Chapter 20: Arrival

Returning home. Seimei sat quietly for a while and then started to pack his equipment. Although they were leaving tomorrow, he could prepare his equipment early so that he wouldn't be in a hurry later and could check for anything missing. Taking out his ninja tool bag, Seimei started to put things inside. Six kunai, fifteen shuriken, a roll of wire, five explosive tags, a jar of ointment for treating external injuries, two rolls of bandages, three commonly used antidote pills, and a pack of military rations. As for other things like maps, Furukawa would bring them, so he didn't need to worry about it. After finishing this, Seimei started to seize the time to train. Since he didn't have to go on a mission today, he could finish his training early and store chakra for tomorrow's mission. Although it was just a simple bandit suppression mission, they were leaving the village after all, so Seimei wouldn't be careless. It was wartime now, and who knew how many enemy ninjas had infiltrated the Land of Fire. Although their main tasks were to disrupt the stability of the Land of Fire, attack the logistics supply lines, assassinate important figures, and gather intelligence, who knew if they would be casually killed if they encountered them. No matter how strong Furukawa was, he was only a Jonin. If he was besieged, he might not be able to protect their lives. Of course, it was more likely that they wouldn't encounter each other. In that case, they could safely complete their mission. But what if? Seimei never placed his hopes on luck, so he couldn't neglect the necessary preparations. It was unrealistic to cram and learn new ninjutsu, and it was impossible to upgrade the ninjutsu he had already learned in such a short time. His biggest trump card - the Sharingan - couldn't be awakened just by wanting it. Therefore, besides equipment, the most important thing was to ensure he had enough chakra in his body before setting off. This required him to complete today's training as soon as possible so that he could store chakra for tomorrow's operation. With this in mind, Seimei closed his eyes and began to refine chakra. Time passed by. The room gradually became quiet, leaving only the sound of Seimei's subtle breathing. ... The next day. Morning. A moment before ten o'clock, Seimei arrived at the Konoha gate. From afar, he saw Ryosuke and Mizutani Shizuko. The two were also fully equipped today, but their spirits were even lower than yesterday. Seeing Seimei approaching, Ryosuke forced a smile, covered his mouth and yawned, and then said, "Why are you so early today?" Seimei didn't answer this question but instead asked, "Looking at you two, didn't you sleep well last night?" Hearing Seimei's question, Mizutani Shizuko, with dark circles under her eyes, lowered her head in embarrassment. Ryosuke also said awkwardly, "No... nothing." Obviously, they didn't want Seimei to know their embarrassment. After all, Seimei looked no different from usual, and even seemed more energetic. This made them feel a bit inferior. Just as the three of them were lost in their own thoughts, Furukawa's figure appeared in front of them. "Sensei!" x3 The three of them greeted. "Hmm." Furukawa nodded, his gaze sweeping over the three of them, taking in their states, but he didn't say much. He just asked, "Is everyone's equipment ready?" "Yes." The three replied in unison. "Alright, let's set off now." With that, he took the lead and ran out of the village. Seeing this, Seimei and the others immediately followed. Along the way, no one spoke. Ryosuke and Mizutani Shizuko's originally anxious hearts gradually calmed down during the monotonous journey. ... Several hours later. The sky gradually darkened. A few hundred meters away from Mount Xiaohei, Seimei and the others stopped. After rushing for such a long distance without rest, although the overall speed wasn't fast, it still tired everyone out. Well... To be more precise, it tired Ryosuke and Mizutani Shizuko out, especially Mizutani Shizuko, who was almost exhausted. Among the four, she had the weakest physique. If it weren't for her willpower, she would have collapsed long ago. Needless to say, Furukawa, this level of exercise was nothing to a Jonin. After Seimei's physique increased a bit, it also surpassed ordinary people. Coupled with abundant chakra, he didn't have any major problems running until now, except for slightly heavier breathing. As for Ryosuke... His situation was slightly better than Mizutani Shizuko's, and he still had some energy left, but it would be too much to ask him to fight. Fortunately, Furukawa wasn't insane enough to let them go bandit suppressing immediately, otherwise, only Seimei would be able to act alone. After stopping, Furukawa glanced at the three of them and said, "Hurry up and rest. We'll start the mission in two hours." Hearing this, Ryosuke and Mizutani Shizuko sat down on the ground. They opened their ninja tool bags, each took out a military ration pill, put it in their mouths, crunched and swallowed it, and then started to seize the time to rest. Seimei also swallowed a military ration pill, but he didn't rest. Instead, he climbed up a tree and, before night completely fell, took out a monocular telescope to observe the direction of Mount Xiaohei. He had bought this telescope specifically this morning. Without any investigative ninjutsu, he could only use this for now. As for why he was being so careful with Furukawa beside him? The reason was simple. Furukawa had already said on the way that after arriving here, he would no longer provide any opinions or suggestions, nor would he intervene during the mission. Everything depended on them. That's why Seimei was being so careful. Fortunately, the bandits didn't receive any news of their arrival and didn't take the initiative to attack. During his observation, they all stayed peacefully on the mountain. What? You said how could the bandits possibly get this news? That was uncertain. What if Furukawa wanted to increase the difficulty of the mission and deliberately leaked the information, wouldn't they know then? It wasn't difficult for a Jonin to do this without them noticing. Fortunately, Furukawa wasn't that insane yet. Actually, Seimei had misunderstood him. Furukawa did value his students' actual combat abilities and wanted to train them as soon as possible so that they would have a better chance of surviving on the future battlefield. But he would also consider his students' tolerance. It was obvious that except for Seimei, both Ryosuke and Mizutani Shizuko were already close to their limits, both mentally and physically, under the pressure. There was no need to make things even more difficult. So, after seeing Seimei's actions, even Furukawa, who usually appeared serious, couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth. Obviously, he had already guessed Seimei's thoughts. 'Speaking of which, am I that insane?' Furukawa recalled his actions and thought to himself, "Seems like I'm not... right?" However, he admired Seimei even more. Not only was he diligent in training, but he was also humble and cautious in his actions. No matter when or where, caution was a must for a ninja. If he had to choose the person most likely to survive the battlefield from the three, Furukawa would definitely choose Seimei. Because his personality determined the highest chance of survival. As for strength? Sorry, on that battlefield that was like a meat grinder, even a Jonin might not be able to survive, let alone a Genin? "Sigh, I hope they all survive." With a light sigh, Furukawa withdrew his gaze from Seimei and flashed to another big tree, looking into the distance. His gaze seemed to penetrate the mountains and forests, seeing the ninjas from various villages fighting on the front lines. (End of Chapter)