After flipping through a few pages, one mission caught Hyuga Kagami’s eye.
“Eliminate the wandering ninja operating within the Land of Fire…”
A-rank missions all involved combat between ninja, so Kagami had three principles when choosing one.
First, the location had to be nearby.
If the mission site was too far away, unexpected trouble could easily crop up along the journey.
After all, the war had only recently ended, and the world was still far from peaceful.
Second, the enemy couldn’t be too powerful.
Third, the enemy’s background had to be simple.
He had no intention of making a mess of enemies and grudges just because of a mission.
Therefore, this mission to eliminate wandering ninja within the Land of Fire perfectly satisfied all three of Kagami’s criteria, immediately catching his interest.
He handed the mission sheet to Guy, pointed at the wandering-ninja elimination mission, and asked, “What do you think about this one?”
Guy replied, “No objections from me!”
After accepting the mission, the two wasted no time and immediately set out.
Along the way, Kagami and Guy began analyzing the detailed intelligence they had received from the Mission Center regarding their assignment.
The mission had been commissioned by the Daimyo of the Land of Fire.
Recently, a group of wandering ninja had repeatedly attacked several villages near the Land of Waves border, causing heavy casualties and extensive property damage.
According to the intelligence, the group consisted of five to seven wandering ninja.
They were suspected to be rogue ninja from Kirigakure, and were said to be quite formidable and exceptionally ruthless.
Because of the war, the number of ninja deserting their villages had increased year after year.
Every major ninja village had its share, and Konoha was no exception.
However, most rogue ninja who had fled to escape the war tended to settle in smaller countries without ninja villages of their own.
It was rare for rogue ninja to brazenly attack the Land of Fire like this.
Kagami warned, “If they dare plunder the Land of Fire, they definitely aren’t weak.
Don’t let your guard down!”
Guy hurriedly nodded.
Seeing that Guy seemed a little nervous, Kagami thought for a moment before adding, “But there’s no need to be too nervous either.
Rogue ninja who only dare attack civilians might not be all that strong.
As long as we perform normally, completing the mission shouldn’t be a problem.”
Guy clenched his fist.
“I’m not afraid of them!”
A few days later.
Following the trail all the way, Kagami and Guy arrived at a village that had been attacked only recently.
The village was in utter ruin.
Corpses lay scattered everywhere, and the thick stench of blood permeated the air.
Cries of pain and grief echoed endlessly throughout the village.
Kagami approached one of the survivors and asked, “We’re ninja sent by Konoha.
Please tell us, who attacked you?”
The survivor looked numb.
He stared blankly at Kagami for a long moment before finally answering, “I don’t know who they were.
they left.”
Kagami remained unaffected by the horrific state of the village and calmly continued questioning him.
“How many of them were there?
When did they leave?
Which direction did they go?”
The survivor pointed in one direction.
“They went that way!
I…
I don’t know how many of them there were, and I don’t know when they left either.”
Kagami narrowed his eyes as he looked in the direction the survivor had indicated, then said coldly, “Let’s go after them!”
Guy, who had long since been burning with righteous fury, nodded fiercely.
“Right!”
Within the Hyuga Clan, tracking was part of the basic curriculum.
Every Hyuga clansman who had experienced the battlefield was an expert tracker, and Kagami was naturally no exception.
It didn’t take him long to find traces left behind by their targets.
A short while later, the two landed beside a muddy patch of ground.
After examining the footprints in the mud, Kagami said, “There are five to seven of them.
Their footsteps are somewhat disorganized.
It looks like they were in a hurry.”
Guy immediately urged, “Then what are we waiting for?
Let’s hurry after them!”
Kagami shook his head, then pointed toward a large tree nearby.
“Don’t rush.
Look at the moss on that tree!”
Guy followed his gaze and saw half of a faint footprint on the moss.
Puzzled, he asked, “Why is there a footprint up there?
Could someone else be tracking these wandering ninja too?”
The footprint on the nearby tree clearly belonged to a different group from the footprints in the muddy ground.
If the footprints in the mud belonged to the wandering ninja, then the one on the tree must have been left by another group of ninja.
“Since we’ve already accepted the mission, the village shouldn’t have sent anyone else.
So I suspect the other group tracking these wandering ninja is from Kirigakure.”
Kagami’s speculation wasn’t without basis.
According to the intelligence they had received, these wandering ninja were rogue ninja from Kirigakure.
It was only natural that Kirigakure would send a pursuit force after them.
Now that another ninja village was involved, Guy was momentarily at a loss.
Kagami considered it for a moment before firmly declaring, “Anyone who gets in the way of us completing our mission is an enemy!”
“But…”
“No buts.
We keep going.”
After pursuing the trail for a while longer, Kagami and Guy were forced to stop.
Up ahead, two groups of ninja were locked in a tense standoff.
One side consisted of four people, all dressed as members of Kirigakure’s assassination force.
Only their leader wasn’t wearing a mask.
Instead, the lower half of his face was wrapped in bandages.
Judging by his build and appearance, Kagami recognized him as none other than Momochi Zabuza, the man known as the “Demon.”
The other side of the standoff consisted of only two people, both members of Konoha’s ANBU.
One of them was relatively small in stature and had a head of white hair.
Although he was wearing a fox mask, Kagami still recognized him as the genius ninja from his own graduating class—Hatake Kakashi.
The atmosphere between the two sides was extremely tense, as though a fight could break out at any moment.
Upon seeing more Konoha ninja arrive, Zabuza drew the massive blade from his back, clearly ready for a fight.
Standing on a tree branch with one hand on his hip, Kagami looked down at the Kirigakure assassination squad with an arrogant expression and said contemptuously,
“Get lost!”
Zabuza flew into a rage.
“You looking to die, brat?!”
Kagami ignored him entirely and casually instructed, “Guy, go teach him a lesson.”
Along the way, Guy had already grown accustomed to following Kagami’s instructions.
Besides, the other party was a Kirigakure ninja.
So after giving a quick acknowledgment, Guy let out a battle cry and charged straight at Zabuza.
Neither the Kirigakure assassination squad nor the Konoha ANBU seemed to have expected Kagami to be so overbearing, and both sides were taken aback.
However, each side had their own concerns and refrained from immediately joining the fight.
Instead, they cleared an area and allowed Zabuza and Guy to battle one-on-one.
As a taijutsu specialist, Guy immediately rushed into close combat, pressing the attack and refusing to give his opponent any opportunity to use ninjutsu.
Zabuza, meanwhile, seemed extremely confident in his swordsmanship.
He showed no fear of engaging in close-quarters combat and swung his blade, clashing head-on with Guy.
For a time, fists tore through the air as flashes of steel flickered incessantly!
By this point, Zabuza had already made something of a name for himself in Kirigakure.
Although he had yet to become one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, he was already among the finest ninja of his generation in the village.
His attacks were fierce and razor-sharp, every movement overflowing with killing intent!
Guy was likewise in a period of explosive growth.
His speed and strength were increasing by the day, and he was no longer the dead last he had once been at the Academy.
Their battle reached a fever pitch almost immediately, and the area affected by their clashes continued to expand, forcing both the watching Kirigakure ninja and Konoha ANBU to retreat even farther.
Before long, Guy landed a kick against the flat of Zabuza’s blade.
The force of the collision sent both of them leaping backward, breaking contact…