At that moment, Yamato suddenly released seven or eight long wooden pillars, shooting toward the incoming kunai.
Several explosions sounded,
The kunai stabbed into the wood, and the explosive tags detonated, blowing the branches apart.
"Wood Style?" a shocked voice came from the forest.
Everyone turned toward the sound, but saw nothing.
Time passed, yet no more attacks came.
Yamato let out a breath. His Wood Style had reduced the impact of the explosions.
Then he looked at the fat merchant with an ugly face.
"You need to explain. This clearly goes beyond a C-rank mission."
"Any mistake in intel can cost a ninja's life. Now that enemy ninja appeared, this is already a B-rank mission. We have the right to withdraw."
The merchant's face changed as he hurried to explain:
"We really don't know anything! I thought they were just normal bandits. Who knew there were ninja? I was only hired by the Land of Grass to transport goods."
Yamato looked at him suspiciously, but his panic didn't seem fake.
The merchant sighed helplessly:
"These goods were obtained by our Wind Demon Clan from the Land of Grass, after being transported from the Land of Iron."
"We suffered heavy losses passing through Sanji area, so we chose the route through Konoha. We thought no one would dare attack here… but there are ninja."
Yamato understood. This caravan was just hired help, forced to take this route.
At this moment, Naruto stepped forward and smirked:
"That's not all, right? As far as I know, Kusagakure is at war with Taki no Kuni. What they need most right now are ninja tools and explosive tags."
The fat man's lips trembled:
"We didn't know! We never opened the cargo!"
Yamato nodded and said:
"We will withdraw from escort duty. We will only observe until you leave the Fire Country border. We will not protect you anymore."
The merchant froze:
"We can pay more!"
Yamato shook his head:
"I can't. I have to take responsibility for my students."
The merchant looked at Naruto, asking for help.
But this Naruto was different.
Memories from two lives made him suppress Ashura's will early on.
So Naruto showed no mercy. He calmly put the 300,000 taels into his pocket:
"Don't look at me. I follow our Jonin captain's orders."
The merchant was completely stunned.
Soon, Yamato led Naruto and the others away from the caravan.
Izumi looked at Yamato:
"Are we really just leaving like this?"
Naruto smiled:
"We're still watching them. Just making sure they don't cause trouble."
Then he looked at Izumi and Hana:
"Don't think the ninja world is like Konoha. Battles are ruthless. B-rank missions are not something you can handle yet."
"This is clearly a war between ninja villages. Takigakure is stronger than Kusagakure. Those goods are definitely not simple."
"Either this was just a probe, or Yamato's Wood Style scared them. But they won't give up. The caravan will become a target again."
"As ninja, you must abandon unnecessary mercy. Right, Captain Yamato?"
Naruto smiled and looked at him.
Yamato was shocked:
"Where did you learn all this?"
Naruto just smiled:
"From a novel… Biography of Sarutobi Sasuke~"
Yamato, Hana, Izumi: "..."
But at that moment—
BOOM!!!
A huge explosion came from the direction of the caravan.
Yamato frowned and gave a signal.
The three instantly jumped onto the trees, hiding as they looked ahead.