Crossing the Border

"Alright, the challenge begins. Survival is up to yourselves."

Orochimaru cast a meaningful glance at Mr. Ito, who was looking embarrassed and wiping sweat, then announced the start.

"Arrogant brat, let me, the great me, teach you how dangerous the outside world is!"

Samurai Sanada drew his two swords, gripping them in a dual-wielding stance. Chakra flowed into the blades, filling them with immense power.

"Mhm, mhm, thank you very much."

Satoru sighed and waved at the samurai.

"Come on."

"You little punk!"

Samurai Sanada's expression hardened. He stomped his foot, flashed forward, and charged at Satoru, who appeared completely unprepared.

"Impact Wave!"

"BOOM—"

Sanada, who had just approached Satoru, was sent flying into the air by a ring of flame!

"What is this!"

While Sanada was being sent flying, Satoru had already completed his next spell.

"Deformation Technique: Pig!"

"Oink oink~"

"..."

An awkward silence filled the air.

The tall samurai had instantly transformed into a small, pink piglet, circling on the ground in confusion.

Orochimaru and the other two watched this with strange expressions. The client, Mr. Ito, had his jaw almost on the floor.

Even the usually quiet old butler showed a hint of surprise.

"No matter how many times I see it, the insult is still incredibly strong..."

Nawaki muttered, looking like he couldn't bear to recall the past.

However, seeing Satoru's gaze drift towards him, he quickly shut his mouth.

Mikoto covered her mouth, trying hard to suppress her laughter.

"!!!"

The pink pig was almost turning red. Powerful chakra erupted from the pig. The enraged Samurai Sanada, in his fury, unleashed his chakra, breaking free from the constraints of the Deformation Technique:

"You..."

"Oink oink~"

The samurai's voice was forced back. Satoru waved his hand, and he transformed back into a piglet.

"You..."

"Deformation Technique: Turtle!"

"..."

"Snicker..."

Mikoto finally couldn't hold back and burst into laughter.

"Hehe... this is even more insulting..."

Samurai Sanada's chakra strength was indeed not weak. In fact, after being transformed, his stamina recovery speed even increased.

However, without the Byakugan, directly unleashing chakra put immense pressure on his meridian system. The second time was already his limit. One more time, and his meridians would likely tear.

This time, transformed into a turtle, he felt an intense pain in his meridians and dared not move again.

"Tsk... looks like you're quite resentful, Mr. Samurai."

Satoru's hands ignited with blazing flames, and a fireball the size of a washbasin formed before him.

"Shall I roast you?"

The turtle's small eyes stared at the fireball, filled with terror. However, he couldn't speak, nor could he even escape...

Pursing his lips, Satoru tossed the Pyroblast in his hand into the distance.

"BOOM—"

The violent explosion cast a reddish glow on Mr. Ito's pale face. The old butler next to him gently shook his head and sighed, stepping forward to bow to Satoru.

"Ninja, Sanada has received his lesson... I, this old man, dare to ask you to withdraw your technique."

"Master, the money that needs to be spent, still has to be spent."

"..."

Ito let out a long breath and bowed awkwardly to Orochimaru.

"Jonin-sama, please have your disciple spare Sanada... I... I'll pay an additional twenty percent as an apology to the ninja-sama!"

Ito's posture was extremely humble. The strength Satoru displayed had almost instantly defeated the samurai from the Land of Iron, whom he had paid a large sum to hire.

A technique that didn't even allow for escape. At this moment, if that terrifying fireball struck, or if a sword cut down, Sanada would be severely injured without any resistance.

No wonder Lord Orochimaru, the Hokage's disciple, was so confident in handing over the mission's lead to his own disciple.

Was this the strength of Konoha ninjas? Even the children were this strong?

And wasn't this child the youngest of the three?

With such ninjas escorting him this time, he was the one who had truly struck gold.

Orochimaru nodded at Satoru. Satoru deactivated the Deformation Technique, and Sanada, gasping for breath, collapsed onto the ground.

Slowly standing up with a face full of defeat, Sanada bowed his head to Satoru in surrender.

He understood that if that large fireball had hit him just now, it wouldn't have been a minor injury.

"I... I surrender. It turns out I was the one who didn't know the immensity of heaven and earth..."

"Ninja-sama, for the rest of the journey, I will obey your commands without any further objections."

Satoru nodded calmly, clearing his throat slightly.

"Then, regarding the combat plan, I shall continue."

After dealing with the third-rate samurai, Satoru continued to elaborate on his mission plan to everyone.

With Satoru, who had demonstrated his strength, making the arrangements, the group had no objections. After preparing according to the plan, they set off fully equipped.

At the border outpost between the Land of Fire and the Land of Rain, Satoru's group presented their mission documents. Under the complex gazes of the Chunin in charge of defense, they entered the Land of Rain.

"An A-rank mission... Even with Lord Orochimaru leading the team, such a young child is really pushing it..."

"These guys who stir up war, they are the ones who truly deserve to die!"

The Land of Rain, as its name suggested, was constantly raining. Among the inland countries, its water resources were incredibly abundant.

The ninjas of Amegakure were individually strong and particularly adept at assassination.

Therefore, even though the Land of Rain was not large in territory, it could frequently accept commissions from other countries to carry out various types of assassination missions, earning it a renowned reputation.

Crossing the border outpost, as per Satoru's arrangements, all members of the squad wore hooded raincoats, including Mr. Ito and the other two.

Such attire was not uncommon among the civilians of the Land of Rain. To accommodate the walking pace of Mr. Ito and the old butler, they did not walk quickly.

Shortly after leaving the outpost, night began to fall. However, their location was still within Amegakure's border defense zone.

"Tonight will be the first major hurdle. I will be responsible for the vigilance. Teacher Orochimaru, please use Earth Release to create a hiding place."

Choosing a small hill, Satoru began to arrange the matters for the night.

Orochimaru had already handed over all command authority to Satoru, so at this point, he naturally followed orders.

Utilizing the existing small hill, Orochimaru directly carved out a winding passage with Earth Release and was the first to enter, expanding the space inside.

"Mage Eye!"

Satoru set up surveillance measures at the cave entrance and was the last to enter the cave.

After a moment, three figures approached the cave entrance and exchanged glances.

"Using Earth Release to dig a cave, these ninjas are truly arrogant!"

This was a three-person patrol team from Amegakure, composed of three Amegakure Chunin.

They wore their characteristic breathing masks. The speaker was the squad leader. Looking at the carelessly exposed cave entrance, a hint of anger flashed in his eyes.

This was still a border defense zone, and the one who dug the cave was undoubtedly a Konoha ninja from the Land of Fire.

But this action was practically slapping the face of Amegakure – Orochimaru had not made any attempt to conceal his actions when digging the cave.

Even with the reduced visibility due to the rain, the Amegakure ninjas easily discovered the cave entrance.

"Can you sense how many people are there?"

The captain turned to his companion, who was a sensory ninja. The latter opened his eyes and said in a deep voice, "There are six people, but two of them have very weak auras; they should be ordinary people."

"However... one of them should be an elite-level Jonin. Very strong!"