The Truth Behind the Mission

Yohei was Yohei indeed. Even after Taiichi told him about awakening his Sharingan, he remained utterly calm, as though it had happened to someone else. In his words, the Sharingan was merely an aid; one's own foundations were the true source of strength.

Even Taiichi was taken aback by that statement. As expected of an Uchiha who was different from the rest.

The two of them reached the middle of the convoy, and Taiichi immediately went to examine Saori's injuries. Fortunately, they were all superficial wounds.

Taiichi cleared an open patch of ground, carefully cleaned her wounds, then used the Mystical Palm Technique for basic hemostasis and treatment. Afterward, he took out the appropriate medicine and bandages from his Ninja Tool Pouch and wrapped the wounds. By the time he finished, Saori's injuries would no longer affect their next move.

At that moment, Masao Ishihara came over with his wife and child. After seeing that Taiichi had finished treating her, he asked with concern, "Genin Saori is all right, isn't she?"

Taiichi raised his head at those words and stared at Masao Ishihara for a long time without answering. Seeing Taiichi's expression, Yohei also looked curiously at Ishihara.

Ishihara grew uncomfortable under Taiichi's gaze. Just as he was about to ask what was wrong, Captain Yamaguchi cut him off. "Mr. Ishihara, shouldn't you give us an explanation?"

"W-What is there to explain?" Masao Ishihara feigned confusion.

"A C-rank mission, yet we encountered one Jonin, two Chunin, and four Genin. Mr. Ishihara, do you really think that requires no explanation?" Captain Yamaguchi pressed.

"I-I don't know why ninjas would come to rob a convoy of grain either. Who could have predicted something like this?" Masao Ishihara stubbornly argued. But even Yohei could tell from his flustered appearance that something was wrong.

"I'm guessing, Mr. Ishihara, that what you really wanted us to escort wasn't this convoy of grain," Taiichi said.

Everyone looked at Taiichi in surprise. Masao Ishihara looked as though he had seen a ghost.

"I was wondering why there were two accompanying people who weren't listed in the mission document." Taiichi advanced step by step.

"You deliberately had the mother and son strike up conversations with Saori and get close to her. That must have had an ulterior motive too." Taiichi took another step forward.

"The bandit attack earlier was also meant to test the caravan's strength and identify the real target, wasn't it?" Taiichi stepped forward again.

"The attacking ninjas didn't go after the guards. Instead, they attacked the carriage protected by ninjas..." Taiichi stopped directly in front of Ishihara.

"Let me guess. Our real escort target was Mrs. Ishihara... or young Master Ishihara." Taiichi stared into Masao Ishihara's eyes, speaking each word slowly and clearly.

When he mentioned young Master Ishihara, Taiichi clearly saw Masao Ishihara become especially panicked.

"No, that's not it. It's not like what you said at all." Masao Ishihara hurriedly explained. "We were just..."

"That's enough, Masao!" Mrs. Ishihara, who had been standing behind Masao Ishihara, stepped forward. "Everyone, I'm sorry for deceiving you." With that, Mrs. Ishihara gave them a solemn bow of apology, but still did not explain the situation.

"Madam, you needn't do this. It was all my idea. I should be the one apologizing." Seeing his wife like this, Masao Ishihara could neither stop nor comply with her. He could only turn to Taiichi and the others and bow frantically in apology.

Taiichi and the others remained silent, watching them. Even Saori said nothing.

"Madam, if the mission details were falsely reported, we have the right to terminate the mission." Captain Yamaguchi delivered the killing blow from the side. "Please tell us the truth."

"Ah, since things have come to this, I won't hide it any longer." Mrs. Ishihara sighed.

"My name is Ishihara Yami. Masao is not my husband, but my family's steward. And this child is actually my husband's illegitimate son."

Now it was Taiichi and the others' turn to be shocked. The relationships involved were a little complicated.

As Mrs. Ishihara continued her account, Taiichi and the others gradually learned of a grand family power struggle.

The Ishihara Clan had two branches, the main branch and the second branch. The head of the main branch, the current head of the Ishihara Clan, had been attacked during a trading trip some time ago and suffered damage to his foundation. Though he had recovered, he could no longer father children.

The second branch seized on this opportunity to challenge him and seek the position of clan head. Under those circumstances, the Ishihara Clan head finally told Mrs. Yami about the illegitimate son.

What followed was what they already knew. They arranged to travel out to purchase grain, successfully picked up the child, then used protecting the grain as an excuse to hire a team of Genin from Konoha. They had hoped to use that as cover, deceive everyone, and safely bring the child back to the Ishihara Clan.

As long as the Ishihara Clan head had a child, the second branch's schemes would collapse on their own.

"What do you think?" Captain Yamaguchi passed the question to Taiichi and the other two.

Taiichi's analysis had made him see the boy in a new light. Not only was Taiichi strong, but his mind was exceptionally sharp as well. Given time, he would surely become an extraordinary ninja. Captain Yamaguchi thought to himself.

Taiichi and the others exchanged their opinions. Saori was the main reason; after spending the past few days together, she had genuinely gotten along well with Mrs. Ishihara and the child.

"Madam, what I ask next will affect our judgment of this mission. If we discover that you're deceiving us, we'll abandon the mission immediately." Taiichi's expression was stern.

"All right. Ask." Mrs. Ishihara had thrown caution to the wind.

"Did you recognize that group of ninjas from earlier?" Taiichi asked.

"Yes. They're ninjas the second branch often hires. Their leader is a rogue ninja from Sunagakure, while the rest are wandering ninjas." Mrs. Ishihara was now spilling everything she knew.

"They should have one more person, a Special Jonin. I don't know why he didn't come this time."

The few of them exchanged glances, cold sweat breaking out on their foreheads. Luckily, he had not come. Otherwise, they would have been the ones fleeing this time.

"In other words, what we may face next is one Jonin, at least one Special Jonin, one Chunin, and three Genin." Taiichi and the others fell silent. That lineup was rather formidable.

Taiichi may have killed a Special Jonin before, but that had been due to careful planning and a sneak attack. In a real one-on-one fight, Taiichi might well be the first one to die.

"Captain, what do you think?" Taiichi could not make up his mind, mainly because he did not know Captain Yamaguchi's true strength.

"Big Sister Saori, are you leaving?" Young Master Ishihara came over and tugged at Saori's hand reluctantly.

Saori looked into the child's clear, reluctant eyes, her face full of conflict. Reason told her she could not let personal feelings affect her teammates' judgment, but she truly could not bear to watch such a young child walk toward a future of certain death.

Seeing Saori's conflicted expression, Taiichi turned and asked Captain Yamaguchi again, "Captain, do you think we have a chance to fight?" His leanings were obvious in that question.

"One Jonin and one Special Jonin—I can barely hold them off. If you join me, then we should have some chance of dealing with them," Captain Yamaguchi answered cautiously, clearly giving Taiichi's strength full recognition.

Taiichi looked at Yohei again. "What about you?"

"Ah, haha, I just awakened my Sharingan. It's only a one-tomoe Sharingan, but I should be able to hold off a Chunin-level wandering ninja without much trouble, right?" Yohei said somewhat sheepishly.

But Captain Yamaguchi and Saori were stunned by Yohei's words. Yohei had awakened his Sharingan!

"Even so, we're only evenly matched at best. If we want to win, we'll need to plan carefully." Taiichi frowned in thought.

"Besides, we don't necessarily have to confront them head-on."

Everyone was confused by Taiichi's muttering, while only Captain Yamaguchi seemed deep in thought.