The Mission Feels Off

The winter in the ninja world ended exceptionally quickly. Before they could even shed their winter clothes, the ninjas of the Senju clan began taking on mercenary missions.

Senju Kyogawa, not yet five years old, was also sent out on a mission by Senju Butsuma.

"It's too soon. Kyogawa hasn't even turned five yet and he's already being sent on a mission," Senju Hashirama lamented as he helped Kyogawa organize his ninja tools.

"Kyogawa's taijutsu is already quite formidable. The Senju need combat power, not children. This is just a simple escort mission; wasn't our first mission the same type?" Senju Tobirama explained.

"Haha, don't worry, Brother Hashirama. I'm very strong!" Senju Kyogawa felt a surge of eagerness; this was his first time officially going on a mission as a ninja.

Since it was a simple escort mission, there was certainly no life-threatening danger, and Senju Kyogawa was currently very curious about ninja missions.

Because Kyogawa's older brothers all had their own assignments, the person tasked with helping Senju Kyogawa familiarize himself with the mission was a young man from the Senju clan.

Upon arriving, Senju Kyogawa discovered that this young man was none other than the severely injured patient he had healed previously.

During this meeting, Kyogawa learned that the man was named Senju Chenghe, and he had volunteered to come along upon hearing that it was Kyogawa's first mission.

"Benefactor, don't worry. I will definitely escort you back to the Senju safely!" Senju Chenghe promised with a smile.

"Don't call me benefactor, just call me Kyogawa. Our mission this time isn't to escort me, Brother Chenghe; don't mistake the client," Senju Kyogawa teased.

Kyogawa's mission this time was to escort a noble mother and son from the Land of Fire to the Land of Lightning to visit relatives. Because they were escorting nobles, the Senju had sent several ninjas with decent strength.

Kyogawa and Senju Chenghe walked toward the noble's caravan.

Seeing the massive procession, Senju Kyogawa couldn't help but sigh.

He hadn't expected that for a simple visit to relatives, this noble would bring several carts of treasures. Originally, Senju Kyogawa had felt that the Senju sending so many ninjas to escort them was making a mountain out of a molehill, but seeing these carts filled with jewels, he suddenly felt it wasn't an exaggeration at all.

As soon as he approached the lead carriage, Kyogawa heard the sound of a child crying.

"No! Mother! I want his scroll!"

"Xiao Xi, be good. Don't delay the ninja lords."

A five or six-year-old boy had half his body poking out of the carriage, clutching tightly to a scroll in the hand of a Senju ninja, who held the scroll with an awkward expression.

Through the carriage window, one could see a beautiful woman pulling on the boy, trying to persuade him.

A maid standing by the carriage was also protecting the boy's safety, urging him to let go.

Senju Kyogawa stepped closer and saw that the boy was still crying and refusing to let go.

"Little brother, why do you want a ninjutsu scroll?" Senju Kyogawa asked in confusion.

The little boy ignored Senju Kyogawa and continued to throw a tantrum.

"Please forgive us, ninja lords. Xiao Xi hasn't left home much. This is his first time seeing such impressive swordsmanship from a ninja lord, so he couldn't help but want to snatch the scroll containing the blade. It is truly rude of us," the noble lady, dressed in a twelve-layered kimono, bowed her head slightly in apology.

"Xiao Xi just finds things outside to be novel," the noble lady added.

Hearing the woman say this, Kyogawa thought for a moment, then turned to the grass nearby to pick a few blades of grass and leaves, his fingers nimbly weaving them into a grasshopper.

"Xiao Xi, look, a grasshopper!" Kyogawa placed the grasshopper in his palm to show the boy.

Seeing the boy's attention drawn to it, he immediately placed the grasshopper on the ground and gave it a flick, causing the grass grasshopper to leap forward.

"A grasshopper! The grass grasshopper can move! Mother, I want it!" The boy immediately ignored the ninja scroll and turned his eyes to search for the vanished grasshopper.

Kyogawa retrieved the grasshopper and handed it to the boy. The boy instantly stopped crying and sat obediently in the carriage, playing with the grasshopper.

Without the boy's interference, the caravan was finally able to set off.

"Kyogawa, you really have a way with them! As expected, children know best how to soothe other children," Senju Chenghe said with a laugh, patting Kyogawa on the shoulder.

Because it was an escort mission that required looking after the mother and son in the carriage, Senju Kyogawa and the others moved very slowly, but this allowed Senju Kyogawa to rest during the days and nights of walking.

Forcing a child under five to cross several countries on foot for days and nights was still difficult for Senju Kyogawa, even though his stamina was much better than that of an average child.

Because they had set off quite late, they had only been walking for two hours when it reached noon.

The group found a safe place to rest and took out the prepared dry rations to eat.

Senju Kyogawa was munching on a steamed bun while admiring the scenery on the border of the Land of Fire, chatting with Senju Chenghe on the side.

The maid he had seen earlier ran over, panting:

"Ninja lord, my lady invites you to sit in the carriage for a moment."

Senju Kyogawa looked at her as she spoke and asked uncertainly, "Me?"

"Yes, ninja lord. The young master has been very quiet the whole way. My lady wishes to invite you to rest in the carriage to show her gratitude."

Senju Kyogawa followed the maid to the carriage and, after receiving permission, sat inside.

"It must be hard for a ninja lord to go on missions at such a young age," the noble lady sighed, covering her mouth with her sleeve.

"My lady, there is no need to call me ninja lord. My name is Kyogawa."

Upon hearing Senju Kyogawa's voice, the boy, who had been looking down and immersed in playing with the grasshopper, suddenly looked up and shouted right after Kyogawa's words: "My name is Xiao Xi!"

Kyogawa was startled by Xiao Xi's sudden behavior. He took a closer look at Xiao Xi's expression and noticed that his eyes were very dull and his expression was vacant.

The noble lady patted Xiao Xi's head, pulled him into her arms, and gave Kyogawa an apologetic smile:

"Please forgive us, Kyogawa-kun. Xiao Xi has been a bit slow since he was young. We have been quite rude earlier."

"Not at all, Brother Xiao Xi is very cute."

Senju Kyogawa fashioned a few more small toys out of grass and leaves for Xiao Xi to play with. When it was time to depart, Kyogawa intended to get off the carriage and continue on foot, but to his surprise, the noblewoman insisted he remain inside.

"Kyogawa-kun is a year younger than Xiao Xi, still just a child himself. Please, stay in the carriage with us and help pass the time."

Hearing this, Senju Kyogawa remained in the carriage; walking the entire way was indeed exhausting.

However, sitting there now, he felt an even stronger sense of unease, a foreboding premonition lingering in his heart.

Setting aside the fact that Xiao Xi clearly seemed off, there were other concerns.

While the noblewoman's invitation to rest might have been born of genuine gratitude, that was beside the point.

A noblewoman traveling alone with a young child to visit relatives in another country, carrying several chests of jewelry in the caravan, yet accompanied by only a single maidservant?

Would a noble truly be so careless? Judging by her demeanor, she didn't appear to be out of favor, so how could her travel arrangements be so haphazard? Did she really trust ninjas that implicitly?

Senju Kyogawa couldn't make sense of it, but deep down, he felt something was wrong.

Senju Kyogawa trusted his intuition; it had helped him evade disaster many times before.

Yet, he couldn't pinpoint anything specific, and he had no way to suddenly jump out of the carriage and tell the Senju ninjas that his gut told him there was a problem with the mission.