Chapter 38: Testing Yoruha's actual combat level!
Yoruha's strength was simply improving far too quickly.
Even though Kakashi had already thought Yoruha's talent was exceptional, and that he had the potential to one day catch up to the Fourth Hokage,
he still hadn't expected Yoruha's strength to rise this fast.
Right now, all Yoruha lacked were a few powerful offensive ninjutsu.
And his talent for learning ninjutsu was extremely high.
At this rate, it probably wouldn't be long before Yoruha truly possessed the strength of a Jonin, or even an Elite Jonin.
Shaking his head, Kakashi formed hand seals. "Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall."
Instantly, several earthen walls rose around the two corpses, burying them inside.
After dealing with things there, Kakashi walked out of the woods.
As he passed the broken trees along the way,
even Kakashi found it deeply shocking.
"Just how strong does this kid have to be to break these trees like this?"
"These were only the aftereffects, and they still snapped so many trees. Ordinary ninjutsu probably couldn't even do this."
When he arrived before Yoruha and the others,
he saw Yoruha standing there with a calm expression.
Seeing Kakashi appear, Yoruha asked, "What about those two ninjas?"
Kakashi sighed. "They're both dead."
"Do you know who they were?" Yoruha asked.
Although Yoruha knew they were ninjas from the Hidden Mist, he still asked anyway.
"Two Chunin from the Hidden Mist. Their target should have been Mr. Tazuna."
Kakashi scrutinized Tazuna.
He knew Tazuna had definitely hidden the true difficulty of this mission from them.
The presence of enemy ninja—and two Chunin at that—meant this was absolutely not a C-rank mission, but a B-rank mission. Kakashi even felt these two Chunin were not the strongest ninja they would encounter on this mission.
Clearly, these two Chunin had been sent ahead as scouts.
This mission might even involve a Jonin, which would make it an A-rank mission.
The gap between an A-rank mission and a C-rank mission was enormous.
The payment alone was vastly different. A C-rank mission was at most fifty thousand ryō, while an A-rank mission required at least one hundred and fifty thousand.
Yoruha also looked at Tazuna.
With both Kakashi and Yoruha staring at him, Tazuna grew nervous.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
Though nervous, Tazuna still forced himself to ask calmly.
Kakashi said coldly, "Mr. Tazuna, those two ninjas were after you."
Tazuna flatly denied it. "How could that be? They were obviously after you people."
Kakashi frowned.
Seeing that Kakashi was unhappy, Yoruha reminded him, "Mr. Tazuna, if you don't explain the exact circumstances of this mission clearly, we can't guarantee we'll continue carrying it out."
"There's no need for you to hide it. I'm sure those two ninjas won't be the last group. If we abandon this mission, what do you think will happen to you?"
Yoruha felt that if he didn't force Tazuna to explain everything now, Kakashi really would give up on the mission.
Tazuna had originally still wanted to keep hiding it, but after seeing the seriousness in Yoruha's gaze, he sighed and finally told the truth.
After he finished, Tazuna looked at Yoruha and Kakashi. "Our Land of Waves really needs that bridge. I know I concealed the true difficulty of this mission, but our Land of Waves is poor, and we don't even have ninja."
"We can't afford the fee for an A-rank mission either. Please, the two of you, help our Land of Waves."
"I'm begging you!"
As he spoke, Tazuna knelt down.
Yoruha looked toward Kakashi.
He said nothing.
He was waiting for Kakashi to make the decision, because the person who could decide whether to continue the mission was Kakashi.
After helping Tazuna back to his feet, Kakashi asked Yoruha and the others, "What do you think? Should we continue this mission, or give up and return to the village?"
Kakashi still handed the decision over to Yoruha and the others.
Yoruha offered no opinion.
Sasuke's eyes stayed fixed on Yoruha.
He still hadn't recovered from the shock Yoruha had given him.
Seeing Sasuke say nothing, Sakura also remained silent.
Naruto, meanwhile, had been scared silly and was still standing off to the side in a daze.
No one spoke, and Tazuna became very tense.
If Kakashi and the others weren't willing to escort him, then the bridge in the Land of Waves would never be completed.
Gato had hired a Jonin. Only a Jonin like Kakashi could possibly protect him.
And Yoruha's display of strength just now had already earned Tazuna's trust.
In his view, as long as Kakashi and Yoruha were there, the Jonin hired by Gato shouldn't be able to kill him.
Kakashi looked at Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura, then shook his head.
The three of them were still green and had been completely frightened by what had just happened.
He could only turn his gaze to Yoruha.
Yoruha was a little speechless.
He hadn't wanted to say anything in the first place.
After all, he wasn't a member of Team 7. This mission was Team 7's mission, not his.
But Yoruha felt that if he still said nothing now, Kakashi really would take the team back.
"Kakashi-sensei, I think we should continue with this mission. I'm willing to believe what Mr. Tazuna said."
Kakashi nodded. "Since you've said that, then we'll continue with this mission."
"But Mr. Tazuna, you must tell us what kind of ninja the people trying to kill you have hired, so we can prepare ourselves."
Since Kakashi was willing to continue the mission, Tazuna was naturally overjoyed.
He quickly told them about Gato's situation, and also said, "Gato hired a Jonin from the Hidden Mist. I heard he's a very powerful Jonin."
Kakashi muttered, "Just as I expected. There really is a Jonin."
Kakashi's expression grew grave.
This time, he was leading four genin. If it were just him alone, it would be one thing.
He wasn't worried about Yoruha.
But Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were genuine genin.
If the three of them faced a Jonin, they'd have virtually no chance of surviving.
Kakashi looked at Yoruha and said, "Yoruha, Mr. Tazuna is in your hands. No matter what happens from here on, you must guarantee his safety."
"Sasuke, Naruto, Sakura—you three are to stay close to Yoruha. If you get separated, the enemy can easily pick you off one by one."
Although Sasuke was very unwilling, Kakashi's meaning was obvious: Yoruha was stronger than they were.
But thinking of the strength Yoruha had displayed just now, Sasuke still nodded reluctantly, despite his unwillingness.
Sakura naturally had no objections.
If not for Yoruha just now, she would have been killed.
Yoruha had saved her life, and since even Sasuke had nodded, she naturally wouldn't refuse.
As for Naruto, he was still staring blankly at everyone.
Kakashi looked at Naruto and sighed. "Naruto, what about you?"
Kakashi's words brought Naruto back to himself.
"Huh? I-I don't have any objections."
At that moment, he felt the gap between himself and both Yoruha and Sasuke.
Although Sasuke hadn't performed as well as Yoruha just now, he had definitely done the best out of the three on the team.
As for Naruto, he had done nothing the whole time, standing there completely frozen.
Naruto gritted his teeth, ashamed of his own cowardice just now.
"Next time, I'll definitely stand in front of Sasuke and Yoruha. I'll definitely surpass them."
As soon as he finished speaking, Naruto drew a Kunai and stabbed it straight through his own palm.
"Ah—"
Everyone was dumbfounded.
No one had expected Naruto to suddenly hurt himself like that.
Soon, Kakashi nodded. "Your performance just now wasn't ideal, but it's good that you know to feel ashamed."
Truthfully, Kakashi had not been very satisfied with Naruto's performance.
But this was Naruto's first time leaving the village on a mission, and his first time encountering a scene of killing. It was understandable that he had performed poorly.
Now that Naruto knew how to reflect on himself, he wasn't beyond saving.
Actually, Yoruha hadn't wanted to make a move in this crisis.
Because this was Team 7's mission, and the ones meant to be tempered by it were Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura.
If he stepped in, then it wouldn't achieve the purpose of training them.
But when those two ninja were practically about to kill Sakura, Kakashi was still hiding in the woods and refusing to show himself, so Yoruha could only step in helplessly.
Yoruha knew Kakashi had definitely wanted him to act, so he could test Yoruha's actual combat level.