Departure for the Land of Waves

After Team 7 was officially formed, Naruto stayed excited for an entire day.

He thought he would immediately be assigned some amazing mission.

Like escorting a daimyo, infiltrating an enemy country, or fighting rogue ninja for three hundred rounds.

But the next day, Kakashi merely took them to catch a cat.

Naruto immediately wilted. "I'm a ninja! A man who'll surpass every Hokage someday! And I'm just here to catch cats?"

After quite a bit of effort, they finally found the cat.

The cat had quite the temper. The moment Naruto pounced on it, it clawed him across the face.

Then on the third day, they pulled weeds...

On the fourth day, they picked up trash...

On the fifth day, they helped an old lady in the village carry things...

Naruto felt like he was about to crack apart.

"What kind of ninja mission is this?!"

Inside the Hokage Office, Naruto slammed a hand onto the desk, his face red with anger.

Iruka stood nearby, veins bulging on his forehead.

"Naruto! Watch how you speak to Lord Hokage!"

Naruto could not take it in at all.

"I'm going to become Hokage! How can I spend every day catching cats and pulling weeds?!"

Chiya stood beside him without saying a word.

He knew these D-rank missions were only a transition. The first real major event, the Land of Waves, was about to arrive.

Zabuza, Haku, the Demon Brothers, and that bridge-building old man who reeked of alcohol.

In the original story, Naruto had made a scene before the Third arranged this mission for them.

The Third held a pipe between his teeth and glanced at Kakashi.

"Kakashi, what do you think?"

Kakashi leaned against the side, still holding a book.

"Well, they're still a bunch of troublesome children, but they should be able to try a simple escort mission."

Naruto's eyes immediately lit up.

"An escort mission?"

The Third nodded.

"Since you want to take a higher-ranked mission so badly, I'll give you a C-rank mission."

"That's great!"

Naruto leaped straight into the air.

The next second, the office door was pushed open.

An old man walked in carrying a bottle of alcohol, and the smell of liquor on him was outrageously strong.

He first looked at Kakashi, then at the little brats of Team 7. The disgust on his face was practically written out.

"What? These little brats are the ones protecting me?"

Naruto had barely been happy for two seconds before exploding.

"Who are you calling a little brat?!"

The old man took a swig of alcohol and shot him a glance.

"Especially that blond one. He looks like the least reliable of the bunch."

"You drunken old man!"

Sakura hurriedly grabbed Naruto.

Chiya looked at the old man and sighed inwardly.

So it really was him, Tazuna.

The Land of Waves arc had officially begun.

The Third introduced him. "This is Tazuna, a bridge-building expert from the Land of Waves. Your mission is to escort him safely back to the Land of Waves."

Naruto was still glaring at Tazuna.

Sasuke showed little reaction. Only when he heard the words "leave the village" did his gaze shift slightly.

But Chiya thought of something else.

Danzo.

Within the village, with the Third and Kakashi keeping watch, Danzo had remained rather quiet.

But once they left the village, running into a few rogue ninja on the road would be perfectly normal.

Chiya lowered his head and glanced at his ninja tool pouch. He would have to bring more things when he went back later.

That night, he spent a long time packing.

Kunai, shuriken, steel wire, Explosive Tags, Soldier Pills—he prepared extra of everything. Who knew what might happen during this trip out of the village?

He went through the Fire Release notes his father had left behind once more.

Great Fireball, Phoenix Fire, and the Uchiha Shuriken Manipulation Technique.

After he finished packing, Chiya sat on the edge of his bed and lightly pressed a finger against his chest.

That wound had long since vanished, without even a scar remaining.

But ever since he had met Kaguya last time, she had not made another move. It was as though she did not exist at all.

Why was she hiding inside his body? Had Danzo really set his sights on him? Or was it merely his own imagination?

Would Zabuza and Haku's tragedy play out again?

In any case, from here on out...

The real combat...

Was about to begin.

Early the next morning, Team 7 gathered at Konoha's gate.

Naruto was bursting with energy, hopping along the road with his pack on his back.

Tazuna drank as he walked and complained that Naruto was too noisy.

Sakura and Sasuke walked in the middle.

Chiya followed beside them and looked back at Konoha's gate.

This was his first time leaving the village.

Kakashi walked at the very front. He waved a hand and said,

"Let's go."

After leaving Konoha, Naruto was clearly far too excited.

One moment he jumped over to inspect the grass by the roadside, and the next he stared at the distant woods as if enemies might leap out at any time.

"Where are the enemies? Why haven't any enemies shown up yet?"

Sakura could not help saying, "Naruto, can't you be quiet for once?!"

"This is a C-rank mission! There have to be enemies, right?!"

Tazuna snorted from behind them.

"If we really run into enemies, just don't wet your pants from fear."

"What did you say?!"

Naruto immediately started arguing with Tazuna again.

They had not walked far when a puddle appeared in the road ahead.

When Chiya saw the puddle, his steps paused. Then he smiled. I thought those two wouldn't show up. So they were waiting here.

But the disguise was far too obvious. A puddle appearing abruptly in the middle of a road—it was hard not to suspect something.

Kakashi walked past the puddle as though he had not noticed it at all.

Chiya followed him forward.

He knew Kakashi would fake his death.

The group had only just passed the puddle.

Splash!

Two figures burst out of the water, chains lashing directly toward Kakashi.

Naruto's expression changed dramatically.

"Kakashi-sensei!"

The chains twisted with a crack, tearing Kakashi's entire body apart.

Blood splattered across the ground.

Sakura went pale with fright, while Naruto froze stiff on the spot.

Chiya watched the scene, his eyelid twitching.

He knew it was a substitute, but seeing it in person was still pretty intense.

The two Demon Brothers did not stop. After dealing with "Kakashi," they immediately rushed toward Tazuna.

Sasuke was the first to react.

He charged out and threw kunai, pinning the chains of the two men.

Chiya moved as well. A fireball landed at the Demon Brothers' feet, forcing them to stop their charge.

Sakura finally snapped out of it and stood in front of Tazuna.

But Naruto remained where he was.

Chiya glanced at him.

It was his first time facing killing intent. He had still been frightened stiff.

That was normal.

Not everyone could fight right from the start.

The Demon Brothers tried to retreat, but Sasuke gave them no chance, and Chiya threw out steel wire to block their path.

But Kakashi was faster than either of them.

He appeared behind the two men and struck each of them once, forcing them to the ground.

"That's enough."

Kakashi gave the group a brief evaluation.

When he mentioned that Naruto had not moved at all, Naruto's entire body trembled.

"I didn't do anything? They were all fighting for real for the first time too, so why weren't they afraid?"

Kakashi sighed.

"Naruto, if you don't treat that wound, the poison will spread."

Sakura said nervously,

"Naruto, your hand is poisoned. We need to cut it open and drain the poisoned blood, but we don't have any anesthetic."

Naruto raised a kunai and plunged it into his hand with a wet squelch.

"I swear on the pain in my left hand that I'll never be cowardly or back down again!"

Kakashi tied up the Demon Brothers.

"Um... Naruto, it's good that you drained the poisoned blood in time, but if you don't bandage it soon, you'll die from excessive blood loss."

Naruto was instantly scared into shrieking.

Chiya could not help laughing when he saw that. It really was much funnier in person than through a screen.

After bandaging Naruto, Kakashi turned to Tazuna.

"Mr. Tazuna, care to explain?"

Tazuna fell silent.

"What do you mean?"

Kakashi pointed at the Demon Brothers on the ground.

"They aren't ordinary bandits. They're Hidden Mist Village chunin. Ninja should not appear on a C-rank mission."

The atmosphere immediately stiffened.

Tazuna took a drink, his expression turning grim as well.

After a long while, he finally told them about Gato.

The Land of Waves was under Gato's control.

He was building a bridge to give the country hope.

But he did not have the money to issue a higher-ranked mission, so he could only disguise it as a C-rank mission.

After hearing that, Naruto clenched his teeth in anger.

"Then we definitely can't go back!"

Sakura was a little worried.

"But the mission rank is already wrong..."

Sasuke looked toward Kakashi.

Chiya said nothing.

Of course he would not go back.

The Land of Waves storyline had to continue.

At the very least, he really wanted to save Zabuza and Haku.

Kakashi looked around at them.

"What do you all think?"

Naruto was the first to shout, "Continue!"

Sasuke said blandly, "I don't care."

Sakura hesitated for a moment, then nodded as well.

Kakashi looked at Chiya.

"I don't care either."

"Then we continue."