After accepting the mission, Yamato gave everyone an hour to prepare.
Jokichi had nothing to prepare. He normally carried the ninja tools, food pills, and other things needed for missions in a storage scroll with him. He just took out a katana, tied it to his waist, and walked toward the Konoha gates.
Arriving at the gates, only the client, Tazuna, was there.
After politely greeting him, Jokichi stood aside and waited.
Not long after, Naruto and Sakura arrived carrying a backpack, followed by Yamato.
He glanced at everyone and nodded. "Since everyone is here, let's set off!"
"Oh!"
Naruto shouted with great momentum.
But no one joined in, making it very awkward.
He didn't mind, taking the lead and walking out of the gates with high morale.
Yamato handed the mission pass to the guard in the back, and everyone followed them out.
This was Jokichi's first time leaving Konoha since coming to this world, so he felt a bit curious about the outside environment.
However, other than trees, there were more trees around, which didn't seem much different from Konoha.
After the initial novelty wore off, Jokichi reined in his thoughts and focused on traveling.
As for Naruto.
Although he was also very curious about the outside world, he only looked around. He didn't run over to touch and inspect things he hadn't seen before like in the anime.
The strength displayed by Jokichi and Sasuke made him much more steady.
Therefore, there was no incident where Tazuna felt Naruto was unreliable.
The mission to escort Tazuna was a C-rank mission, so there wouldn't be any confrontations between ninjas.
Along the way, Yamato explained the differences in mission ranks and the forces of ninja villages outside Konoha.
Before they knew it, they had traveled far from Konoha.
After crossing a small wooden bridge, the group walked on a path that was neither wide nor narrow.
Suddenly, Jokichi noticed a puddle of water on the ground ahead.
He looked at the scorching sun in the sky, then at the dry earth on the ground, and couldn't help but doubt the level of the Kirigakure Chunin.
Why did it feel like the Genin taking the Chunin Exams in the anime were more reliable than these two guys?
Yamato also noticed the puddle of water, but showed no abnormality, walking past the water stain as if he hadn't noticed anything.
Jokichi deliberately stepped on the surface of the water, and the sole of his foot sank slightly.
Probably stepped on a head!
After everyone walked past the puddle, a head wearing a breathing mask popped out of the water, with a clear shoeprint on top.
He stared resentfully at Jokichi's back for a while, then shifted his gaze to Yamato, and then, dashed out fiercely.
It wasn't one person, but two.
Wearing similar outfits, holding giant metal claws linked with bladed chains.
As they moved, the chains rattled.
They used the Body Flicker Jutsu, moving so fast that only two afterimages could be seen flashing by. Combined with the sudden sneak attack, no one had time to react.
"The first one!"
The two appeared slightly behind Yamato on his left and right, the bladed chains already wrapping around his body.
Then, they pulled hard, tearing Yamato into pieces.
The sudden turn of events stunned everyone.
The attackers didn't stop, using the Body Flicker again to appear behind Naruto, wanting to repeat the trick.
However, Naruto, who was incredibly shocked just a moment ago, actually reacted instantly.
He didn't counterattack, or even look back. Instead, he dashed forward.
Mid-stride, he turned around and formed hand seals.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu."
Bang!
With a burst of white smoke, an identical clone appeared in front of him.
The attackers' pursuit landed on the shadow clone, instantly killing it.
But Naruto also took the opportunity to open up some distance.
"Damn it!"
One person cursed silently and continued to rush towards Naruto, while the other rushed towards the mission target, Tazuna.
Sakura's body trembled uncontrollably, but she still firmly held a kunai and stood in front of Tazuna.
The man saw Sakura's fear, snorted disdainfully in his heart, and reached his broad metal claw toward her face.
At this time, Jokichi moved.
His thumb pressed against the sword's guard, then he drew it abruptly.
Schwing!
The sharp blade left its sheath.
Accompanied by a hurricane, a cold glint pierced left and right.
Jokichi, who was standing in place just moments ago, suddenly appeared on the other side.
"Impossible!"
Both attackers widened their eyes.
A blood line appeared on their necks, going from thin to thick, then suddenly splitting open. Crimson liquid sprayed out, and their bodies crashed down.
The sudden change stunned everyone.
Just now, Naruto was taking out a kunai to counterattack, and Sakura was racking her brains thinking about how to respond.
As a result, the enemies went down instantly.
The clean and crisp instant kill made them gasp, staring at Jokichi in shock.
After killing them, Jokichi slowly sheathed his sword as if nothing had happened, without a single drop of blood on the blade.
Only, his face was completely devoid of expression, terrifyingly cold, giving people a feeling of keeping strangers away.
This was his first time killing someone.
Yet he felt no fear, nor the slightest disgust.
During his training with Ryohei, he had long gotten used to it.
From the wretched state of rolling on the ground howling in pain the first time he was slashed, to finally calmly stuffing his intestines back in and continuing the fight when his stomach was sliced open...
He remembered it all, and the memories were fresh.
"Sigh!"
A sigh rang out in the distance.
Everyone looked towards the sound and saw Yamato, who had been torn to pieces at the very beginning, appearing unharmed on the field at some unknown time.
"Eh!?"
Naruto and Sakura couldn't help but cry out in surprise.
"It's just the Substitution Jutsu, don't make a fuss," Yamato said grumpily, pointing at the wood shredded to pieces on the ground.
"S-Substitution Jutsu?"
Naruto's face was full of question marks.
Having never properly attended a theory class in school and being kicked out early in practical exercises, he didn't understand the Substitution Jutsu like in the anime.
Sakura could only act as an encyclopedia on the side to explain it to him.
And Yamato looked at Jokichi with both appreciation and heartache.
As a ninja, being able to kill without hesitation the first time was undoubtedly very promising.
But what exactly did he have to experience to be completely calm the first time he killed someone?
Yamato recalled the past.
He was born in Root and personally taught by Danzo, but even so, his hands couldn't help but tremble the first time he killed someone.
At this time, Jokichi returned to normal.
He squinted his eyes, revealing a faint smile. "The enemies are taken care of, let's continue on our way!"
"Wait a minute."
Yamato raised his hand to stop the group from continuing, turning to look at Tazuna. "Mr. Tazuna, although I'm not certain, let me ask anyway. You haven't been targeted by some ninja syndicate, have you?"
A drop of sweat rolled down Tazuna's forehead.
He took a towel and wiped it, laughing awkwardly, "How is that possible? I'm just an ordinary bridge builder. Why would ninjas target me!"
Yamato stared into Tazuna's eyes without replying.
Tazuna felt somewhat unnatural being stared at, and moved his body. "Let's hurry up and go. There's a lot of fog on the way to the Land of Waves. If we delay any longer, it will be hard to travel."
"...Mhm, let's continue on our way!"
After hesitating for a moment, Yamato withdrew his gaze and ordered to continue moving.
Only, a trace of vigilance toward Tazuna arose in his heart.
This person is hiding something.