Rogue Ninja

Before long, Aburame Shibi and Fujiwara Takumi finished discussing matters and walked over.

Fujiwara Takumi said, "Time is pressing, so I hope we can depart immediately. Sorry to trouble you, esteemed ninja."

Aozora could not help but view the fat merchant in a new light.

A grown man in his thirties addressed three underage youths as "esteemed," without the slightest embarrassment. That showed just how calculating he was.

Sai had been a little upset, but her indignation vanished the moment she heard that.

After making a few preparations, Team 3 set out with the Fujiwara Caravan for Lianyun City in the north.

Unlike their previous bandit suppression mission, Team 3 rode in the caravan's carriages this time instead of taking Bus Number 11.

Sitting in the carriage and leisurely taking in the beautiful scenery around them, Aozora and the others felt refreshed and at ease.

That afternoon, Aburame Shibi said, "Sai, go to the front of the convoy and conduct reconnaissance."

Although this mission was meant to help Aozora and the others relax, Aburame Shibi did not let his guard down. Not long after leaving the village, he had Sai begin scouting.

Along the way, Aburame Shibi displayed a Jonin's wealth of experience, constantly teaching the three of them how to identify routes, choose campsites, set traps, and more.

Faced with Aburame Shibi's selfless instruction, Aozora and the other two listened as attentively as elementary school students. Whenever they encountered important information, they even took out little notebooks to write it down.

Nothing happened during the first two days. Fujiwara Takumi occasionally came over to chat with Aozora and the others, sometimes bringing food to treat Team 3.

Having traveled far and wide, he understood the importance of maintaining good relations with ninja. Even if it could not reduce the mission fee, they would at least put more effort into protecting him.

Thus, the Fujiwara Caravan traveled on and off, gradually moving farther from Konoha and entering the Northern Land, where banditry ran rampant.

One afternoon, Sai, who was in charge of scouting, suddenly returned and said, "I found three people tailing the convoy, and another three lying in ambush ahead. All of them have fairly strong Chakra."

Aozora and Hayate said in unison, "Rogue Ninja?"

Rogue Ninja were usually deserters from major ninja villages or ninja from small villages that had fallen apart. These ninja were generally not very strong, so most of them lorded over smaller countries without ninja villages to protect them. Ordinarily, they would not dare set foot in a major country.

Aozora said in surprise, "Did these Rogue Ninja eat bear hearts and leopard guts? They actually dared to enter the Land of Fire?"

Hayate guessed, "Maybe they want to fish in troubled waters while Cloud and Konoha are at war."

Aozora shook his head. "Are they really that brainless? No matter how weakened Konoha is, any random Jonin could wipe them out."

After saying that, Aozora looked at Aburame Shibi. "Sensei, how should we handle them?"

After scouting with his insects, Aburame Shibi said, "Handle them yourselves."

Aozora immediately understood that the enemies were within their capability.

Gathering his two companions, Aozora said, "Sensei wants us to handle this ourselves. Everyone, give your thoughts."

Sai said, "What's there to think about? Life and death mean nothing—if they don't submit, beat them!"

"Cough, cough!" Hayate coughed and said, "Be careful. Don't underestimate Rogue Ninja."

Aozora was speechless. "Is this about whether we can beat them? The mission has been upgraded, all right?"

Shaking his head, Aozora left their carriage and walked to the front of the convoy. He said to President Fujiwara, "President Fujiwara, our scouts just discovered that Rogue Ninja have set their sights on your caravan."

Fujiwara Takumi looked around in alarm and said, "Esteemed ninja, we hired you. You must protect us!"

Aozora said seriously, "That may be true, but the mission you issued was a C-Rank Mission. Once it involves combat with ninja, it exceeds the scope of a C-Rank Mission. We have the right to refuse."

Fujiwara Takumi suddenly grabbed Aozora's hand. "Esteemed ninja, please do not abandon us."

Aozora said coldly, "No."

"Fighting ninja is far more dangerous."

Meeting President Fujiwara's pleading gaze, Aozora ultimately could not bear it. "You'll have to pay more~~"

Fujiwara Takumi froze at first, then immediately understood. Delighted, he said, "No problem! I'll raise the mission rank and increase the reward!"

He had seen ninja fight before. To ninja, ordinary people were no different from grass.

Only then did Aozora nod and return to their carriage.

"I've already discussed it with President Fujiwara. The mission has been upgraded to B-Rank, and the payment will increase accordingly."

Aozora continued assigning combat duties. "Six ninja. I'll handle the three lying in ambush ahead. The three behind us are yours."

Sai pouted at that and muttered, "You look down on us, don't you?"

After spending a month together, she knew that she and Hayate were indeed weaker than Aozora, but she was still somewhat unwilling to accept it.

Hayate smiled gently. "All right!"

With the plan settled, the three split up.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

The three turned into afterimages and charged at the Rogue Ninja watching them from the front and rear.

On Aozora's side, after rushing forward two steps, he spotted the three Rogue Ninja whose concealment work was far from adequate with his astonishing perception.

The three Rogue Ninja hiding in the trees had just caught sight of Aozora when they heard a whistling sound. Pain flared in their necks, and blood sprayed upward. They hurriedly clutched their throats.

"Thud! Thud! Thud!"

The three fell to the ground, kicking up a great deal of dust. After struggling briefly, they completely lost consciousness.

Seeing a new Golden Droplet appear in the Heavenly Book, Aozora did not bother finishing them off and turned back toward the convoy.

Just as Aozora finished his fight, Sai and Hayate also returned after ending theirs.

Sai and Hayate had both received professional training at the Ninja Academy, and with their clan inheritances, they were already among the strongest Genin. They lacked only a bit of experience to become Chunin. Against Rogue Ninja, they slaughtered their opponents with ease and ended the battle cleanly.

In only a few breaths, Aozora and the others had dealt with more than twice their number of enemies. Their opponents had certainly been weak, but it also showed just how outstanding the three were.

President Fujiwara came to the rear of the convoy and cautiously asked, "Have the Rogue Ninja you mentioned been dealt with?"

Aozora said blandly, "Behind the tenth tree on the left ahead. Have your Guards deal with them. In this heat, leaving corpses exposed in the wilderness could easily breed disease."

Sai added, "There are also three corpses in the bushes behind us on the left."

President Fujiwara hurriedly said, "Yes! Yes! I'll have the Guards deal with them at once."

With that, he returned to the caravan. Before long, two groups of Guards split off and headed toward the bodies.

After the Guards returned from collecting the corpses, the caravan continued onward.

The battle seemed like an insignificant interlude and did not affect the caravan's journey, but President Fujiwara clearly treated Aozora and the other two with much greater respect.

Before this, he had respected them only because of the forehead protectors they wore. Now, his respect came from their strength.

Thus, Team 3 escorted the caravan for another two days. Just as they were about to deliver it to its destination, they suddenly heard an explosion.

Everyone in Team 3 looked up and saw three clusters of red smoke rising on the horizon.