Chapter 13: Hanako's Moment of Glory is about to Begin!

Nighttime.

Unusually, Team 9 members were not asleep yet.

Haruno Rin volunteered to go and talk to Minao.

Kakashi leaned against a tree with his arms crossed, gazing at the night sky.

Obito approached Hanako, wearing a serious expression.

"Hanako."

"Hmm?"

"Do you have someone you like?"

"Someone I like?"

Hanako thought seriously for a moment.

"The person I like hasn't been born yet."

"Huh?"

Obito was puzzled by Hanako's response.

But then he realized that it meant Hanako didn't have anyone he liked. He just put it in a more indirect way.

After discussing this topic, Hanako casually asked a question.

"By the way, Obito, what would you do if our team encountered enemies?"

"Of course, I would fight!"

"What if we can't win?"

"Then Kakashi would step in."

"What if Kakashi can't handle it either?"

Obito fell silent.

He couldn't think of what to do in that situation.

If even Kakashi couldn't handle it, wouldn't the whole team be wiped out?

"What would you do?"

Suddenly, Kakashi's voice came.

He had heard the entire conversation between Hanako and Obito and was curious about what Hanako would do in that situation.

Unfortunately, Hanako didn't answer the question.

A silent night passed.

As soon as it became light, Team 9 set off.

Hanako was not in a great mood.

Because today, the attribute that doubled randomly was spirit, not agility.

Spirit: 40 (20 * 2) [Primary Immunity]

To be honest, with the doubling of the spirit attribute, Hanako didn't feel any signs of becoming stronger.

The only difference was that his mind seemed clearer, as if his focus had sharpened.

Looking at the words "Primary Immunity," he speculated inwardly.

"Primary Immunity, does that mean immunity to basic genjutsu?"

Oh well, let's not guess.

After a brief preparation, the team set off.

It was another calm day.

At night, Kakashi summarized the team's mission one last time.

"Tomorrow, we will enter the Land of Hot Springs. If everything goes smoothly, we should arrive at the Daimyo's mansion by tomorrow evening."

"Our mission will be completed once we escort Miss Minao to the Daimyo's mansion."

"So tomorrow will be an extremely important day."

Indeed.

Tomorrow marked the final leg of their mission.

"I hope my speculation is wrong."

Hanako sighed and whispered to himself.

Then, he opened his ninja tool pouch on his leg and touched the 300+ explosive tags inside.

"I should have brought more."

The morning bird chirping broke the silence.

The first thing Hanako did upon waking up was to check his attribute panel.

Name: Hanako Age: 12 Strength: 26 [Genin level] Endurance: 36 [Chunin level] Agility: 88 [Jonin level] Spirit: 80 (40 * 2) [Intermediate Immunity] Chakra Level: 230 Skills: None Ninjutsu: None Overall Power Evaluation: Apprentice Genin

He stared at the attribute panel in silence for a long time.

"Hanako, we're ready to leave." Obito called out.

On the road, the ox cart moved leisurely, heading towards the border.

Team 9 was on high alert, fully focused.

Finally, they saw it in their field of vision—a river faintly visible. That was the border.

Once they crossed the river, they would enter the Land of Hot Springs.

"Wait!"

Hanako suddenly spoke up, his tone grave.

"Hmm? What's wrong?"

"Do we have any enemies?"

Upon Hanako's shout, Obito and Rin immediately became vigilant.

Kakashi also jumped over, looking puzzled.

"We're almost at the border. How come there aren't any border guards from the Leaf Village?" Hanako asked in a serious tone.

"That's normal."

Kakashi breathed a sigh of relief and replied.

He thought Hanako had discovered enemies, but it turned out to be about this.

"You think this is normal?" Hanako furrowed his brow.

Kakashi began to explain further.

"Because the village has a treaty of good faith with the Hidden Cloud Village."

"Good faith? Treaty?" Hanako was dumbfounded.

"Yes! According to the treaty, Konoha won't station any ninja at the Land of Hot Springs border"

The troops stationed there, the Hidden Cloud Village won't station troops at the border with the Land of Lightning either."

Kakashi explained the content of the treaty.

Hanako was dumbfounded.

Konoha actually signed such a bizarre treaty?

If the Hidden Cloud Village abided by the treaty, it would be fine. But if they didn't, wouldn't this border line be completely defenseless?

Who in the village was foolish enough to sign such a treaty?

"It was personally drafted by the Third Hokage as a demonstration of goodwill towards the Hidden Cloud Village and to promote peace," Kakashi added.

Hanako had no strength left to comment.

Could peace really be achieved through goodwill?

It required power.

Just from this incident, it was clear that the higher-ups of Konoha had entered a stage of decay.

Outwardly, they were submissive. Inwardly, they struck with heavy blows.

Sakumo Hatake's fate was the best example.

Crossing the river, Team 9 entered the Land of Hot Springs.

Of course, the ox cart was tied up on the other side of the river and couldn't cross. So from here on, Minao had to continue on foot.

Swish!

Suddenly, a red flare shot up into the sky from the forest.

Immediately after, a large group of ninjas jumped out of the forest, completely blocking Team 9's retreat.

Ten, twenty, thirty, forty...

Groups of ninjas continued to leap out consecutively.

Obito and Rin were dumbfounded, frozen in place.

How could they have anticipated that dozens of ninjas would suddenly appear during a mere C-rank mission?

Was this a joke?

At this moment, Kakashi's eyes were filled with unprecedented seriousness.

Over fifty ninjas, all of them seemingly Chunin level?

"I f***ing knew it!"

Hanako cursed inwardly, taking out over a hundred explosive tags without hesitation.

Whoosh!

Without a second thought, he threw them all out.

"What are you standing there for? Run!"

Boom!

The sounds of dense explosions echoed, creating a powerful shockwave and raising a cloud of smoke.

Seizing this opportunity, Team 9 sprinted away together.

Even Minao gritted her teeth and ran as fast as she could, gradually falling behind.

"They abandoned me again."

Seeing the backs of the few boys getting farther away, Minao felt despair in her heart.

Swish!

Suddenly, a figure approached rapidly from a distance.

It was none other than Hanako.

"You weakling! Hurry up and get on!"

Bending down, Hanako urged her.

He didn't really plan to come back.

But who asked him to sleep with her in his arms all night?