The Anbu base,
Shinnosuke sat in his office and said, "Monkey, I've got an urgent mission for you. Hunt down two rogue ninja."
Kazuki Utsuki's gaze sharpened. "Rogue ninja?"
"Yeah. According to reliable intelligence, the two of them have defected to Sunagakure."
"Is there anything special about them?"
"Though they're only Genin, they have special positions as civilian staff and know a lot of secrets. If they make it to Sunagakure, they could cause us a lot of trouble."
Kazuki Utsuki took the file. It contained information about the two Genin. After a long moment, he asked,
"Is this a solo mission?"
"That's up to you."
Kazuki Utsuki froze and looked up at Shinnosuke. The latter smiled faintly. "It can be a solo mission or a group mission. If you think it'll be too much trouble on your own, you can bring one or two people along."
Kazuki Utsuki was still a little confused. The Anbu rarely assigned vague missions like this. For them, there was only one option: carry out orders. They weren't given a choice.
He read the file carefully once more, confirming that this was just an ordinary mission to hunt down rogue ninja. There was nothing special about it.
"What's wrong? Something bothering you?"
"No, nothing. I'll complete the mission." Kazuki Utsuki tucked the file away and went to prepare his gear.
The corners of Shinnosuke's mouth lifted slightly.
As Kazuki Utsuki walked, he mulled it over. The captain wouldn't have given him this mission for no reason. There was probably something going on behind the scenes.
But one thing was certain: the captain wasn't afraid of him. They'd been teammates for ten years, and they trusted each other enough to watch one another's backs.
As for who to take along on this mission... A certain