The Wolf Holds Back

After a few hours of reminiscing, it was finally Inoue's turn to take watch and I immediately slept after a few minutes of closing my eyes.

Whenever I'm outside the confines of Konoha, I always sleep lightly. That is why when Mia arrived quietly and entered my shadow from Mount Tsuki, I was immediately woken up.

When I opened my eyes, I can see that it was Shiroe's turn to keep watch but he is sleeping peacefully in his place. I then immediately checked my surroundings if everything is okay and I spotted that Kaori is missing.

"Everybody wake up!" I said in a rushed voice.

Inoue and the rest of them immediately woke up except for Shiroe.

"What is it?" Inoue asked.

"Kaori is missing, be ready for anything." I said.

Inoue then immediately went to Shiroe and smacked his head to oblivion. Shiroe then woke up startled but was unable to shout because Inoue covered his mouth.

"What are you doing sleeping at your designated time to keep watch! What if something happened while you were sleeping! Kaori is missing. Do you know anything that might have happened." Inoue whispered immediately. She then released her hand from his mouth.

"I'm sorry, she said that she will keep watch for me and told me to sleep." He said.

Inoue just 'Tsked' in annoyance and decided to reprimand her student later.

I then flashed from my spot when I immediately heard something rustling from the bushes.

"Kyahhhh!" A girly scream resonated from my ears and when I looked at the culprit, it was none other than Kaori.

"Hime!" Ken shouted.

"Where were you, Kaori Hime?" Inoue asked when she knew that it wasn't an enemy.

"I just went to the nearby stream to get some water." She said as she pointed at the direction of the stream nearby.

"Can you release me now Daisuke." She said as she tapped my arms that were locked at her neck with my other arm with pointed nails were pointing at the side of her neck.

I then released her from the chokehold that I loosened as soon as I realized that it was her.

When we finally realized that there was nothing dangerous around us, I immediately relaxed my body.

"You shouldn't have left without anyone of us knowing Hime." I said.

"I just wanted to get some water." She said while I massaged my temples.

'Why didn't I heard her getting up. I might have mistaken her for Shiroe since the direction they've slept was in the same direction.' I thought.

"No Daisuke, it wasn't her fault. If this BAKA didn't sleep on his watch, we wouldn't have this conversation." Inoue said while giving Shiroe a hard slap behind his head.

After reprimanding Shiroe and Kaori for another minute.

"Mia has already arrived that's why I woke up." I said while Inoue and the others especially Ken and Kaori tensed from their spot.

I then summoned Mia from my shadow.

"Good morning Daisuke Dono. I just got the message from your Hokage and traveled through Mount Tsuki and Elder Leah summoned me here in your location." Mia said.

"Thank you, Mia. Can I see the letter now?" I said while Mia grabbed a scroll from her shadow and gave it to me.

I then immediately gave the scroll to Inoue since she is the Highest-ranking officer among us.

"Due to the changes that have occurred during your mission, I assign you, Yamanaka Inoue, to continue the mission and rendezvous with a team of Anbu along the way to the Land of Valley at the Bridge of Ghost. This mission will be a Ranked A Mission. Be safe!" Inoue announced the content of the letter.

"So we'll continue the mission Inoue Sensei?" Nemu asked.

"Yes, but we'll need to be careful. We'll leave in 30 minutes. Pack up everything that you need and always stay vigilant on our way." Inoue said.

After 30 minutes, we then went on our way to the Bridge of Ghost.

We mainly traveled through the jungle for cover if ever the enemy wants to ambush us on our way to the Land of Valley.

After a few hours of walking and resting that accumulated for 2 days, we finally arrived at the Bridge of Ghost.

"You finally arrived." An Anbu with a Mouse mask approached us when we arrived at the Bridge of Ghost.

I eyed the Anbu and stared at him for a while. When he made eye contact with me, I immediately knew that this is not Mouse.

'How will I tell them that this is an ambush.' I thought while I enhanced my senses to its peak and saw 6 different chakras around us. There are 3 in front of us including the Anbu with a Mouse mask and 3 behind them at the end of the bridge.

"Yes, we needed to make some detours to avoid ambush. Plus we needed to take a lot of rest for our clients since they don't have the stamina for a fast-paced travel." Inoue said.

"It's okay. According to the mission that the Hokage gave us, we will handle the escort mission from here on out." Mouse said while the 2 Anbus behind him walked slowly on our destination.

"Can I see the proof of mission the Hokage issued for you guys?" I asked I needed to bluff here on out to tell Inoue that this is a trap.

"What are you talking about Daisuke Teme. These guys are Konoha Anbu. Why do you need to ask them for their mission scroll." Shiroe dumbly asked.

"I'm just following protocol. So can you show me the mission scroll as proof of your identity since I can't ask you to show your face or your Konoha forehead protector." I said while Shiroe tried to speak again but Inoue stopped him.

"Can you do what my student said? I also would like to see the mission scroll since our mission was to rendezvous with you. Not to surrender our client." Inoue said.

The Anbu then put his hand in his scroll holster but after he reached out, he then threw a kunai at Kaori in a very fast motion.

I then immediately blocked the attack while pulling Ken and Kaori down to the ground since another barrage of Kunais and Shurikens were headed our way.

"GET DOWN!" I yelled.

I could have deflected all of the projectile away if I wanted to, but since I don't want to show my powers that much I just decided to yell out for everyone to follow my instruction.

Inoue then grabbed Shiroe who was near her and pulled him down, while Nemu and Shinji followed what I said.

After all of them ducked, a barrage of Kunai and Shuriken passed through the air.

The 3 fake Anbus in front of us charged in our direction while the other 3 behind them appeared at the other end of the bridge.

I then didn't wait for Inoue's orders and I rushed to the charging opponents with my Katana released from my wrist.

"Ittoryu: Crescent Moon Slash!"

I yelled while I created a large-sized wind blade through the rushing opponents.

The attack was so fast that 1 of the 3 ninjas in front was sliced in half while the others dodged that slash.

They were shocked at my display of power since they thought that I was just a fresh genin.

I then charged another attack but someone appeared in front of me.

The leader of the group who wore Mouse's mask blocked my path when I tried to rush the others.

"Leave this brat to me. Riku, Miko, kill the Jonin. Kibaou, kill the other 3 genins. Hachi kill the Princess and his chaperone." The leader ordered his subordinates while blocking my way.

"You sure you want to battle this kid Eiji, isn't it overkill." The guy named Hachi said.

"He killed Akio, so I need to teach this brat a lesson." Eiji said.

All 4 of the other enemy-nin went to their targets. I then tried to chase them again but I heard a large fireball coming towards me so I dodged it by jumping to my left.

"I thought you were a clever kid but maybe I was mistaken. I would advise that you don't take your eyes off of me. If you do then you will die immediately." He said with a maniac smile.

"What did you do to the Anbu's that was supposed to meet us here in these bridge?" I asked.

"Ohhh, are you talking about the one who wore the mask I used? Is he your brother or something? Well, they are now having a meeting with Kami sama in the afterlife. The 2 of them did a number on my team. We were supposed to be a 10 man squad, but as you can see. 4 of us died when we attacked them. I specifically killed that Mouse Masked man while cutting him limb after limb until he died." He said.

"Well, I'll tell you something. Killing them was the worst thing that you could have confessed right in front of me." I said in a very scary tone.

My eyes then turned black with red iris. My fingers sharpened and I vanished from my spot.