Encounter

"This..."

The relief Qi Shuang had just felt vanished, and his heart rose to his throat again.

This kind of investigation mission looked easy and simple, but it actually concealed danger.

If they found nothing, or if the enemy failed to discover them, then all would be well. But if they encountered the enemy or had their tracks detected, that would be another matter entirely.

At that point, an easy investigation mission would turn into a battle that decided life and death!

Unless absolutely necessary, Qi Shuang truly did not want to fight anyone to the death.

Because he did not know whether he would win or lose.

But he had no right to refuse a mission assigned by his superiors. He could only obey. All he could do was be as careful as possible—he still did not want to die young!

Unfortunately, his two simple-minded companions had not realized the danger involved at all. Instead, they looked eager to give it a try.

That only made him more worried.

There was nothing he could do. The two were merely ordinary children around ten years old. Unless they were unusually mature, he could not possibly expect them to understand anything.

At the same time, he had no interest in lecturing anyone about grand principles.

After all, he did not want to draw too much attention to himself. If he accidentally let something slip, that would be troublesome.

Soon, the four of them began their tense and thrilling reconnaissance mission.

War between ninja forces was actually not much different from war among ordinary people.

Aside from confrontations and chaotic battles on the front lines, there was also the covert gathering of intelligence and searching for opportunities to strike.

Though these small-scale private battles were not as fierce as those on the front lines, scouts disappeared every day, never returning to report what they had learned.

When others found them again, aside from those killed on the spot, the overwhelming majority had taken their own lives.

Qi Shuang had heard Teacher Ki warn them that they would rather die in battle or take their own lives than surrender and be captured.

Because one could never know what methods the enemy would use to force information out of them.

The result would likely be worse than death!

Kirigakure had casualties, and Konoha was no different. After all, scouts were made of flesh and blood, not immortal bodies.

However, the warriors from Kirigakure who returned after killing enemies naturally received rewards and the praise of everyone.

Qi Shuang's two companions were extremely envious of that.

It was hard to say whether they were lucky or unlucky, but half a month passed without them encountering a single enemy scout.

More precisely, a Konoha scout.

This gradually turned his two teammates' initial mild excitement into restless impatience.

They wanted to fight Konoha's people, kill their opponents, and become "heroes" praised by others.

Not carry out "boring" reconnaissance missions here!

Qi Shuang and Kamiya Ki both saw this clearly, yet neither reacted.

Qi Shuang himself was one thing—he had no kindness in him to remind the two—but Teacher Ki's attitude was equally thought-provoking.

As their teacher, he had no intention of guiding his two subordinates, allowing them to retain such dangerous thoughts. Qi Shuang could not make sense of it.

In the dense forest, Kamiya Ki, who had been leading them at a rapid pace, suddenly stopped and raised a hand to signal for the three behind him to halt.

"Teacher Ki, did you discover the enemy?" Kamimura asked with barely concealed excitement, his right hand already gripping a Kunai.

He seemed to have already seen his chance to kill Konoha ninja and earn glory.

On the other side, Natsuki wore a confident smile and took out a stack of Explosive Tags.

Qi Shuang frowned deeply at the sight. He truly could not understand where these two simple-minded fools got the mysterious confidence that they could kill their opponents and return alive to Kirigakure's camp.

"Suppress your presence and hide. Prepare for battle!" Kamiya Ki said sternly, quickly leading them into a small thicket.

Though he was not a professional Sensory Ninja, as a ninja's strength increased, his five senses also far surpassed those of ordinary people. As long as the distance was not too great, he could still detect some movement.

A radius of ten meters was more or less his limit.

But compared to the sensing range of a professional Sensory Ninja, that distance was worlds apart.

By the same logic, if he could sense the other party, they could sense him as well.

If they turned and fled now, they would only be hunted down from behind.

He might be able to escape, but these three subordinates were practically doomed.

Moreover, if his superiors discovered that he had maliciously abandoned his subordinates, Kirigakure would be waiting with severe punishment.

Therefore, he could not run. At least, not while the enemy's strength remained unknown.

Everything would have to be judged after they clashed.

"There are four of them. They should be a Konoha reconnaissance squad!" Relying on his vague perception, Kamiya Ki spoke softly to his three subordinates.

Then, in his hazy senses, the four figures suddenly vanished just as they were about to approach this patch of forest.

"Careful. They're here!" he warned in a low voice.

Without a doubt, once the other side sensed that they had entered combat range, they too had concealed their presence.

Their aim was to launch a surprise attack.

At a time like this, ordinary ninja perception was useless.

They could only roughly sense that the enemy had arrived, but not pinpoint their exact location.

This was precisely when the importance of professional Sensory Ninjas became apparent.

Rustle!

After a faint sound, Qi Shuang saw a thin figure emerge from the bushes five meters away.

The man wore a green jacket and a forehead protector bearing a bird-beak-shaped symbol.

"So it really is Konoha? It's been a long time," Qi Shuang said with a slight curl of his lips. He was a little excited at the prospect of clashing with Konoha's ninja.

The story of Naruto mainly took place in Konoha, where Naruto Uzumaki lived, so every reader had a special attachment to Konoha.

Qi Shuang was no exception.

Unfortunately, he was now in Kirigakure, which stood opposed to Konoha.

No matter how favorably he viewed Konoha, that was all in the past.

He did not expect Konoha's ninja to spare him simply because he liked Konoha.

This was wartime, after all!

Only a dead enemy was a good enemy!

As for defecting from Kirigakure and joining Konoha, he had entertained such thoughts when he had first arrived.

But after learning how the villages dealt with rogue ninja, he never considered it again.

Everyone believed that someone capable of betraying once could naturally betray a second time, so no village ever trusted the loyalty of rogue ninja from another village.

There was also the matter of each village's security.

What if the rogue ninja seeking refuge was actually a spy deliberately sent by another village?

Thus, to eliminate that risk, no village ever accepted rogue ninja from other villages.

Finally, Qi Shuang simply did not have the confidence to withstand the pursuit and slaughter of Kirigakure's hunter-nin.

Even Juzo Biwa, one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, had never set foot in the Land of Water again after defecting from Kirigakure in the original story, because he feared the power of Kirigakure's hunter-nin.

How could he, a mere ten-year-old child, dare commit such a mad act of betraying his village? It was better to honestly remain a Mist Ninja.