Chapter 2 — The Ambush
Faced with the sudden ambush, Gojo Satoru appeared unusually calm.
He showed no sign of panic. Instead, he stood there with a nearly lazy posture, his hands still casually tucked into his pockets, a faint smile hanging on the corner of his lips.
In Sasuke's eyes, the kid had probably been scared stiff.
Standing there grinning without moving in the face of an attack—if that wasn't being scared senseless, what was?
Just then, Sasuke moved.
He leapt forward with all his strength, throwing a shuriken that interrupted the two ninjas' assault. He then landed on their shoulders, spreading his legs and kicking both of them away.
The two ninjas were shocked.
Sasuke had pinned their chain to a tree with his shuriken. Not only had he neutralized their attack, he had also sent both of them flying.
At such a young age—he was clearly a genius.
In contrast, the blond boy had frozen in place, too frightened to move.
The difference in ability was obvious at a glance.
The two ninjas immediately discarded the chain in their hands. One rushed toward the blond boy—Gojo Satoru—while the other charged at Tazuna.
As assassination ninjas, they possessed excellent tactical discipline.
First eliminate the weakest combatant and the mission target, Tazuna. After that, they could slowly deal with the black-haired boy.
It was the optimal strategy.
At that moment, Sasuke sprang forward and immediately positioned himself in front of Sakura and Tazuna.
The ninja rushing toward Tazuna frowned slightly, but it didn't slow his charge.
Meanwhile, the ninja charging toward Gojo grew somewhat irritated.
The blond kid in front of him still hadn't moved at all.
If he wasn't scared senseless… was he blind?
"If you're not even going to defend yourself, then die, brat!" the ninja snarled viciously.
The two ninjas arrived before Sasuke and Gojo almost simultaneously.
In the next second, they would pierce straight through the two boys' chests.
Just then—
Thump! Thump!
Two dull impacts rang out.
Kakashi's figure appeared on the battlefield like a phantom. With a single flash, he had already reached the two enemy ninjas.
Without using any ninjutsu, relying solely on his refined taijutsu, his hands turned into blurs of afterimages as they struck the enemies' vital points with perfect precision.
The two figures collapsed instantly.
Everything happened in the blink of an eye.
Watching Kakashi's actions, Gojo Satoru felt a hint of nostalgia.
He realized Kakashi was quite similar to himself. Back when Gojo had taught students, he would also appear only at the critical moment.
Indeed, battle should be cruel.
Only when someone is pushed to the brink can their potential truly be awakened. If students are protected at all times, they will never grow.
Sakura, who had been hiding behind them, finally smiled with relief.
"Kakashi-sensei, you're alive!"
Sasuke, still stubborn as ever, muttered,
"Hmph… stealing the spotlight."
Gojo imitated Naruto's tone from his memories and said,
"Kakashi-sensei, you're actually alive!"
Kakashi glanced at Gojo with a meaningful look.
From Kakashi's perspective, Gojo should have already been struck by the ninja's claw attack. That was precisely why Kakashi had rushed out so urgently.
Looks like I misjudged it… Naruto wasn't hit after all, Kakashi thought.
Then he said,
"Naruto, sorry I couldn't get here sooner to save you. You almost got hurt. Still, I didn't expect you to just stand there without moving."
From everyone else's perspective, Gojo had indeed looked like he was frozen in fear, standing there completely motionless.
Kakashi couldn't help feeling a little disappointed in him.
Tazuna let out a sigh of relief.
Looks like we've been saved.
Nearby, Sasuke turned to look at Gojo.
Naruto really is the dead-last. All he ever does is shout all day. When it comes to real combat, he's not even as good as Sakura, Sasuke thought.
Then he said with clear disdain,
"You're not hurt, are you? Coward."
Faced with Sasuke's mockery, Gojo only felt a sense of helplessness.
This little guy really did resemble his own student, Megumi Fushiguro—brilliantly talented, yet always saying the opposite of what he truly meant.
In his previous life, he had failed to save his own student. Seeing someone so similar now made Gojo Satoru feel momentarily distracted.
Ignoring Sasuke's taunt, his expression softened with a hint of fondness. He smiled and waved his hand lightly.
"I'm not hurt."
In reality, under normal circumstances, the ninja's claws should have already struck Gojo. But with the protection of the Limitless Technique, those claws would never actually reach him.
The closest distance was also the farthest distance.
Seeing "Naruto's" current expression, Sasuke frowned deeply.
What's wrong with this guy today? Did he really get scared stupid? Sasuke wondered.
At that moment, Kakashi turned to Tazuna with a serious expression.
"Mr. Tazuna."
Tazuna froze, looking somewhat flustered.
"W-What is it?"
Kakashi continued,
"There are some questions I'd like to ask you."
In truth, Kakashi already had a rough guess.
Two Chūnin from Kirigakure appearing during a C-rank mission—and specifically targeting Tazuna for assassination?
That simply didn't make sense.
No matter how he looked at it, Tazuna clearly hadn't told the whole truth.
Kakashi then tied the two ninjas to a tree and began interrogating them.
Sure enough, the two of them were indeed ninjas from Kirigakure, and their assassination target was Tazuna.
A C-rank mission absolutely did not include dealing with ninjas.
C-rank missions usually involved dealing with ordinary threats like gangs, bandits, or armed groups.
Fighting actual ninja generally fell under B-rank missions or higher.
Tazuna had essentially paid the price of instant noodles while expecting a luxurious feast.
Kakashi looked at Tazuna.
"It seems you have some difficulties you can't speak about. But a false mission request causes a lot of trouble for us. What we're dealing with now is already outside the scope of our assignment."
Tazuna lowered his head, remaining silent like a child who had done something wrong.
Sakura quickly spoke up as well. She was genuinely afraid.
"This mission is still too early for us. Let's cancel it!"
Hearing Sakura's opinion, Kakashi nodded.
"Then should we head back to the village?"
Although it sounded like a question, Kakashi was actually testing the attitudes of his students.
Continuing the mission was still possible. After all, with him—a jōnin—present, it was unlikely that anything serious would happen. Having real ninja opponents might even accelerate the students' growth.
"How about we continue?" Gojo Satoru said calmly, his hands still in his pockets.
This was the first mission he had taken since being reborn in this world. Curious about many things in this new environment, Gojo really didn't want to miss the opportunity.
Fear?
That simply didn't exist for him.
When Sasuke heard Gojo say that, he couldn't help but complain inwardly.
He was so scared earlier that he didn't even dare move, and now he's pretending to be brave.
In Sasuke's mind, he absolutely couldn't lose to Naruto. Moreover, he urgently needed to grow stronger, and an opportunity for real combat was something he couldn't afford to miss.
With both hands resting behind his head in a deliberately cool pose, Sasuke said,
"Then let's continue."
After speaking, he shot Gojo a glance.
"Just don't drag me down, dead-last!"
Hearing Sasuke target him again, Gojo chuckled inwardly.
This kid really was quite adorable.
Sakura, on the other hand, panicked.
Her mind exploded with complaints.
This is all Naruto's fault! He doesn't even have the strength, yet he insists on showing off. When we faced real ninja just now, he didn't even dare to move! If Kakashi-sensei hadn't been here, he would've died hundreds of times already! We could've gone back to the village, but he just had to open his mouth!
But Sakura couldn't argue against Sasuke's decision.
After all, she liked Sasuke very much, and once Sasuke had spoken, it basically meant the mission would continue.
Looking at the current "Naruto," Kakashi felt puzzled.
Naruto is acting strange today. Completely different from before… Did he get scared stupid? Kakashi wondered.
After a moment, he said,
"Then we'll continue the mission."