C-Rank Mission? Kakashi Gets Dismembered on the Spot!

C-Rank Mission? Kakashi Gets Dismembered on the Spot!

Outside Hidden Leaf Village's gates, Naruto stood in the middle of the road with a bulging pack on his back, looking around eagerly. The excitement on his face was almost impossible to contain.

"So this is what it feels like to leave the village? Doesn't seem that special."

Kakashi lowered his gaze to the book in his hands and casually said, "We just walked out the gate. At least wait until the village is out of sight before sharing your thoughts."

Naruto: ...

Sakura Haruno couldn't help rubbing her forehead, while Sasuke walked at the front of the group without looking back once.

The client for this mission was Tazuna, a bridge builder from the Land of Waves.

He wore a straw hat and carried a bottle of alcohol in his hand. From the moment they met, he had not given them a friendly look.

"Hidden Leaf Village sent a bunch of brats to protect me?"

Tazuna took a drink, his gaze sweeping over them. "That shortest one looks especially unreliable."

Naruto looked down at himself, then at the people beside him. Veins immediately bulged at his temple.

"Who are you calling short?"

"Whoever reacts the most."

Naruto was about to pounce on him when Sakura Haruno punched him back.

Chenshu Senju walked at the rear, with little interest in the farce.

It was an ordinary C-rank escort mission. The system had not issued a challenge or provided any prompts.

That in itself was rather unusual.

After leaving Hidden Leaf Village, the group soon entered the dense forests at the border.

The trees on both sides of the road were thick, and it had rained ahead of them. The soil was still damp.

Chenshu Senju's gaze landed on the roadside.

There was a puddle there.

Though it was overcast today, it had not rained for several days.

A puddle in the middle of the road was suspicious no matter how he looked at it.

Kakashi walked past the puddle without even pausing his page-turning.

Seeing that, Chenshu Senju said nothing to warn him. He merely slowed by half a step and moved closer to Tazuna.

As soon as they had gone some distance, ripples spread across the puddle's surface.

Two masked ninja burst out of the water. The chains in their hands unfurled instantly, their sharp metal blades winding toward the rear of the group.

"First one."

The chains suddenly tightened, and Kakashi's body was immediately shredded into several pieces.

Blood splattered everywhere.

Naruto's pupils contracted, and his body froze on the spot.

One of the rogue ninja had already flashed behind him. An iron claw gripped his shoulder and slammed him hard to the ground.

"Second one."

Sasuke turned and hurled a kunai, intending to cut through their chains, but the other rogue ninja tugged his arm. The chains immediately changed direction and shot toward Tazuna.

Sakura Haruno drew a kunai and stood in front of Tazuna, her face already pale.

Too fast.

From Kakashi being attacked to Naruto being subdued, the entire process had taken no more than two breaths.

She had not even been able to see the enemies' movements clearly.

When the chains were less than half a meter from Tazuna, a shuriken suddenly flew in from the side and struck the chain's joint with pinpoint accuracy.

Clang.

The chains veered away, brushing past Tazuna's straw hat.

The two rogue ninja turned their heads at the same time, only to find that Chenshu Senju had vanished from where he stood.

"Looking for me?"

His voice came from behind them.

Chenshu Senju grabbed one man by the elbow and suddenly exerted force.

With a crisp crack of bone, the rogue ninja's right arm twisted out of shape, and his iron claw fell to the ground.

"Bastard."

The other man released Naruto and swung his iron claw at Chenshu Senju's neck.

Chenshu Senju sidestepped the attack and kicked him in the knee.

Bang.

The man's knee buckled, and he dropped straight to his knees.

Before he could raise his head, a kunai was already pressed against his throat.

From the moment Chenshu Senju made his move until the fight ended, only three seconds had passed.

Sasuke had not yet thrown his second kunai, while Sakura Haruno was still standing in front of Tazuna. Both wore somewhat stiff expressions.

This guy had gotten stronger again?

Naruto climbed up from the ground and looked down at the wound the iron claw had left on the back of his hand, his face turning ugly.

"I just wasn't ready."

Chenshu Senju glanced at him. "You can ask them whether they'd like another chance to ambush you."

Naruto: ...

A faint sound came from the trees as the Kakashi who had been shredded by the chains leaped down from a branch.

The body parts on the ground had turned into several pieces of wood. It had clearly been a Substitution Jutsu.

He crouched down to inspect the two rogue ninja's forehead protectors, his expression gradually turning serious.

"Chunin from Hidden Mist Village, the Demon Brothers. They're known for assassination and poison. They aren't enemies a C-rank mission should involve."

At those words, Tazuna's grip on his bottle tightened slightly.

Kakashi rose to his feet and looked at him. "Their target wasn't us. It was you. Mr. Tazuna, shouldn't you explain?"

Tazuna fell silent for a moment, the drunkenness gone from his face.

He knew he could not hide it any longer, so he revealed that the Land of Waves was under Gato's control and explained the true purpose behind building the bridge.

To stop the bridge from being completed, Gato had hired ninja to assassinate him.

Because the Land of Waves was too poor, he could not afford the fee for an A-rank mission, so he had concealed the true circumstances.

"The one assigned to assassinate me might be a rogue ninja from Hidden Mist Village—Zabuza Momochi."

Kakashi narrowed his eyes. "One of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, Demon of the Mist Zabuza.

He's an enemy even jonin must face with caution."

Sakura Haruno's expression changed, and Naruto fell silent as well.

This was no longer an issue of mission rank.

If Zabuza appeared in person, the freshly graduated genin could lose their lives at any moment.

Kakashi looked at the four of them and said in a low voice, "The mission intelligence seriously differs from the actual situation. If we return to Hidden Leaf Village now, it's not too late."

Sasuke tightened his grip on his kunai but said nothing.

Naruto glanced at the wound on the back of his hand, then gritted his teeth and stepped to Tazuna's side.

"I won't run. I'll prove myself."

Chenshu Senju withdrew the kunai pressed to the rogue ninja's throat, his tone calm. "Let's keep moving. Since they'll come to us, that saves me the trouble of finding them."

Kakashi looked at him for several seconds before finally nodding.

[Defeated the Hidden Mist Village chunin Demon Brothers. Obtained two draws.]

[Saw through the disguise of an A-rank mission. Land of Waves challenge triggered.]

[Defeat Zabuza Momochi to obtain twenty draws.]

Twenty.

That reward already surpassed the survival exercise.

After the group set off again, Chenshu Senju directly opened the draw interface and used the two opportunities he had just gained along with his stored draws for a ten-pull.

[Draw successful. Obtained Basic Taijutsu Enhancement.]

[Draw successful. Obtained Water Release Resistance Enhancement.]

[Draw successful. Obtained Chakra Sensing Enhancement.]

[Ten-pull guarantee triggered.]

[Draw successful. Obtained rare reward: Chakra Capacity increased by 50%.]

A warm current spread through his entire body. Chenshu Senju did not slow his steps, but the chakra within him grew once more

. The movements within several dozen meters around him also gradually became clearer.

His opponent was an elite jonin who possessed the Executioner's Blade and Silent Killing.

Basic Wood Release alone might not be enough to suppress him reliably.

However, he still had thirty-eight ordinary draws and one rare draw.

Half a day later, Team 7 entered the Land of Waves by boat.

As the small boat traveled through the river, the forests on both shores were gradually swallowed by dense fog, reducing visibility to barely a dozen meters.

Thick white mist rose over the river. From deep within the watery haze came the faint sound of the Executioner's Blade slicing through the current. Ahead, a deadly battle far beyond the limits of what genin could handle had silently laid its trap.

"He's here." Kakashi's hand was already on his forehead protector.