War Assistance Mission

After returning Omba, the eight of them went back to the village. They had spent six straight days outside the village without gaining anything, which was quite depressing.

What was even more depressing was that they had less than half an hour to rest and recover at home. After hurriedly washing up and eating something, they had to train: endless physical conditioning first, then sparring with blades, followed by combat drills.

Yushi and Noma seemed to have arranged it beforehand, placing all six of them together for training.

After three full days, the hellish training finally ended. Yet before they had rested for long, they were brought to the Mission Assignment Office.

It seemed Yushi and Noma had reached some sort of agreement. The eight of them had come to the Mission Assignment Office together.

Judging by how the two often slung their arms around each other lately with suspicious looks on their faces, Genma guessed their teams would be joining forces again.

Sure enough, Noma, wearing an inexplicable smile, quickly took out a mission briefing and began reading it aloud.

"This is an international mission issued by the Land of Fire Daimyo. However, its rank falls somewhere between C-rank and B-rank, so our two teams will need to work together again to ensure nothing goes wrong. As for the specific details, I won't go into them now. Time is tight, so read it yourselves on the way."

Everyone had assumed Noma would explain the mission clearly, but he simply handed the briefing to Ebisu and walked toward the door.

That move truly piqued everyone's curiosity, but before they could crowd around for a look, they heard Yushi shout, "Move out!"

What the hell?

Did they have to be in such a hurry?

Question marks practically appeared over the six of their heads. But the two team leaders had already started walking, and they had no choice but to follow. They could only place their hopes on Ebisu.

Annoyingly, as soon as the six of them drew slightly closer to the two leading jonin, the jonin sped up again.

Yet how could they possibly give up when they were dying of curiosity? This was their first mission that might become a B-rank mission.

So Might Guy took Ebisu by the arm and said, "Ebisu, let me watch the road for you. You can read without worry!"

Seeing Might Guy's bright white teeth gleaming, Ebisu nodded blankly. "Oh. Thanks, Guy."

The others did not remain idle either. Raiton and Washi kept sneaking glances at the contents of the paper. Genma turned to them and said, "You two, one stand behind Ebisu and the other cover his flank. Kurenai and I will clear the way ahead. How about it?"

Though they did not understand why Genma was arranging things this way, both Raiton and Washi were a little curious. They agreed without saying much.

By protecting Ebisu in the middle like this, they could reduce the wind resistance against him to some extent and warn him about the road ahead in time, allowing him to prepare himself.

When they reached Konohagakure's gates, Ebisu's hand holding the mission briefing began to tremble. "War... a war assistance mission... We're really going to take part in a war!!"

"What?"

The other five all stiffened.

"Our mission this time is to participate in a war between small countries. The client is the Daimyo of the Land of This, who wants us to assist their army in defeating the Land of Them."

"War? How could it be a war? Even though..." Dieyewasi still could not believe it. He swallowed the rest of his words and looked toward the two leading teachers at the front.

Although the two were running quickly, there was not the slightest trace of concern on their faces. On the contrary, they chatted and laughed.

This was war...

Dieyewasi frowned tightly, his heart pounding as though he were about to be sent onto the battlefield at any moment. He was unbearably nervous.

"War?"

Might Guy muttered the word, but could not say anything else for a long time. Guy's unusual reaction told everyone that even for someone so hot-blooded, war was no good thing.

For a moment, everyone's mood turned exceptionally gloomy. Shiranui Genma felt the same, but he forcibly suppressed it and said expressionlessly, "All right, everyone. We'll have to face war sooner or later. This is only a war between small countries, so there's no need to worry too much. The two teachers won't just send us to our deaths like this."

What they needed now was not to make the situation seem even worse. If they went into battle filled with worry, they would only die faster. Thus, although Genma's heart was trembling just as badly, he appeared remarkably composed in the others' eyes.

For a moment, everyone turned to look at Genma, as though he had become the backbone of the team.

Being trusted like this actually felt pretty good, and it gave Genma some confidence. "Then let's change formation. Raiton and Guy in the front row, Ebisu and Washi in the middle, Kurenai and I at the rear. Single file, and pick up the pace!"

If anyone said Genma was not abusing his authority for personal gain, Namiashi Raidō would not believe it. In truth, Genma himself would not believe it either. He merely wanted to use the opportunity to whisper with Kurenai and comfort each other.

Raiton, whom Genma had long since won over, could only tacitly understand. After glancing at Genma, he obediently ran to the front with Guy.

Ebisu went without saying. After all, he was the secretly perverted man who would one day hide an entire chest full of indecent books. Though somewhat envious, he adjusted his glasses and immediately pulled Washi behind Raiton and Guy.

The six formed a neat single line and followed closely behind the two leading jonin. Seeing the change, the jonin increased their speed as well.

Whether because they were about to take part in a war or because they were traveling so quickly, Kurenai and Genma soon began holding hands.

Neither said anything, yet just holding hands allowed them to feel the love and tenderness filling the other's heart.

Thus, even when they stopped to rest, they did not exchange a single word. Yet that mutual understanding, that beautiful feeling of everything being left unspoken, was incredibly comforting.

After traveling continuously for three days, they finally arrived in the Land of This.

"Wow, so this is the Land of This?"

"It doesn't look very big. Is this really a country?"

"Uh, it looks pretty nice. It should be a country, I guess~"

This not-so-large country looked about the size of Konohagakure, though its overall architectural design felt more like that of a proper nation.

Though small, the country had inner and outer cities, with a palace at its center. Despite differing somewhat from what Genma had imagined a country would be like, it was still the most prosperous place he had seen so far.

It was winter now, but the inland Land of This seemed largely unaffected by the climate. The trees remained green, the grass continued growing, and they occasionally saw plants that bloomed only in winter. Their flowers were purple, possessing a distinctive beauty.

At that moment, they stood on a mountain overlooking the Land of This. Seeing how beautiful and prosperous the entire country was, the gloom brought on by the war gradually lifted from the six of them.

Most notably, on the way down the mountain, Might Guy had already gone into a handstand, regaining his usual drive to seize every moment for training.

Dieyewasi hurriedly took out some dried sweet potatoes from his pack and began crunching away at them. Ebisu pulled out a book and started reading with a smile. Raiton had gotten hold of Genma's Telescope, running a few steps before taking a look through it, as though they were on a spring outing.

Naturally, Genma and Kurenai were still holding hands. Their hearts beat quickly, and both their faces had turned crimson.

It felt as though they were secretly on a date—afraid of being discovered, yet unable to suppress the itch in their hearts. Of course, those who already knew simply chose not to say anything.

The group of eight soon entered the Land of This. The long journey had not made them tired; instead, they became even more excited after arriving.

There were not many people on the streets, but all were dressed brightly and beautifully. The biting winter wind did not make them retreat, instead lending them a carefree beauty.

Yet that was also strange. Most of the people on the streets were women, with few men in sight. It completely defied the natural gender ratio, and the men were mostly elderly or children.

Though war was about to begin, it was not as if they had already lost and suffered catastrophic population losses. They were only in a state of military preparation.

Of course, strange as it was, Shiranui Genma did not intend to investigate too deeply. As for the others... they had even less intention of doing so.

Ebisu, usually the most serious one, covered his nose and smiled until his face was flushed red.

The others were no better, especially Noma and Yushi. Since they were indeed handsome and had exceptionally good figures, many graceful women had been shooting flirtatious looks their way all along the street.

Some of the bolder women even deliberately exaggerated their movements as they walked past, which prompted Ebisu's startled cry.

Being surrounded by so many women and receiving such enthusiastic attention also affected the other men in the group.

A faint blush lingered on Might Guy's face. Washi kept his head lowered but occasionally stole a glance, while Raiton had no reservations whatsoever and even interacted with some pretty girls.

Genma alone felt piercing pain constantly coming from his side, forcing him to close his eyes. Though he felt a little dejected, there was also a touch of sweetness.

The more painfully Kurenai's little hand gripped him, the more it showed that his place in her heart was steadily rising. It was pain and pleasure intertwined.

Actually, there was nothing wrong with not looking at the foreign charm of this Land of Women.

His own Kurenai had been cute since childhood, and because she often had to train, she dressed rather boldly as well. Even in the biting winter cold, she wore only a light standard Konohagakure vest on top and black thigh-high socks below.

It had its own distinct ninja beauty.

Before long, the flushed-faced group of ninja arrived outside the Land of This's palace.

After explaining why they had come, someone quickly received them and led the group into the Daimyo's Palace.

Rather than being taken to a formal council chamber, they were brought to a rather elegant courtyard, where they met the middle-aged Daimyo of the Land of This, who had a slight belly.

As the Daimyo slowly explained the situation, everyone came to understand their responsibilities.

It turned out that because the mission fell between C-rank and B-rank, they did not actually need to exert themselves too much. Especially if the war was lost, they would be allowed to flee.

Though it felt somewhat improper for their side to receive such treatment, and contrary to the ninja principle of putting the mission first.

It was still the other party's goodwill, so everyone thanked him and did not dwell on it further.

Yet at the end of the discussion, Kamise Yushi bowed and said, "We respectfully ask that Your Daimyo permit these students of ours to participate in the Martial Arts Tournament. We will voluntarily withdraw upon reaching the finals and will never take the placements of your countrymen."