[Chapter 17] C- Rank Mission
Outside the Hokage building,
After doing D rank missions for a few days, it was time for Ryo and his team to take a C- rank mission.
"Good morning Hayate Sensei, good morning Hakuto", said Ryo as he walked towards them.
"Good morning", replied both of them.
"Today we will be taking a C- rank mission which will be outside the village", said Hayate as he started walking towards the Hokage office.
Both Ryo and Hakuto were excited as it was their first time going out of the village.
After coming out of the mission room Hayate said,
"We have to escort a merchant from a village in the land of fire to Konoha, there are chances of encountering mecrinaries so prepare accordingly and report to the village main gate in an hour ", said Hayate.
Both Ryo and Hakuto nodded and then they all left.
In an empty training field,
"Sensei, we can talk now."
Shisui appeared in front of Ryo and said,
"I am here to brief you on your secret mission."
Ryo nodded.
"One of our informants will be in the village you are going to, so collect the scroll he will give you", said Shisui and then continued to explain the mission in detail.
"The name of the entire elimination mission has been decided, it is ~Mission Wildfire~ and your codename will be ~Inazuma~ for the entirety of 3 years", said Shisui.
"Here is your mask for the mission, use it when you have to fight, in other situations use transformation jutsu." Shisui took out a mask and gave it to Ryo.
It was an anbu type mask which had a lightning bolt extending from the top left side to the bottom right side..
"I will be leaving then", said Ryo as he flickered away.
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At the village main entrance,
"Let's go", said Hayate as he started running.
Ryo and Hakuto followed him.
As they were running and jumping on the trees, Ryo thought,
'So this is the world outside the village huh, this will be an interesting journey.'
As they reached the village, Hayate said,
"I will talk with the client so scout the village and report here in half an hour."
Ryo and Hakuto split up and went in different directions.
Ryo used transformation jutsu, entered a weapon shop and spoke,
"Can I get 5 storage scrolls and also can you tell me the location of a good restaurant."
"Yes sure, and what kind of food would you prefer?"
Asked the weapon shop employee.
"I would like to have ramen, miso ramen with extra eggs to be exact", replied Ryo.
The worker gave him five storage scrolls and the direction to the ramen shop.
Ryo exited the shop after paying and transformed back to himself in a secluded location.
'First mission accomplished!' thought Ryo as he looked at the scrolls.
After half an hour, both Ryo and Hakuto returned and they were ready to leave.
"We will take one day to reach the village as we are walking.
Hakuto help me map out the route and places to rest, Ryo keep an eye out for danger", said Hayate.
"Yes Sensei", both replied.
They then started walking towards Konoha.
Half a day had passed and nothing bad had happened.
As they were walking, a shuriken came at full speed, aimed at the merchant.
Hayate deflected the shuriken with his sword and shouted,
"Ryo, Hakuto, protect the client!"
They both rushed towards the client.
Hakuto was shocked while Ryo remained calm.
Suddenly a man with a sword attacked the merchant.
Just as the sword was about to touch the merchant, Ryo unseathed his sword and blocked it.
"Abort the mission, we are no match for this guy", spoke one of the attacker, looking at Hayate.
Just as both of them were going to escape, Ryo shouted,
"Hakuto use shadow possession, fast!"
Hakuto was still in a state of shock but pulled through and used the jutsu.
As they were not in danger of being killed, Ryo didn't want to show his speed or strength.
Being unable to move, the attacker shouted,
"Aah!!!"
"Ryo, finish him", spoke Hayate.
Ryo cut the attackers head off.
Seeing this Hayate said ,"good teamwork."
"I..... I just killed someone", spoke Ryo in a gloomy tone.
'I knew I had to kill but it is much harder to except reality', thought Ryo.
Ryo was mentally strong but killing someone was still traumatic.
"Listen both of you, a ninjas have to do such things and you may think that it is wrong but we have to do it to protect our village and family.
Eventhough we have to kill, don't ever get used to it, there should always be a reason for your actions", said Hayate.
'I will have to kill many in the future to protect Souta, grandma, grandpa, Sensei and my comrades.... I will do whatever it takes to protect them!!' Ryo spoke in his mind with determination.
While Ryo was still in the state of self realisation, Hakuto was in shock from what just happened and the merchant had gone unconscious.
Hayate didn't say anything but kept quiet as he knew how they felt from his own experience.
"Looks like they were mercenaries sent to kill the merchant", said Hayate as he put their bodies in a storage scroll. He would submit it to the higher ups and they would handle it.
"Let's leave now", Hayate said as he carried the unconscious merchant on his back.
Ryo and Hakuto didn't speak anything and followed Hayate.
After speeding up, they reached the village in some time.
"You two go and rest, I will report the mission details and also, good job", said Hayate as he left with the merchant on his back.
Hakuto was still gloomy, seeing this Ryo said,
"It's going to be okay, I know you will overcome it."
Saying this Ryo walked away.
While Hakuto was still gloomy, Ryo had calmed down a little but would need a few days to think things out.
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In the middle of a forest,
"Looking at your expression, I assume you have had your first kill", said Shisui as he walked towards Ryo.
Ryo nodded and didn't say anything.
Shisui then had a talk with Ryo about his experiences, which helped him a lot.
After a while,
"Sensei, these are the scrolls that the informant gave me", Ryo said as he handed Shisui five scrolls.
"Hmm.... I will go and inform the Hokage, now go and rest, also congratulations on completing your first mission", said Shisui with a smile as he left.
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