The visiting team arrived in the Mist Village

As Bai Yilu was dragged through the crowd by Zabuza, the smile on his face gradually faded.

He looked up at Zabuza's broad back and whispered:

"I'm sorry, Zabuza- Teacher..."

Zabuza glanced down at him, shook his head, and said in a deep voice:

"It's alright, anyway... we've already caught that unreliable kid."

He pointed to a spot not far ahead.

On the open ground next to the dock, a white-haired boy was calmly dragging another person's ankle as they walked forward.

The person being dragged had short, silver-gray hair, his limbs hung limply on the ground, his belly was swollen like a gluten ball, and there was still some sauce stuck to his lips.

Kimimaro noticed their gazes, raised his other hand, and gently beckoned towards Zabuza and Haku.

Zabuza looked at Kimimaro's calm expression, which was clearly used to it, and then at Suigetsu, who was being dragged on the ground and was still burping with a satisfied look on his face. The Suigetsu on Zabuza's forehead bulged instantly.

He murmured to himself, filled with worry:

"Isn't Master Kong... being too lenient with these children?"

Zabuza sighed heavily in his heart, suppressing the thought for the time being. He strode towards Kimimaro, glaring fiercely at Suigetsu with his murderous eyes.

"Let's get to the port quickly! We've already wasted too much time on this unreliable brat!!"

Suigetsu that gaze that would make even an ordinary Chunin in the knees, Mizuki lazily let out another burp:

"Hiccup, Lord Kong clearly told us before we left that we should come early and have some fun, as long as it doesn't interfere with our mission."

Is it really necessary to be so serious? What a troublesome old man...

Hearing Suigetsu's lazy words, a visible vein bulged on Zabuza's forehead.

The gentleness that had been present in their conversation vanished completely from the face that was mostly covered by bandages.

He glared at Suigetsu, his aura suddenly dropping, his killing intent so intense it was almost tangible.

Haku quietly took another step closer to Zabuza. Kimimaro remained expressionless, but with practiced ease, he dragged Suigetsu half a meter behind him.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the port, a medium-sized vessel was slowly approaching the shore.

The boat gently bumped against the edge of the stone dock, making a dull slurring sound.

On the deck, just as the sailors on the pier threw down the mooring lines and before the gangplank was fully erected, a green figure leaped from the ship's side and crashed heavily onto the land beside the shore.

A young man with a watermelon-shaped haircut, dressed in a green bodysuit, stepped onto a mooring bollard at the dock, raising his right fist high above his head in a pose that shone brightly in the midday sun.

"Youth! Konoha's Blue Beast of the Hidden Leaf — Might Guy —landes in the Land of Water!!"

Oh oh oh!! This is the brand new chapter of youth burning brightly... Ugh--"

But he held that position for less than a second before suddenly bending over and beginning to vomit violently.

A boy with round-framed glasses and silver hair tied into a short braid followed him off the gangplank, his steps steady and light, a stark contrast to the young man in a tight-fitting suit on the dock who was expressing the dialectical relationship between youth and seasickness with his whole body.

He pushed up his glasses, turned to look at the silver-haired Jonin behind him, and said in a tactful tone:

"Mr. Kakashi, although I shouldn't question your decision given my position."

However, I still have some minor reservations about bringing Senior Kai along on this mission.

Kakashi stood on the dock, his dead fish eye looking wearily at the green figure in front of him who was still vomiting.

The sea breeze tousled his silvery-white hair, making him appear even more weathered.

"So, Kai,"

Kakashi's voice contained three parts helplessness, three parts resignation, and four parts numbness from having completely given up the struggle:

"I've told you many times, this mission involves diplomatic contact with foreign parties, and you're really not suited for it..."

"No!! Kakashi!!"

Kai straightened up abruptly, a suspicious glint of moisture still clinging to the corner of his mouth, but the flames burning in his eyes remained undiminished.

He grabbed Kakashi by the shoulders and loudly swore:

Before I left, I made an unbreakable promise with my dad!

This time, I'm determined to pull my best friend back from that abyss where youth is lost!

Kai, his voice choked with tears, said:

"Knock on him, he must be somewhere where youth has faded, facing the boundless darkness alone!"

He's definitely waiting for me now, waiting for me to rekindle the dying embers of youth in his heart with my youthful passion!

"Vomit--"

After taking the oath, Kai bent down again and vomited violently into Kakashi's face.

Kakashi stood there, and even through his mask, you could feel his deep despair.

Kabuto stood beside them, unable to bear watching the explosive scene unfold before him, and adjusted his glasses once more.

His glasses reflected a blinding white light in the sunlight, concealing all his subtle expressions behind that reflection.

"Who exactly is this 'Kakashi' that Mr. Kakashi and Senior Guy were talking about?"

Dou murmured to himself, a hint of curiosity in his voice.

In his mind, the scene of Director Nonō and the family members of the orphanage waving goodbye to him with reluctance as he was about to leave involuntarily came to mind.

He looked at Kakashi and Guy in front of him and whispered with empathy:

"That person... must be someone very important to them too."

Before he could finish speaking, Dou's eyes suddenly narrowed.

He shifted his gaze from the two of them, past the flow of people coming and going at the dock, and fixed it on a spot not far ahead.

Ahead, four figures radiating obvious Chakra were rapidly approaching their direction...