Chapter 120: Mission Maniac Begins His Shift

Chapter 120 - Mission Maniac Begins His Shift {I have blessed thee once again so your Offerings shouldn't be limited, go beyond, PLUS ULTRA} The five ANBU operatives departed through the eastern side of the base, bypassing the traditional village gates entirely. Their exit route led them through one of the concealed tunnels which was an underground pathway branching out from the back mountain of the Hokage monument. The tunnel was shielded by multiple layers of seals, which required Shinnosuke's chakra signature to unlock. They moved in single file, masks on, chakra suppressed, and no sound but footsteps on packed earth. Ren stayed in the fourth position, ahead of Deer and just behind Owl. Once they reached the exit, they paused at a narrow crevice that opened into the thick trees just outside the village's inner security perimeter. Shinnosuke signaled with two fingers which was a standard movement signal. The squad leapt out in staggered rhythm, disappearing into the woods. Travel through the forest was fast and without much stoppage. The squad used burst movement with travel, jump and repeat pacing. Every twenty minutes, Shinnosuke paused for a five-second check to confirm chakra levels and positional integrity. Ren noted that Rabbit was already marking trail points using micro-inked tags that would vanish after twelve hours. Owl rarely broke from the side line, his footing always precise and measured. Deer checked terrain impact and vegetation trace ensuring their passage left no physical trail. All in all they moved like a machine. Two hours into the run, Shinnosuke raised a single hand which was a halt signal. The team dropped into concealment without a word. Ren ducked behind a root cluster and activated his wind-enhanced sensory technique, a passive vibration method he developed to detect distant motion with the help of Shinnosuke, though the man was not very powerful his use of ninjutsu was way too ingenuous. He scanned through the are and found no threats. Shinnosuke shifted his fingers. [Change in route. Obstacle ahead. Follow alternate trail.] They adjusted course south, moving deeper into a ridge line. From there, their trail intersected with a shallow streambed. The caravan's projected route ran parallel to it. Another thirty minutes of movement and they reached an observation position. It was a ridgeline overlooking a wide dirt road that cut across the terrain. Shinnosuke raised a stop signal. The team settled into the treeline, setting up camp not with tents but observation positions. Rabbit climbed a tree and deployed three clones each of which had a telescope that extended her visual field. Owl began placing a detonation tag into a tree base, in case they had to delay opponents they would blast the tree. Deer knelt and unpacked a field kit, laying out medical tags. Ren followed Shinnosuke to a higher elevation above the rest. From here, they had clear visibility on the road. They could already see faint tire marks, which were most likely from previous caravans. "This is it," Shinnosuke said quietly. "We wait until movement. Do not engage until the caravan is confirmed hostile or carrying contraband." Ren nodded. "Understood." He knelt beside him, mask down, movements steady. No more words were exchanged. They had ten hours until sunrise. The mission had officially begun. ~~~ Hours passed in silence. The squad remained perfectly still in their respective positions. Clones dispelled every few minutes, feeding visual markers back to Rabbit, who tracked and noted changes in the terrain with the casual efficiency of a veteran. Deer used her position near the creek to mask her scent and chakra signature, and Owl had not moved in almost two hours. Ren shifted only once every twenty minutes to avoid cramps, keeping his senses sharp. His wind-sensitive perception hadn't picked up anything significant, but minor shifts in wind current and leaf flutter told him that there were no large movement yet, and no threats in the surrounding brush. Shinnosuke gave a hand signal. [Maintain silence. Suspected movement ahead.] Rabbit passed confirmation. Using hand signs, she reported: [Target approaching. Single cart. Three escorts. Two walking beside the cart. One scout.] Ren narrowed his eyes, focusing on the path. A few moments later, he heard the wheels creaking and wood grinding against earth with light clatter of loose chains. The kind of sounds a caravan moving under low weight and little urgency would make. From their perch above the road, Ren and Shinnosuke observed the incoming group. Three individuals. Two were dressed in standard merchant robes. The third, moving thirty meters ahead, was lightly armored and had a shinobi's posture with back straight, face at chin level, gaze rotating between forward path and high ridgelines. A scout, likely a D or C-rank missing-nin or a low-level operative. This was also something Ren had learned from Yoru. Missing-nin were divided into different ranks from D to S+. D for Genin, C for Chunin, B for low level Jonin, A for high level and Elite Jonin while S for S-rank missing-nin. S+ was reserved for those beyond S-Rank and right now only Orochimaru was considered S+ missing nin. The merchant cart was drawn by a small ox. Its tarpaulin was dull brown, designed to blend with dirt and dust. Nothing screamed urgency and there were o obvious weapons in view. Shinnosuke tapped Ren's shoulder and gestured. [Eyes on the cart. Analyze chakra presence.] Ren closed his eyes, channeling his chakra sensory skill, tuning his wind perception. The natural airflow gave him nothing at first, just the regular atmospheric disturbances of normal movement. But beneath that, something dense sat within the cart. He opened his eyes and looked at Shinnosuke. [High-density chakra material present. Cannot determine if seal-enclosed.] Shinnosuke nodded and issued the next signals. [Deer, prepare to deploy suppressor field. Rabbit, initiate containment perimeter. Owl, maintain flank coverage.] The signs were returned. Then Shinnosuke gave Ren a single gesture. [Follow.] They slipped from the ridgeline, movement silent and exact. The slope was steep but posed no difficulty. Within thirty seconds, both operatives reached the side of the road, concealed within heavy brush. The scout passed their position, unaware. The cart followed soon after. Shinnosuke gave the signal. [Execute.] A sharp whistling sound split the air. Rabbit's tags detonated, releasing a perimeter mist, much like the hidden mist jutsu but different. It was a suppressor field designed to block sound, sight, and chakra transmission beyond the area. It was a bit flashy, but it was effective. During this one month Ren had come to know about many different kind of seals which the ANBU used, some of them were extremely basic but with clever use that no one thought about and some extremely complicated which even Ren had trouble understanding, like this perimeter mist tag. The ox startled, bucking once before freezing under a secondary genjutsu layered into the mist. The merchants shouted, but the mist muffled their voices. Owl landed directly behind the scout, knocking him out in a clean, silent strike. Ren and Shinnosuke moved. By the time the merchants reached for weapons hidden beneath their robes, Shinnosuke was already at one's throat with a kunai, and Ren landed a kick to the other's wrist, disarming him with a clean, joint-snapping twist. Deer landed softly beside the cart and began her scan. All three guards were restrained in under twenty seconds. Rabbit emerged from the trees, checking the perimeter and confirming no leaks. Owl maintained high ground, scanning for backup, ambush, or secondary threat. There was none. Deer removed the tarp from the cart and examined the storage beneath. Seals lined the crates, three rows deep. It was Fuinjutsu made simple, designed for transport. She performed a quick identification jutsu and nodded. "Confirmed. Explosive tags. C-grade incendiary wire. Mass quantities." Shinnosuke turned to Ren. "Confirm chakra density?" Ren stepped closer, placed his hand on the edge of the box, and released a pulse of chakra. "Density high. Standard explosive seal layering. No evidence of tampering or remote activation. Likely storage-grade, meant for delivery to someone who knows how to use it." Shinnosuke made his decision immediately. "Destroy the shipment." Rabbit moved forward with a explosion tag, but Ren stopped her. "Let me. Wind-style is cleaner." She nodded and stepped back. Ren stood a few meters from the cart, activated his wind affinity, and formed the needed seals. [Wind Release: Cyclone Compression.] A narrow, high-speed wind vortex formed and condensed around the crate's base. As it spun, it ignited friction, heat building within its core. The seals inside the crate reacted within moments. Ren dispelled the jutsu and jumped back. The crates ignited with a sharp flash of light and a loud, contained boom. Due to the suppressor field and Rabbit's mist tag, the sound didn't echo. The damage was limited to the payload. Fire and smoke were minimal, and nothing remained of the contents but scorched earth and ash. With this their mission was complete. Shinnosuke checked the perimeter once more, then turned to Deer. "Heal the dislocated wrist. Make them walk back. Let border patrol pick them up." Deer nodded and performed a standard reset technique on the merchant's broken wrist. The man cried out once but was silenced by a pressure-point strike from her. The three prisoners were bound and tagged with low-level paralysis seals. Owl dropped down, confirming no incoming signatures. Rabbit dropped a marker beacon for the Konoha border patrol squad. With everything complete, Shinnosuke signaled the return. [Mission successful. Extract.] With that they vanished into the trees as silently as they had arrived. ~~~ The journey back was swift with no breaks and no talking. Five figures moved through the trees their chakra signatures hidden and masks on. They reached the outer edge of the village perimeter by dawn and entered through the secondary ANBU path at the base of the Hokage monument. Back in the underground facility, the team regrouped briefly in the debriefing chamber. Shinnosuke submitted the mission summary via scroll to the operations chute, then dismissed the squad. "Good work. Owl, Deer, Rabbit, stand down for forty-eight hours. Butterfly, you will have your next mission soon." Ren though surprised nodded and followed the exit tunnel leading to command base. His first mission was complete. It hadn't been difficult, but it was a different kind of operation. It was different from everything he had done in his Genin time. It was silent, systematic, and precise. It was ANBU. ~~~ Barely thirty minutes had passed when Ren heard a knock on his door. He was resting in his room at the command base after completing his first ANBU mission. Though Shinnosuke had mentioned that he would receive his next mission soon, Ren hadn't expected it to be this soon. Still, he wasn't exactly surprised. He glanced at the points panel of his system. According to the system's current reward structure, every ten B-rank missions completed would grant him one Jonin-level point. If he wanted to accelerate his growth, the answer was simple, take more missions. The clones he left in the basement were already improving his mastery in various fields. All he needed now was to consistently take missions and accumulate points. 'If I can squeeze out as many rewards as possible from B and A-rank missions before they stop giving anything, I might even reach the upper Jonin level much faster,' he thought, a spark of motivation in his eyes. He stood up and opened the door. Standing in front of him was Number 2, Daiki Hatake. Without any introduction or additional words, Daiki simply said, "Follow me." Then he turned and walked away. Ren didn't waste time. He shut the door behind him and followed Number 2 through the dim corridors of the ANBU command base. The path this time was different from the one he had taken with Shinnosuke earlier but it was similar in structure, but clearly leading elsewhere. Ren didn't mind. Another mission meant another opportunity. Unbeknownst to him, this relentless eagerness to accept and complete missions one after the other would eventually earn him a new moniker within the ANBU: the "Mission Maniac." But that was a title for another time. For now, Ren was simply focused on the path ahead, ready to see what his second assignment would bring. ~~~~~ {A quick short arc to introduce to the ANBU work and all the Numbers' squads. Since the mission was quiet fast if you have any questions you can comment here.} {C'mon people, let the stones rain} {If you want to, you can support me on pat-reon.} { h t t p s : / / w w w . p a t r e o n . c o m / Z e e n o n } {You know what else to do} {STONES!!!!}