Half a Shade

The western border of the Land of Fire, deep in a dense forest.

The four of them followed the route marked on the intelligence report for most of the day, reaching their target area in the afternoon.

Kitahara Kaede stood on a high slope, his gaze sweeping over the woods ahead.

Quiet.

Too quiet.

As if no one had ever set foot in this forest.

Nawaki came up beside him and lowered his voice.

"Master, this place... doesn't look like there's been any suspicious activity."

He scratched the back of his head.

"Could the intelligence be wrong?"

Kitahara Kaede didn't answer immediately.

The Intelligence Department wouldn't make such a basic mistake.

If they'd marked this area as the site of suspicious activity, then someone had definitely been here.

But everything in front of them looked far too clean.

No footprints, no broken branches, no traces of a campfire. It was as if someone had deliberately cleaned the place up.

Too normal—that was what made it abnormal.

"Scout in three directions."

Kitahara Kaede jumped down from the slope and beckoned to the other three.

"Two-hundred-meter radius. Watch your footing, watch above you, and watch for anything unnatural. Report back here in twenty minutes."

The two Genin acknowledged the order and split off to the left and right.

Nawaki was just about to set off—

"Nawaki."

"Hmm?"

Kitahara Kaede looked at him.

"Watch out for Explosive Tags."

Nawaki froze, then instinctively looked around. There wasn't a soul in sight.

"Would there be any here—"

"Under rocks, in gaps between roots, at the base of bushes."

Kitahara Kaede's tone was flat.

"In places where you'd think there couldn't be anything."

Nawaki swallowed the rest of his sentence.

Three months of training had drilled one understanding into his bones: his master had never been wrong.

He nodded earnestly.

"Understood."

Then he turned and ran into the brush on the right.

Kitahara Kaede watched him disappear into the trees.

Then he turned and slowly circled the edge of the clearing.

The more he looked, the more something felt off.

But he still couldn't quite put his finger on what.

A little over ten minutes later.

Kitahara Kaede turned and saw Nawaki emerging through a gap in the bushes.

Half-crouched, he kept his steps low and hurried over.

"Find anything?"

"I did."

Nawaki kept his voice low, but his eyes were practically shining.

He picked up a branch and sketched a simple diagram in the dirt.

"There are Explosive Tags under the brush on the right."

Kitahara Kaede said nothing, gesturing for him to continue.

Nawaki drew a circle on the ground.

"The first one's under a rock at the base of a bush."

He paused, as if gathering his thoughts.

"There's fresh dirt on the underside of the rock. The color's different from the soil around it."

"How much different?"

"Half a shade."

Kitahara Kaede's brow twitched.

Half a shade.

Three months ago, Nawaki wouldn't even have noticed something this subtle.

"I didn't touch it," Nawaki continued, drawing two more circles with the branch. "I went around it and found two more spots like it. The three tags are evenly spaced. The branches in between were pressed aside and put back—the breaks all face the same way, inward."

He looked up.

"They're linked. If someone triggers one, the others will all explode too."

Kitahara Kaede studied the diagram on the ground.

The difference in the soil color—half a shade.

The direction of the broken branches.

His assessment of the linked Explosive Tags' arrangement.

Each of these things, taken on its own, was basic training material.

But being able to notice every detail and put them together in the middle of a real mission—that was the kind of skill that kept you alive.

Kitahara Kaede was well aware of one thing.

If not for those three months of training.

If he hadn't been the one leading the team.

If no one had reminded Nawaki to watch out for Explosive Tags.

Given Nawaki's nature, the first thing he'd have done upon reaching the site was rush into the central area.

He'd have stepped on one, and that would've been the end of it.

Twelve years old, one step.

And then Tsunade would be waiting in Konoha for someone who would never come back.

Kitahara Kaede looked away.

"Good work."

Nawaki froze for a moment.

In the three months he'd followed his master, he could count on one hand how many times he'd heard those four words.

"Heh..."

"Did you estimate the array's range?"

Nawaki put his silly grin away and answered seriously, "Roughly a fan-shaped area extending twenty meters in from the front entrance. I didn't dare check any deeper."

"That's enough."

Kitahara Kaede stood up.

"Let's wait for the other two."

It wasn't long before the two Genin returned one after the other.

The taller one spoke first. "Captain, there are signs of habitation to the left. A cooking pit, a used water source, and footprints."

The shorter one added, "The footprints aren't recent. Three to five days old, probably. At least four or five people."

Kitahara Kaede nodded.

Once all the information was put together, the answer was clear.

Someone had been here ahead of them, laid linked Explosive Tags, and then withdrawn without a trace.

They'd left no one behind to hold the position and no hidden sentries.

Only a death trap.

They were waiting for Konoha's scouting team.

A four-person squad, mostly Genin, steps into the fan-shaped area—

And not one of them would make it out alive.

"The mission target is confirmed. Search the perimeter once more. If you find nothing new, we withdraw. Re—"

The birdsong in the woods to the northwest suddenly stopped.

All at once, as if something had squeezed their throats shut.

Kitahara Kaede's pupils narrowed.

"Spread out—!"

He shoved Nawaki behind a large tree on the right and kicked off the ground.

Three Kunai wrapped in Explosive Tags shot down from the canopy and struck where they'd been standing.

Boom—

The blast tore through half the bushes. Figures surged out of the smoke from three directions.

Eight people.

Dark gray shinobi uniforms, masks covering their mouths and noses, and hourglass symbols carved into their Forehead Protectors.

Sunagakure.

The bearded man in the lead held a short, curved blade. He glanced at Kitahara Kaede and stopped.

"A Konoha scouting team."

Kitahara Kaede didn't respond.

His right hand hung at his side, lightning flashing between his fingers.

Chidori Sharp Spear shot out—a bolt of lightning pierced the smoke in a straight line, impaling a Sunagakure shinobi on the flank who was in the middle of forming Hand Seals.

The man's hands froze on the third seal, and his body was pinned to the tree behind him.

The forest fell silent for a moment.

The bearded man's expression changed.

"Chidori Sharp Spear—that's him! How could someone like him be leading a mission like this?!"

He turned and shouted to the others behind him.

Too late.

Kitahara Kaede moved.

A Shadow Clone intercepted two Chunin trying to circle around from the rear, while the real one charged straight into the center.

The bearded man raised his blade to block, but it snapped in two, and he was sent flying.

A complete rout.

Kitahara Kaede's strength was now close to Kage Level. He didn't need a second approach to deal with a squad of this caliber.

In the space of a breath, four were down.

The remaining Sunagakure shinobi lost formation and fought on their own.

In the melee, one Sunagakure shinobi slipped around behind Kitahara Kaede on the right.

A Kunai flew from his hand, silent and at a vicious angle, aimed straight for the back of his neck.

Nawaki saw him from a dozen meters away.

His mind went blank.

His hand moved faster than his thoughts—the Shuriken left his fingers.

It missed.

But the Shuriken grazed the Sunagakure shinobi's wrist, clipping the handle of his Kunai.

Metal clanged against metal, knocking the Kunai's trajectory three inches off course.

Kitahara Kaede tilted his head to evade it, then drove an elbow into the man's temple.

A dull thud. He hit the ground.

Kitahara Kaede glanced back.

Nawaki stood where he was, his hand still held in the position he'd thrown from.

Their eyes met.

Kitahara Kaede said nothing and turned back to finish off the rest.

But Nawaki had seen it.

The corner of his master's mouth had twitched.

All eight Sunagakure shinobi were dealt with.

The whole fight had taken less than five minutes.

Kitahara Kaede searched the last enemy's Ninja Tool Pouch and put the Intelligence Scroll he found into his bag.

"Let's go. Back to the village."

The four of them set off for home.

Once they'd left the dense forest, the terrain gradually opened up.

The two Genin walked ahead, muttering quietly. Every so often, they glanced back at Kitahara Kaede, their eyes full of awe at having survived.

Nawaki walked beside Kitahara Kaede, quiet the whole way.

After about fifteen minutes, he spoke.

"Master."

"Hmm?"

"That patch of Explosive Tags—if I hadn't noticed them and we'd gone in head-on..."

"You noticed them."

Nawaki lowered his head and walked a couple of steps.

"But I threw that Shuriken wide."

"It went wide, but it helped."

Kitahara Kaede didn't break stride.

"Three months ago, you couldn't even react to a tripwire in a trap. Today, your instincts saved the day in a real fight."

He turned his head slightly and glanced at Nawaki.

"You think that's no progress?"

Nawaki's lips moved. He seemed about to say something, then swallowed it.

He remembered himself sprawled on the grass at the training ground.

Twenty minutes. Killed seven times. Shaking all over. Unable to withstand even thirty percent of his master's strength.

Today, it had been a real battlefield.

Eight Sunagakure shinobi, led by two Jonin.

He'd survived.

The Shuriken he'd thrown had gone wide—but it had changed the Kunai's trajectory by three inches.

Nawaki sniffed and raised his head.

"Master."

"Hmm?"

"When we get back, I'm going to brag to my sister."

Kitahara Kaede shot him a sidelong glance.

Nawaki rubbed his hands together, his usual cheeky swagger finally returning.

"I'll tell her I saved your life on the battlefield."

"You threw your Shuriken wide."

"But it helped—you said so yourself!"

Nawaki stuck out his chest, planted his hands on his hips, and lifted his chin.

"'It went wide, but it helped.' I'm going to repeat that to my sister word for word."

He cleared his throat, then suddenly changed his expression and imitated Kitahara Kaede's voice—

"'Nawaki performed outstandingly on the battlefield and saved my life at a critical moment.'"

He lowered his voice, putting on an air of solemnity.

"My sister will praise me to no end."

Kitahara Kaede kicked him.

Nawaki stumbled, chuckled, and caught up.

After a few steps, he sidled over again.

"Master, I'm serious."

"Hmm?"

"I want my sister to know—"

Nawaki scratched the back of his head, his tone suddenly less playful.

"I've gotten stronger."