By the time the Konoha team arrived at Tieling Fortress, six days had already passed.
A carriage was nowhere near as fast as ninja travel, and the horses needed rest. Without spending money to change horses at post stations in local towns along the way, they wouldn't have made it here in six days at all.
High-end beasts of burden like ninja, on the other hand, only needed soldier pills to unleash their full strength and sprint at top speed—this six-day journey would have taken them just two days on foot.
"We're about to enter Tieling Fortress in the Land of Iron. The inspections there are stricter. Take off your forehead protectors," Baixing said, removing the protector from his own head. This was to avoid unnecessary conflicts while passing through.
The three nodded without objection.
At this point, both Team Eleven—Baixing's four-man squad—and the wealthy merchant with his two guards had changed into thick, heavy coats.
"So cold…"
The blonde girl with a scarf leaned against the carriage window and exhaled a puff of white breath.
"I didn't expect we'd still have a chance to do an out-of-village mission together. It's really nice."
Hearing this, Uchiha Mikoto and Might Dai both showed faint traces of sadness. Baixing maintained a calm expression.
Mizutani Shōto, who didn't know the backstory, looked confused.
"What? You won't get another chance in the future? Wait—don't tell me you're planning to become rogue ninja?!"
Mizutani Shōto immediately panicked, shrinking back. Along the way, he'd witnessed this group's strength—ordinary assassins were no match for them at all!
The carriage moved swiftly, the rushing wind loud enough that the two exhausted guards traveling up front didn't notice the conversation. In wartime, there was no leisure like the Land of Waves mission, slowly traveling back and forth for a whole month.
"No. She's just too outstanding—she'll probably be leaving the team soon," Baixing said, resting his chin on his hand while breathing in the cool air outside.
"Since just now, I've felt like it's been a bit too quiet around this road. There wouldn't be an ambush, would there—"
Before Baixing's jinx could finish—
The two horses stepped onto a trap hidden along the roadside.
Two sharp, pained whinnies rang out. In an instant, the horses collapsed, the two guards were thrown hard to the ground, and the carriage slammed down. Before anyone inside could react, four shuriken shot out at high speed from the forest, aimed straight at the two guards—clearly with no intention of sparing the civilians.
Chi! Chi! Chi! Chi!
"E–Enemy attack!"
A-Jin struggled up from a shallow pit, clutching his head and shouting.
Beside him, A-Yin—the one who had been driving—had smashed into the horse's hindquarters and passed out cold.
When A-Jin raised his head and took in the situation, he saw Uchiha Mikoto standing in front of him with a kunai in hand, perfectly batting away all four incoming shuriken.
"Who's there?!"
"Tch. As expected—an Uchiha ninja isn't that easy to deal with."
From the forest emerged a man wearing a dark red, tight-fitting flak vest and an Iwagakure forehead protector.
Just as Mikoto's attention locked onto the Iwa ninja in front of her, two voices sounded from behind.
"Earth Release: Rock Iron Cannon Technique!" x2
"Not good!"
Mikoto immediately tried to turn around to provide support, but the Iwa ninja in front of her had no intention of giving her that chance.
"Don't forget—I'm still here!"
Clang!
Sparks burst between kunai as they collided. The force was so great that Mikoto nearly lost her grip. The two locked for a brief moment before the Iwa ninja leapt back, having noticed the Uchiha girl's tension and lack of stamina.
Seizing the opportunity, he drove an elbow strike straight toward Mikoto's face, aiming to knock her out and take her away.
"Konoha Whirlwind!"
Bang!
A flash of green pants swept through the Iwa ninja's vision. A heavy kick smashed aside his attack. He stumbled back again, steadied himself, and looked up sharply.
"Who are you?!"
"Konoha's taijutsu ferocious beast—Might Dai!"
On the other side, Baixing had already rushed out of the carriage, leaving Yakushi Nono to guard the still-intact cabin.
In front of the black-haired youth, numerous fist-sized rocks hovered in the air—clearly the result of a C-rank Earth Release technique, Rock Iron Cannon, though far cruder than what true Iwa ninja could use.
Combined with a quick glance earlier at the attire of the ninja fighting Mikoto, Baixing could already tell: these people were likely Iwagakure ninja.
"But… why would Iwa ninja appear in the Land of Iron? That makes no sense at all."
As the mass of rocks was about to be launched forward to completely annihilate the genin leading this team, the two ninja hidden in the forest both showed smiles.
"Forget it."
"Let's just capture him and interrogate him."
At this moment, the best solution would have been to activate the ROOM space—ROOM: Command Stick could easily stop the rocks' momentum.
—But he was just a genin!
Baixing gripped the ninja blade he carried on every mission, a blade he rarely drew but meticulously maintained. His expression darkened.
"One-Blade Style: Net!"
Chi! Chi! Chi! Chi! Chi!
Ten rapid slashes in succession sent every rock he could see flying away.
Honestly, this move could also be called wild, random slashing.
But after training with a sword, it wasn't truly random anymore.
The two men in the forest: "..."
What the hell is with this kid?! Why does he have swordsmanship skills? That wasn't in the intel!
"Huff…"
Baixing lowered his blade and glanced down at it—his forehead instantly bulged with a large, throbbing vein.
This was a precious ninja blade he'd spent twenty thousand ryō on, paying another thousand ryō every half year for maintenance!!
Now, the once-sleek blade was covered in dents and chips.
"Twenty thousand ryō…"
"What's that kid muttering about?"
A-Ye Yi turned to look at his teammate Vee. Neither of them was using the Transformation Technique—after all, transformation interfered with proper ninjutsu performance.
Besides, as Cloud ninja, they didn't really specialize in Earth Release to begin with. Using the two together, the power of this C-rank technique was barely fingertip-level. Even an idiot could tell something was off.
"Maybe… he's just too nervous?" Vee whispered.
At the side of the carriage, Baixing muttered under his breath, loud enough only for himself to hear:
"Split the mission reward and it's barely over forty thousand… my share's just over twenty thousand… then repairs… what the hell am I repairing, I've used this stupid blade for so long anyway…"
A few seconds later, the muttering stopped. Baixing's gaze returned to calm, his tone dark and dangerous.
"So, if I report a mission difficulty upgrade, I should be able to get a higher bounty, right?"
In an instant, Baixing's body became a blur—something only A-Ye Yi, at jōnin level, could clearly perceive.
"Get out of the way!"
A-Ye Yi shoved Vee aside as a streak of white flashed past them. In the next moment, the large tree they had been hiding in let out a sharp crack. A diagonal line split its trunk, and it began to tilt and collapse.
"M–Monster!"
Vee landed on the ground, terrified. He had never encountered such a frightening enemy. If not for his captain pushing him away, he'd already be in two pieces.
Standing beside the trunk of another tree behind them, Baixing heard their cries and angrily lifted his head. He was just about to curse these Iwa ninja for not fighting on the battlefield and instead coming to the Land of Iron to interfere with a mere genin's mission—
Then his expression froze.
Reflected in his dark eyes were two ninja wearing blue-and-white flak vests, without forehead protectors—an outfit that, in the original story, belonged exclusively to Kumogakure ninja.
"Cloud ninja?"
In an instant, his mind raced. In the blink of an eye, he thought of the key figure in his team:
Young + Uchiha + Genius = Uchiha Mikoto
Damn it! That old dog Danzō!
I knew someone was trying to screw over a mere genin like me!
—No matter what black pot this turns into, just dump it all on Danzō.
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