Night, Konoha's eastern border forces.
"Captain, how much longer do you think the Hidden Mist will take to get here?"
"I don't know! You've been asking that every single day for the past week, aren't you annoying? Hurry up and keep watch, no slacking off."
"But Captain, why am I always the one on watch while you just rest?"
The older Ninja pulled out a crumpled pack of cigarettes, fumbled for a bit, lit one, then took a deep drag and slowly exhaled the secondhand smoke.
"What do you, a Genin, know? You see me sleeping on the surface, but actually, I'm listening for movement, understand?"
"But why do you always snore when you're listening for movement, Captain? I'm always the one who wakes you up when our shift ends."
"You think you know everything, asking, asking, asking. Just focus on the mission. I'm the Captain, just listen to me, understand?!"
After saying that, he ignored the young Genin and contentedly smoked his cigarette.
Then he found a flat spot and lay down in a more comfortable position.
The young Ninja sighed as he watched this familiar scene, shook his head, and diligently stood his ground at his post.
"How is it? Have you found where the Konoha Ninja are?"
A Kirigakure Ninja with a scar on his face asked the Ninja who had just opened his eyes.
"Sir, there are two Chakra signatures 600 meters ahead. One is similar to mine, and the other is similar to those little brats who just graduated from Hidden Mist."
The scar-faced Ninja took out his special weapon, which resembled an oversized senbon, licked it, and said, "Excellent. I'm going to make a name for myself in this war and earn the right to inherit the Sewing Needle!"
Immediately, the three began to conceal their presence and moved forward.
The Ninja who was lying on the ground, softly snoring, suddenly opened his eyes, directly took a flare from his Ninja tool pouch, and shot it into the sky.
"Pop... bang!"
The special flare was incredibly conspicuous in the night sky.
The young Genin stared blankly as his Captain suddenly got up and fired the signal flare. Just as he was about to ask, he heard his Captain's urgent voice.
"Quick, retreat! No time to explain, our mission is complete!"
"Damn it! We've been exposed!"
The scar-faced Ninja's face was filled with killing intent. He was so close to succeeding. He glared fiercely at his two subordinates, guessing who had revealed their whereabouts.
He also heard the shouts from the other side at that moment, and immediately stopped wondering who had exposed their location.
"Attack!"
He then pulled out his Ninja tools and threw them towards the other side.
The young Konoha Ninja was still somewhat dazed by his Captain's shout.
"Huh?! Oh, Captain, got it."
He turned to follow his Captain, but at that moment, a faint sound of something cutting through the air came from behind him.
"Clang!"
He turned his head to look. His Captain, who had just been in front, had somehow appeared behind him, holding a kunai to block a strange Ninja tool.
How amazing! He marveled at his Captain's speed in his heart.
"Hurry up and go! Don't you understand?!"
The middle-aged Ninja's hand, gripping the kunai, trembled slightly, clearly indicating that blocking the previous attack was not easy.
In a place he couldn't see, the kunai already had some tiny cracks.
"None of you Konoha Ninja are leaving today."
Along with the voice, three figures appeared.
The aura of the leading figure enveloped the two like a thick, viscous fog.
The Konoha Genin's legs were trembling, cold sweat poured down, and he desperately tried to move his legs but to no avail.
The middle-aged Ninja looked at the three people opposite him, especially the one in the lead, and his mood instantly plummeted.
At this moment, the peculiar Ninja tool that had fallen to the ground suddenly surged forward, shooting towards the middle-aged Ninja.
"Captain, look out!"
The kunai slightly blocked the needle-shaped Ninja tool, but did not completely stop it, grazing the middle-aged Ninja's face, which immediately bled profusely.
"Run! Stop dawdling!"
"But, Captain, you..."
Clearly, the Genin, who had only graduated a few years ago, had never encountered such a situation.
The scar-faced Ninja's tool, though not the famous Longsword: Sewing Needle, must have been infused with some Chakra metal.
It attacked the middle-aged Ninja again, controlled by a steel wire from behind, appearing exceptionally agile, constantly changing direction in the air.
The scar-faced Ninja was excited at this moment, "You two, don't interfere, understand? These are all my prey!"
"Yes, S-sir!"
The two replied with a slight tremor, seeing the scar-faced Ninja's expression.
The scar-faced Ninja clearly shared the same hobby as a certain senior from their Hidden Mist Village. The needle-shaped Ninja tool continuously grazed the middle-aged Ninja's body, but deliberately avoided vital points.
"Clang...!"
A sound different from before rang out. The middle-aged Ninja's kunai had broken, and the scar-faced Ninja's tool pierced his left kidney.
"Where will it be next? Spleen? Liver? Hahaha!"
The scar-faced Ninja was even more excited at this moment.
"Kid, are you still too scared to move your legs? Run!"
The middle-aged Ninja knew he had no chance of winning. He directly pulled out several explosive tags and stuck them to his chest, then charged towards the scar-faced Ninja.
At the same time, he kept shouting, "Kid, run, there's no shame in running."
"Remember, where the leaves dance, the fire burns bright!"
In the middle-aged Ninja's mind, he recalled the Second Shinobi World War, when his Captain had voluntarily stayed behind to cover their retreat against an enemy several times their number.
Has my time to become a blaze of fire finally arrived?
Then he charged forward without hesitation. The two individuals beside the scar-faced Ninja could no longer hold back, continuously shooting kunai and shuriken.
But the middle-aged Konoha Ninja charged forward as if oblivious.
"Die!"
The scar-faced Ninja looked at the charging middle-aged Ninja with a sneer.
"Naive!"
The flying needle in his hand quickly circled around. The steel wire entangled the middle-aged Ninja's legs, and then with a forceful throw, the middle-aged Ninja was sent flying back at an even faster speed.
"Bang!"
An explosion, accompanied by flames, erupted there.
The middle-aged Ninja lay on the ground, his chest completely charred, various internal organs spilling out from the opening. He was on the verge of death.
"In the end, I couldn't compare to the Captain."
His eyes slowly dimmed.
The young Ninja just stared blankly at everything, looking at his Captain's bleeding, charred body in front of him, utterly at a loss.
"Next up is you, little brat!"
The scar-faced Ninja retracted his Ninja tool, licked the blood off it, and said with a twisted smile.
"Have you thought about how you want to die?"
"No, you're the one who will die today."
A voice came from the sky. A glowing figure rapidly approached from above, then landed beside the middle-aged Ninja.
Two other figures followed closely behind, also rushing over.
"Don't worry, everything is fine now."
Yuuki said softly beside the middle-aged Ninja.
The middle-aged Ninja tried to open his eyes to see who had come. He vaguely saw a young face, full of confidence.
In a daze, the middle-aged Ninja remembered someone once telling him, 'Don't worry, everything is fine now.' It was also a young face, also full of confidence, with dazzling golden hair that was very eye-catching.
Finally, before losing consciousness, he clearly saw Yuuki's figure.
"It seems black hair is also exceptionally good!"
This was his last thought.
"Gengetsu, Naoto, deal with them!"
"Yes."
Yuuki then walked up to the Konoha Genin, "You're his subordinate, right? Go collect your Captain's body."
Upon hearing this, the young Ninja dazedly approached his Captain's corpse, tears streaming down his face, continuously trying to stuff his Captain's internal organs back into his body.
After watching the teenager, who was a year or two younger than himself, mostly arrange the middle-aged Ninja's body, Yuuki took out a sealing scroll and handed it to him.
"To put something in, make the 'Hare - Snake - Horse' hand signs. To take it out, make the reverse hand signs."
The young Ninja dazedly took the scroll, and as he was about to make the hand signs...
He seemed to remember something, pulled out the crumpled pack of cigarettes from his Captain's pocket, and carefully placed it in his Ninja tool pouch.
Then he sealed his Captain's body into the scroll.
"Captain, this time, I can never wake you up again."
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