she brightly looked at her student. "You are brilliant, Kid!"
"Heh... isn't the Sensei supposed to teach things to their students? Why is it the other way round in your case?" Yugao took a jab at her former colleague, who just grinned at her, happy that she had learnt something very useful today.