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Chapter 20 - Chapter 20: Another Encounter with the Eternal Genin

Since they were escorting the merchant guild president, Team 7's travel speed was slow. After two days on the road, they finally arrived at their mission destination.

The guild president stood at the foot of a mountain and explained, "We received the goods from the Gato Company of the Land of Waves right here. Before we had time to transport them further into the Land of Fire, we were robbed by bandits..."

Kakashi Hatake looked up at the lush green mountain peak. "Although most bandits will surrender when they see a ninja, we can't rule out that some of them might be more vicious..."

"Doesn't that mean we might get a fight?" Sasuke Uchiha clenched his fist, a hint of contempt in his voice. "We can use them to test the results of our recent training."

"Yeah, let's go check it out first..." Naruto Uzumaki nodded. Before he could finish his sentence, the sharp sound of clashing metal suddenly reached their ears.

Kakashi's brow furrowed. He leaped onto a large tree and looked down in the direction of the sound. "Someone is fighting nearby..."

The members of Team 7 immediately tensed up.

However, by the time they reached the scene, the fight was already over. To their surprise, they knew both of the survivors.

Tazuna, the old man Team 7 had seen at the village gate two days ago, was staring in disbelief at the old ninja standing in front of him.

And that elderly genin, Kosuke Maruboshi, who had accepted the escort mission, held his ninja sword and warily watched the figures appearing from the forest. Only after he clearly saw the faces of Team 7 did he breathe a sigh of relief. "Ah, it's you guys. What a coincidence..."

Two people lay beside Kosuke, blood pouring from their throats. Judging by the wave pattern on their headbands, they were from the Hidden Mist Village.

In the short five minutes between when the fighting started and Team 7's arrival, Kosuke had already killed two Mist ninjas. According to the unwritten rules of the ninja villages, assassins qualified to carry out such missions were at least chunin level.

"It seems Senior Kosuke has accepted a very troublesome mission," Kakashi said, scratching his head. He looked at Tazuna, who had a complicated expression. "It also seems your client knows something. Since this involves battles between ninjas and a chunin-level assassination has already occurred, this should be a B-rank mission or higher, right?"

"Yes, this is not a mission a genin like me should be involved in!" Kosuke Maruboshi sheathed his ninja sword and waved his hand with a smile. "But it doesn't matter. I haven't had a good stretch in a long time anyway!"

Kakashi frowned. "Senior, does that mean you don't plan to give up the mission?"

"Mr. Iruka specially chose this mission for me, and it's been a long time since I've done a high-level one..." Kosuke smiled and turned to Tazuna. "Although I will continue your mission, could you please tell me who is trying to assassinate you? After all, I'm just a genin!"

Tazuna nodded with a strange expression.

What is the deal with this genin?

When he had first seen those two Mist ninjas appear, he was on the verge of despair. His only protection was an old, limping genin. Who would have thought that this seemingly harmless old man, who looked more like a cook than a ninja, would swing his sword and take care of the assassins in just a few moves?

A one-on-two fight, a genin against chunin, and it was as clean and decisive as an adult fighting a child. If this was the standard for Konoha's genin, it was no wonder they were considered the strongest of the five great nations.

Kakashi glanced at Tazuna and spread his hands. "If you need help, Senior Kosuke, our team can provide support at any time."

"Mmm, it hasn't reached that point yet... cough cough..." Kosuke sheathed his ninja sword and hammered his old back. "I just hope these old bones of mine can hold on until this mission is finished!"

Team 7 was speechless.

If it weren't for the fact that the two ninja corpses on the ground were still warm, and Kosuke didn't have a single injury on him, they might have believed him.

Kosuke and Tazuna didn't stay for long. The two old men talked for a moment and then set off on their journey to the Land of Waves. Anyone with eyes could see that as the elderly genin left, he was faintly excited, as if he had just won a prize.

It was truly hard to understand.

After a short rest, Team 7 went up the mountain and began to search for the bandits' den. Sasuke, eager for a real battle, used the hunting skills he learned as a child and quickly found traces of their movements.

"As expected of Sasuke!" Sakura Haruno praised loudly, raising her fist. "Let's just charge in and take them down!"

"Hey, hey, be a little more rational," Kakashi tried to stop them, though even in his view, this battle was likely to be lopsided. Besides, with a jonin like him present, there probably wouldn't be any accidents.

Following the tracks, they soon reached a few crude houses built halfway up the mountain. The sounds coming from inside confirmed people were there. A crude stockade gate stood outside the houses, with swords and daggers scattered everywhere. The bloody smell of mountain prey hung in the air.

Kakashi stopped. "This should be the place. Let's first scout out how many people are inside, then force them to hand over the goods..."

The guild president next to him gave an embarrassed, fawning smile. "Lord Kakashi, it's just a group of bandits. There's no need to be so concerned, right?" In his mind, as long as a Konoha ninja showed up and did a trick or two, the bandits would surrender.

"Every mission must be handled with caution..." Just as Kakashi was about to say more, his expression suddenly changed. "Something's not right. There's not just the blood of prey here... there's human blood."

As a ninja who had fought on many battlefields, he could smell the difference. A fight must have taken place here within the last two days.

"It was probably just a dispute among the bandits over the loot, right?" Sasuke grinned. "If that's what happened, our fight won't be very interesting."

Naruto suddenly raised his head, staring at the movement inside the house. "Maybe someone else killed them," he said in a deep voice. "There's killing intent!"

Crack!

The entire door suddenly shattered.

A dozen figures flew out, each holding a ninja sword, and spread out to completely surround Team 7.

"So, can you tell me who you are?" Kakashi took out his kunai, holding it tightly as he protected the three genin behind him. "Based on my years of experience, I don't think bandits have this kind of skill."

Just by looking at their movements, it was clear they were seasoned ninja. Ordinary bandits could never move like that. And although these people wore ronin clothes with masks covering their faces, the killing intent they radiated was very real.

Their only response to Kakashi was silence.

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