Early in the morning, Shinsei arrived at the meeting point.
Captain Wood Kite was already waiting there. Before long, the rest of the team arrived.
The Anbu had their own place to leave the village on missions; they did not use the main gate.
It was Shinsei's first time leaving Konoha, and he was rather excited.
The Shinobi World had many primeval forests, especially in the Land of Fire, where vegetation flourished and towering trees were everywhere.
The five of them traveled by leaping through the trees, resting in the forest whenever they grew tired.
Shinsei did not know what the mission was or how much farther they had to go. Anbu confidentiality regulations kept him from asking too much.
Only after night fell and Captain Wood Kite announced that they would rest and continue tomorrow did everyone relax.
The veteran members were already used to this. Giant Beast volunteered to gather firewood, while the captain opened a sealing scroll and took out pots, bowls, and utensils.
An iron pot filled with clean water sat over the firewood. Giant Beast formed hand seals and breathed out flames, lighting the campfire.
Looking at the dry rations, Shinsei could already imagine how awful they would taste.
"Captain, can we hunt for some meat? I'm still growing!" After all this time, Shinsei had figured out the captain's personality, which was why he dared to ask.
"Exactly! Hakutaku is still so little. Captain, you can't let him end up short!" Hashihime wholeheartedly agreed with Shinsei's suggestion. She did not want to eat these awful dry rations either.
Wood Kite tilted his head, looking at his teammates' eager gazes.
"Uh..." Wood Kite nodded. "Shinsei, Goat, you two go."
Goat formed a hand seal and closed his eyes. A moment later, he opened them and beckoned to Shinsei.
Shinsei knew Goat had used sensory ninjutsu and quickly followed.
With the bright moon high overhead, the two raced through the forest.
Up ahead, Goat stopped and pointed at seven or eight deer lying in a nearby clearing.
By the moonlight, Shinsei picked out a medium-sized deer, formed hand seals with both hands, and spat a thin stream of water from his mouth. In the blink of an eye, the stream sliced off the deer's head, frightening the herd into scattering in all directions.
Goat was astonished that Shinsei had performed advanced ninjutsu with just three seals. He knew quality when he saw it. Water Release ninjutsu that could be cast so quickly and had considerable power would be an enemy's nightmare.
Shinsei had no intention of explaining or showing off. He had used Water Release: Water Severing Wave, only with the amount of chakra controlled, so it lacked the original Water Severing Wave's spectacle of cutting through everything. He was only killing a deer, after all, not fighting a Jonin.
Without being asked, Goat hoisted the headless deer. Once the blood had drained, he carried it back to their temporary camp.
Giant Beast looked left and right, then went to dress the deer after all. Goat was always lazy and had only worked earlier because he was their sole sensory ninja. Hashihime was a girl, Hakutaku was a child, and the remaining one was the captain.
Once they had eaten and drunk their fill, they put out the campfire.
It had been a long time since Shinsei had seen such a pristine sky. Without light pollution, the clear stars were like gems shimmering in water.
The teammates' quiet conversation gradually faded.
For once, Shinsei did not spend the night meditating and slept soundly.
By the time he opened his eyes, the others were already awake. Naturally, Shinsei and Hashihime had not stood watch. Girls and children always received preferential treatment, even if one could rattle off dirty jokes effortlessly and the other could hold his own against a Jonin in battle.
After eating the venison left over from last night, they set off again.
Their journey continued until the afternoon of the third day. The sustained, intense travel left Shinsei's legs aching.
He had no idea how far their group had traveled. Judging by his own speed, they had probably run over a thousand kilometers in the past two days.
Two and a half days of running, resting, running, and resting without end made Shinsei miss the high-speed trains of his previous life terribly.
Fortunately, their pace finally eased, and Captain Wood Kite told everyone to conserve their strength.
Fires were no longer permitted, and they gnawed on their dry, rough rations.
Wood Kite took out two sheets of paper containing information and passed them around.
"We're about to cross the Land of Fire's border into the Land of Waterfalls. We've received word that a missing-nin from our village seems to have made contact with Orochimaru, so our mission is to gather intelligence and kill the missing-nin."
All the teammates looked at Captain Wood Kite in unison. Shinsei's mind went blank for a moment.
Orochimaru? Captain, do you know what you're saying? Is that someone we can handle? Orochimaru is still at full strength at this point, not the Orochimaru with crippled arms after the Konoha Crush Plan.
"Uh..." Wood Kite scratched his head. "The intelligence only points to Orochimaru's subordinates, not the man himself."
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Though dangerous missions were routine for Anbu members, that was a different matter from going on a suicide mission.
Shinsei took the information Goat passed him.
A headshot was attached to the left side of the document, showing a middle-aged man with a stern expression.
Name: Tarō Kakumoto. Height: 175 cm A Konoha Jonin before his defection. Classified as a missing-nin by Konoha four years ago for assassinating an official of the Land of Fire. Proficient in taijutsu, Fire Style, and Earth Release. Missions completed during his service in Konoha: 103 D-rank, 98 C-rank, 306 B-rank, 64 A-rank, and 5 S-rank.
The other sheet contained the mission instructions: capture or kill Tarō Kakumoto, investigate his purpose in contacting Orochimaru, and destroy the base he had established.
After resting, they traveled at a leisurely pace. Half an hour later, Wood Kite stopped beside a small river.
"Coo-coo~~" Wood Kite cupped both hands around his mouth and imitated a birdcall.
"Coo~ coo~"
A reply came from the distance. A masked middle-aged man stepped out from behind a large tree. The captain went forward to exchange passwords, and the man tossed him a scroll before vanishing.
Wood Kite returned to his teammates with the scroll and unrolled it to read.
"There's a small town ten kilometers from here called Fukuyama Town. People have gone missing recently. Intelligence indicates that Tarō Kakumoto has established a base on Mount Okumo, five kilometers outside Fukuyama Town. Intelligence personnel spotted Orochimaru's subordinates there. Barriers cover the inside and outside of the base, making entry difficult for outsiders. Visitors have frequently gone missing recently."
Missing people. That does sound like Orochimaru's style.
"Let's discuss what we should do." Wood Kite looked at his teammates.
"Can we use Earth Release to sneak in underground?" Shinsei was still unfamiliar with barriers.
"If they've set up a barrier, they'll generally have accounted for the possibility of underground infiltration." Wood Kite shook his head.
"Can we break the barrier?" Shinsei continued asking.
"We don't know what type of barrier it is, but most barriers are primarily for detecting intruders. I'll investigate the specifics shortly." Wood Kite considered for a moment. "It's best not to attack the barrier directly. Alerting the enemy would introduce more variables."
"Since people are disappearing, could we let them capture us and take us inside?"
"That's what I was thinking too." Wood Kite gave Shinsei an approving look. "Everyone will transform shortly and head to Fukuyama Town. I'll check what type of barrier it is."
"Great!" Hashihime said excitedly. "Hakutaku can turn into my boyfriend! Our little brother is so handsome, his transformation is bound to look good!"
Giant Beast and Goat turned to look at Hashihime expressionlessly.
"Am I wrong? Look at you two, one's a musclehead and the other's possessed by a lazy ghost." Hashihime glanced at Wood Kite as well. "And one has no sense of romance."
Shinsei lowered his head and stared at the grass, looking as though he had heard nothing.
"We'll split up. Hashihime and Hakutaku, you're a team. Transform into a mother and son. Goat and Giant Beast, you're a team; do whatever you like. I'll scout for information on the barrier. Meet at the largest inn in town tonight." Wood Kite issued the orders decisively.
Shinsei formed hand seals and used the Transformation Technique.
A boy of eleven or twelve appeared, with ordinary features and a short blue shirt of coarse cloth.