At the very front was an old man, looking not much younger than Mitokado Homura. He greeted Mitokado Homura with a joyful expression, and Mitokado Homura returned the smile to the old man. The two began to chat as if no one else was around, like old friends who hadn't seen each other in a long time.
However, what caught Kaoru's attention wasn't this old man, but the three people behind him. All three wore Leaf Village headbands. Kaoru didn't recognize two of them, but the other one was quite familiar.
Smooth, flowing hair, clear and bright eyes, alabaster skin, a slender and graceful figure, and a captivating charm radiating effortlessly with each step.
It was none other than Yūhi Kurenai, Kaoru's former Team Eight teacher!
"So it's Teacher Yūhi Kurenai!" A hint of surprise flashed in Kaoru's eyes. It had been almost a year since he had seen Yūhi Kurenai, since their last meeting.
"Teacher Kurenai!" Kaoru was also very happy to see Yūhi Kurenai. He immediately stopped following Mitokado Homura and went to Yūhi Kurenai's side.
"You are... Kaoru!" It took Yūhi Kurenai a long time to recognize that this was her former student, Uchiha Kaoru.
"It's been a long time. You've grown quite a bit taller in a year!" Yūhi Kurenai patted Kaoru on the shoulder and smiled.
"Teacher Kurenai is also becoming more and more beautiful." Kaoru responded in kind, his face full of smiles.
"You little rascal, your mouth is still so sweet!" Yūhi Kurenai adjusted her wavy hair and laughed, quite pleased with Kaoru's words.
"By the way, how are Hina and Shin doing now?" Seeing Kaoru, Yūhi Kurenai thought of her other two students.
"They are all doing well, of course." Kaoru nodded. "Just recently, Hina successfully advanced to Chūnin."
"Is that so? That's great!" The corners of Yūhi Kurenai's mouth curved into a bright smile. "That puts my mind at ease. All three of my students have become Chūnin. As their teacher, I'm very gratified."
Kaoru also smiled. Seeing Yūhi Kurenai guarding beside the old man, he then asked, "Teacher Kurenai, are you on a mission right now?"
"That's right." Yūhi Kurenai nodded. "I just accepted a B-rank mission to escort Mr. Rondo to Kyoto in the Land of Fire."
Saying this, Yūhi Kurenai pointed to the old man who was talking with Mitokado Homura. "That's Rondo, a well-known tycoon in the Land of Fire. He's contracted to build bridges not only in the Land of Fire, but also in many other countries. The other two Chūnin and I are to protect him."
"I see, Teacher Kurenai. It seems we'll be traveling together..." Kaoru nodded. Seeing Mitokado Homura and the old man named Rondo talking so intimately, it seemed that they would likely be traveling together.
"You're... going to protect Lord Mitokado?" Yūhi Kurenai glanced at Mitokado Homura, who wasn't far away, and immediately understood why Kaoru was here.
"That's right." Kaoru chuckled. "Teacher Kurenai, it seems like we can fight side-by-side again."
"That's not certain." Yūhi Kurenai gently smoothed her brow. "Maybe this journey will be safe and uneventful?"
"I hope so..." Kaoru raised his eyebrows slightly, but his tone was quite uneasy.
"Uchiha Kaoru!" At this time, Mitokado Homura called out to Kaoru. He turned slightly and introduced the old man beside him: "This is Rondo, an old friend of mine. He will be traveling to Kyoto with me this time. You are not only to protect me, but also to protect him."
"I understand." Kaoru responded softly. Having Teacher Yūhi Kurenai accompany him on this journey was much better than facing the old man Mitokado Homura.
After some conversation, the group of six left the Leaf Village and officially set off for Kyoto.
Several hours later, in the northwestern part of the Land of Fire.
A vast forest, with tall trees undulating like waves. Insects chirped and birds sang. Looking ahead, all was lush green, seemingly without end.
At this time, on a road in the forest, Kaoru's group was slowly advancing.
Although the distance from Kyoto to the Land of Fire wasn't far for Kaoru, and it wasn't anything to Yūhi Kurenai and the other two Chūnin either, the two old men were quite troublesome.
Although Mitokado Homura had been a ninja before, his age was there, and his physical fitness was far inferior to the Third Hokage, who was the same age as him.
Therefore, his speed of travel was about the same as an ordinary person. And the merchant named Rondo was even worse. He was just an ordinary person, and he was also old.
Thus, the progress on this journey was quite slow. The journey, which had been originally estimated to take one day, would probably take even more time.
Rondo and Mitokado Homura walked together, and the two were talking all along. The other two Chūnin were also guarding beside Rondo.
As for Kaoru and Yūhi Kurenai, they were walking at the very back, talking in low voices. From time to time, Yūhi Kurenai would be amused by Kaoru's humorous words, and she didn't seem to have any sense of tension at all.
"Hey, you two, show some consideration for us old people..." Seeing Kaoru and Yūhi Kurenai chatting so happily, Mitokado Homura frowned slightly and said, "Don't forget that you two are here to carry out a mission!"
"I understand, Lord Mitokado!" Yūhi Kurenai nodded with a slightly apologetic look on her face. In fact, although she was chatting with Kaoru, she was also paying attention to the movements of the surroundings at every moment in her heart.
However, Kaoru's face was calm, and he didn't take Mitokado Homura's words to heart, because he had already deployed measures long ago.
At this time, high above, the Hawk Spirit was circling, closely scanning all suspicious targets below.
Whoosh!
At this time, there was a sudden abnormal sound from the bushes ahead. The group's footsteps stopped immediately. Mitokado Homura and the other ninjas were all staring at the bushes with a wary look.
Only the old merchant named Rondo was terrified, as if he had encountered something extremely terrible, and hurriedly hid behind one of the Chūnin.
Yūhi Kurenai also struck a stance, watching the bushes with all her attention, and at the same time said in a low voice, "You stay here, I'll go take a look."
"Teacher Kurenai, there's no need." Kaoru shook his head gently. "It's just an animal."
He had already seen from the Hawk Spirit's vision that it was just an earth wolf in the bushes.
Sure enough, as if to confirm Kaoru's words, there was another rustling sound from the bushes, and a gray wolf more than a meter long drilled out from within.
Its pair of dark green eyes scanned Kaoru a few times, and then with its tail between its legs, it scurried into the bushes on the other side and ran away.
"What, it's just a small wolf. I thought..." Rondo sighed in relief, unconsciously blurting out these words. But when he got to the second half of the sentence, he immediately stopped himself.
"It really was an animal. Kaoru, I didn't expect your insight to be so amazing!" Yūhi Kurenai's beautiful eyebrows relaxed, and she looked at Kaoru with slight surprise.
Kaoru only smiled slightly at Yūhi Kurenai's words. He didn't answer Yūhi Kurenai's words. What Kaoru was more concerned about was Rondo's words that had been cut short, and his behavior just now. He seemed to be afraid of something on this trip.
"Go ask Yūhi Kurenai what's going on." With this thought in mind, Kaoru came to Yūhi Kurenai's side.
"Teacher Kurenai, did you receive any special instructions for the mission you accepted?" Kaoru asked.
"Special instructions? No, it's just an ordinary B-rank escort mission. The commission is 100,000 Ryo. I took it because the journey wasn't long," Yūhi Kurenai said.
"An ordinary B-rank escort mission..." Kaoru fell into thought. If it really was an ordinary mission, then why would this merchant named Rondo be so panicked?
With this doubt, Kaoru continued to advance with the others. However, with Rondo's overly nervous behavior and Mitokado Homura inexplicably having him serve as a guard, these two things had almost made Kaoru certain that this trip would definitely not be smooth sailing!
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