Konoha’s White Fang Shines

Chapter 26: A Thousand Miles to Dissuade

"All right, report what each of you observed."

The three of them lined up neatly in front of Kamase Yūji, with Kurenai having already put her telescope away. Meanwhile, Genma's telescope had ended up in Hitoshi Rittō's hands.

Rittō stood there fiddling with the telescope, extending and collapsing it while grinning foolishly. Noticing this goofiness, Yūji focused on him right away. "Rittō, since you borrowed Genma's telescope, you go first."

"Huh?" Rittō scratched his head in a daze. "Oh, right. About that mountain— it's basically a lone peak. If we had enough people to surround it, we could capture everyone. But with our current strength, I think we should just charge up and fight them head-on."

Thud!

Yūji smacked Rittō's head, looking annoyed. "What kind of strategy is that? We can see it's a solitary mountain—you can see that on the map too. And you're talking about charging straight in, but you're ignoring the thick fog. Can you guarantee none of them will escape?"

"Er, maybe we could, uh, pretend we're weak to lure them out—?"

"Oh, really? Then explain how you plan to 'appear weak.'"

"Well, if us three kids walked over there and provoked them, wouldn't the bandits get angry and surround us, maybe beat us up and capture us? Then you could ambush and wipe out their entire hideout from within and without."

Speaking of that "one fell swoop" approach, Rittō placed a foot on a nearby boulder, striking a heroic pose.

"Your plan does sound possible, and I must admit, I'm a bit surprised you came up with it. But you're too naïve. Even mere bandits aren't that easy to trick. Sure, your ideas might work in theory, but what if something goes wrong in any one step? Do you really expect everything to proceed as you imagine?"

Rittō's triumphant grin faded to gloom, and Yūji, having outsmarted his student intellectually, looked quite satisfied. But that was merely a small pleasure; he took the mission quite seriously. Turning to the two who had been quietly thinking, he said, "Genma, your thoughts?"

"Well, regarding what I observed… On that mountain, I noticed two types of special plants, known to grow in symbiosis. When placed together, they produce thick fog. Also, from what I could see of the mountain paths on our side, there appear to be two fairly decent routes up the slope."

At Genma's report, Yūji stroked his chin, now looking grave. "Now that you mention it, something about this mission seems fishy. If those symbiotic plants are present in significant numbers, that could explain the dense mist. And the mountain trails being well-maintained suggests someone's been operating up there for quite some time."

Genma nodded. "Maybe the employer is hiding something. But for what reason? Why hide key facts from the ninja you hired?"

"As far as plants go," Kurenai chimed in, "I caught a glimpse of some 'ninja relief herbs' up there—there seemed to be a lot of them, actually."

"Really? Kurenai, can you show us where you saw them?"

Genma and Yūji both seemed eager to see the so-called ninja relief herbs themselves, but Kurenai shook her head, looking troubled. "The fog covered it again. I only managed to see it after watching really carefully for a while."

"In any case, this operation obviously isn't just some ordinary bandit-clearing. Keep your guard up—especially you, Rittō."

"Ugh," said Rittō, who had spaced out again and now found himself singled out. "Keep my guard up?"

"You got it. Can't you at least be serious for once?"

Smack!

"Waaaah!"

"Listen, Rittō," Yūji scolded, "I don't know what you thought the ninja profession was, but you must remember: when you're on a mission, you're on alert at all times."

Holding his head and trying not to cry, Rittō could only nod pitifully. "Okay… I get it."

"All right, let's get out of here before we alert the enemy. Then we'll head into town and meet the client."

Though the mission was riddled with suspicious signs, the mention of going to a nearby town lit up the trio's eyes. This was their first time traveling outside Konoha; the idea of exploring new places was exciting.

"I see you're all excited," Yūji said, as though reading their minds. "I felt the same on my first mission out of the village. But this mission demands we remain on guard at all times—at least until we either complete it or confirm all the details. Understood?"

"Understood," the three answered in unison, the earlier excitement replaced by a more focused determination.

"Good. Then follow me to the town."

Before long, they arrived at a settlement called "Xia Guang" (霞光), or "Sunset Glow." Supposedly, every evening, a spectacular sunset lit the entire town in a dreamy color.

Walking in after midday, they felt the sun already sliding toward the horizon. In other words, they'd get to see that famous glow soon.

"Wow, this is my second time here," Yūji muttered, picking at his teeth with a small toothpick. "That old restaurant's still around—it's a peaceful little town indeed."

Following behind him, the three genin imitated his toothpick routine, occasionally glancing at buildings they passed.

"All right, this is the mayor's estate—the man who commissioned the mission. Put away those toothpicks," Yūji said, halting before a high-walled compound with black tile, white walls, and imposing stone lion statues flanking a bold red door. The grandeur left the three rookies quite stunned.

For a local township head, this was extravagant indeed… but considering the near-b-ranked mission fee, it started to make sense. Yūji clearly knew how to pick lucrative jobs from the Mission Assignment Desk, though the suspicious details made sense of the high reward.

"Let's go in. Whatever's going on, we need to gather intelligence," Yūji said. He'd gleaned little from lunch-hour gossip among some chatty drunks, so meeting the client seemed the best option.

A butler greeted them at the entrance. Led by a maid to a reception room, they all sat on the floor, waiting only a short while before a middle-aged man with a troubled expression entered. He wore simple, modest clothes and had a heavy look of worry.

A local leader, but with such simple attire, Genma noted. Perhaps 'that critical juncture' requires a humble image.

"You're the shinobi from Konoha?" the man asked, his weary eyes scanning them. "You look… rather young."

"Don't underestimate them just because they're kids," Yūji replied smoothly. "Among genin, their abilities are quite impressive."

But the mayor, obviously no fool, simply sighed. The sorrow etched on his face never changed. "I won't hide anything from you—The situation on Colorful Fog Mountain is more complicated than we thought. The samurai we sent were gravely injured or killed, and the lone survivor didn't get a good look at the enemy. I suspect there are actual ninjas among the bandits… maybe formidable ones. Are you sure you want to bring these children along?"

He spoke tactfully, but the meaning was clear. Yūji paused, momentarily abashed. Still, the man was forthright; Yūji couldn't be angry.

"Sorry for any inconvenience, sir," Yūji replied. "If you'd like to increase the mission rank and fee, I can request additional reinforcements from Konoha. After all, that mountain isn't considered strategically critical, so if there are rogue ninjas up there, they might be little more than drifters."

The mayor shook his head, lips pressed tightly. "And you, as a jōnin, must know that mountain is quite controversial. I'm afraid we haven't fully uncovered the intel. Even if we bring in more ninjas, we might still fail to eradicate the bandits. Then any who flee into the Grass side might hold a grudge against our town. Best case, they're just normal vagrants with a vendetta, but worst case—some of them are real shinobi. We don't want that enmity aimed at us…"

In some corners of the ninja world, a single low-ranked shinobi could become a local tyrant. For a mere mayor, the potential backlash was a real fear.

Seeing the client so resigned, Yūji felt there was little more to be said. He led his three disciples out of the reception hall.

"Sensei… We came all this way, and now we're just giving up?" Rittō exclaimed, frustration boiling over. Genma, too, felt uneasy.

"Sensei," Genma added, "if rogue ninjas crossed into the Land of Fire's borders, wouldn't the border scouts have reported something?"

Yūji shook his head grimly, his face reflecting the frustration of being turned away. "We're the victims of slow intel. The situation changed while we were en route, and the client basically wants us out of it now. As for the border patrol, even if they tried to relay a warning to Konoha, how could that info then get relayed to us so quickly? That mountain's right on the boundary, perpetually cloaked in fog. It's no surprise if the enemy slipped past unnoticed."

"So we have to head back now? Doing nothing? Feels like we're idiots for coming all this way," Rittō said, dropping into a squat and poking at some ants with a twig.

"What else can we do?" Yūji replied. "Shall we charge up the mountain like you suggested, so the enemy underestimates us and surrounds us? If they truly are ninjas, that might be suicidal. And once you resist, you blow any cover you had. If we're not certain of the intel first, that's asking for big trouble."

End of Chapter 26