One moment of carelessness is all it takes—then blood splashes the road, and a "simple" mission turns real.
Maybe it was because the destination felt close. Maybe it was because they'd been on the road for nearly ten days.
Either way, the tension in the caravan had quietly loosened.
Even Shizune and Yuanhai—kids who'd been trying their hardest—were visibly less alert as they entered the narrow path through the woods.
Wagon wheels rolled forward, crushing broken twigs and dry leaves with crisp crack and rustle sounds that echoed through the trees.
On the left flank, Adrian Voss swept his gaze over the team—Shizune, Yuanhai, the merchants, the guards—
Then he looked ahead.
"Blooming Vision."
The Flower-Flower Fruit responded.
Across nearby leaves and branches, tiny eyes opened—dozens, then hundreds—quietly watching.
Within a thousand meters, the forest became Adrian's sight.
After confirming the layout, he spoke casually, like he was only commenting on the trail.
"The branches are getting thicker. Watch your footing."
The merchants glanced at him, but didn't take it seriously.
Even Shizune and Yuanhai were slack enough to miss the weight behind his words.
Only Tsume caught the subtle hand sign Adrian flashed—an understated message passed without sound.
Three hundred meters ahead—two shinobi hidden in leaf cover on the ground. Two more in the trees. Don't speak. Let Shizune and Yuanhai feel the lesson.
Tsume understood immediately. She recalled Blackmaru to her side.
The big dog trotted back without a sound. One look was enough—Blackmaru knew exactly what his partner wanted.
He moved near Shizune and Yuanhai.
Partly to protect them.
Partly to make the hidden attackers relax—so they'd believe the team truly hadn't noticed.
The wagons hadn't yet reached the two shinobi disguised beneath a mound of leaves when—
Suddenly—
Whoooosh!
A violent gust roared through the forest, whipping leaves and dust into the air.
Instinctively, people squeezed their eyes shut.
The driver tightened the reins hard. The guards grabbed the canvas covering the goods so it wouldn't tear free.
In the middle of that wind came a chill—followed immediately by sharp, slicing whistles.
Shk! Shk! Shk!
Adrian closed his eyes too—
—but it didn't matter.
The forest around him was already dotted with blooming eyes.
And even without them, his sensing didn't stop.
Wind Style. Scatter leaves and dust to blind the targets—then strike. Priority: eliminate the chūnin leader first.
The attackers were disciplined.
They weren't talented… but they had experience.
Thunk. Thunk. Thunk.
Metal sank into flesh.
In Adrian's vision, Tsume's body jerked as shuriken and kunai—some tagged with explosive notes—buried into her front and back.
Then—
BOOOOM!
A blast of fire and smoke swallowed her whole.
The horses screamed.
Panic surged through the caravan as the driver fought the reins and barely kept the wagons from veering off the trail.
Shizune and Yuanhai snapped around, faces drained.
"Tsume-sensei?!" Shizune cried, horror rising in her voice.
The moment the ambush landed, four figures burst into view—two dropping from the trees, two springing up from the leaf cover.
Shizune and Yuanhai froze.
A flanking kill zone.
Rookie terror.
Only Adrian remained calm—hand already on his sword.
"Die, brat!"
A chūnin with a kunai charged him head-on.
Adrian smiled faintly.
"So it's you."
A cold flash—
Draw.
Slash.
Sheathe.
All in a single breath.
Blood sprayed.
A severed head spun through the air, eyes still wide with disbelief, before bouncing and rolling across the path.
The body collapsed a heartbeat later—heavy and boneless.
Adrian stepped cleanly aside, avoiding the worst of the gore.
The chūnin died without even understanding how.
That was the shinobi world.
Ninja could destroy boulders… yet their bodies were still bodies. Flesh. Bone. A single mistake could be fatal.
That was why information mattered more than courage.
If you didn't have Adrian's intel—if you didn't know what he was—
Then fighting him usually ended in seconds.
This chūnin should've been able to at least raise his kunai to block.
But at the moment he tried—
A hand burst from his waist.
Not metaphorically.
Literally.
A pale hand—grown from his own body—clamped around his wrist and yanked it off-line.
He froze for a fraction of a second—
And that was enough.
The blade arrived before his brain caught up.
Adrian didn't need fancy techniques to kill.
Against anyone without reinforced physical training… even the strongest shinobi in history would still bleed if they took a clean cut.
While Adrian ended his opponent in an instant, the other side of the formation erupted as well.
"Fang Over Fang!"
Blackmaru became a spinning black tornado.
He slammed into the two genin-level attackers rushing Yuanhai, shredding their momentum and hurling them away like rag dolls.
Shizune hadn't even fully processed what was happening when the last attacker lunging for her—
Stopped.
Because a hand had already seized him by the throat.
A familiar figure stood between Shizune and death, eyes fierce.
"Are you hurt?"
A steady palm touched the top of Shizune's head—grounding her.
Shizune blinked, disbelief turning into sudden relief.
"Tsume-sensei!"
Tsume nodded once.
Only now did Shizune see it clearly.
Where Tsume had "died"…
There was nothing but shattered wood and a crater.
A substitution.
A trap inside a trap.
Adrian moved fast, finishing off the two attackers Blackmaru had sent flying—swift, efficient, no wasted motion—then returned to the group as if he'd merely cleaned up debris.
"Boss…"
Yuanhai's whole body trembled. Shame tightened his throat as he bowed his head.
"You handled one chūnin by yourself…"
Adrian patted his shoulder, calm and firm. "Don't take it so hard. The first time I ran into this kind of thing, I was worse than you."
His eyes sharpened slightly.
"You'll get used to it. But remember this: never relax during a mission. Not for a second. Always be ready to fight."
Yuanhai swallowed hard, then forced his head up as if swearing an oath. "Yes, Boss. I'll remember!"
Adrian turned to Shizune, a small smile cutting through the tension. "You too. I warned you."
Shizune flushed with embarrassment, nodding quickly. "I… I understand."
Those were words Tsume should've been the one to say—
Yet as she watched Adrian correct them without cruelty, Tsume's mouth curved with approval.
She hadn't even clearly seen how Adrian killed the chūnin.
And she was a chūnin herself.
That alone told her everything.
She'd taken a calculated risk, allowing the ambush to spring to teach the kids a lesson.
It had worked.
Still, she turned to the caravan leader, checking the basics first.
"Tado-san. Everyone alright?"
The merchants were pale, shaken badly by the sudden attack.
But after Adrian finished his opponent, he'd produced two flower clones to help steady the horses and wagons. Without that, the losses could've been disastrous.
"We're… we're fine," Tado replied, voice still tight. "I just—didn't expect something like this right when we were so close."
Tsume nodded. "Good. Stay calm."
After reassuring Shizune again, Tsume began searching the bodies.
A shinobi corpse was a trove.
Even low-level rogues carried information—documents, tools, markings, small clues that could explain who sent them and why.
Adrian wasn't fond of touching corpses. He had a quiet aversion that never fully went away.
Still, he stepped closer. Shizune and Yuanhai followed, forcing themselves to look.
"These are probably just wandering shinobi," Adrian said, scanning the forehead protectors and gear.
Tsume rose and looked at him. "You know something?"
Adrian nodded. "If I remember right… these were some of the chakra signatures I sensed when I scouted the town. I didn't expect them to tail us this long before striking."
He narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Our escort doesn't involve anything valuable. So they weren't after cargo."
Yuanhai frowned. "Then… were they after us?"
The caravan leader, overhearing, hurried forward in alarm.
"Please—this has nothing to do with us!" Tado said quickly. "We didn't hide any information. We swear!"
Mission fraud was a serious crime. A client caught withholding critical danger could be banned from issuing future requests—and could face direct retaliation from the village.
Tsume lifted a hand. "Relax, Tado-san. We're not accusing you."
In this unstable era, black-market bounties were everywhere.
Villages paid to kill village shinobi.
Not because of personal grudges—but because it weakened the enemy.
And wandering shinobi—rogues without protection—were often used as disposable tools.
That was also why rogue shinobi were hated. Everyone hunted them. Everyone feared them.
Even on missions, if shinobi from different villages crossed paths… it wasn't uncommon for "professional courtesy" to become bloodshed.
After disposing of the bodies and cleaning the area, Tsume made them rest for over an hour, fed the horses, steadied nerves…
Then they moved again.
The remaining path was uneventful.
By late afternoon, they reached Yusui Town.
Yusui sat near the route leading toward the Land of Hot Water. As a crossroads town between two countries, it was lively—especially with its famous hot springs.
At the town entrance, Tado produced a stack of banknotes and handed them to Tsume with both hands.
"This is the payment for the escort. Thank you for protecting us." He hesitated, then added warmly, "If you don't mind, please stay at my inn for the night. I'd like to host you properly."
Shizune and Yuanhai both brightened instantly at the sight of money.
Adrian did too.
No one hated payment.
Tsume counted quickly.
Fifteen.
The listed reward had been twelve.
She glanced up, smiling. "We appreciate it, but no. Thank you for the offer, Tado-san. Our mission ends here."
After bidding the caravan farewell, Tsume decided they would rest one night in town before returning to Konoha. Shizune and Yuanhai were still unsettled from the morning's ambush.
They checked into a different hot spring inn.
Not Tado's.
First, because Tsume couldn't be certain the attack had no connection at all.
Second, because once a mission ended, shinobi and clients weren't supposed to maintain close contact.
After settling in, Tsume didn't waste time.
She took the extra three thousand ryō—beyond the posted reward—and split it cleanly.
Four ways.
Each of them received seven hundred and fifty.
This time, unlike Naruto's team's famous first C-rank spiral into chaos, their mission rank hadn't been formally escalated in time.
So the base twelve thousand would be distributed later after returning to Konoha and handling official deductions.
But the extra—earned through danger on the road—was theirs to decide.
Tsume even asked Adrian if he wanted a larger cut.
He refused.
She was the acting leader. She'd carried responsibility, risk, and the paperwork. The split remained fair.
In the end, the agreement stood:
When they returned to Konoha, Tsume would receive half of the official reward—
And Adrian, Shizune, and Yuanhai would share the other half.
The money was warm in their hands.
But the lesson from today was colder than steel:
Outside the village—
Even a "simple" escort could turn into a death sentence in a blink.
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