Shizuru POV
Genta was walking upfront as usual, grumbling and huffing like he was being dragged to his own execution. "If we have to catch another cat or tend to another farmer's cattle," he said with a desperate voice, "I swear I'll use Fire Release and burn all those damned animals to ashes."
I wasn't surprised by his tone. Even Shota, who almost never showed emotion, looked dejected. I tried to keep my usual calm and reasonable attitude, but my patience was wearing dangerously thin. It wasn't too bad for the Aburame clan member, who preferred quiet work anyway, but for me and Genta, who both knew what Noa had done and the level of missions he had faced, it felt like we were pretending to be shinobi instead of actually being one.
Genta kept shouting about the unfairness of it all, and this time, I didn't even bother silencing him. His complaints were loud but understandable. We were walking toward the Hokage building to meet Masahide-sensei and receive what was sure to be another soul-crushing D-rank mission. The kind that made you question every life decision leading up to it.
When we arrived, sensei was already there, standing in the same spot he always waited in. No matter how early we came, he somehow managed to arrive before us every single time. Genta once theorized that he didn't have a personal life, which at first I brushed off as exaggeration. But thinking about it now, he might have been right. I doubted he was married. Father was similar in that sense, always working, always exhausted, yet still trying his best to be there for us, even if it meant almost being late to work on rare occasions. The memory made my chest feel strangely heavy for a moment.
Masahide-sensei greeted us with his usual dry and expressionless tone. "Good morning. Are you ready for today's mission?"
Genta looked up at him with the best puppy eyes he could conjure, an annoying skill he had picked up from Noa. "Sensei, I beg you, please give us a C-rank mission. I can't take it anymore."
To my surprise, Shota actually nodded beside him and spoke up. "Yes, sensei. Please assign us a C-rank mission."
Masahide turned to look at me, silent but expectant, as if waiting for my judgment. I gave a small nod, adding legitimacy to their request. Although he never said it directly, his actions always made it clear that he valued my opinion more than the others on the team. After a few seconds of thoughtful silence, he scratched his chin and simply said, "All right."
Genta almost shouted with joy, his fist halfway into the air before he caught himself. I could see the spark of excitement in Shota's eyes too, faint but unmistakable behind the reflection of his glasses. Masahide-sensei noticed Genta practically vibrating with energy and told us to wait outside while he went to the mission desk to get something suitable.
From the moment he stepped inside to the moment he came back, Genta never stopped moving. He was bouncing on his feet, muttering about what kind of mission it might be, his grin so wide it could have split his face in half. Despite myself, I found it hard not to smile. His energy was contagious, and the idea that we might finally see real action stirred something inside me too.
Genta had changed so much since the Academy. Back then, he was composed, disciplined, and even serious at times. But ever since he met Noa, that calm side of him had been replaced by chaos. My theory is that he spent too much time around older people before befriending Noa, and once he did, it was like his real age finally caught up to him. He started acting wild, reckless, and a little insane, step by step, until this version of him emerged, the loud, impulsive, overly dramatic Genta Senju everyone now knew.
It annoyed me sometimes, if I am being honest. I was the one who ended up injured whenever one of his ideas went wrong. I was the one worrying through every one of his missions about his safety, and somehow I was also the one dragged into his ridiculous training experiments. But even so, I could never bring myself to truly hate it. There was something strangely human about the way Noa lived, unrestrained, sincere, and completely his own. Maybe that was why, even when I was irritated, I always found myself following him anyway.
My thoughts were interrupted as sensei walked out of the mission desk with a scroll in hand, gesturing for us to follow. We did so without complaint. The moment he started heading toward the village gates, Genta's excitement doubled, almost spilling out of him in bursts of energy.
Masahide-sensei stopped once we reached the gates and looked at us with a more serious expression than usual. "We have an extermination mission," he said.
The word made us all straighten instantly.
"A group of bandits has been raiding villages in the Land of Fire, not far from Konoha. They pillaged, killed, and even raped defenseless women," he explained, voice steady but sharp. My hand tightened around my kunai pouch as anger burned quietly in my chest. Genta's playful energy vanished completely, his eyes sharpening with a focus I hadn't seen in weeks.
"We suspect they may have someone among them who can use chakra," sensei continued. "We will confirm that first, then proceed accordingly. We leave immediately. Are you ready?"
We all nodded. He gave an approving nod in return before leading us out of the village.
A few hours later, we reached the last settlement that had been attacked less than a day earlier. The air still carried the faint smell of smoke, and the ground was scattered with broken carts, scorched planks, and cracked walls that bore clear signs of battle. Blood had dried dark along the dirt road, and a few collapsed homes still smoldered weakly. Near the well, five villagers lay under hastily placed sheets, their bodies still and pale. A few meters away, two bandits had met their end as well, their armor torn and weapons discarded beside them. Judging by the precision of the wounds, the villagers had fought back before being overwhelmed. The sight left the air heavy and silent, and the remaining people watched us with hollow, wary eyes as we passed. Sensei distanced himself slightly, clearly expecting me to take the lead, which I did without hesitation.
"Shota," I said, scanning the torn ground, "you are our best tracker. Check the footprints and find the most promising trail. Once you do, send your insects ahead to locate their position. There's a lot of damage here, which means the bandits likely fought hard and are now resting somewhere nearby. We have limited time, so act quickly."
Shota nodded and crouched down, carefully studying the tracks. His tracking ability had proven invaluable even during our most miserable D-rank missions, where he had to recapture every escaped pet and wayward animal we were assigned to find.
After a while, he spotted a series of heavy footprints and followed them. Fortunately, the trail remained consistent, suggesting the enemy wasn't very cautious or simply too arrogant to hide their path. That suited me just fine.
Shota crouched beside one of the clearer impressions pressed into the damp soil. His eyes narrowed behind his glasses as he extended a hand, palm open. A faint hum filled the air as a small swarm of insects crawled from his sleeve, rippling across the ground like a shadow. They scattered quickly, slipping into the grass and under the roots with eerie precision.
"They sense chakra," Shota said quietly. "There might actually be someone among them capable of using it. The swarm will follow the trail and report back once they locate the source."
Within moments, the forest grew silent again, the faint buzz of wings fading into the distance.
Minutes later, Shota opened his eyes. "My insects found them. They're hiding in a cave within the nearby hills. The chakra user with them is strong, around genin level, maybe slightly above."
I nodded. "Then we move."
We advanced through the trees until the cave came into view, its entrance half-hidden by vines and rock. I lowered my voice. "Shota, are there any other exits besides the main one?"
He nodded. "There's a narrow path that leads out behind the hill."
I turned to Genta. "Block that path with Earth Release once I give the signal, then regroup with us immediately after."
He grinned and nodded, already moving into position.
Then I faced Shota. "Use your insects to drain the chakra user slowly but discreetly. If they notice, Genta will seal the rear exit. Once they are trapped and funneled through the narrow cave mouth, we will dispatch them."
Shota nodded, focused and ready. For the first time in months, it felt like we were stepping into a real mission, one that could test everything we had trained for and turn deadly with a single mistake.
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A/N: If you read Chapter 179 and have not voted yet, open this link (https://discord.gg/SmpXHEwPhE) and help choose the name of that jutsu. The current top three jutsu name contenders are: Storm Nexus, Leipviðr (Lightning Tree), and Raiton: Raijin Jukai (Lightning Style: Forest of the Thunder God). Pretty awesome choices from my equally awesome readers if I do say so myself! Make sure to vote for your favorite or suggest a new one. Only One more day left to cast your vote so don't miss it!