B-Rank Guard Mission

"Are you talking about Naruto?" Shikaku Nara asked after a moment of silence.

Namikaze Yin Xiang nodded. "Naruto is the thing I must protect."

"What if one day Naruto becomes a rogue ninja? What will you do then?" Shikaku asked. Given how Naruto was currently treated by the people of Konoha, it was entirely possible he might defect. If it came to that, how would Yin Xiang handle it?

"That won't happen." Yin Xiang shook his head. "Naruto will never betray Konoha. If that day truly comes, I will crush my own piece with my own hands." Yin Xiang looked at the piece on the shogi board as he spoke, though he was absolutely certain that Naruto would never defect.

"Go accept a B-rank mission tomorrow, with Team 3," Shikaku said with a nod.

"A B-rank mission? What kind of B-rank mission?"

"You need to be prepared. There might be ninjas on the road, and we will likely engage in combat. It's an escort mission."

"Escorting them where?"

"The Land of Honey. It's a small country. This person has been in Konoha for a long time; she was chased here. Her identity is a princess of the Land of Honey, and she has one bodyguard with her, whose strength is only at the chunin level."

"A princess of the Land of Honey? If the bodyguard is only a chunin, that means the ninjas chasing her shouldn't be above the chunin level either, right?"

"According to the information provided by the bodyguard, there were five chunin on the other side. They retreated after chasing her into Konoha, but there is a high probability of encountering them on the way back. Go back and prepare yourself well."

"Understood." Yin Xiang nodded. "Checkmate."

"Huh!?"

The next morning, Team 3 and Yin Xiang met Shikaku at the mission assignment center to wait for the arrival of the princess of the Land of Honey. The five of them waited from morning until noon before the princess and her bodyguard finally arrived. Looking at her sleepy eyes, it seemed she had just woken up.

She looked to be about the same age as Yin Xiang, no more than fourteen at most.

"Just these few people? And they're all just children. Does your Konoha really care about my safety?" the long-haired girl in a pale yellow kimono said, her tone quite arrogant.

"Rest assured, we have two jonin accompanying you. This is the safest team you could possibly hire," Shikaku said to the princess in a calm tone.

The smartest mind in Konoha, Shikaku Nara; the strongest taijutsu user in Konoha, the Blue Beast Guy; the Konoha genius Neji; Namikaze Yin Xiang; the hardworking genius Rock Lee; and the most skilled weapon user among the Konoha genin, Tenten.

Among the new generation of genin teams available for this escort mission, there was no stronger group than this one.

"Fine, let's go." Upon hearing there were two jonin, the princess felt much more at ease. In a small country like the Land of Honey, jonin were extremely rare. Having two of them protecting her naturally put her mind at ease.

"You, carry these things!" The princess pointed at Rock Lee, then gestured toward a large backpack by the door, which presumably contained all the food she would need for the journey.

"Eh?" Rock Lee was stunned for a moment, but he walked over to the door and strapped on the heavy pack. "I'll treat this as training!" Rock Lee clenched his fist to encourage himself; it was clear the bag was quite heavy.

"Don't you dare drop it! That's what I'm going to eat on the way!" the princess shouted at Rock Lee.

"Don't worry!" Rock Lee replied firmly.

"Sigh." Yin Xiang sighed silently. It was clear that the hardest part of this mission wouldn't be fighting ninjas, but taking care of this princess.

"Then, we leave it to you all." The princess's bodyguard bowed deeply to Shikaku and Guy. He wasn't very old himself, looking to be about seventeen or eighteen.

As the group reached the village gate, Yin Xiang stretched his back. Finally, he was leaving the village again. Since they were going to another country, he would just treat it like a vacation. As for chunin, they were absolutely nothing to fear.

"You, come over and carry me!" the princess said, pointing at Yin Xiang. Yin Xiang stumbled and nearly fell to the ground. He pointed at himself. "Me? Carry you??"

"Princess, let me carry you instead," the bodyguard said, stepping forward. Previously, they had been using a palanquin, but it had been destroyed while they were being hunted, and the bearers had been killed. Since then, the bodyguard had been carrying her as they fled into Konoha.

"No! I! Want! Him! To! Carry! Me!" the princess said, looking at Yin Xiang, emphasizing every word.

"This..." The bodyguard looked into the princess's eyes. It was clearly the look of someone who had taken a liking to this person. The others might not have noticed, but having guarded the princess since she was a child and growing up alongside her, he understood exactly what that look meant.

"What a drag. She really is a princess," Yin Xiang sighed. He formed hand seals, and his shadow rose from the ground, walked in front of the princess, and bent over. "My shadow will carry you." Yin Xiang said, then walked away without looking back.

"Is that the Shadow Secret Technique! So amazing!" Rock Lee said, staring at the pitch-black shadow.

"Although I'd heard Yin Xiang created the Shadow Secret Technique, seeing it now is still impressive," Guy added from the side. "As expected, youth has infinite possibilities!"

"Yes! Guy-sensei!" The master and student inexplicably hugged each other and began to cry.

"You!!" The princess stomped her foot as she watched Yin Xiang's retreating back, but she eventually climbed onto Yin Xiang's shadow, and the shadow began to move forward.

"This jutsu... this boy..." As a chunin, the bodyguard could naturally tell this was a type of jutsu he had never seen before, or even heard of. Was it a self-created jutsu? With them as escorts, perhaps they really could...

"Hey, Yin Xiang, your charm is still quite something. This princess took a liking to you immediately," Tenten trotted over to Yin Xiang's side and said. The men hadn't noticed, but as a girl, she had seen it instantly.

"What good is charm? You, Tenten, still like Neji all the same," Yin Xiang said, tilting his head toward the trees on the side.

"Eh?" Tenten was stunned for a moment. Could it be... "No way, no way. Why would Yin Xiang like me?" Tenten shook her head, muttering to herself.

"What are you spacing out for? Let's go." Neji's voice rang in Tenten's ear. It turned out that when Tenten had paused, she had stopped walking, and Yin Xiang had already moved ahead. Tenten hurriedly responded and walked alongside Neji.

"Hey, that female ninja, come here for a second," the princess called out to Tenten. Tenten looked back, then walked over anyway.

"Is something the matter?" Tenten asked with a smile.

"Tell me, what is that person's name, and what kind of person is he?" the princess asked, lying on the shadow.