First Real Combat

At 8:30 in the morning, Kakashi glared at his watch with some irritation. Nanfeng had already arrived at the designated spot, but Naruto and Sasuke were nowhere to be seen.

"Should I go look for them?" Nanfeng couldn't help asking, watching Kakashi's mood darken.

"Forget it. They probably didn't sleep well last night, since it's their first time leaving the village... Oh? Isn't that them?" Kakashi squinted into the distance and spotted three figures rushing over in a hurry.

"You really kept us waiting. Huh? Why is Hinata here too?" Kakashi asked, puzzled, as he noticed Hinata trailing behind Naruto and Sasuke.

"I came to see Brother Nanfeng off... This mission might take a few days, so I made him... some bento to bring along." Hinata's face flushed red as she pulled an elegant lunchbox from her backpack and placed it in Nanfeng's hands.

"Oho, your little girlfriend is quite the homemaker!" Tazuna couldn't help chuckling at the sight.

The teasing from the group quickly overwhelmed Hinata. She whispered "Take care" in Nanfeng's ear before fleeing like a runaway from Konoha's gates.

"So, how far have you gotten with the Hyuga clan's eldest daughter? If you're planning to propose to the Hyuga family later, your teacher might be able to go with you." Kakashi looked at Nanfeng with a knowing smirk.

"Thanks for the offer, Kakashi-sensei. I'll handle that kind of thing myself." Nanfeng replied with a grin, though his answer was an indirect admission of his current relationship with Hinata.

After speaking, Nanfeng's mind started wandering. He hadn't formally confessed to Hinata or anything like that before... Maybe he should make up for it when he got back?

"Let's move out! Time for our first mission outside the village!" As Nanfeng was lost in thought, Naruto marched out of the village with a swagger.

Along the way, the brats acted like they'd never seen the world, curious about everything. Through their conversations, they also got a rough idea of the mission's target—the Land of Waves.

"Uncle, what kind of country is the Land of Waves? I heard they don't have a ninja village?" Naruto asked, puzzled, as he looked at the mission scroll's info.

"Yeah, aside from the five great nations, most small countries rarely have their own ninja villages. The Land of Waves does have ninjas, but they're usually outsiders. The more common profession there is something like Mercenary Samurai." Tazuna shook his head with a bit of regret as he spoke.

"Mercenary Samurai? Why don't ninjas take the jobs?" Naruto asked, a little confused.

"The price is too high. The cost of a ninja taking a mission isn't as simple as you think. The reason so many missions in Konoha are entrusted to ninjas is that the villagers here have much higher income and living standards than them. Maybe Konoha sheltered you too well, making you think that everywhere you go, ninjas will be helping people with missions..."

Nanfeng answered.

"That's right, the price is too high... This escort mission I hired you for has already drained all my savings. But once we get back to the Land of Waves and the bridge is finished, opening up trade routes with the Land of Fire, the people's living standards will rise." Tazuna's eyes lit up when he mentioned the bridge construction.

It was their country's business, so the four Konoha ninjas didn't say much. Still, the conversation helped them get to know each other quickly, and the journey wasn't too boring.

But as they passed a small puddle, everyone except Tazuna's eyes shifted in an instant. Noticing this, Kakashi nodded inwardly.

As expected of his students—their combat awareness was sharper than some Chunin he'd seen!

They all kept walking without a word, and just as they passed the puddle, two figures burst out. Their hands held Rope Blades, which quickly wrapped around Kakashi, who was in the lead.

With a yank, Kakashi's body was sliced into three pieces by the sharp blades. Tazuna's face went pale at the sight.

"First one!" The two ninjas grinned cruelly. Seeing the three genin frozen in place, they didn't attack them but instead targeted Tazuna behind them.

"Mission target confirmed. Begin cleanup." The two rushed at Tazuna. Watching them close in, Tazuna closed his eyes in despair.

"Looks like this mission's difficulty just went up a notch." The pain Tazuna expected never came. He opened his eyes, shaken, and saw the two assassins tangled in Steel Wire that had appeared from nowhere. He was puzzled.

"By mission standards, a C-rank mission shouldn't involve ninja combat. But given the situation, Mr. Tazuna, don't you owe us an explanation?" Sasuke said, bored, as he looked at the bound pair.

What trash opponents—less fun than sparring with Naruto!

"Right, a change in mission rank is a headache for us too. It's clear now that their target is you. Care to explain?" Kakashi pulled down his mask, revealing his crimson Sharingan.

He'd just used the Sharingan's Genjutsu to interrogate these two fools.

"Because I really didn't have the money. But to get back to the Land of Waves and complete the mission, I needed a ninja's help, so I could only post a C-rank mission..." Tazuna said in despair.

"Whatever. We're here now, so let's finish it. The kind of trash that shows up in a C-rank mission is probably this weak. Not much of a threat to us." Nanfeng walked over to the two wretches, sprinkling some white powder on their exposed skin as he spoke.

"Since Nanfeng says so... let's continue the mission." Kakashi nodded. It was a sign of his confidence in the team's abilities.

But there was another hidden reason—he didn't want to end up like last time, tortured by that weird medicine. Just look at these two poor bastards' reactions...

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