Special Jonin Assessment Mission
The next morning.
The weather was very nice—a light drizzle was falling.
For Sakura Haruno, a ninja proficient in both Water Release and Ice Release, this kind of rain couldn't be better.
It's almost as if she turned the entire airspace and ground into half of her home field.
They even saved the trouble of using Ninjutsu to set up the field.
"If the rain were to fall a little heavier... that would be even better." Sakura Haruno raised her hand, gazing at the fine, silvery lines of water drifting down, and said softly.
The girl took off her straw hat, raised her hand, and the drifting raindrops fell onto her hand. Instead of creating a splash, they seemed to melt into the sea and disappear.
"What?" Ibiki Morino was slightly taken aback and glanced at the girl beside him.
That said, the two of them walking together really gave off a Beauty and the Beast vibe.
"She hopes the rain will get heavier," Yuichi Taketori said, adjusting his straw hat. "After all, Harusame is as precious as oil, isn't it?"
Indeed, it was late winter and early spring. The wind was gradually getting warmer, and the clothes of pedestrians on the street were gradually becoming thinner.
However, this has little impact on ninjas. Even without using Chakra to warm their bodies, their strong physical abilities allow them to withstand temperatures below -10 degrees Celsius while wearing only a single layer of clothing. Moreover, for ease of combat, ninjas do not wear overly bulky clothing.
However, Yuichi clearly misunderstood; as a clerical ninja, his sensitivity to combat was somewhat lacking.
"Sakura Haruno means that heavy rain would be more advantageous for her in battle..." Ibiki corrected. The Interrogation Department was also a front-line combat department, and his combat awareness was much stronger than Yuichi's. He understood Sakura's meaning immediately.
Ibiki still had a deep impression of Sakura, after all, he had been her examiner and knew that she was Water Release and Ice Release ninja.
Sakura didn't dwell on the topic. She glanced at the three ninjas standing solemnly behind Ibiki and said, "Then, I'll be the captain for this mission, and I'll lead the team... Ibiki, Yuichi, are you all here? We'll set off once everyone's here!"
"The entire 8th Interrogation Department of four is present," Ibiki nodded solemnly.
Yuichi nodded and said, "Only I came from the HR department."
The three, Sakura, Ibiki, and Yuichi, exchanged glances, waved their hands, and set off on their journey.
The destination of this trip is an underground bounty exchange office near the place where Orochimaru and Kakuzu were last seen Hidan.
Intelligence and footprint analysis indicate that Kakuzu and Hidan went there before intercepting Orochimaru.
Therefore, the mission is to dismantle this illegal organization, arrest the key figures at the underground exchange, and interrogate them about information related to the Akatsuki.
The purpose of bringing the interrogation team was to conduct interrogations on the spot, avoiding situations where the enemy was injured in battle and died on the way back to Konoha, resulting in the loss of information.
Trekking a long distance in the rain is a very arduous task.
Raindrops take away body heat, and even with Chakra protecting the body, it's still very uncomfortable. The muddy dirt road and slippery tree trunks require travelers to concentrate more on their footing, making them more prone to fatigue.
Sakura could clearly see that the ninjas in the Interrogation Department and clerical departments were no match for the ninjas in the Anbu. It wasn't just a matter of physical strength and Chakra; they also lacked travel skills.
Therefore, their walking speed was much slower, and their ability to endure hardship was also vastly different.
After a continuous forced march, as night fell and a few stars began to appear in the night sky, the rest of the group was exhausted, so Sakura had no choice but to stop.
The muddy ground after the rain was not suitable for camping. Seeing her teammates' exhausted appearance, Sakura did not dare to let them make do with whatever they could find for the night. Fortunately, their captain was a Water Release ninja. He used his exquisite Water Release to remove the moisture from the ground and dry it back up. Then, he used Ice Release to isolate the outside world from the campsite, thus creating a suitable place to stay.
Then, secondly, Yuichi due to overwork and getting soaked in the rain, and it took a lot of effort to cure him.
Various situations arose along the way, and Sakura Haruno, as the team leader, felt that the most difficult part of this mission was taking care of her temporary subordinates on the way to and from the mission.
It took them nearly two hours to cover the distance that the Anbu usually covered.
Because it was raining heavily here, the clouds obscured the sun, and no one was wearing a watch, so they couldn't tell the time. Judging from the color, it was probably close to evening when the white building at their target location came into view of Sakura and her group.
Everyone stopped simultaneously. At that moment, everyone felt extremely tired—the others were physically tired, Sakura Haruno was mentally exhausted.
"You all stay here and wait for the results. This mission is my personal mission, so please don't interfere." Sakura turned to look at Ibiki and the others, then created another Ice Clone, instructing them, "I'm leaving the clone here just in case. If the clone can't handle something, she'll notify me. You all must hold on; I can use Ice Body Flicker Technique to get back quickly."
It was her first time leading ninjas she had little experience with on a mission, and she felt uneasy about it, so she kept rambling on and on.
"Let's rest here for a bit. After you start working over there, we can move forward a little further. It'll be easier to carry out the mission if we're closer," Ibiki said, catching his breath. Among the remaining group, he was the strongest and recovered the fastest.
"Alright." Sakura Haruno nodded.
"On the surface, that building is the headquarters of a chamber of commerce, but in reality, all the staff inside are people from the underground black market in disguise. You already know the mission requirements: arrest the key figures of the underground bounty hunter organization, especially those with intelligence. If you can find information about the bounty hunter organization, that would be even better. As for anyone else who dares to resist, take them all down and hand them over to the locals, or kill them on the spot, but be careful not to go too far."
After resting for a while, Yuichi Taketori spoke to Sakura Haruno.
He then added, "This mission is ostensibly to clean up the underground dark organization and investigate who issued the bounty on the Konoha Ninja. Be careful not to leak any information about Akatsuki involved in this mission."
"I understand." Sakura Haruno nodded, walked to the front of the group, glanced back at them, and said finally, "Be careful, and wait for my good news."
After that, her figure disappeared from everyone's sight.
"Such a fast Body Flicker Technique!" a ninja from the Interrogation Department exclaimed in amazement.
"..." Ibiki and Yuichi remained silent.
It's more than just Body Flicker Technique.
They were in good physical condition and were the first two to recover, seeing more than the others who were only focused on panting and catching their breath.
Despite walking in the rain for two stretches, Sakura Haruno's clothes were still dry... A gust of wind blew, and the hem of her clothes fluttered cleanly.
How did she do it?
Did he control the Water Release to keep it on his body surface the entire time, blocking the rain so that his clothes wouldn't get wet at all?
Such astonishing Chakra manipulation skills and such masterful Water Release are truly unheard of.
The two exchanged a glance, both able to see the surprise in each other's eyes.
No wonder he's a rookie with a score even higher than Sasuke's...
"Alright, let's stop wasting time discussing this," Ibiki waved his hand to stop his subordinates' whispers, and said, "Once we've rested, let's make our way to the vicinity of the house. She should have started there by now..."
The sounds of fighting could be faintly heard from the white building.
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