Hero

At the first light of dawn the next day, Mo Jingxian and his partner received a new mission: to escort the wounded back to Konoha.

Once the mission was completed, the two were granted a rare fifteen-day leave for rest and recuperation.

The mission to infiltrate behind enemy lines had also been settled, and the higher-ups had been quite generous, recording it as an A-rank mission.

This was rather intriguing.

Strictly speaking, one could argue that the infiltration and ambush mission had been a failure.

Yet, they had bumped it up a grade, not only labeling it A-rank but doubling the military merits as well.

No matter how one looked at it, it felt like a form of compensation.

Mo Jingxian casually stuffed the mission scroll into his packed bag and slung it over his shoulder to test the weight.

"You guessed it?" Ayako Hyuuga looked at her busy teammate, wondering why he had been right again.

"Is it that hard?"

"Come on! Tell me, why are you always able to guess correctly, and why can't I?"

"Do you think anyone who survives and returns doesn't harbor resentment in their heart?" Mo Jingxian picked up the final cloth bundle.

The girl shook her head.

"Exactly." He shoved the bundle into Ayako's arms and sat down beside her.

"The first thing the battlefield eliminates is instability." He gestured toward the two of them: "People like us need to be re-imbued with the Will of Fire before they can be trusted to serve again."

"Brainwashing, that's what you mean, right." Ayako Hyuuga strapped on her pack and rose to head outside the tent.

"You learn fast." Mo Jingxian stood up as well: "You're already using the new words we talked about yesterday."

In the main camp, most of the people coming and going were new faces.

The veterans were almost nowhere to be seen; aside from the high-ranking officers and a few members of the ninja clans, half of the remaining people had sacrificed their lives in that great battle.

Ninjas were like crops; once one harvest was cut down, new ones would sprout, as if they were inexhaustible.

The two arrived at the side gate, where a group of wounded had already gathered.

Those missing arms or legs were considered lightly wounded, while those with severe injuries who had yet to recover needed to be transported back on ox carts.

Most of these people would be bidding farewell to their ninja careers, even if they fully recovered.

Looking at the bright side, wasn't this, in a way, a stroke of luck?

Sometimes, the connections between people are truly mysterious; the one leading the team this time was an old acquaintance, Yamashiro Baiyun.

"Captain Yamashiro." Mo Jingxian offered a greeting and handed over their mission orders: "What a coincidence, we meet again."

Yamashiro Baiyun smiled as he took the scroll: "It is quite a coincidence. Seeing you kid still alive and kicking makes me feel a lot brighter."

Yamashiro Baiyun stamped the document and handed it back.

"Wait a little longer, we're still missing a few wounded."

"I'm in no rush." As he spoke, Mo Jingxian walked over to the cart carrying Hayama Shirakumo and Tekuno: "Scoot over, leave some room for me."

Tekuno was doing alright; he had taken two kunai to the thigh and needed time to rest his tendons.

Hayama Shirakumo, however, was in a miserable state, with five or six kunai holes in his body; it was a mystery how he had even survived.

Seeing such vitality, Mo Jingxian couldn't help but give a thumbs up and say: "I admire you."

Having experienced life and death together, the group was naturally close and had no need for formalities.

"You guy." Hayama Shirakumo rolled his eyes, though his body honestly shifted to make room.

"What... is it something to be proud of, getting stabbed while playing with knives?"

The two bickered, and time passed quickly; once the wounded were all present, they set off immediately.

The escort consisted of the standard two combat squads, totaling six ninjas.

The atmosphere on the return trip was much more relaxed, as under normal circumstances, the Suna ninjas would not attack a convoy transporting the wounded.

It wasn't that the Suna ninjas were benevolent; it was simply not cost-effective.

A bunch of old, weak, sick, and disabled people—it would be a waste of kunai to even shoot at them.

Jonin Yamashiro lived up to his reputation as a veteran ninja; even for a relaxed escort mission, he executed it with meticulous care.

Mo Jingxian and Ayako Hyuuga were assigned to guard the left flank as the convoy moved slowly forward.

Thanks to the powerful scouting capabilities of the Byakugan, there was no need to arrange personnel for an outer perimeter.

The convoy traveled through the day, and at night, they chose a relatively open area to set up camp and rest.

When the moon reached its zenith, Ayako suddenly activated her Byakugan.

"We have a situation." Ayako Hyuuga focused her vision in one direction, her scouting range instantly doubling.

"I've spotted three Suna ninjas, five kilometers to the southeast—one chunin and two genin."

At this distance, they were clearly not targeting the convoy, but since the enemy had been spotted, they could not simply be ignored.

Yamashiro Baiyun reached for his long sword, but Mo Jingxian reached out to stop him.

"I'll go." Mo Jingxian gave Ayako a look. "Let her follow me; even if the enemy has an ambush, we'll be able to detect it in advance."

Yamashiro Baiyun had heard of his strength, and with a Hyuuga clan ninja added to the mix, it was indeed a secure plan.

The convoy needed to be guarded, and it clearly wasn't appropriate for him to leave.

"You two be careful. If there's an ambush, retreat immediately."

"Rest assured." Mo Jingxian stood up, and in the blink of an eye, the two disappeared into the dark night without making a single sound.

This display of the Body Flicker Technique alone already surpassed most ninjas.

This kid's growth rate was truly terrifying; he still remembered Mo Jingxian's performance from a few months ago, which had been nowhere near this level.

The two moved with practiced ease, and before long, they had crept up behind the enemy.

The trio of Sand ninjas had yet to notice their approach, each hiding in a concealed spot.

They clearly weren't novices; their hiding spots were well-chosen, and they had set up several warning traps in the surrounding area.

Mo Jingxian signaled with his hands, and Ayako Hyuuga nodded.

The two split up to act.

One Sand ninja was hiding at the very top of a tall tree, his body covered in leaves to blend in with the environment.

The spot he had chosen was ingenious, the thickness of the branch just enough to support his weight.

If anyone tried to ambush him, he would notice immediately.

He had also set two traps around the branch, the steel wires hidden so well they were extremely difficult to detect.

However, the person he had encountered today was Mo Jingxian.

A Water Flood Dragon slithered up the trunk, bypassing the traps to approach the Sand ninja from behind.

Such dexterous ninjutsu manipulation was thanks to Mo Jingxian's elemental mastery and control.

His ninjutsu had never been a straightforward contest of raw numbers.

By the time the Water Flood Dragon swam to the enemy's side, the man still hadn't realized it.

The next moment.

The Water Flood Dragon suddenly coiled around the enemy, and the surrounding temperature plummeted.

Just as the Sand ninja was about to resist the ambush, a sealing rune surged into his body, ruthlessly suppressing the chakra within him.

He felt an extreme cold, as if even his soul were being frozen.

Then, a sharp pain pierced his heart, and the world lost its color.

The enemy never even saw his attacker before he died.

Mo Jingxian flicked the blood off his kunai, wiped it clean, and tucked it back into his weapon pouch.

This was what a normal fight between ninjas was like; what kind of monsters had he been running into in the past?

It was almost making him lose his confidence.

Soon, he arrived near the only remaining Sand ninja.

Mo Jingxian looked down from above, his elemental perception perfectly enveloping the hundred-meter radius around him.

As long as he remained still, any living creature interacting with the elements within a hundred meters would feed information back to him.

Although the precision was much lower, he could still roughly determine their position and status.

In the heat of a fierce battle, this distance would shrink to a dozen meters, but the information relayed back would be far richer.

He didn't rush to strike, because his perception showed Ayako Hyuuga creeping toward that Sand ninja from behind.

Ayako Hyuuga landed without a sound, and only when she was within twenty meters of the enemy did she suddenly throw three kunai.

The kunai formed a "pin" shape, sealing off the enemy's escape routes.

As for her, she moved like a leopard stalking through the deep forest, following the kunai in a flash to strike.

The twenty-meter distance was chosen perfectly; too far would give the enemy time to react.

Too close would risk exposure, but this distance landed exactly in the interval between the enemy's two reactions.

The sound of the kunai cutting through the wind was detected by the Sand ninja, breaking him out in a cold sweat.

Relying on years of combat experience, he lunged forward a short distance before turning back to deflect the kunai.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

The three sounds of metal clashing rang out far into the silent forest.

Yet, he didn't receive any reinforcements, and the meaning of that was already clear.

A white figure rushed in front of him right after the kunai, fingers pulsing with chakra thrusting violently toward his chest.

The interval between the two attacks was chosen with extreme precision, landing exactly at the moment after the enemy had deflected the kunai and had yet to recover his strength.

There was no opportunity to release ninjutsu, and blocking was unrealistic, so the Sand ninja stomped hard on the ground, his body retreating rapidly.

Suddenly!

A blur flashed before his eyes, and that ghostly figure vanished from his sight in an instant.

Where is she?

Almost the moment the thought surfaced, his body immediately signaled that it was under attack.

A series of "thud-thud" sounds echoed through the forest.

"Eight Trigrams One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms!"

Mo Jingxian was not the only one making progress; Ayako Hyuuga was also advancing at a rapid pace.

Over the past four months, relying on her own talent and without any guidance, she had managed to push the Hyuuga secret technique, the Eight Trigrams Palms, all the way to one hundred and twenty-eight palms.

Unfortunately, the enemy did not have the fortune to witness it all, collapsing after only a dozen strikes.

His entire body's chakra had been severed, leaving his muscles too weak to muster even a shred of strength.

He was barely better off than a patient with high-level paraplegia.

"Clap, clap, clap!"

A round of applause rang out in the woods.

"Impressive!" Mo Jingxian flashed out from behind a tree, giving the girl his full affirmation.

"Spare me." Ayako Hyuuga rolled her eyes, mimicking his mannerisms. "Anyone can bully a weakling."

The corners of Mo Jingxian's mouth twitched; he somewhat regretted his loose tongue, as she had snatched his slang to act cool first.

Also, with your Byakugan, what are you rolling your eyes for? Even without rolling them, the look is mocking enough.

Of course, he could only think these words to himself.

Mo Jingxian added another layer of insurance to the captive.

"Let's go; if we're late, the captain will get worried."

He hauled the spoils of war, and the two soon vanished into the pitch-black dense forest.

Following that, the journey was surprisingly smooth, and they returned to Konoha without any alarms or dangers.

Three days later, ten miles outside of Konoha.

A squad of Anbu ninjas had been waiting there for quite some time.

The moment the convoy appeared, the Anbu leader stepped forward to meet them.

He whispered a few words to Yamashiro Baiyun before hurrying away.

Mo Jingxian was too far away to hear what they had said.

His attention was entirely focused on a white-haired boy among the Anbu.

Judging by his height, which was similar to his own, and that highly recognizable hair color, that person had to be Kakashi, the man who would later be known as the "Five-Five Split."

This was just a minor interlude, and Mo Jingxian didn't take it to heart, following the convoy until they finally reached their destination.

As they entered the main gate, continuous cheers suddenly erupted on both sides of the road.

Countless villagers held flowers, standing along the path to welcome the returning heroes.