"Hello, everyone! I'm Minato Namikaze, and I'll be your temporary team leader for this mission. I look forward to working with you."
Staring at the blond boy in front of him, Haku was a little stunned. Then he looked around and, sure enough, spotted a red-haired girl not far away. That must be Kushina Uzumaki.
Before Haku could get a closer look, he felt someone tugging at his clothes.
"Haku, he's greeting us! Don't zone out!"
"Cough, cough! Ah! Well, um... nice to meet you! I'm Haku, and these two are my teammates, Uchiha Yu and Hyuga Riko!"
Minato Namikaze didn't seem to notice Haku's distraction.
"If there's nothing else, we should get going."
"We're all set, but don't you need to go over there first?"
As Haku spoke, he pointed in Kushina's direction.
"Ah! Oh, sorry! Just a moment!"
Apologizing as he spoke, Minato ran over to Kushina.
Ten minutes later, Minato Namikaze said to the others,
"All right, let's go. The sooner we finish the mission, the better."
Haku noticed a cloth pouch at Minato's waist. It wasn't particularly pretty, but he didn't say anything. He followed Minato out through the Konoha Gate.
Minato Namikaze was moving through the forest not far from Haku.
"Lately, this part of the Land of Fire hasn't been very safe. A lot of teams have been attacked by shinobi from Kirigakure here, so we need to be careful."
"Watch out! Shinobi approaching from the front. Nine of them, Jonin-level!"
Before Haku could answer Minato Namikaze, Hyuga Riko called out a warning from up ahead.
"Hmm? Veer left! We can't take them head-on."
Minato Namikaze immediately gave the order without hesitation.
At his command, the others promptly changed direction and headed left.
"No good. They're following us. They must have a scout."
Five minutes after they changed direction, Hyuga Riko spoke up again.
"Our destination is still half a day away. We won't shake them by running like this. They have more Chakra than we do. We'll run out before we get there."
After the enemy spotted them and caught up again when they changed direction once more, Minato Namikaze approached Haku.
"There are nine of them. They're probably an elite squad. We can't beat them head-on. My team and I will stay behind and hold them off as long as we can. You have the Byakugan, so keep going. Once you reach the front lines, ask Lord Orochimaru to send reinforcements."
Haku immediately wanted to argue, but Minato Namikaze seemed to see it coming and didn't give him the chance to speak.
"Don't say anything. It's decided. The mission comes first!"
"Jianren! Set up the Explosive Tag traps!"
Seeing Minato Namikaze already directing his teammates to set traps and delay the enemy, Haku knew nothing he said would change his mind. He motioned for Hyuga Riko and Uchiha Yu to pick up the pace, hoping they could reach the front lines quickly and bring back reinforcements to rescue Minato Namikaze and his team.
Hyuga Riko and Uchiha Yu also knew the situation was urgent, and without hesitation they passed Minato Namikaze and the others and continued onward.
Gradually, as Minato Namikaze and the others slowed to set traps, the distance between their groups grew.
"Boom!"
Hearing the explosion in the distance, Haku knew the enemy had triggered one of the traps Minato Namikaze's team had set. It wouldn't be long before they clashed with the enemy.
Another hour passed before Haku heard Hyuga Riko speak again.
"Haku, three shinobi are following us. Judging by their Chakra signatures, they're three of the nine we saw earlier."
"Only three? If it's just three, we should try to ambush them. Let's change direction a few times first and see if they have a sensor."
Hearing from Hyuga Riko that three enemies were on their trail, Haku immediately adjusted their course. He needed to confirm that there were only three and find out whether any of them were sensor-type shinobi.
"If they don't have a sensor, we can ambush them and take one out. We should be able to handle the other two. If they do have a sensor, it'll be harder to ambush them."
Uchiha Yu chimed in.
After changing directions several times, Haku and the others confirmed that their pursuers were tracking them by the traces they'd left behind. Without hesitation, they prepared to ambush them.
As for why they didn't simply keep running, the reason was the same as before: the enemy Jonin had more Chakra than the three of them. Even if the enemy couldn't catch up yet, they'd easily catch them once their Chakra ran out.
So the three of them had no choice but to fight.
"Let's do it here!"
Haku stopped at a small hill. The three of them made a few simple preparations, creating the illusion that they had run off into the distance.
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