The next morning.
Kanzuki prepared his gear and arrived at Konohagakure's main gate right on time.
Two figures were already waiting there, both around twenty years old—significantly older than Kanzuki.
The male shinobi looked unremarkable, wearing dark sunglasses and a light blue headband. The female shinobi, however, seemed familiar: her sharp, purple hair was tied in a short ponytail, and her tanned coat concealed fishnet armor. She silently munched on a stick of dango.
"Seriously, a kid?" Upon seeing Kanzuki, the female shinobi immediately voiced her displeasure.
"I thought Lord Hokage would assign Shunshin Shisui to our team."
"Now, now, Anko, Lord Hokage must have his reasons. Besides, Uchiha Shisui is around this age too," the male shinobi said, visibly embarrassed by his companion's rudeness.
Though he looked young, the male shinobi didn't doubt Kanzuki's Chunin uniform matched his own.
"My name is Ebisu. I'm the temporary captain for this mission," the male shinobi said politely, offering Kanzuki a file.
"Mitarashi Anko," the other chimed in casually, stating her name.
Kanzuki quickly skimmed the mission report Ebisu had handed him. It was an espionage mission with a fairly high difficulty rating—a three-Chunin configuration seemed conservative.
"Kanzuki Oboro," he said, closing the report.
"Specializes in Taijutsu."
As he spoke his name, Ebisu and Anko both paused, startled.
"That name… sounds familiar," Anko murmured, sizing up Kanzuki.
Ebisu shot Anko a warning glance, as if to say, "Don't."
Kanzuki wasn't surprised by their reaction. "There's still time to ask Lord Hokage to change teammates."
Hearing this, Ebisu hesitated, pushing his glasses up his nose.
Anko stared at Kanzuki for a moment, then suddenly grinned. "Change teammates? No way! You're stuck with us!"
She flourished the bamboo skewer from her finished dango and flung it. Like a senbon, it shot past Kanzuki's cheek and lodged in the tree behind him.
Kanzuki's face remained impassive. Anko smirked.
"If you don't need anything else, let's go," he said.
Ebisu was still wavering. Anko slapped him on the back.
"What are you waiting for? Let's move!"
With that, she took off toward the village gate. Kanzuki followed.
"I'm supposed to be the captain," Ebisu muttered, glancing at Kanzuki's back, his expression darkening.
If this guy's really what they say he is…
It was too late to back out now. He hurried to catch up with his team.
Because they needed to cross borders, it would take some time to reach the mission site. The three took a short break midday.
Ebisu quietly pulled Anko aside while Kanzuki ate a soldier pill, closed his eyes, and meditated to recover his strength, ignoring them.
"What is it?" Anko asked, annoyed at being pulled aside from her rice ball.
"This Kanzuki Oboro—do you know who he is?" Ebisu whispered.
"Huh?" Anko had only thought his name sounded familiar; she hadn't placed it.
"He's the one who abandoned his comrades to save himself during the war!"
Anko paused, then her eyes widened in realization.
"That guy…" She looked at Kanzuki with a newfound surprise.
The story had spread far and wide at the time. Kanzuki Oboro had been a promising young shinobi, often compared to Uchiha Shisui, who was in the same class. But then word got out that during a reconnaissance mission, Kanzuki had left his comrades behind and brought back false information.
Naturally, this was seen as Kanzuki Oboro being a coward who deliberately fabricated the report to save his own skin.
Since then, Shunshin Shisui had been the only one talked about among their generation.
"I was going to warn you," Ebisu said wearily.
"Are you worried he'll abandon us if we're in danger?" Anko asked.
Ebisu didn't respond, but his silence confirmed her suspicion.
Shoving the last of the rice ball into her mouth, Anko strode over to Kanzuki, leaving Ebisu behind.
"Hey, kid," Anko said rudely.
"Kanzuki Oboro," Kanzuki said, slowly opening his eyes.
"Are those rumors about you true?" Anko asked.
Ebisu's heart skipped a beat.
"Believe what you want," Kanzuki replied indifferently.
Anko raised an eyebrow. "So, they're not?"
"Will you abandon us during the mission?" Anko pressed.
Kanzuki glanced at her. "If you're beyond saving, yes."
This kid…
Anko couldn't help but feel a little strange.
Her questions hadn't made him ashamed or angry, but he wasn't acting condescending either.
It was a complete apathy.
It was as if her opinion—or anyone else's—meant nothing to him.
Were the rumors true?
Perhaps there were mitigating circumstances, or perhaps they were true, but there was no smoke without fire.
[Name: Mitarashi Anko
Gender: Female
Age: 21
Affinity Level: 55
Relationship: Fellow Villager
Capture Difficulty: B
First Kiss Reward: Orochimaru Style
Sex Reward: Sage Power]
"We can leave when you're ready," Kanzuki said.
Anko nodded thoughtfully. "Okay."
Land of Forests.
The name suited the country. Ninety percent of the small nation was covered in dense forest. The climate was similar to the Land of Fire but much hotter.
They arrived at the mission site in the evening. The forest was eerily quiet and deserted.
"This is the Hannya Group's village?"
A large clearing had been cut out of the dense forest, where a small village clustered, settled near a river.
"It's tiny," Anko scoffed from the shadows.
The Hannya Group was the largest ninja organization in the Land of Forests, with a minor reputation in the shinobi world. It represented the strength of the Land of Forests, but it was not an officially recognized ninja village.
"Should we sneak in?" Ebisu pondered.
"Of course. How else will we get information?" Anko cracked her knuckles, eager to go.
"What if we alert the enemy?" Ebisu worried.
"Fight. Run," Anko said succinctly.
Kanzuki couldn't help but glance at her, and she raised an eyebrow in response.
"That's too risky," Ebisu said, exasperated. "This is the enemy's base. A fight could be a death sentence."
"Got a better idea?" Anko asked.
"…Let's move in the dead of night," Ebisu said after a moment of thought.
"Let's discuss a plan."
Seeing the team leader had made up his mind, Kanzuki spoke. "Let's split up."
The others turned to him, their expressions unreadable.
"What, are you going to hide and run as soon as things get bad?" Anko asked mockingly, voicing Ebisu's concern.
"Three people together is a big target. It's easier to be exposed, and splitting up would be more efficient," Kanzuki said calmly.
Anko pouted at his indifferent expression.
"How boring."
"If you two want to stick together, that's fine too," Kanzuki added.
"Okay," Ebisu agreed.
As the night deepened, Kanzuki silently infiltrated the village.
Everyone was asleep. The only sounds were the river and the occasional bird call from the forest.
Kanzuki went straight to the largest house.
Silent entry was no problem for him; he kept the sound of the door opening to a minimum.
Searching the study, he confirmed that the owner of the house was indeed the leader of the Hannya Group.
Many of the files and scrolls were about the Hannya Group's routine mercenary work. Kanzuki also found documents detailing communications between the Hannya Group and Konoha, expressing the Land of Forests' desire to form an alliance with the Land of Fire.
But there were also documents detailing contact with Iwagakure.
"Who's there?"
The bedroom light suddenly flickered on, accompanied by an aged voice.
Kanzuki had already pocketed two useful scrolls into his ninja tool pouch.
"Who are you?!" The study door burst open, revealing an elderly man in pajamas, clutching a sword, glaring at Kanzuki.
"A Konoha shinobi?!"
Kanzuki glanced at him. A kunai slipped from his sleeve into his palm. He vanished in an instant, reappearing in the living room outside the study.
Thud!
The sword clattered on the wooden floor as the old man fell backward, eyes wide.
A bloody gash had opened on his neck, spilling blood.
Pretending to want an alliance with the Land of Fire while secretly colluding with Iwagakure…
Double-dealing and deceitful. People like that are better off dead.
Kanzuki wiped the blood from his kunai, turned, and left the house.
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"
"There's an enemy!"
But as he stepped out, he heard frantic shouts echoing through the village.
Kanzuki frowned.
Useless teammates.