The Strange Epidemic

"Get lost! I'm a peace-loving person. I won't slaughter innocents!"

Upon hearing that, the fleeing Morino Itate nearly stumbled and fell.

Suppressing the urge to curse, he vanished in a flash.

After storing the Sword of the Thunder God in the system space, Mirai put away his Eternal Mangekyo and Susanoo as well.

Shaking his head, Mirai left with his hands clasped behind his head.

"Kakashi-sensei, how much farther until we reach our destination?"

Uzumaki Naruto had never carried out this kind of mission before, much less one that required traveling such a long distance.

"Soon. At this pace, we should reach Kihara Village in about two days!"

"What? Another two days or so?!"

Naruto immediately looked miserable. After traveling all day, he was bored to death.

"Shut up, Naruto! You're the only one making such a fuss!"

Sakura could not stand Naruto's behavior anymore and snapped at him loudly.

"Sakura..."

Naruto feared neither heaven nor earth, but Sakura was the one exception.

Hearing her say that, he pitifully called her name once before falling silent.

Mirai, walking behind them, simply shook his head at the sight.

Naruto was purely there to be a hilarious idiot.

And so, the group continued traveling without rest. In the blink of an eye, two days passed.

They finally arrived near Kihara Village!

"Summoning Jutsu!"

Kakashi bit his finger, formed a series of hand seals, and then slammed his palm onto the ground.

With a bang, a cloud of white smoke suddenly rose nearby.

"Kakashi, why did you summon me?"

A ninja hound wearing a Konoha forehead protector looked at Kakashi with a gloomy expression.

"Sorry to bother you, Pakkun!"

Looking at Pakkun, Kakashi said, "I'll need you to make a trip to the village ahead and scout it out. See what's going on inside!"

"Fine!"

After saying that, Pakkun ran off on his own.

"Kakashi-sensei, was that the Summoning Jutsu? That was amazing!"

Naruto stared at Kakashi with shining eyes, his face full of admiration.

"That's right. That was the Summoning Jutsu!"

Seeing Naruto's worshipful gaze, Kakashi nodded proudly.

Sakura and Sasuke were also amazed by Kakashi's Summoning Jutsu, though neither of them reacted as dramatically as Naruto.

As for Mirai, he simply did not think much of it.

With Susanoo at his command, would he care about a summoned beast?

And even if he wanted one, Mirai would not want this kind of ninja hound.

It had no combat power, was not cute, and was practically useless.

Before long, Pakkun returned.

"Kakashi, I couldn't get into the village, but there are some genin standing guard around its perimeter!"

After thinking for a moment, Pakkun continued, "There are genin posted at all four sides of the village, in teams of two."

"If you want to enter the village, you'll need to be careful. I have a feeling this village isn't simple!"

After Pakkun finished reporting what he had discovered, Kakashi fell silent, clearly deep in thought.

"It's mealtime. If there's nothing else, I'll head back first!"

Seeing that it was getting late, Pakkun was eager to return for lunch.

After hastily greeting Kakashi, he dismissed the Summoning Jutsu with a bang and disappeared.

Kakashi shook his head helplessly.

"Stay behind me in a moment, and don't say anything. I'll talk to them first and see what's going on!"

After all, they were only here to capture a Konoha rogue ninja. There was no need to start a direct conflict with another ninja village.

Naruto clasped both hands behind his head, looking utterly bored.

The group arrived at the entrance to Kihara Village just like that, openly and without concealment.

"Who goes there?!"

The moment Kakashi's group reached the village entrance, two Kihara Village ninjas suddenly appeared before them with a whoosh.

Their expressions were stern as they watched Kakashi's group with full vigilance.

"Hello, we're Konoha ninjas!"

Seeing how wary the Kihara Village ninjas were, Kakashi was puzzled but could not say much, so he could only identify himself first.

Looking at the two Kihara Village ninjas, Kakashi said, "Could I trouble you to take us to see your village chief?"

[PS: Only the five major ninja villages under the Five Great Nations could call their village chiefs Kage. In the smaller countries and villages, the village chief was simply called the village chief.]

The two Kihara Village ninjas exchanged looks before one of them said, "Wait here. I'll go ask."

"Alright, thank you for the trouble."

After giving some instructions to the other ninja, one of them left.

A short while later, the ninja who had left returned.

An elderly man leaning on a cane came back with him.

"Greetings, honored Konoha ninjas. I am the chief of Kihara Village. My name is Xiong Jing!"

Chief Xiong Jing stepped forward and shook hands with Kakashi, his face full of goodwill.

"Hello, Chief. I am Hatake Kakashi, a Konoha jonin! We came to your village this time to capture Konoha's rogue jonin, Ishikawa Kazuo."

"According to the intelligence we received, Ishikawa Kazuo is hiding in your village. Could you please allow us to enter and arrest him?"

"This..."

Chief Xiong Jing hesitated, looking deeply troubled.

"Did something happen?"

Seeing the troubled look on Chief Xiong Jing's face, Kakashi faintly sensed that something had happened in the village.

"My apologies, everyone from Konoha, but a large-scale epidemic has broken out in the village. For your safety, I still advise you to return."

Chief Xiong Jing sighed and urged them to leave.

"An epidemic?"

Kakashi was stunned. He had not expected an epidemic to have broken out in Kihara Village.

Mirai, meanwhile, glanced at Xiong Jing thoughtfully.

For some reason, Mirai felt that there was something strange about Xiong Jing.

As for what exactly was strange, he could not put his finger on it yet.

"How about this, Chief? Once we enter Kihara Village, if anything happens to us, it will have nothing to do with Kihara Village!"

"Now that I've given you my assurance, would that be acceptable?"

When the chief of Kihara Village had refused them earlier, Kakashi had roughly understood what he meant.

Though the chief claimed he was concerned for Kakashi and the others' safety, he actually did not want any trouble.

The chief feared that if Kakashi's group entered the village and something happened to them, Konoha would hold Kihara Village accountable.

That was why he had been unwilling to let Kakashi and the others enter.

Having received Kakashi's assurance, Chief Xiong Jing frowned and thought for a moment before saying, "Alright, then."

Afterward, under Chief Xiong Jing's guidance, the group began entering Kihara Village.

The moment they entered through the village gates, they saw many apothecaries and their assistants bustling about busily.

"So it really is a large-scale epidemic!"

Looking at the unmistakable scene before him, Mirai muttered to himself.

Just moments ago, he had thought the old village chief was making it up.

He had assumed the chief's purpose was to keep them from entering the village, but unexpectedly, it was true.

The village chief had not lied.

Of course, Mirai was not the only one who had thought so. Kakashi had felt the same way earlier, but now the facts were right before them.