The Attack

At the Konoha Gate, Tazuna met up with Team 7.

"You may not know this, but I'm a renowned expert in bridge construction."

Tazuna introduced himself with confidence, even a touch of arrogance. "I expect you to risk your lives to protect me until I return home and finish building the bridge."

"Don't worry, Mr. Tazuna. Lord Hokage classified your mission as a C-rank mission, which means we won't encounter any ninja along the way. Even if we run into ordinary bandits, we can handle them easily, even if there are a thousand of them and they're fully armed."

Kakashi looked completely reliable. "And don't let the fact that they're still children fool you. As ninja, all three of them are quite capable. Lord Hokage emphasized that just now, too."

Tazuna felt a little more at ease.

But from Tazuna's reaction, Kakashi had already figured out what was going on with him. He thought about how to handle it. Lord Hokage's got a mean streak, giving them such a troublesome first C-rank mission... Naruto seems to have noticed something already. What will he do?

The five of them set off in silence.

They kept their pace moderate to match Tazuna's walking speed.

Once Konoha was completely out of sight, Sasuke subtly changed his pace and moved alongside Naruto. In a low voice, he said, "You noticed those two following us, right?"

"They've been there ever since we left the village."

Naruto looked ahead. "Uncle Tazuna must be hiding some of the details. Grandpa Third knows, but he still sent us. And Kakashi-sensei must have noticed, too. He's waiting for those two to make a move."

Sasuke hadn't noticed that much, but he trusted Naruto. "What are you going to do?"

"Same as Kakashi-sensei. Wait for them to make a move."

Naruto said, "If we attack them now, Uncle Tazuna will probably claim those two were after us."

Sasuke imagined the scene for a moment, his eyes reddening slightly. He immediately agreed, then adjusted his pace again and moved beside Sakura to tell her what he and Naruto had discussed.

Three days later.

The group was close to the Land of Waves. The two people who had been following them finally decided to make their move. First they went ahead to a spot the group would have to pass, then used the Transformation Technique to disguise themselves as puddles on the ground and waited for the group to approach.

"Are those two idiots?"

Sakura spotted the puddles from dozens of meters away and couldn't help complaining to Naruto and Sasuke. "It hasn't rained in days, and the mud in the other pits nearby is almost cracked dry. And they still disguised themselves as puddles?"

Sasuke pretended to admire the scenery, not daring to look ahead for fear he'd burst out laughing.

Naruto wanted to complain, too, but managed to hold it in. "They might fool a few careless ordinary people. Pay attention—Kakashi-sensei is changing positions."

Kakashi was already near the back of the group. Now he deliberately adjusted his speed and pace, moving to the very rear before they reached the puddles.

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura silently matched Kakashi's pace and shifted their positions. It didn't look like much had changed, but they had secured three directions, ensuring Tazuna, in front of them, wouldn't be attacked from behind.

Even then, the two disguised as puddles still hadn't realized they'd been exposed.

After the five passed the puddles, Kakashi, walking last, stepped over them and continued a couple of paces forward. Only then did the two quietly transform back to their original forms.

Both wore Forehead Protectors and gear resembling gas masks. Each had a cylindrical ninja tool strapped to one arm, and all five fingers on each hand were fitted with metal claws.

One of them opened a hole in the cylindrical tool strapped to his arm and pulled out a chainsaw-like ninja tool. The other grabbed it with his metal claws and charged at Kakashi, the closest target. He swung the chainsaw-like tool like a whip, wrapped it around Kakashi several times, and bound him.

Kakashi instantly panicked, as if he hadn't noticed a thing. He let out a soul-wrenching cry. "W-what's going on!?"

Completely fooled by Kakashi's acting, one of the attackers said confidently, "The first."

As he spoke, the two pulled hard on the chainsaw-like tool. It really did turn into a saw, cutting "Kakashi" into more than a dozen pieces that scattered across the ground.

Naruto played along, too, crying out in panic. "K-Kakashi-sensei?!"

His voice drew the attention of the two attackers nearby. Naruto was closer to them than either Sasuke or Sakura, so they immediately rushed toward him, still gripping the chainsaw-like tool. Once again, they spoke with confidence. "The second."

As they spoke, the two had already taken their stances. From the moment they launched their attack to the instant they killed their target, it wouldn't take even two seconds.

They didn't notice how calm Naruto looked. These two are way too easy to fool... Maybe I'll tease them a little more.

With that thought, Naruto flicked a kunai from his sleeve, caught it, and aimed it at the hole in the long, narrow ninja tool before driving it down hard, pinning the tool to the ground.

"Tch!" ×2

The two made irritated sounds. They still hadn't realized something was wrong; they just thought Naruto had reacted a little faster and was a little stronger than expected.

They immediately let go of the chainsaw-like tool and attacked directly with the metal claws on their hands.

Naruto jumped backward to dodge the claws. Sasuke and Sakura turned around in unison and charged at the enemies, seemingly forgetting to protect Tazuna behind them.

Only then did Tazuna realize what was happening. Ninja! That bastard Gato really sent ninja after me!

The two attackers glanced at Naruto as he jumped back, then sped around him. One redirected his attack toward Sasuke and Sakura, though it was more to hinder them than to attack. The other kept moving at full speed, intending to slip between Sasuke and Sakura and kill Tazuna directly.

Tazuna was terrified and shocked. He was so tense that his whole body had gone rigid, and he couldn't dodge at all. As the metal claws came closer, he instinctively shut his eyes and waited to die. "I'm going to be killed... The bridge isn't finished yet... Inari, Tsunami, I'm sorry..."

After a while, the death Tazuna expected never came. Instead, he heard Kakashi's voice beside him. "Mr. Tazuna, can you explain why ninja are after you?"

Tazuna opened his eyes and saw that the two attackers had lost consciousness and were tied up nearby. The four Konoha ninja were silently watching him. Realizing that they'd discovered what he'd been hiding, Tazuna didn't know what to say. He lowered his gaze and remained silent.

"For a C-rank escort mission, the most you should expect to encounter is bandits or the like. Any mission where ninja are the enemy should be at least B-rank."

Kakashi spoke calmly. "Perhaps you have your reasons, but you're paying us for a C-rank mission while expecting us to risk our lives fighting ninja. That's asking too much. If you have nothing to say, then according to the village's rules, we have the right to abandon the mission and leave you here."