S-Rank Mission!?

"He's..." Tenten followed the princess's gaze. It had landed on Yin Xiang.

"His name is Namikaze Yin Xiang. He's the Fourth Hokage's son and a genius Konoha Ninja," Tenten said.

"The Fourth Hokage's son!?" The princess was astonished.

"We're being escorted by the Fourth Hokage's son? We're certainly lucky," the guard said, startled as well. Although Miji was a princess, her country was only a small one. The daimyo of a small country was still far beneath the Hokage of a great nation.

Yin Xiang's status as the Fourth Hokage's son was even higher than that of a princess of a country.

"Don't worry about it. I'm just taking on a mission." The shadow carrying the princess spoke, startling her so badly that she nearly fell off. Fortunately, the shadow held her in place, and she didn't fall.

"That scared me to death! That scared me to death..." Miji had been badly frightened. She hadn't expected the shadow to be able to speak.

"Yin Xiang..." Tenten was startled too. She looked toward Yin Xiang up ahead, but he kept walking as though he had no idea what was happening behind him.

Yin Xiang's Shadow Secret Technique was like cutting a piece off himself. His senses and the shadow's were connected: he could see what the shadow saw and hear what it heard. It would be perfect for gathering intelligence at night.

But a good idea was one thing; reality was another.

There was no sun at night, so shadows couldn't exist. In other words, the Shadow Secret Technique couldn't be used after dark.

"Hey, let me ask you something. Would you like to come to the Land of Honey and become my consort?" Miji asked the shadow directly. When she said that, Tenten felt a sudden tightness in her chest, though she didn't know why.

"Aren't you being a little too blunt?" the shadow replied calmly. In truth, Yin Xiang was anything but calm inside. This princess was far too direct. He'd said it in a teasing tone, but coming from the shadow, it sounded completely emotionless. The shadow could only speak in that flat, emotionless voice.

"I'm not leaving Konoha," the shadow continued. Tenten's worried heart finally relaxed, as though she'd been afraid Yin Xiang might accept.

"The Land of Honey is lovely. The flowers and plants are beautiful. It's no worse than Konoha," Miji said, still refusing to give up.

"Is it? You're a princess traveling outside your country, and people are hunting you so they can use you to threaten the daimyo of the Land of Honey. They want him to surrender the Land of Honey. Your country is at war right now, isn't it?" the shadow said.

"Well... They have to capture me to threaten my father, right? That's only because they can't conquer the Land of Honey. Doesn't that mean our country is stronger than theirs?"

The shadow shook its head. "At a time like this, the daimyo didn't let you leave for a pleasure trip. He sent you away to save your life. The Land of Honey is about to fall. If you're not going back to your death, then you must be hoping to use us to save your country."

"That's right." Shikaku stopped walking. He'd figured it out along the way too, and everyone else stopped with him.

"What! So that's what's going on!" Might Guy shouted.

"..." Miji lowered her head and fell silent. The guard lowered his head too.

"If that's the case, this is a B-rank mission: rescuing a country, or a mission involving matters of national importance. The work might involve joining a war at another country's request, assassinating important figures, or transporting secret documents. This is already an S-rank mission. If you can't explain things clearly, I'm sorry, but we can only turn back." Shikaku looked at Miji.

"..." Miji gritted her teeth. "That's right. That's exactly what's happening."

"Good thing Yin Xiang figured it out early. If we'd gone into an S-rank mission like this, wouldn't we have been walking to our deaths?" Rock Lee said from the side.

Yin Xiang walked back from the front and stopped in front of his shadow. "You'd better explain everything clearly: who the enemy is, how many Jonin and Chunin they have, and whether they have any Kage Level ninja. We'll also need to increase the mission reward. We can send someone back to request reinforcements, or abandon the mission outright."

"I'm sorry. We deceived you!" The guard dropped to his knees. "The Land of Honey really is about to fall. I escaped with the princess, hoping to ask Konoha Ninja to help us reclaim our country. But we simply can't afford the reward for an S-rank mission, so..."

No one helped the guard up as he knelt on the ground. They'd been gambling with the lives of Konoha Ninja.

"However..." Yin Xiang and Shikaku exchanged a glance. "Shikaku-sensei, was this mission specifically assigned to us by the Third Hokage?"

"Mm." Shikaku nodded. "After receiving the mission, the Third Hokage notified Team 3 and me and sent us to the Land of Honey. In other words..."

"The Third Hokage probably knows what's happening in the Land of Honey, which is why he specifically assigned our team. It's dangerous, but with Guy-sensei's abilities, he can even take on a Kage Level ninja." Yin Xiang looked at Might Guy. Guy was wearing an unusually serious expression now, surprised that Yin Xiang had seen through his strength.

Indeed, with the Seventh Gate open, he could fight a Kage Level ninja.

"Since he sent one of Konoha's strongest fighters, Guy-sensei, as well as Shikaku-sensei, an intelligence specialist skilled in political affairs, I'd guess the enemy has no more than three Jonin, ten Chunin, and fifty Genin. The Genin make up the majority. The Third Hokage specifically wants us to complete this mission." Yin Xiang rested a hand beneath his chin.

"Master Yin Xiang is right. The enemy is the Land of Filling. They had three Jonin, eight Chunin, and twenty-three Genin when we left. That's what we learned at the time. After the war, we don't know how many they have now. They may have lost many," the guard said.

Yin Xiang shook his head. "We can't be sure their numbers have decreased. The ninja of the Land of Honey may have defected to them."

"Dozens of ninja count as an army?" Tenten asked in confusion. She'd heard that during previous wars, ninja villages sent out hundreds or even thousands of ninja.

"Small countries are different from great nations. It's hard enough for them to have even one Jonin, and there's a huge gap between a Jonin from a small country and one from a great nation. Two Jonin from a small country might not even be able to handle one from a great nation. If they ran into someone like Guy, he could take on three by himself."

"Hey, Shikaku! Are you saying you don't plan to fight when the time comes?" Guy immediately caught Shikaku's meaning.

"It's too much trouble," Shikaku said with a smile.

"You... you people..." Listening to them, the guard wondered if they really meant to go.