Early the next morning, at the Konoha Gate.
As usual, Shuo arrived right on time.
By the time he arrived, the rest of Team Minato was already there. Beside them stood a portly middle-aged man in a silk robe with a thin mustache, two attendants who looked like servants or guards, and three flatbed carts piled high with goods and pulled by pack animals.
The portly man-clearly their client for this escort mission, Furukawa, a merchant from the Land of Crafts-was wiping sweat from his forehead with a silk handkerchief while prattling on to Minato. His face bore a merchant's characteristic shrewdness and a trace of barely perceptible anxiety.
"Jonin Minato, you absolutely must take this seriously! This shipment contains our Land of Crafts' latest precision components and rare ore samples. They're worth a fortune! Nothing can go wrong on the road! If they get dented or damaged, or some blind fool of a wandering ninja steals them, I'll be ruined!"
With a gentle, professional smile, Minato reassured him patiently. "Please rest assured, Mr. Furukawa. We Konoha ninja will do everything we can to protect you and your goods. We've already planned the route, and we'll remain on guard the entire way."
Obito puffed out his chest as if to say they could leave everything to him.
Rin gave Furukawa a polite nod.
Kakashi still wore that dead-fish-eyed look of complete indifference.
Shuo ambled over, took his place at the back of the group, and sized up the three cargo carts.
The goods were covered with thick tarpaulins and tightly secured, so he couldn't tell exactly what they were. But he could indeed sense chakra residue from some metals and special ores-very faint, but not enough to escape his Light Perception.
Precision components?
Rare ores?
Shuo mulled it over. This target... seems a little conspicuous.
No wonder this fat guy is so nervous.
"Everyone's here."
Minato introduced them. "Mr. Furukawa, these are my subordinates: Kakashi Hatake, Obito Uchiha, Rin Nohara, and Uchiha Saku. They'll be carrying out this escort mission with me."
Furukawa's gaze swept over the four of them, lingering on Kakashi's forehead protector and short sword. He seemed to find him fairly reliable.
He frowned when he saw Obito (probably finding him too young and rash), looked a little more at ease when he saw Rin (medical ninja were always reassuring), and finally rested his gaze on Shuo.
Shuo wore ordinary combat clothes that day, with no conspicuous ninja tools. His posture was slouching, and his eyes still looked a little bleary with sleep.
Furukawa's brow furrowed even further.
"This one... is a ninja too?"
There was a hint of distrust in Furukawa's voice. "He looks... well... very... young?"
Shuo lifted his eyelids, glanced at him, and said nothing.
Minato explained with a smile, "Shuo is an important member of our team. He's exceptionally capable, especially at providing early warnings and handling unexpected situations. Please rest assured."
Furukawa gave a dubious "Oh" and said no more, but he couldn't hide the unease in his eyes.
Shuo didn't care either.
Being underestimated by a client was sometimes a good thing. At least they wouldn't expect too much of you or boss you around.
The group soon set off.
Minato and Kakashi took the front and rear respectively, keeping watch at either end.
Obito and Rin walked on either side of the convoy. Minato assigned Shuo to the middle, beside the slightly smaller covered wagon Furukawa rode in, making him one of the "personal" guards-though it was really more like a convenient way to keep an eye on this potentially "troublesome" client.
Sure enough, not long after they set out, Furukawa's "troublesome" tendencies began to show.
First came complaints about the road.
"Oh dear! Why are there so many stones on this road? I'm being jolted to death! My poor old back... hey, you, the blond captain! Can't we take a smoother road?"
Minato answered gently from up ahead, "Mr. Furukawa, this is the safest and relatively smoothest main road to Border Trade Town. Please bear with it for a little while."
Then he questioned their pace.
"We're going too slowly! At this speed, will we reach the next campsite before dark? If we don't make it, we'll have to spend the night in the wilderness! That's dangerous! Can't you move any faster?"
Obito couldn't resist cutting in. "Mister, this is how fast pack animals go. They can't handle going any faster! Besides, if we move too fast, we might miss dangers around us!"
"Dangers? With so many ninja here, what danger could there possibly be?"
Furukawa was dismissive. "I think you're just dawdling!"
Shuo sat on the frame outside the covered wagon, leaning against its wall with his eyes closed, pretending to sleep.
Furukawa's complaints and nagging filled his ears.
If I'd known, I would've asked to scout ahead or guard the rear... He bitterly regretted it.
After finally quieting down for a while, Furukawa began passing judgment on the scenery and weather along the way.
"The trees in this Land of Fire grow far too thick. They blot out the sky and sun. Just looking at them feels stifling! The mines in our Land of Crafts are much better to look at. Wide open!... Oh, why has the sun come out again? I'm roasting! Hey, boy, can't you find something to shade me?"
That last remark was directed at Shuo.
Shuo opened one eye, looked at the sunlight filtering through the gaps in the leaves overhead, then at Furukawa's greasy, plump face.
"Didn't bring an umbrella."
He kept it brief.
"Then can't you use ninjutsu to make some water or mist or something to cool things down?"
Furukawa was displeased.
"Can't."
Shuo closed his eyes and went on pretending to sleep.
[Ding! Faced with an unreasonable demand from your client, you adopted the strategy of a concise refusal + playing dead, perfectly maintaining Kizaru's attitude of providing no service unless necessary. Imitation points +5.]
Furukawa was left speechless for a moment, then retreated into the wagon, muttering.
At noon, they stopped to rest beside a stream.
Furukawa started finding fault with the dry rations.
"This is all we're eating? Rock-hard soldier pills? And cold water? I paid for this! Is the food always this bad when you Konoha ninja go on missions?"
Rin explained good-naturedly, "Mr. Furukawa, our options are limited while traveling in the wilderness. There'll be hot food once we reach the trade town."
"That means waiting until tonight!"
Furukawa grumbled, but finally began chewing a soldier pill with a frown, complaining about its lack of flavor as he ate.
Shuo sat on a rock away from the others, chewing his own portion without expression.
He was used to the taste of soldier pills. He even thought that, aside from tasting awful, they were actually quite convenient. They didn't take too much chewing.
They continued traveling that afternoon.
Furukawa was probably tired, or had complained enough, because he finally dozed off in his wagon, leaving the world quiet for the time being.
Shuo was happy for the respite too. As he moved along with the convoy, he continued practicing his Light Perception.
He kept its range within a hundred or two hundred meters of the convoy, focusing on terrain that lent itself to ambushes, such as bends in the road, the edges of dense woods, and high ground.
The journey remained uneventful.
Toward evening, the group reached their planned wilderness campsite-a small valley backed by a rock face, with a water source in front.
The view here was relatively open, and the location was easy to defend and difficult to attack. It was a commonly used stopping point along the route.
Minato directed everyone to set up camp and establish security.
Furukawa climbed out of the wagon, stretched his stiff limbs, and began offering his opinions on the campsite.
"This place... will there be wild animals at night? With all this wind, won't we catch a chill? Are you sure it's safe?"
Minato remained patient. "Mr. Furukawa, it's very safe here. We'll take turns keeping watch tonight, so please don't worry."
Obito and Rin went to gather firewood and start a fire.
Kakashi went to inspect the surrounding terrain.
Minato sent Shuo to some nearby higher ground to set up a few simple warning traps and reflective markers-using his light energy to make small devices that were difficult to detect in the dark but would emit faint light signals when triggered.
This was child's play for Shuo.
He quickly finished setting them up. By the time he returned to camp, the campfire was burning, and Rin was warming food and cooking a simple pot of vegetable soup. Its aroma drifted through the air.
Furukawa sat beside the fire, rubbing his hands and staring at the pot of soup. At last, he looked somewhat satisfied. "Now that's more like it..."
After dinner, the sky grew completely dark.
Minato assigned the night watches: Kakashi would take the first shift, Minato the second, Obito and Rin the third, and Shuo the last-the drowsiest hours before dawn.
Shuo had no objections to this arrangement.
Although the last shift required getting up early, it let him sleep through the first half of the night, which suited him better.
Everyone crawled into their tents to rest.
The camp soon fell quiet, with only the crackle of the fire and occasional insect calls in the distance.
Shuo lay in his sleeping bag, but didn't fall asleep right away.
He kept feeling that... something was off.
It wasn't that he had sensed any definite threat.
Rather, there was a sense of... something wrong with the atmosphere.
Today's journey had gone too smoothly.
So smoothly that... it felt a little deliberate.
Furukawa's goods were clearly valuable, and seemed to involve the Land of Crafts' "new technology" or "rare resources."
With a target like that, at a time when the border was hardly entirely peaceful, could the whole journey really pass without incident, without even a shadow snooping around?
His Light Perception hadn't detected any obvious followers during the day.
But some experts, or certain special concealment ninjutsu, could evade conventional perception.
And Furukawa himself... although he acted like an ordinary (noisy) merchant, Shuo kept feeling that there seemed to be something else hidden behind his anxiety.
It wasn't simply fear of losing his goods. It was more like... fear of certain "specific people" or "things"?
Forget it. Why think so much?
Shuo rolled over. If the sky falls, Minato-sensei will hold it up.
My job is to handle the last watch properly, reach the trade town safely, get paid, return to the village, and continue my grand undertaking of "slacking off."
He closed his eyes and forced himself to sleep.
The campfire's light and shadows flickered across the tent fabric.
In the darkness of the distant mountain woods, a night bird seemed to be startled into flight, flapping away into the distance.
Farther away, perhaps in shadows beyond the moonlight's reach, several pairs of eyes were quietly watching the faint glow of the campfire in the valley.
The night was still long.
Before you continue