When it came to Karin's mother, Genma gave it a moment's thought, then put it out of his mind.
A little after eight the next morning, Genma and his father, Yu Fenglan, left together, then went their separate ways.
Genma headed straight for the village gates, while his father had to stop at the Hokage Building first.
This time, Genma was the first to arrive at the village gates. After he waited a while, Shizune and the others arrived one by one.
"This is a protection mission, so we'll wait a little. Our target should be here soon."
Hatake Sakumo said.
Genma and the other two nodded. This wasn't unusual.
They had already carried out quite a few similar missions since graduating.
After they had waited for a moment, Shizune suddenly tugged on Genma's sleeve. "Hey, isn't that Uncle Ran'ya?"
Genma turned to look. It was indeed Ran'ya, so he nodded. "Yeah. He said he was going out of the village on a mission today, too."
Shizune understood. When Yu Fenglan came over, she quickly bowed. "Uncle Ran'ya!"
Yu Fenglan greeted her with a smile. "Shizune, good morning!"
Yamashiro Aoba promptly bowed as well. "Good morning, Lord Yu. I'm Genma's teammate, Yamashiro Aoba."
Yu Fenglan dropped some of his casualness. "Hello, hello. No need to be so formal. You can call me Uncle, just like Shizune."
Yamashiro Aoba went along with it. "Yes, Uncle Ran'ya. Are you going out of the village on a mission, too?"
Yu Fenglan smiled and nodded. "I am. It's been a long time since I last went out of the village on a mission."
"Sakumo, I'll be counting on you all this time!"
Genma blinked. Seriously?
Shizune hurriedly asked, "Uncle Ran'ya, are you the person we're supposed to protect?"
Yu Fenglan smiled. "If I'm not mistaken, I am."
Hatake Sakumo confirmed from nearby, "That's right."
Genma felt a little odd about it.
A son protecting his father seemed perfectly reasonable.
But... I'm only nine years old. Is this really reasonable?
The two adults exchanged a few more words, then Hatake Sakumo said, "Everyone's ready. Let's move out!"
They set off at once. Once they were outside the village gates, they each used the Body Flicker Technique to leap forward and get underway.
"Genma, I never expected your team to be the one assigned to protect me."
On the way, Yu Fenglan explained himself to his son.
Genma didn't mind. "The arrangement feels a little strange, but it's not a big deal."
"Still, from now on, Lord Ran'ya, you're the person we're protecting, so you'll need to follow the rules."
Yu Fenglan was immediately embarrassed. He nodded reluctantly. "All right!"
Aoba couldn't help saying, "Uncle, you're a Jonin, too. Surely you don't need us to protect you, considering you're much stronger than we are."
Hatake Sakumo, bringing up the rear, said, "Aoba, that's not how it works."
"The person being protected is the most important member of the whole team. That has nothing to do with their strength."
In truth, this arrangement didn't make much sense.
Yu Fenglan and Genma were father and son. If they ran into real danger, Yu Fenglan would probably break the rules.
Or perhaps...
Hatake Sakumo frowned to himself, unable to guess what the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi intended.
After hearing Hatake Sakumo's words, Yamashiro Aoba immediately said earnestly, "Don't worry, Uncle Ran'ya. We'll protect you and complete the mission successfully."
Yu Fenglan laughed awkwardly. "I'm counting on you."
Meanwhile, Genma's thoughts had already raced ahead to Kusagakure.
Just yesterday, he'd been wondering whether he should abduct Karin's mother, and now it seemed like he might have the chance?
"But if I make too much of a scene, it'll be hard to deal with afterward."
"My Substitution Technique can now swap places across fifteen meters. With my chakra reserves, quickly and silently taking someone away shouldn't be much of a problem."
"But there's the other issue. If Karin's mother really is in Kusagakure, will she even be willing to leave?"
"If she isn't, should I just knock her out and take her?"
After thinking it over, Genma decided to wait until they reached Kusagakure before making a definite decision.
And the mission had to come first. He couldn't let anything interfere with it.
The team didn't travel very quickly, and it wasn't until dusk the next day that they reached the border of the Land of Fire.
After resting at the border for the night, the team crossed it early the following morning and officially entered the Land of Grass.
The Land of Grass was also blanketed in vegetation, and it had many species of giant fungi not found in the Land of Fire.
Once they entered the Land of Grass, Hatake Sakumo picked up the pace and moved to the front of the team. He then gave an order. "From this point on, be ready for combat."
"Genma, Aoba, take turns sensing our surroundings."
"Shizune, your task is to stay by Ran'ya's side at all times."
Genma and the others nodded together.
Yu Fenglan opened his mouth, but in the end said nothing. He silently accepted the children's protection.
"Aoba, I have plenty of chakra, so I'll take the lead and you can back me up."
After Hatake Sakumo had given his instructions, Genma said to Yamashiro Aoba.
Yamashiro Aoba nodded. "Understood."
Genma immediately used Sensory Ninjutsu. His Yin Release Chakra spread outward like countless branches, weaving into a net that expanded in every direction.
He had become very proficient with this technique. Thanks to his powerful chakra and his mastery of Yin Release nature transformation, he no longer needed Hand Seals to use it.
He hadn't expected to find something so quickly.
"Three people, behind us... They're not enemies. An Anbu team?"
Genma wasn't sure, so he immediately reported it to his teacher, Hatake Sakumo.
Hatake Sakumo said, "They are an Anbu team. Just keep an eye on them."
Yu Fenglan looked at his son, surprised. "Genma, your sensory technique has already surpassed mine. I didn't sense what was behind us at all."
Genma replied with a straight face, "It's only natural for the student to surpass the teacher, Lord Ran'ya. After all, you often say I inherited your wisdom."
Shizune covered her mouth and chuckled.
Yu Fenglan gave a helpless smile and said to Hatake Sakumo, "There are downsides to having such an outstanding son. Sakumo, I imagine you feel the same way!"
Hatake Sakumo couldn't help smiling. "Yes. The children have grown up."
Yamashiro Aoba's expression turned a little strange as he thought, "Uncle Ran'ya's showing off his genius son, isn't he?"
Though they were chatting, Genma and Yamashiro Aoba hadn't forgotten their duties.
The team's pace had also slowed considerably.
"Sensei!"
Yamashiro Aoba suddenly called out a warning.
Hatake Sakumo, at the front, immediately raised his hand, and the whole team came to a halt.
The moment they landed, Genma spread his sensory field out as quickly as he could.
"One, two, three... There are a lot of them. They're clones."
Genma stared ahead. Towering trees rose so high they blocked out the sky, and giant mushrooms loomed everywhere. The people among them looked like ants.
"Also, watch the left! Eight o'clock!"
"And behind us, at five o'clock! He's moving."
Yu Fenglan exclaimed inwardly, "What a kid! He's already this strong?"
He'd known his son was stronger than him, but he hadn't realized the gap was this wide.
The speed, range, and precision of Genma's sensory ability surpassed his own in every way, even though he was the one who had taught him the technique.
His son truly was a genius who had inherited his wisdom!
Although they were already surrounded, Yu Fenglan wasn't nervous at all. He was filled with pride and satisfaction.
Well done!
Before you continue