Chapter 056: Sakura Haruno—Is My Career Perhaps a Bit Too Perilous?

After another round of fierce exchange, Kakashi halted, his blade pointed squarely at Mei Terumi. With a gentle press of his finger, a surge of steam, mingled with wild arcs of lightning, swept forward.

“What power!” Mei Terumi frantically channeled her chakra, unleashing a large-scale Boil Release technique to meet Kakashi’s assault head-on. The more she resisted, the faster her chakra dwindled; panic took root in her heart.

“What kind of jutsu is this?!” Mei Terumi cried out, her voice echoing, “You! Is your chakra well bottomless?!”

“Well, who can say?” Kakashi shrugged, flicking his long blade with ease. “So far, I haven’t used much chakra at all.”

That was true—he relied more on his spiritual machinery than on chakra.

But Mei Terumi refused to believe it. Kakashi’s performance had been nothing short of overwhelming; with keen combat instincts, he unleashed technique after technique like a relentless torrent, raining them down upon her. His mastery of the Sharingan, especially, was uncanny—he seemed to anticipate her every move, ensnaring her in illusions and hypnotic confusion.

Even if she hadn’t fallen for his tricks, Mei Terumi found herself in a wretched state.

If Kakashi was genuine, his chakra reserves were truly monstrous—he was like a human-tailed beast.

“Hmph, Leaf shinobi…” Mei Terumi pointed at Kakashi and declared, “No matter what schemes the Land of Fire harbors, remember this—I’m watching you!”

“I will never allow you to threaten Hidden Mist in any way!”

“This time I was unprepared, but next time, I’ll give everything I have to stop you!”

With that, she formed seals, thickening the mist until not even her hand was visible before her face. When the fog dispersed, all the Mist shinobi were gone.

Were it not for the chaos left behind, one might have believed the battle had never happened.

“Kakashi-sensei, did we win?” The three genin gathered around Kakashi, Sakura asking anxiously, “Do you think the Mist shinobi still have any tricks left?”

“No, this round is over.” Kakashi replied, “Everyone else has fallen; only that female Mist ninja remains with any fighting strength. She won’t return—that would be suicide.”

“So, our mission is… completed?” Sakura still felt unreal.

She had imagined that her first mission would be a bloody, terrifying ordeal, surviving only by sheer luck. Instead, she had simply sat by, helping Naruto with the distance and numbers, and victory came so easily. She truly didn’t know how to describe her feelings.

“It should be complete,” Kakashi scratched his head. “I never expected a C-rank mission for rookie genin would turn out so troublesome.”

“Normally, it’s just a quiet escort with the client, and then a boring walk back to the village.”

“Even in times of war, C-rank missions rarely encounter enemies—most are tedious journeys. How could things get so out of hand?”

Sakura sensed something amiss and hurriedly pressed, “So C-rank missions aren’t usually this dangerous? They’re supposed to be safe, right?”

“Not just C-rank—even most A-rank missions aren’t this perilous.” Kakashi scratched his head.

He thought Sakura’s tolerance was a bit weak, but he couldn’t bring himself to obscure the truth or speak evasively.

In the end, he could only admit, “Honestly, that woman is definitely a jonin—and not just any jonin, but an elite among elites. If there’s not much difference between Mist and Leaf, she could well be a strong candidate for the next Mizukage.”

“She was holding back, too—I’d say she showed less than half her true strength.”

“To face an enemy of near Kage candidate level, even most A-rank missions aren’t so terrifying. So, all things considered…”

Under Sakura’s frightened gaze, Kakashi shrugged and spread his hands, “Three little shrimp—I have to congratulate you. Your first mission as ninja was at least A+ rank… though whether the village recognizes it, I can’t say.”

How Leaf would officially classify it was another matter; for now, the focus shifted to Mei Terumi.

After the mission, Mei Terumi led her surviving team back to Hidden Mist. Following the burial of fallen comrades, she and her team began sorting through the intelligence, trying to understand the Land of Fire’s true intentions.

In the process, Mei Terumi realized she had been thoroughly deceived.

The Land of Fire hadn’t schemed in the Land of Hot Springs as she had suspected. Instead, they had used a clever feint—drawing attention away with a diversion.

They deliberately dispatched numerous ninja squads and samurai, publicly escorting the renowned scholar Shinju Komichi to the Land of Hot Springs. In reality, the scholar was merely a decoy.

The true goal was to secretly transport weapons and equipment to the Land of Waves.

They knew Hidden Mist was keeping a close eye on their movements, wary of a potential invasion of the Land of Hot Springs or the Land of Waves.

Thus, they crafted a false trail, distracting the Mist shinobi and exhausting them with the search for the real scholar, preventing interference with their true objective.

Originally, the Land of Fire simply intended to keep Mei Terumi’s team busy, but instead, she actively attacked the Leaf ninja squad.

The unfortunate part was they encountered an unusual team—Kakashi’s Team Seven—and ended up losing their fighting strength.

Not only had the Land of Fire achieved its goal, but they had also unexpectedly weakened Hidden Mist.

“It’s just as you said—the batch of weapons and equipment from the Land of Fire has already arrived in the Land of Waves,” a Mist ninja reported cautiously. “While we were clashing with Kakashi’s team, the exchange happened.”

Bang!

Mei Terumi slammed the table hard. “Kakashi—!! Just wait! Today’s humiliation will be repaid tenfold!”

It was misplaced anger; after all, she couldn’t admit that this defeat was due to her own cleverness.

Meanwhile, in the Land of Waves.

A fishing village by the sea, beside an unfinished bridge.

Near the bridge, an old man in a bamboo hat carefully boarded a boat.

“Uncle Tazuna, are you certain about this?” the fisherman asked. “We could run errands ourselves—how can a great builder like you take such a risk?”

“If we’re discovered by Kaido’s men, it’s all over.”

“It’s one thing for us, but if anything happens to someone of your stature, what then?”

The old man sighed, “We never managed to gather enough money to hire powerful ninja—they might not even be willing to come. If I don’t show up in person, it would seem insincere. Besides, if it’s not me, when it comes time to negotiate, what compelling terms could you offer? You can’t make the decisions.”

“But…”

“Enough. My mind is made up—let’s go.”

The small boat slipped quietly into the dense mist.

Before leaving, the old man glanced back at the shore. There, a slender figure stood far off, gazing in his direction.