Who Will Protect the Land of Waves

The tobacco in Hiruzen Sarutobi's pipe burned slowly as he exhaled a cloud of murky smoke.

"C-rank mission: escort bridge expert Mr. Tazuna back to the Land of Waves."

His gaze swept across the three youths of Team 7 before finally settling on Kakashi.

Kakashi wore his usual lazy expression, but in his exposed eye was a trace of scrutiny directed at Naruto.

Sensei, where exactly did things go wrong? Your kid's style was a little off.

Sasuke remained expressionless. To him, a C-rank mission was nothing but a waste of time.

Sakura, on the other hand, was somewhat excited. This was her first time traveling to another country for a mission.

Only Naruto stood there like a statue, listening in silence. He had long noticed the heavy scent of alcohol on Tazuna, as well as the fear hidden in his constantly darting eyes.

The client was lying. This was not a simple escort mission.

Naruto disliked lies, but this was indeed an opportunity to temper the team. Under normal circumstances, a rookie team like theirs would find it difficult to receive missions above B-rank.

"Then go prepare. Gather at the village entrance in one hour." Kakashi waved a hand, signaling for them to disperse.

"Yes." Sasuke and Sakura answered in unison.

Naruto did not respond. He simply turned around and was the first to leave the office.

On the forest path leading to the Land of Waves, sunlight filtered through gaps in the leaves, scattering mottled patches of light.

Tazuna walked in the middle, nervously looking around. Sakura, meanwhile, chattered like a curious tourist, asking all sorts of questions about the Land of Waves.

Sasuke walked at the rear of the group, one hand constantly resting on his ninja tool pouch as he remained alert.

Kakashi and Naruto walked side by side at the very front.

"Naruto, teamwork isn't simply about orders and obedience." Kakashi tried to break the silence.

"I know." Naruto kept his eyes forward. "It is a tactical combination that maximizes individual capabilities based on a shared objective."

Kakashi was briefly at a loss for words. The answer was too textbook-perfect, yet too cold. He could neither refute it nor continue the conversation.

His attention was drawn to a puddle on the road ahead.

The weather was clear, and it had not rained in a long time. There should not have been water here.

Kakashi's pace did not slow in the slightest, as though he had not noticed it at all.

He was waiting.

Waiting for an opportunity, and for an answer. He wanted to see how Naruto, who regarded efficiency and discipline as sacred principles, would handle such a textbook ambush.

Naruto had also noticed the puddle.

He had even sensed the chakra of the two people beneath it, deliberately suppressed to the limit.

Chunin level.

They were perfect test subjects for assessing Sasuke and Sakura's combat abilities.

He chose to ignore them as well.

The group walked straight past the puddle.

The instant they passed it, the puddle exploded!

Two burly figures wrapped in iron chains shot out, accompanied by a metallic howl, instantly binding Kakashi!

"First one!"

"Shhk!"

The sound of blades tearing through flesh was clearly audible.

Before Sasuke and Sakura's horrified eyes, Kakashi's body was instantly twisted into several pieces by the chains.

Blood... did not spray out.

"What?" one of the ninjas cried in shock.

That had only been a substitution.

"Get down!" Kakashi's voice came from behind them.

The two Kirigakure rogue ninjas, Meizu and Gozu of the Demon Brothers, had already abandoned Kakashi. Their target immediately locked onto the least threatening person: Tazuna, the client.

"Second one!"

Sasuke's pupils contracted. His body reacted faster than his mind. He drew a kunai and stood in front of Tazuna, his face carrying the tension and ferocity of someone confronting a real fight to the death for the first time.

"Sasuke! Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura froze in terror, her mind completely blank as she could only let out meaningless screams.

This was the battlefield.

When facing the threat of death for the first time, training and theory became pale and powerless. Fear was the only instinct.

Meizu and Gozu attacked from either side, their metal-clawed gloves slicing through the air as they struck at Sasuke.

Sasuke gritted his teeth and barely managed to block them, but their brutal strength forced him back again and again, leaving his arms numb.

This was the strength of Chunin.

Then—

A golden afterimage cut into the battle at a completely unreasonable speed.

It was not a ninja's Body Flicker Technique. There was not the slightest fluctuation of chakra.

It was pure speed unleashed by the body.

Though he moved later, Naruto arrived first, appearing behind Gozu.

He used no ninja tools. With his five fingers pressed together, his palm became a blade and struck precisely into the back of Gozu's knee at a vicious angle.

"Crack!"

The sound of bone fracturing made everyone's teeth ache.

Gozu let out an inhuman howl. His entire right leg bent outward at a grotesque angle, and he instantly lost the ability to move.

Almost at the same time, Naruto's other elbow shot upward like a battering ram and smashed brutally into Meizu's jaw.

"Bang!"

With a dull impact, Meizu's body flew backward like a kite with its string cut, teeth and bloody foam spraying through the air.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye.

From Naruto's attack to the complete loss of combat ability of two Chunin-level enemies, less than five seconds had passed.

No ninjutsu. No hand seals.

Only the most efficient, most brutal violence.

Sasuke stood frozen in place. He looked at the Demon Brothers wailing on the ground, then at Naruto standing there without even the slightest disruption to his breathing.

A feeling called helplessness swept through his body once again with terrible clarity, as if he were being tortured.

That was not a style of fighting he could understand.

Sakura's scream caught in her throat. Looking at Naruto's back, the fear she felt toward him surpassed even what she had felt when facing the enemy.

"Not a bad reaction, Sasuke."

Kakashi leaped down from a tree and walked over to Naruto, lowering his head to glance at the two unconscious ninjas.

His methods had been so clean and decisive that they made one's heart tremble.

He turned to Naruto. For the first time, his lazy eye carried a stern accusation.

"You discovered them long ago."

"Yes," Naruto answered crisply.

"Then why didn't you warn us in advance?" Kakashi's tone sharpened. "Your teammates and Sakura were exposed to fatal danger!"

"This was a drill." Naruto calmly met his gaze. "On an unpredictable battlefield, an ambush can happen at any time. I could warn them this time, but what about next time? If the enemy is a sensory-type ninja, any unusual movement in advance would expose us."

He paused.

"Kakashi-sensei, you sensed those two ninjas too, didn't you? And your thinking was the same as mine."

"You also know they need to adapt to facing death without warning. The sweat shed today is so blood will not be shed tomorrow. Sensei, you should understand that better than I do."

Kakashi's body stiffened as memories of Kannabi Bridge flashed through his mind.

With a grave expression, he walked up to Naruto and placed a hand heavily on his shoulder, slowly applying pressure.

"You brat..."

"Why say it so bluntly? You're making your teacher look bad."

Kakashi chuckled and patted Naruto's shoulder.

"You're not cute at all like this."

A small boat moved slowly across the mist-shrouded river.

The atmosphere was terrifyingly oppressive.

Sasuke and Sakura both remained silent. The battle just now had dealt them a tremendous shock.

"Mr. Tazuna." Kakashi broke the silence, explaining the intelligence on the Demon Brothers and his reassessment of the mission rank. "This is no longer a C-rank mission. It is at least B-rank. Moreover, your opponent may send Jonin to carry out assassination attempts. At that point, it will become an A-rank mission, or even an S-rank mission."

He looked at his three students.

"For safety reasons, the mission is terminated. We will escort Mr. Tazuna back to Konoha, and the village will reassess the situation and send a more suitable team."

It was the safest and most correct decision.

"I disagree."

Naruto spoke, interrupting Kakashi's arrangement.

"Why?" Kakashi crossed his arms and looked at Naruto.

"The risk assessment is wrong." Naruto met Kakashi's eyes and began his tactical analysis. "First, we have already engaged the enemy, and they have learned our basic information—a Jonin leading three Genin. If we give up now, they will only think that since even Konoha is afraid to fight, they have nothing to worry about. The next force they send to harass the Land of Waves will be stronger and more unscrupulous."

"Second, Konoha's credibility. Accepting a commission and abandoning it halfway damages the Hokage's reputation. A ninja village that loses its credibility cannot endure for long."

Every word he spoke was like a nail driven into everyone's hearts.

Sakura and Sasuke both raised their heads, staring at him in shock.

This had completely surpassed their understanding of missions.

"Finally..." Naruto narrowed his eyes, and a trace of gentle gravity flashed through them.

"If we do not protect the Land of Waves, then no one will."