Naruto's Ninja Way

The air was thick with the smell of gunpowder and scorched earth.

Menma walked to the large tree whose bark had been stripped away by the shock wave, where two unconscious rogue ninja from the Hidden Mist were now tied up. He crouched down and quickly searched Gozu and Meizu with practiced hands.

From hidden layers in their close-fitting clothes and concealed compartments in their ninja tool pouches, he found several poison-coated Senbon and Shuriken, a small amount of common currency, and a few letters carefully wrapped in waterproof oiled paper, though the blast's heat had already baked them yellow and curled their edges.

Menma quickly glanced over the tokens and fragments of the letters. The writing and marks on them all pointed to a vague organization, but more specific information—such as the employer's exact identity and any follow-up plans—was clearly not something two Chunin sent to carry out an assassination would know.

These two were nothing more than small fry sent ahead to test the waters.

In a short time, it would be difficult to pry any valuable intelligence out of them, especially while they were still unconscious from serious injuries.

Kakashi's gaze moved away from Menma's searching hands and settled once more on Tazuna, who had collapsed in the mud, his face ashen and his whole body trembling.

"Mr. Tazuna." Kakashi's voice was not loud, and even carried a somewhat lazy drawl, but the content of his words made Tazuna shudder all over.

"We encountered an enemy ninja attack during the mission, and their strength exceeded the scope of a C-rank mission. That means there were major omissions or concealments in the mission information you initially submitted." He paused, looking at Tazuna's suddenly raised, panic-filled eyes, then continued.

"According to Konoha's ninja mission regulations, when the actual circumstances