"I really envy you young folks…"
The old man chuckled as he looked at his busy clansmen nearby. "Back when I was young, my body was strong. We used to travel constantly with the changing seasons, as wanderers, we couldn't afford to be weak."
As he spoke, a gray blur darted into his arms, the tanned ferret bared its teeth at Yun, hissing fiercely.
"Oh? Nerugui's feeling shy today?" the old man said, stroking the creature gently. "Don't mind him, Nerugui is even older than me. Maybe your power is making him uneasy."
Yun waved it off with a small smile and gave the ferret one brief glance before looking away.
'Longevity and heightened senses… could this be the effect of the Gelel Stone?'
'Even that brief fluctuation of genjutsu earlier, this little thing sensed it immediately.'
'Enhanced perception like the Uzumaki… vitality like the Senju… every place I go, there's always something intriguing.'
The first night passed quietly.
Aside from a few rabbits or mice causing some panic among the three rookies, nothing else happened. But the closer they got to the Fire Country's border, the more nervous they became, perhaps because of what Yun had said earlier.
By late afternoon the next day, Yun shaded his eyes with his hand and looked toward the setting sun. "Izumi, you can't see a view like this back in the village."
Izumi, guarding the caravan's right flank, followed his gaze, in the direction of the sunset was a still pond, the water reflecting gold and crimson light.
It was beautiful.
But beside those shimmering ripples, Yun only gave it one glance before losing interest.
The caravan rolled slowly onward. Izumi took one last look, then turned her focus back to her duties. This wasn't the time for sightseeing, staying alert and protecting the convoy came first.
Moments later, as they drew closer to the pond, Yun lounged lazily atop the wagon roof, half-asleep.
Suddenly.
Whssh-whssh-whssh
Shuriken and kunai gleamed in the sun as they flew in, peppering Yun's body like a pincushion.
"Earth Release: Earth Spear!"
The voice came from the rocky slope by the pond. Instantly, the soil around the wagon trembled, and three jagged earthen spikes shot upward, skewering Yun's body in a brutal strike.
The ambush was clean. The biggest threat, the jōnin, was dead.
Three figures appeared on the rocks, their foreheads bare but grinning wickedly.
"Not bad with that Earth Spear, it didn't even scratch the wagon."
"That's because my kunai killed him before it hit."
Their leader sneered at the trio. "Not even a hint of grief after your teacher died? You sure you're from Konoha? You kids act more like Mist brats."
"So that was your jōnin? Pathetic. Konoha's standards have dropped if a fool like him gets the vest."
Tokuma's expression hardened, but he didn't answer their taunts. "What's your goal here?"
The three young shinobi took defensive positions, forming a triangle around the caravan, none of them even glanced at Yun's fallen body.
If the man who killed the Fourth Raikage, the "Phantom of Konoha", had truly been killed so easily by a few small-fry, it would've been the biggest joke in the shinobi world.
And judging from Yun's twisted sense of "training" during their last exam, this was clearly another one of his tests.
"The goal?" the leader smirked. "Originally, just the caravan. But now…"
"Since we killed a Konoha shinobi, we can't let any of you live. Only that'll keep us safe!"
He slammed his hands together.
"Earth Release: Earth Spear!"
Earthen spikes shot up again, this time targeting Tokuma's team, careful not to harm the caravan.
But Tokuma, with his Byakugan already active, saw it coming. The three scattered immediately, dodging with ease.
Midair, Izumi formed hand seals.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
A blazing orb burst from her lips, interrupting the enemy's assault.
Her two-tomoe Sharingan tracked one opponent closing in fast.
"Earth Release: Stone Fist Jutsu!"
Bang!
Her kunai clashed against his rock-hardened punch, the force knocking her from the air.
He wasn't aiming to hit, he wanted her grounded. His next seals came fast.
"Earth Release: Mud Wave!"
The ground surged upward in a rolling tide of mud, sweeping toward her falling form.
But Izumi didn't flinch. Even as she fell, her Sharingan locked onto him.
Shwah!
Rimaru, now enlarged, leapt up beneath her, giving her footing midair. Using the beast's momentum, she struck back alongside Hana with Four-Legged Technique, driving the enemy back.
"You okay?" Hana asked.
Izumi nodded. "Fine. Let's end this."
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
The enemy sneered. "If your jutsu can't hit, it's just wasted chakra, kid. You've still got much to-"
He froze mid-sentence. His airborne ally wasn't moving, completely still.
"What-?! Move! Dodge it!"
No response.
The fireball engulfed the man, leaving behind a smoking corpse.
"Sharingan?!"
The last enemy stared wide-eyed at Izumi's two-tomoe gaze, realization dawning in horror.
'A genjutsu, from a child?!'
"Now, Hana!"
"Got it!"
"Beast Human Clone! Fang Over Fang!"
Twin spinning whirlwinds smashed through the enemy.
Boom!
The second one down.
Izumi collapsed, breathing hard. Using her two-tomoe Sharingan for genjutsu twice in one fight had drained her completely.
Hana quickly gave her a soldier pill. "You okay?"
Izumi smiled faintly. "Yeah… just tired."
Hana nodded but stayed on guard, watching Tokuma's battle from afar. They couldn't assume it was over, there might be more attackers.
"You're not helping him?" the old merchant whispered, trembling.
Hana shot him a glare. "A C-rank mission isn't supposed to involve enemy shinobi. You should know that. If we don't get an explanation soon, we'll abandon this mission, deal with the consequences yourself!"
The old man paled. "I swear I don't know why we were targeted! Please believe me! We'll pay extra, a B-rank reward if needed!"
He wasn't lying, his panic was genuine. So the question remained: why would anyone ambush a simple merchant caravan?
Tokuma was locked in battle.
"Earth Release: Quaking Core!"
The ground sank beneath his feet, a trap. But with his Byakugan, he saw it the moment the jutsu began and leapt back.
"Earth Release: Earth Spear!"
Spikes shot up, but he dodged them all flawlessly.
"You're sharp, Hyuga brat. How about this?"
He clapped his hands. A dragon made earth rose from the ground, lunging toward Tokuma.
Tokuma jumped aside, but the dragon curled around, attacking from behind.
'No time to evade.'
"Eight Trigrams: Rotation!"
A sphere of chakra burst from his body, deflecting both the earth dragon and a barrage of exploding kunai. He landed hard, panting.
Another kunai flew, he sidestepped narrowly, charging forward.
"Eight Trigrams: Sixty-Four Palms!"
"Earth Release: Rock Fist!"
Boom!
His Gentle Fist met the enemy's stone-coated punch head-on, power against precision.
He was forced back, panting, his Byakugan straining.
'So this is the difference between skill and experience…' Even if he could see everything, his body couldn't keep up.
"Not bad for a Hyuga brat," the enemy taunted. "Your Gentle Fist can cut chakra pathways, if it could hit!"
He lunged again. Tokuma barely parried, growing slower by the second.
Once more, "Rotation!"
The shield held, barely. His chakra was almost gone.
The enemy smirked. "Out of gas? You've done well enough to die proudly, kid."
He charged, and froze.
A hand caught his rocky fist easily.
A living hand.
"Who-?!"
The man looked up and froze in disbelief.
"You… you were dead!"
Yun smiled faintly. "Why wouldn't I be alive? Killing me would cost Iwagakure more than the Third Raikage did. You think Ōnoki would risk that?"
The enemy stiffened, eyes wide. "What are you saying-?"
Yun ignored him, pressing a hand to Tokuma's shoulder. "Rest for now. You've done better than I expected."
Then he stepped forward. His eyes lifted, the three-tomoe Sharingan spun into life.
"Damn-"
The man's pupils dilated, then dulled, as Yun's genjutsu seized him.
Yun stopped before him. "Why target this caravan?"
"Because they hold power they shouldn't… power that can change the world. It must belong to us."
"What power?"
"The Stone of Life, a mineral that heals any wound instantly. Such power must be controlled."
'The Gelel Stone again.'
Just like before, the energy of life itself.
"Where did you learn of it?" Yun asked.
"From the Book of Gelel… it described many uses of the stone."
"Where is this book now?"
"I… don't know."
Yun frowned, had the genjutsu failed?
But then the man continued:
"We saw it by chance. At first we thought it was fiction. But when we learned of a ferret in this caravan had lived for over a century, we realized it might be true."
"So… we decided to test it, by hiding our true intent and attacking."
Yun understood now. "And your affiliation?"
At that question, the captive suddenly convulsed. His eyes snapped open, blood-red.
"Aaaah!"
A surge of foreign chakra flared inside his mind, a curse seal!
It shattered the genjutsu.
And then-
Boom!
The man exploded, body obliterated.
As the dust settled, Yun narrowed his eyes.
No corpse left behind.
That was the mark of a cursed seal.