B-Rank Missions Were Never Simple (Third Update)

In the dense forest, three figures leaped and ran through the trees, some high, some low.

Gong Yi maintained his twelvefold Gravity Technique, keeping his speed within a normal range so the other two could keep up.

Ogawara and Hyuga Senso watched his back, their expressions complicated.

This teammate had only just joined the squad, and they had only completed one mission together. In the blink of an eye, he had become their captain.

The world was full of unexpected changes!

"Stop!"

Gong Yi abruptly steadied himself and looked toward four people walking beneath a large tree.

His gaze lingered especially on the ninja leading them.

Golden hair, and a warm, sunny smile tugging at his lips as he chatted with his companions.

"It's Lord Minato!"

Ogawara exclaimed from behind him.

At his exclamation, the four people below looked up as well.

Gong Yi nodded to Minato Namikaze and the others, then waved for his team to set off again.

Neither side spoke. They simply nodded in greeting.

Minato Namikaze watched Gong Yi and his team leave with curiosity, blinking.

"When did the village get this ninja? He's strong!"

"Teacher, I know him."

"Oh?"

"His name is Gong Yi. We used to be in the same class. But shouldn't he still be at the Academy?"

A white-haired boy looked at Gong Yi's retreating figure, puzzled.

"Heh." Minato Namikaze smiled slightly. "He's quite strong. Maybe he graduated early, just like you!"

The white-haired boy nodded lightly. Gong Yi's strength wasn't much worse than his own, so it made sense that he'd graduated early.

What puzzled the white-haired boy, instead, was how highly his teacher thought of Gong Yi.

I graduated at five and became a Chunin at six. Now my strength is almost at Jonin level. I wonder how Gong Yi compares to me.

"The person next to Lord Minato just now was Kakashi, right?"

Ogawara suddenly asked.

Hyuga Senso nodded silently. They couldn't forget that white hair.

Gong Yi kept running without saying anything.

He had learned about the grudge between Kakashi and his teammates on the very first day he joined the squad.

But it had little to do with him.

Instead, he was curious about the two teammates beside Minato Namikaze.

Obito Uchiha and Rin Nohara are still at the Academy. They'll join Minato Namikaze's squad later. That means one of them—or both—must die. Otherwise, Obito and Rin wouldn't be able to join.

At the thought, Gong Yi's heart tightened.

If even Minato Namikaze couldn't protect his teammates, can I bring Hyuga Senso and Ogawara safely back to the village after all our missions?

Gong Yi glanced back at his two teammates, and his heart suddenly felt heavy.

Being a captain wasn't easy!

On a wide road, yellow sand filled the air as a merchant caravan traveled from the Land of Fire toward the Land of Wind.

A Konoha Ninja squad was also with the caravan. It was led by a Chunin named Miura Mingyuan, along with three Genin.

They were on a C-Rank escort mission, protecting the caravan on its way into the Land of Wind from bandit attacks.

"Captain Miura, is this the Land of Wind? With sandstorms this bad, how do the people here live?"

Miura Mingyuan smiled and explained to his team, "The Land of Wind has a harsh environment, so naturally, the people's living standards can't compare with ours in the Land of Fire. But that's exactly why there are so many bandits on the mountains and in the deserts. Caravans fear running into danger, so they need our protection."

One of the Genin scoffed. "They're just bandits. Do we really need to stay on guard every day? You're a Chunin, Captain. The three of us Genin could handle dozens of bandits."

Miura Mingyuan rubbed his round face. He thought so too.

But these missions were easy and paid well, so ninja squads from many villages wanted to get them.

Konoha was strong enough, and had a high mission-completion rate. That was why the caravan had hired Konoha, and why the mission had been assigned to their squad.

Far behind the caravan, Gong Squad followed at a discreet distance.

Gong Squad, named after Gong Yi, was the designation the village mission center had given them.

Gong Yi stood on a small mound. Beside him, Hyuga Senso had activated his Byakugan and was keeping watch ahead.

As it happened, the first mission the Third Hokage had given Gong Squad was a rather unusual one.

They were to secretly follow Miura Squad all the way into the Land of Wind.

And the mission rank was B-Rank!

Gong Yi stood with his hands behind his back. On his right hand, hidden from view, Chakra flickered faintly.

Even while carrying out a mission, Gong Yi hadn't neglected his training.

Gong Yi had his own assessment of the mission.

Clearly, it wasn't as simple as it appeared!

The Konoha High Command had presumably confirmed the intelligence he'd brought back: the Sand Ninja and Stone Ninja had joined forces against Konoha, ambushing ninja squads and sabotaging their missions!

Rather than surveillance, Gong Squad's covert pursuit was more like protection.

A squad as weak as Miura Squad could easily be ambushed and killed by a single Jonin or Chunin squad, if the attackers took them by surprise.

If, after killing the Konoha Ninja, they also robbed the caravan and let a few civilians escape,

then when those survivors returned and spread the story, Konoha's reputation would take a serious hit.

Once or twice might be manageable, but if incidents like this became widespread and frequent,

Konoha would be in grave danger!

"Captain, there are no signs of Chakra within a kilometer. Apart from the caravan up ahead, there's no one else around!"

Hyuga Senso deactivated his Byakugan and reported back to Gong Yi, looking a little tired.

Ogawara pursed his lips. How had Senso gotten used to calling him that so quickly?

He'd gone straight to calling him "Captain," even though Gong Yi was younger than they were.

Gong Yi nodded. It was best if no enemies showed up.

Compared with fighting enemies to the death, he preferred quietly protecting Miura Squad all the way into the Land of Wind without incident.

Ogawara muttered beside him, "This mission's pretty easy. I thought B-Rank missions were supposed to be difficult."

Gong Yi chuckled. "Wouldn't it be nice to finish a B-Rank mission easily, collect the reward, and go back to the village for barbecue?"

Ogawara's eyes lit up. "Gong Yi, are you treating us?"

Hyuga Senso tugged at his sleeve. "Call him Captain!"

Ogawara looked embarrassed. He didn't have Hyuga Senso's good judgment, and he'd never seen Gong Yi show off his strength.

Calling a ninja younger than himself "Captain" was hard for him to say.

Gong Yi didn't mind. He wasn't someone who cared about such details.

Suddenly, Gong Yi frowned.

"Could a B-Rank mission really be this easy?"

"Gong Yi, what did you say?" Ogawara hadn't heard him clearly.

Gong Yi ignored him and looked out across the sand-covered desert, his expression grave.

Just as he braced himself, an intense surge of Chakra suddenly came from the caravan up ahead.

"Senso, Byakugan!"

Hyuga Senso hurriedly activated it. "Captain, they're underground! Eight people total: two Jonin and six Genin!"

Gong Yi's face instantly darkened. He stamped his feet and raced toward the caravan.

"Eight Gates, open!"