Unknown Danger

In the silent night, only the croaking of frogs mingled with the chirping of unknown insects, making the forest seem even more tranquil.

Unable to sleep because of his misgivings about the unknown danger ahead, Mizuki got up and stepped out of the tent.

He gazed into the pitch-black forest. It looked like a massive beast of darkness, its jaws agape as it waited for prey to wander into its trap.

"Ah, I hope I'm wrong, or that the enemy isn't too strong. At least I'm not alone." Mizuki couldn't help hoping that his worries were unfounded and that they would get through this safely.

Suddenly, Mizuki's eyes narrowed.

"Who's there?"

"It's me. Don't be nervous." Aoba Yamashiro emerged from the darkness.

"You can't sleep either?"

"Something like that. I saw you come out, so I followed to see what was going on."

"Really?" Mizuki looked unconvinced. As far as he was concerned, this was probably part of keeping an eye on him.

"Er..." Aoba Yamashiro gave an awkward laugh. "You don't need to be suspicious. I've heard about what happened to you, too. How should I put it? Every ninja has their own convictions. After all, no one can be sure what choice they'd make in the same circumstances."

"Heh, you don't have to explain. I understand," Mizuki replied indifferently. "After all, no one wants to be the one who gets abandoned."

"Ah, you understand. But if you chose to become a ninja, you must have known what you were getting into." Hearing Mizuki put it so bluntly, Aoba Yamashiro decided not to say more.

"Then why can't you sleep? You've been a ninja for so many years; I doubt you're just suffering from insomnia. Getting a good rest and conserving your strength are basic necessities."

"I'm a little worried." Seeing Aoba Yamashiro change the subject, Mizuki was also unwilling to say more about himself. "Kakashi and Ibiki are too optimistic. Honestly, I don't think we have enough strength to fight them head-on."

"I see. I've noticed it too. Zabuza Momochi was an S-rank missing-nin from Kirigakure. It's impossible that no one was keeping an eye on him. He's been so brazenly operating in the Land of Waves, yet no assassination squad has come to claim his head. That's just too strange. Zabuza is powerful, but Kirigakure isn't some useless little village."

"Even so, it's all just speculation. No one can say for sure what's going on. But I'm going to set up some warning systems and traps when I get the chance. Waiting here with no information puts us at a serious disadvantage."

"There's nothing we can do about that. The Chunin Ninja Exams are coming up, so most of the available personnel have been reassigned. It would be great if we had a Hyuga or an Aburame ninja with us."

"Then we'll have to figure something out ourselves."

"Mm. Start setting things up around here. I'll check up ahead. If nothing happens, get some rest early. This mission probably won't be over in a day or two."

With that, Aoba Yamashiro disappeared into the dark forest again.

For several days in a row, none of the Konoha shinobi found anything suspicious. Their earlier worries gradually eased, and as time passed, Hatake Kakashi steadily recovered. That finally let the anxious Mizuki breathe a little easier.

"As long as Kakashi gets back to fighting strength, things can't get much worse. Even if the enemy is powerful, we won't be completely helpless."

In the middle of the forest, Mizuki, Gekko Hayate, and Aoba Yamashiro hid in the shadows of the trees, watching Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki training in the distance.

"Mizuki, you've spent time with that Nine-Tails kid. What kind of person is he?" Aoba Yamashiro asked quietly.

"How should I put it? I'd say he's a very enthusiastic person."

"Enthusiastic? You mean about ninjutsu?"

"About all sorts of things." Mizuki shook his head. "He's a troublesome brat, but he's hard to dislike."

"He doesn't seem very strong."

"Mm, but he does have talent. Unless you're at jonin level, if he gets the first move, he can be a real pain to deal with. His strengths and weaknesses are just too obvious. He has an astonishing amount of chakra and incredible stamina. Add his natural constitution and the powerful recovery he gets from the Nine-Tails Chakra leaking out, and his potential is enormous. He'll be no worse than Sasuke Uchiha in the future." Mizuki couldn't help playing the prophet for a moment.

"Hm?" That claim caught Gekko Hayate's interest. "Is he really that strong? There's no record of Sasuke Uchiha having awakened the Sharingan yet, but once a Kekkei Genkai is activated, the difference should be obvious."

"That's true in most cases. The Sharingan is impressive, but it isn't all-powerful. Sasuke's fundamentals are far better than Naruto's, so the gap looks huge for now. But Naruto is undeniably an excellent Genin, too. If he finds a way to shore up his weaknesses, his strength will naturally improve quickly."

"Is that so?" Aoba Yamashiro and Gekko Hayate were noncommittal.

"Sasuke Uchiha is heading back. Should we keep following him?"

"No need. We'll keep watching Naruto Uzumaki. The captain's handling the other side."

"Okay."

The three of them kept watch until late at night, when Naruto Uzumaki collapsed to the ground, completely exhausted.

"You were right, Mizuki. This guy will get stronger," Aoba Yamashiro and Gekko Hayate said with a sigh. "A ninja who works this hard is bound to have a bright future if he gets proper guidance."

"Mm. Let's take turns resting. Should I go first?"

"All right. You rest first. We'll wake you when it's your turn."

It was nearly dawn when Aoba Yamashiro, the second one on watch, woke Mizuki. It was his turn to keep watch.

"Right on time. Let's see if Haku really comes to gather herbs as I remember. I hope the butterfly effect isn't too strong."

Suddenly, Mizuki spotted a long-haired, beautiful young man in the distance.

"He really did come."

Mizuki quickly woke the other two and motioned for them to stay quiet, then pointed toward the newcomer.

The other two were confused at first, but then realized someone had intruded and hurriedly went on guard.

Just as Mizuki remembered, Haku found Naruto and prepared to kill him, but eventually gave up. When Haku was about to put his hands around Naruto's throat, Gekko Hayate nearly rushed out. Mizuki quickly held him back and shook his head, signaling him not to act rashly.

As expected, the two kind-hearted boys went on to talk about life and their ideals. In the end, they both left satisfied.

There was no record of how many people Haku had killed in his life, but probably not many. As for Naruto Uzumaki, setting aside the anime-original episodes, the only person he seemed to have killed in the actual story was White Zetsu. It wasn't for nothing that he was the reincarnation of Asura. Love and justice were ingrained in his soul; he'd hardly ever even killed a bad guy.

"Mizuki, how did you know that boy wouldn't attack?" Gekko Hayate asked, puzzled.

"I didn't sense any killing intent," Mizuki replied without elaborating.

"I see." Gekko Hayate didn't press him. "Who was that? Do you know him?"

"How could I?" Mizuki quickly denied it. "Should we investigate? He could be an unexpected enemy."

"Don't act rashly yet," Aoba Yamashiro decided. "I'll go inform Ibiki and Kakashi."

Then he went back to report what they had seen.

Before long, Sasuke and Naruto were heading back as well, so the two shinobi left on watch followed them.

When they reached the rendezvous point, Kakashi and Ibiki's squad were already there.

"Everyone's here. Let's report what's going on," Ibiki said. "About that hostile boy we just discovered: we tried to track him down and investigate, but then he vanished without a trace. In other words, we lost him."

Then Ibiki continued gravely, "Based on our investigation of the area, we haven't found any other shinobi, but some of the information we've gathered suggests there may be one or more concealed ninja teams hiding nearby. We don't know how many there are or what they're after."

"That's really bad news," Kakashi said helplessly.

"Given the current situation, we can't request reinforcements. We're on our own. With the forces we have, we can still fight as long as we don't run into a large enemy force and get overwhelmed."

Seeing that no one objected, Ibiki continued, "Kakashi, you and your students will handle Zabuza and his followers in the open. We'll do our best to hold off any other interference. If we can spare anyone, we'll come help."

"No problem." Kakashi nodded. "This is our mission, after all, and my students are qualified ninja now. They won't be completely helpless, and they'll be useful allies."

"Good." Ibiki turned to Aoba Yamashiro, Gekko Hayate, and Mizuki and instructed them, "You three will be the visible support. Patrol within a five-kilometer radius of the bridge and drive off anyone suspicious. Izumo and Kotetsu and I will remain hidden as the final mobile support."

"Yes." Mizuki had no choice but to agree. Bait, huh? He hoped they wouldn't attract anyone too powerful.

Over the next few days, Mizuki remained on edge. Fortunately, he had brought along some finished and half-finished aquatic creatures from his experiments. They weren't much use in a fight, but in this environment, they were just barely good enough to serve as temporary lookouts.

"Honestly, I never thought we'd be doing a mission under such unfavorable conditions. Not one of us specializes in Water Style," Mizuki complained.

"There's nothing we can do about it. Aside from the Second Hokage, who specialized in Water Style, only the Third Hokage mastered all kinds of nature transformations. But honestly, Water Style isn't our specialty," Aoba Yamashiro agreed. "We have decent strengths in Fire Style, genjutsu, swordsmanship, and even Sealing Jutsu, Lightning Style, and Wind Style."

"It would have been great to have someone from the Hyuga Clan with us, but too few of their ninja take part in Konoha missions."

Gekko Hayate sighed, too. "I hope we make it back safely this time, so I can marry Yugao."

That sounded like a death flag. Mizuki couldn't help thinking that people who said things like that rarely had a good ending.

"The Chunin Ninja Exams are still waiting for you. Don't even think about slacking off," Mizuki said.

As they were talking, Mizuki suddenly jolted. "Someone's coming. Be careful."

One of the jellyfish he'd set swimming around had died. Mizuki had attached a Sealing Jutsu and an explosive tag to each one, then scattered them in a wide circle. If anything nearby disturbed the chakra, the tag would ignite and burn the jellyfish.

As he spoke, a thick mist swept in. "Damn it, they found us and switched to a direct assault. They're coming."