Chapter 197

One year later, in a cave on the border of the Land of Lightning.

"Hikari, are you alright?" Mizuki asked with concern, looking at Hikari's bandaged right arm.

"Hmm, it's okay, it's all taken care of." Hikari shook his head, indicating that she shouldn't worry too much.

"It's all his fault! Otherwise, you wouldn't have gotten hurt, Hikari!" With that, Mizuki kicked Cloud Ninja who was bound to the side.

"Hmm!"

"Alright, Mizuki, it was my carelessness. Don't kick anymore, or you'll reveal your position."

"Okay, I know. You rest first, I'll go keep watch outside." After saying that, Mizuki walked out of the cave without waiting for Hikari's reply.

To be honest, Mizuki was quite frustrated. She couldn't get the high-level quests she wanted before, but when she did regular quests, the quests suddenly upgraded without her any preparation.

Here's what happened: Mizuki and her team accepted an escort mission to escort a caravan to the Land of Lightning, since there hadn't been any conflict between the two countries recently.

This mission was of a relatively low level, and therefore, Mizuki and the others were slightly unprepared.

That's not entirely true. If the mission hadn't undergone such a significant change, their preparations would have been perfectly adequate. Unfortunately, there are no "what ifs."

On their way back after escorting the caravan, they encountered a group of Cloud Ninja. Although their actions were suspicious, Mizuki and the others ignored them.

After all, strictly speaking, the actions of ninjas are all suspicious. In addition, considering the recent relationship between Cloud Village and Konoha, Mizuki and the others decided to avoid each other for the time being to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings.

Unfortunately, sometimes when you're down on your luck, trouble comes knocking on your door.

Although Mizuki and her companions had backed down, the other side was clearly not at ease and attacked Mizuki directly without any probing.

However, they do indeed have the strength. In a four-person team, two of them could at least be rated as Special Senior, and one Jonin. This is much stronger than Mizuki and the others.

The strongest of Mizuki four is Mitokado Heiichi, who was just promoted to Elite Jonin. Apart from him, the other three are only Chunin level.

Fortunately, the opposing team had a Genin, which gave Mizuki and her team the advantage. They captured the seemingly weaker Genin in no time, bringing the situation to a stalemate.

Originally, we could have just talked to them and left, since relations between the two countries aren't particularly bad right now, and there's no need to cause conflict.

However, when Heiichi captured the enemy's Genin, his expression changed. He casually slapped the genin, rendering him unable to fight, then tossed him aside and rushed out, leaving only one sentence behind.

"Kill them! This man must be brought back to the village!"

Upon hearing this, Mizuki and the others tensed up and immediately followed. Although they didn't know what Heiichi had discovered, they only needed to carry out orders for now. As for the reason, Heiichi would tell them if they needed to know.

And so, Heiichi and his team achieved victory. Although the enemy's overall combat strength was slightly stronger than theirs, unfortunately, they did not have the advantage in high-level combat power or numbers, making their defeat inevitable.

If Mizuki and the other two can hold off the two Special Jonin without any problem, then Heiichi can finish off the enemy as quickly as possible.

However, this was only the beginning. From that day on, ninjas relentlessly pursued and killed them.

Hikari was injured during this process when she was careless and was ambushed by the ninja they had captured. Fortunately, she reacted in time and only suffered minor superficial injuries.

However, since then, in addition to the Sealing Jutsu, the other party has also been covered in steel wires. If the other party struggles, the steel wires will teach him a lesson.

However, this slowed down their march, leading to their current predicament.

It's not even safe right now. Heiichi and Takeda are currently maneuvering around to intercept the Cloud Ninja, just to give Hikari some time to rest and buy enough time for the village to send reinforcements.

Suddenly, Mizuki's expression tightened. She took out a kunai from her ninja tool bag and gripped it tightly. At the same time, she took a few steps back and hid herself in the shadows.

"Sigh, who is the target of this mission? They've made such a big fuss; I heard even the next A and B have been sent."

"Who knows? Maybe the village is just putting on a show to give them merit points."

"How could that be? You know how strong those two are. Do they even need to grind?"

"But we were all sent here, don't you find that strange?"

"..." The Cloud Ninja paused for a moment, then said, "I understand what you mean, but don't be so direct next time. We're not lacking in skills, are we?"

"Tch, I'm different from you. I'm realistic. Stop dreaming. No connections, no talent, it's not that easy."

"Ugh, teaming up with you is such a pain."

"Just to make you face reality, huh? Never mind, there's a cave up ahead, let's go in and take a look."

After saying that, the two stopped their playful expressions and slowly began to walk towards the cave.

Although these two were rookies who would get distracted during missions, they still knew some common sense and wouldn't recklessly rush into the cave.

As the two drew closer, Mizuki tightened her grip on the kunai in her hand.

"Huh? What's that sound?"

As the two approached, the faint "woofing" sounds of the captives from inside the cave drifted over. Previously, due to the distance and Hikari covering their mouths, the sounds were relatively quiet and hadn't been noticed before.

But as they got closer, they could hear a little bit. However, their distance was also suitable for Mizuki to attack!

Therefore, the instant they finished speaking, Mizuki flashed out with one hand forming a hand seal! While using Genjutsu to affect them, her right hand also sent out a kunai! She instantly killed one of them!

Mizuki didn't dare to be overconfident. Her Genjutsu skills weren't strong, and this was just an Genjutsu technique, not a real Genjutsu. However, Mizuki didn't expect to be able to truly control them.

She only needs to subtly distract them, and that will be enough.

Just like now, one of the opponents was instantly killed, but Mizuki did not stop. Instead, she continued to rush forward, entangled with the opponent, and did not give him a chance to send a signal!

"Damn it! You guys were hiding here!"

The Mizuki Cloud Ninja filled with regret, because according to their intelligence, this group should be in another direction, which was why they had been so careless.

Who knew they were hiding here!

Mizuki ignored him and continued fighting silently, not lowering her attack frequency at all because of his words; they were now two people.

Although Hikari was injured, their combined strength still surpassed that of the Cloud Ninja. Therefore, Mizuki only needed to hold off the opponent and prevent him from sending a signal.

Then we just need to wait for Hikari's support. It's two against one, a sure win!

Thank you, Her Highness Erii! Is there anyone in the world who lives forever? Thank you, Old Fetus Xie Yunliu the monthly ticket! Thank you for your support!