The Stone Shinobi's Vigilance

Kurotsuchi furrowed her brows tightly and said to Urabe Daisuke in a low voice, "You said the two Konoha shinobi escorting them—one had thick eyebrows and wore a skintight suit, while the other was probably only Twelve Years Old?"

"Y-yes..."

Urabe Daisuke's face was deathly pale from excessive blood loss.

Kurotsuchi turned to the shinobi beside her and said in a deep voice, "Who still has the detailed records for the mission Huoguang carried out?!"

The shinobi beside her exchanged looks, all shaking their heads.

None of them were responsible for mission handovers, nor were they Huoguang's teammates. It was already normal enough that they remembered Huoguang had accepted a commission in the Land of Grass. Who would remember the precise details and intelligence?

"..."

Kurotsuchi frowned slightly. After pondering for several seconds, she said, "They should be hidden Elite Jonin of Konoha. Record the appearances of those two Konoha shinobi and distribute them to all shinobi. Stay alert!"

Ordinary Jonin were not worth particular concern because there were so many of them. But Elite Jonin were few in number. The Legendary Sannin of Konoha, such as Orochimaru and Jiraiya, also belonged among the "Elite Jonin." Every Elite Jonin from an enemy village was therefore worth watching out for!

"Yes!"

The shinobi nearby responded in unison.

After giving her orders, Kurotsuchi raised her head and gazed deeply in the direction of the Land of Fire.

A silver-haired boy...

From the description, he sounded very much like that person. But that person was already dead. Was he that person's son? Yet according to the intelligence, that person's son did not seem to be in his teens yet—

Regardless, possessing such terrifying strength at that age made that brat a threat that needed to be eliminated as soon as possible.

Konoha could not be allowed to produce a second White Fang!

Konoha.

After leaving the Land of Grass, Feng Ye and Might Duy hurried day and night without stopping, making their way straight back to Konoha. By this time, Konoha was clearly not ignorant of the intelligence from the front lines. It had already entered a wartime state of alert.

The entire village was enveloped by an enormous Sensory Barrier. At the main entrance, the guard force had been increased to two squads, with at least one Anbu team secretly keeping watch as well.

Feng Ye and Might Duy underwent a strict inspection at the village entrance. Only after it was confirmed that they were not enemy shinobi in disguise were they allowed to pass.

After entering the village.

The two headed straight for the Hokage Building.

The mission assignment area on the first floor of the Hokage Building also had an atmosphere completely different from before. All C-Class commissions had disappeared without exception. Only a few scattered B-Class and A-Class commissions remained posted on the notice board, all of them within the Land of Fire—for example, serving as the personal guards of the Land of Fire's Daimyo.

"You two?"

Shiranui Genma was still handling mission handovers on the first floor. When he saw Feng Ye and Might Duy enter, his expression flickered with surprise before he let out a breath of relief. "Looks like you didn't run into any Stone Shinobi in the Land of Grass. You were really lucky."

Konoha's scouts had already discovered and relayed back to the village intelligence that the Stone Shinobi were conducting large-scale operations in the Land of Grass. He remembered that Feng Ye and Might Duy's mission had been to escort a merchant caravan to the Land of Grass. Under such circumstances, it was undoubtedly extremely dangerous. If they had encountered a large Stone Shinobi force head-on, they would have been finished. Returning alive was unquestionably fortunate.

"No, we encountered Stone Shinobi."

Feng Ye looked at Shiranui Genma and said slowly, "Something unexpected happened during the commission. We encountered a ten-man Iwagakure squad at the border of the Land of Grass..."

"A ten-man squad?"

Shiranui Genma was immediately startled.

Four-man shinobi teams could be led by either Chunin or Jonin, but a ten-man squad was overwhelmingly likely to be led by a Jonin. Feng Ye and Might Duy had run into a ten-man Stone Shinobi squad and still returned alive. That could not be explained by luck alone.

"It's good that you returned alive. If unforeseen circumstances beyond the scope of the commission caused the mission to fail, then according to regulations, it will not be recorded as a 'commission failure.'"

Shiranui Genma lowered his head and searched for the commission form Feng Ye and Might Duy had accepted earlier.

Feng Ye walked over. Seeing Shiranui Genma find the form and pick up a pen to mark the "unexpected circumstances" column, he interrupted him.

"Don't record it carelessly. The mission didn't fail."

"Hm?"

Shiranui Genma stopped, looking slightly taken aback.

Feng Ye tossed out a scroll, which landed on the desk. Then he walked past it and headed upstairs. "I'm going to see Lord Hokage. Senior Duy, explain the details to him."

As his words fell, Feng Ye quickly entered the interior, went up the stairs to the second floor of the Hokage Building, and vanished into the stairwell.

"Uh."

Might Duy uttered a sound as he walked up to the desk. He hesitated slightly, scratched his head, and said, "How should I put this? We encountered a ten-man Stone Shinobi squad, then the client temporarily changed the commission and raised it to A-Class. Then we wiped out the Stone Shinobi squad."

Shiranui Genma had been listening carefully. When he heard the words "wiped out," he froze for a moment. Instinctively thinking he had misheard, he interrupted in astonishment.

"Wait... you said wiped out? You wiped out a ten-man Stone Shinobi squad?!"

"That's right."

Might Duy nodded.

Shiranui Genma frowned and stared at Might Duy. "What kind of nonsense are you pulling now? What do you mean, you wiped out a ten-man Stone Shinobi squad? Falsifying mission details is a serious offense!!"

Might Duy shook his head. "How could I falsify mission details? Everything I reported is true. Oh, right, the proof is all in that scroll."

"The scroll..."

Shiranui Genma frowned as he looked at the scroll Feng Ye had just thrown onto the desk. He opened it and spread it out on the table, then formed a hand seal with both hands. "Open!"

Puff!

White smoke flashed past.

In an instant, a large pile of items appeared, stacked atop the scroll: numerous Stone Shinobi forehead protectors, with a head placed above them.

Shiranui Genma's pupils contracted at the sight. Then disbelief appeared on his face as he stared at those Stone Shinobi forehead protectors and the somewhat shriveled head.

Ten forehead protectors!

A shinobi's forehead protector was a symbol of identity. Only shinobi recognized by their village could receive the forehead protector issued by that village. Ten Stone Shinobi forehead protectors meant ten Stone Shinobi!

Feng Ye and Might Duy had actually wiped out a ten-man Stone Shinobi squad!

This...

Shiranui Genma stood frozen in place, shock filling his eyes. His mouth hung slightly open, but for a moment, he could not say a word. Only several seconds later did his throat move twice.

"Y-you wait here."

The temporary alteration of a commission into an A-Class mission, coupled with the deaths of enemy village shinobi, was no longer something he could handle himself.

Shiranui Genma took a deep breath and swiftly left the counter to report upstairs.