Escort

Qianye Lan was momentarily speechless. Put that way, he really was an accomplice.

But he still stubbornly argued, "How can ninja business count as being an accomplice? It counts as..."

Kushina tilted her head as she watched Qianye Lan try to argue his way out of it.

In the end, Qianye Lan ran out of words and gave up trying.

Hatake Sakumo interrupted their exchange. "We still have two missions today. The sooner we finish, the sooner we can rest."

The three nodded and set off on their second mission.

Only when they arrived at the mission site did they discover it was a field.

The owner of the field was there and had been waiting for quite some time.

Seeing them, she walked over and said, "You're finally here."

She pointed toward the field. "I'll leave this field to you."

Kushina looked it over carefully and said in surprise, "We have to work this whole huge field?"

Hatake Sakumo corrected her from the side. "Not 'we.' 'You.'"

Even Uchiha Mikoto's mouth twitched at the sight of the vast field.

She had never encountered such a large field on any of her missions.

Qianye Lan let out a long sigh, picked up a hoe, and turned to the other two. "Let's get to work. We still have another mission after this."

Kushina and Mikoto exchanged a glance, then helplessly picked up their hoes and began tilling.

Qianye Lan and Kushina managed well enough. One had years of Taijutsu training along with an Uzumaki Constitution, while the other had the purest Uzumaki Constitution outright.

The physically frailer Uchiha Mikoto had a miserable time. Before she had worked for long, she was already drenched in sweat.

Both her arms began to go weak.

Though she belonged to the Uchiha Clan, she was not outstanding at Taijutsu.

After who knew how long, the three finished working the entire field.

Unlike Qianye Lan and Kushina, who were only sweating slightly and still in the mood to joke around,

Uchiha Mikoto slumped straight onto the ground, set her hoe aside, and gulped down water.

A few drops trickled from the corner of her mouth and down her smooth neck.

Qianye Lan walked over to her and asked, "Are you all right?"

Uchiha Mikoto waved a hand to indicate that she was fine.

Hatake Sakumo appeared then and said, "Rest for twenty minutes, then we'll head to the next mission site."

The three completed three missions that day. On the way back, Kushina complained, "This is so boring. It's either rescuing cats, tilling fields, or looking after children. When will we get a mission that's actually worth something?"

Thinking of the child, Kushina suddenly perked up a little. "The little girl we looked after today was really cute."

Qianye Lan could only agree beside her.

The next month passed in boredom for all three of them.

After completing dozens of D-rank missions, they finally received their first C-rank mission.

"A C-rank mission?" Kushina's face lit up with excitement when she heard.

All the missions catching cats and dogs lately had been driving Kushina mad with boredom.

Now that they could finally take on a proper C-rank mission, how could she not be excited?

Hatake Sakumo handed them the mission scroll. "Make your preparations according to the mission."

Qianye Lan took the scroll, and Kushina and Uchiha Mikoto leaned in beside him.

The mission scroll listed a C-rank mission: escort a wealthy merchant and his goods.

After Qianye Lan finished reading, Hatake Sakumo said, "I'll take care of the leader who's suspected to have Chunin-level strength. You'll have to handle the rest yourselves."

They exchanged glances and nodded.

After this period of working together, the three had gained a basic understanding of one another.

It was time to take their first step, too.

The next day, the wealthy merchant appeared at Konoha's gates with his goods.

His expression showed clear dissatisfaction when he saw Qianye Lan and the other two.

Then his gaze shifted to Hatake Sakumo, taking in his signature white hair and short blade.

His face instantly bloomed into a broad smile.

"So the White Fang of Konoha is leading the team! With you here, I can rest easy."

Hatake Sakumo nodded. "We'll do our best."

Qianye Lan and Kushina also began their first C-rank mission.

The merchant was not carrying much cargo, only a single wagonload.

That was also why he had hired only one ninja squad.

The route the merchant had chosen was not long.

They soon reached the most dangerous part of the route.

Gale Canyon consisted of two mountains that looked as though they had been cleaved apart by a sharp blade, leaving a gap only wide enough for a single wagon to pass.

Qianye Lan frowned at the sight, stopped the convoy, and said, "I'll send a Shadow Clone ahead first to check for any danger."

Watching this, Hatake Sakumo was very pleased with Qianye Lan's performance.

Terrain like this was particularly vulnerable to surprise attacks. Nothing could be more prudent than scouting ahead to check whether the route was safe.

Kushina and Uchiha Mikoto had no objections either. Over their month of working together, they had unconsciously come to regard Qianye Lan as their pillar.

The merchant merely sat inside the wagon without offering any opinion.

Seeing that no one objected, Qianye Lan summoned a Shadow Clone.

He said to his Shadow Clone, "Sorry for the trouble."

The Shadow Clone nodded, then went ahead to scout the route.

About half an hour later, Qianye Lan received word from his Shadow Clone.

He turned around and said, "The way ahead is safe for now. There are no traps."

With that, Qianye Lan led the group onward.

Nothing unexpected happened, even by the time they left the canyon.

The journey went more smoothly than any of them had expected. After they escorted the merchant to the designated location, he thanked Hatake Sakumo profusely.

In his view, Hatake Sakumo's reputation had intimidated all those sinister troublemakers, making the journey so safe.

Feeling ignored, Kushina pursed her lips unhappily.

At that point, Hatake Sakumo finally managed to send the merchant on his way.

He walked over, glanced at the sky, and said, "We'll rest in this town tonight before heading back. For now, we can have a look around."

Seeing this, Qianye Lan sidled over and gently bumped her with his shoulder.

Kushina rolled her eyes at him. "What is it?"

Qianye Lan smiled. "Want to have a look around town?"

It was his first time leaving the village, and he was rather curious about everything outside, too.

Just as the two were about to wander around, Hatake Sakumo called them back.

"For safety's sake, we'd better stay together."

To avoid any awkwardness, Hatake Sakumo deliberately trailed far behind them.

The three strolled through the town.

At first, it felt fresh and new, but after a while, they realized there was not much to it.

It was not even as good as Konoha.

Just as they were about to head back to rest, Kushina turned her head and spotted a shop selling masks.

She pulled Qianye Lan straight over, picked up a fox mask, and put it on before looking at him. "What do you think? Does it look good?"

Qianye Lan gave an all-purpose answer. "It looks pretty good."

Her eyes crinkling with a smile, Kushina picked up a mask and handed it to Qianye Lan. "This one suits you."