A Very Straightforward Setup

"None of them grew suspicious, right?"

"No. They were just a few brats who had just graduated, after all."

"That's good."

"Some of them may become pillars of the village in the future. At worst, they'll still make good merchandise. If we can bring them under our wing early, I believe my lord will be very pleased."

That night, at Masada's home.

The room was lit by dim yellow candlelight. He knelt on the floor, speaking to a shadow cast against the doors and windows.

"The only troublesome one is Yue... Setting aside the Bloodline Limit, his fundamentals are indeed the best in the class. He also has the best temperament and the greatest value for cultivation. However, both his father and mother are ninja, and Fuma Ryoma has been in the village for many years. He should know something about certain matters. I'm afraid Yue... may have heard some rumors." Masada hesitated.

"Hmph! You can't even handle a little brat? What use are you?"

Masada's voice immediately turned fearful. "Please rest assured, I will complete the mission."

"Genius? It's merely a label used to fool those little brats. The overall strength of the village's new blood has declined severely in recent years. In the past, a brat like him would have been utterly ordinary, even with a ninja family background."

"You are right."

"But don't focus all your attention on Yue alone. Though he has decent potential and bears the name of the Fuma Clan, he is ultimately an outsider. Even if such people grow stronger, their ceiling is limited... He will never truly be valued by the village. Perhaps he can become a little stronger than his father. Becoming a jonin would already be quite good. The truly crucial one is Ryuga... Their clan's Bloodline Limit is one of the village's few precious assets. That branch has always supported Hana's people. Starting now, we must change that."

"Then..."

Masada seemed to think of something and spoke cautiously.

"Don't worry. Your identity won't be exposed. Even if Hana's people notice afterward, it will be too late. They won't find any clues either. As long as you do a good job, nothing will happen."

"I spent quite some effort helping you get around certain rules. Besides, placing you in the Ninja Academy is a long-term plan... Generation after generation of new blood enters the village. Those who pass through your hands will, in the future... all be our people."

"If you do well, that lord will be very pleased."

"Yes."

After that, the candlelight in the room went out.

A moment later, Masada, drenched in sweat, pushed open the door, glanced outside, then shut it again.

Early the next morning, Yue's mother made a special trip back to see him off.

After all, it was his first mission.

There had to be some sense of ceremony.

As a Medical Ninja, Tianxiang did not have much advice to offer, but what she did say was useful.

She kept nagging Yue, telling him to be extremely careful. Even if they were only a band of mountain bandits, carelessness could still be very dangerous.

It was not a matter of strength, but experience.

Yue did not tell his mother the truth. He already sensed that something was off about this mission, so he stayed in the storeroom in the courtyard for a long time, stuffing his backpack full. He brought not only essential items such as ninja tool scrolls and soldier pills, but also several Explosive Tags. Explosive Tags were extremely expensive, and Yue would not normally use them. Speaking of which, he had to mention his father... Both his parents were ninja, which at least gave him far more resources than his other classmates.

After packing up, Yue slung on his backpack, waved goodbye, and left under his mother's farewell at the front gate.

Before long, he reached the village entrance and met up with the team.

Interestingly, among the three of them, both Ryuga and Yue had clearly brought supplies, while Yoshitaka, who came from a civilian background, traveled light, holding only a kunai in his hand.

The difference was obvious from that alone.

Ryuga and Yue both had the advantage of better environments for a ninja's growth.

"Let's go."

The three then followed the route marked on a map Masada had prepared beforehand toward their destination.

Normally, the village would provide this mission information when a task was accepted... But Yue now doubted some of the intelligence and materials Masada had mentioned and did not dare trust them completely. Fortunately, nothing happened along the way, though Yue remained tense. After all, the entire ninja world had yet to settle down. Wars of every scale continued without end, while the Land of Grass's border was practically undefended, with weak defensive outposts.

Any ninja from a slightly stronger village could move through it with impunity... So they might run into enemies at any time.

Even though the mission destination was far from the border.

To finish the mission and return to the village that same day, the three followed Teacher Masada in a nonstop sprint, passing mountains and ancient forests... trying to take the fastest route possible.

Whenever they grew tired along the way, Teacher Masada would take the initiative to stop and let them replenish their supplies and rest briefly.

He would also take out the map and intelligence to analyze them with the students.

The mountain bandits they were to eliminate occupied terrain that was easy to defend and hard to attack. The village had received the mission because several villages had already been destroyed by them. These bandits had migrated from elsewhere, causing trouble all along their path.

Because this was a temporary stronghold and the incidents had happened suddenly, the information they had on the enemy was incomplete.

They only knew that the bandits were hiding somewhere within a certain area. Their exact deployment and numbers were completely unknown.

They would have to investigate it themselves.

"You three can go ahead without worry. If there is any real danger, I'll step in."

After discussing for a while, Masada smiled. "This mission isn't very difficult, only a little troublesome. So my main task is to record everything throughout the process. Once we return, I'll hand the record scroll to the village for review."

"Hehe... Don't worry, Teacher Masada. The three of us didn't spend our time at the Ninja Academy for nothing. They're just a bunch of bandits. We won't need you to interfere at all." Yoshitaka rubbed his nose, brimming with confidence.

Yue secretly watched the subtle changes in Masada's expression but said nothing.

Then the four set off once more.

By noon, they finally arrived.

They reached a village at the foot of a mountain, with twenty or thirty households... But several houses had clearly been damaged, and there were indeed signs of a bandit invasion. A few scattered residents still lived in the village. Despite his doubts, Yue quickly questioned the farmers in the interest of completing the mission, gathering intelligence and confirming that the enemy was hiding in the nearby deep forest.

Then, when the team entered the forest to investigate, Teacher Masada took the lead in disappearing.

He had not truly vanished. He was merely observing them in secret as they carried out the mission, intending to summarize everything once it was over.

He would point out their mistakes so they could correct them promptly and improve.

He truly seemed to possess the original intention of a teacher.

Since the mountain bandits had come from elsewhere and only settled there temporarily, the road up the mountain was not obvious. But for ninja, finding ordinary human tracks was not difficult. Soon, they found a route leading uphill. Judging from the ground, there should be no mistake—this road led to the bandits' den.

Having found their direction of attack, Yoshitaka and Ryuga immediately grew excited.

The three leaped and darted between the trees, moving silently like three elusive ghosts.

But Yue was the slowest.

He followed at the rear.

Soon, a sound reached their ears.

As the three landed on tree trunks from midair, they used the strength in their ankles to instantly scatter, turning into three dark shadows that vanished high above.

Before long, two fierce-looking men approached from the distance below, carrying blades as though they were patrolling the mountain.

The three immediately recognized them as mountain bandits.

Ryuga gestured to Yoshitaka. As the two bandits passed beneath them without any guard up, they descended from above. One knocked his target unconscious with a hand chop, while the other pinned down the bandit and held a kunai to his throat.

"Ninja?"

The still-conscious bandit cried out in panic.

"Shut up."

Ryuga barked, "Where is your hideout? How many people are there? Who is your leader?"

The bandit was stubborn at first, but after the kunai cut his skin, he eventually confessed.

However, Yue, who stood on a tree branch with his hands in his pockets and watched the scene, felt his eyelid twitch.

He could almost certainly say that these bandits... were disguised.

Though they had performed well, they could not escape his scrutiny.

Because when people truly faced death, their fear was not like this... The man's panic was too superficial.

When Yue had slaughtered his way through the lawless areas of the Soul Society Outskirts, the people who died beneath his blade had not been so composed.

Besides, forces like mountain bandits fighting ninja was perfectly normal. No matter what country or village they appeared in, once they began wreaking havoc, they would have anticipated that ninja would come for them sooner or later. Some capable bandits had dealt with ninja for far more than a day or two.

According to the mission, this group of bandits had migrated all the way here, acting brutally... There was no way they could be this inexperienced.

Yet upon seeing ninja, they still looked so shocked.

As if they had not been mentally prepared at all.

"His presence is still nearby... He hasn't appeared, which means he already expected this situation. So it really is a setup, but it's far too crude... Because we're all children." Yue thought.

The earlier investigation and evidence gathering in the village had only been meant to deceive them into believing the mission was real.

"What exactly is the purpose?"

Yue's gaze fell on Ryuga.

Was it because of him?

Ryuga possessed a Bloodline Limit and was also one of the few things Yue had previously considered worthwhile in Kusagakure.

The most distinctive trait of their clan was their white hair.

One had to know that in the ninja world, any Bloodline Limit was a rare treasure.

This clan's Bloodline Limit was a technique called Dragon Life Reincarnation, which could share and transfer one's own life force to another.

It could bring the dead back to life.

It was not combat-oriented.

"Yue, you're way too slow... At this rate, the main credit for completing the mission will go to Ryuga and me. You won't get anything." Yoshitaka looked at Yue and spoke in a mocking tone. "Be careful. Based on the mission record, your evaluation might not be high, which could affect your future promotion... You're supposed to be a genius. Don't let us surpass you after leaving the Ninja Academy."

Yue shot him a cold glance and vanished in a flash.

"Tch, still as annoying as ever."

Yoshitaka spat lightly.