"Did you catch it?"
"Yes…"
"The left ear has a bow. Confirmed, it's Tora-chan."
"Good. The missing pet, Tora-chan, mission complete!"
As soon as Kakashi finished speaking, Naruto's furious roar came through the walkie-talkie.
"Isn't there a more exciting mission?!!!"
Kakashi sighed helplessly, 'What kind of thrilling missions could a group of Genin like you guys even handle?'
However, as soon as this thought crossed his mind, Kakashi immediately recalled the escort mission to the Land of Waves.
'If it weren't so dangerous, I'd have loved to let Zabuza teach these problem children a lesson.'
After turning in the mission, Hiruzen gave Kakashi a meaningful look.
"So, Team 7's next mission is..."
"Either babysitting an old lady's child, helping dig up sweet potatoes, or…"
Before Hiruzen could finish his words, Naruto started shouting in refusal.
"These kinds of missions are unbearable! I want to take on something more challenging! Give us a better mission!"
Even Sasuke, who usually didn't get along with Naruto, surprisingly didn't object this time and actually agreed!
'How could we become strong Ninjas by doing these kinds of missions every day?'
Then, Sandaime looked at Kakashi again and said to the members of Team 7, "Alright, I understand your determination. There happens to be an escort mission here..."
As he spoke, he pulled out a mission scroll, "This is a C-Rank escort mission. You'll need to escort the target to the Land of Waves..."
Seeing this, Kakashi's face remained calm, but his mind was racing with thoughts.
"We'll take this mission. Thank you, Sandaime-sama."
Naruto and the others were ecstatic. As Genin, they were finally getting a mission that felt worthy of a Ninja!
"Well... Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, you three go ahead and get familiar with the escort target. I need to report something to Sandaime-sama."
Tazuna, the mission client and the one to be escorted, grumbled, "What's this? Sending a bunch of brats to fool me?"
But he still left.
Kakashi then glanced at Iruka, who was standing beside Hiruzen, and said, "You need to get out too."
Iruka was very surprised. As the teacher of this year's Genin, he had come to report to the Hokage...
But in front of a Jonin like Kakashi, his strength was indeed lacking. However, being dismissed so bluntly made Iruka feel embarrassed.
"Iruka, I'll summon you later. Kakashi needs to report something important to me, and it involves village secrets."
Hiruzen smiled and patiently explained the reason.
Kakashi appeared calm on the surface, but he was complaining in his heart, 'Seriously, as the Hokage, you could just order him out, Sandaime-sama. Why bother explaining?'
Hiruzen seemed to read Kakashi's thoughts but still smiled, "Kakashi, this is likely the place foretold in the phone..."
"This mission might truly involve Zabuza. Be very careful! "
Kakashi nodded, "Understood, Hokage-sama."
"Good. I trust you with this mission. Also... have you selected the Anbu's members?"
Kakashi replied, "Although I've been out of the Anbu for several years, fortunately I still have some reliable teammates who are still serving."
Hiruzen smiled and said, "That's good. Since you left the Anbu, the village hasn't had any particularly challenging missions, but it seems you haven't fully moved on..."
"I hope that during your time together, you can train Naruto and the others into strong Ninjas."
---
"Elephant, Tenzo, and..."
"Captain, when do we set off?"
The one who spoke was a female Ninja wearing an Anbu mask, her long purple hair particularly striking.
Uzuki Yugao.
"Good. The three of you will follow the team from behind. Stay hidden."
"This time, our opponents are…"
"Kirigakure's Missing-nin, Momochi Zabuza and an Ice Release Ninja, right? Captain, you've said it several times already."
"Yeah, Captain. Since you left the Anbu, it feels like you've changed. The old Captain wouldn't have talked this much..."
Kakashi sighed, rubbing his forehead, "As an Anbu, you follow orders... and also, talk less."
Facing Yugao and Tenzo, who were old acquaintances, Kakashi didn't have much to say.
However, this Anbu codenamed 'Elephant' has always been quite silent.
Elephant is the direct subordinate of the Hokage, rarely going on missions. His main duty was to serve as the Hokage's personal guard.
But more often than not, he was just a messenger.
Kakashi often ran into him when summoned to meet the Hokage, so over time, they became familiar with each other.
As for Yugao and Tenzo, both were old acquaintances of Kakashi's, and he was well aware of their abilities.
Especially Tenzo, who had a close relationship with Kakashi. The two of them worked together with great tacit understanding.
"Alright, you three, move out."
---
"By the way, Tazuna-san, is your country the Land of Waves? Do Ninjas exist there too?"
Bored during the journey, Sakura asked Tazuna. She had studied hard and had a solid grasp of book knowledge, but her practical experience in the real world was limited.
"No, for most land-based countries, the Ninja Village serves as the nation's military force and even holds diplomatic power."
"Having said that, the Ninja Village isn't controlled by the country. The two exist as equals..."
"However, the Land of Waves, as a maritime nation less susceptible to interference from other countries, naturally doesn't have a Ninja Village. "
Kakashi casually explained, though he left out one detail: the Land of Waves, as a country, was situated close to both the Land of Water and the Land of Fire.
And if you looked further, the Land of Lightning was also eyeing it covetously.
Whenever a war broke out, this place would inevitably become a battlefield.
The reason they no longer trained Ninjas was that resistance would only lead to more sacrifices.
The neighboring Land of Whirlpools was a cautionary tale...
Therefore, the Land of Waves had no choice but to survive as a neutral country without Ninjas, squeezed between larger powers.
If any one country were to occupy it, it would surely provoke dissatisfaction from the others!
But who would have thought that this small territory, which none of the major powers dared to swallow, would be targeted by a wealthy merchant.
---
"One, two... no, there are still some lurking."
"Should I take care of them?"
The other two looked at Tenzo. Since Kakashi, the captain, wasn't present, the command automatically fell to Tenzo.
At this moment, Tenzo showed none of the playful demeanor he had when joking with Kakashi earlier. Instead, his tone was cold, and his expression was serious.
"Without the Captain's orders, don't act rashly."
The two nodded and disappeared into the trees, leaving no trace.