[1st POV]
"These are the shinobi of the Hidden Mist, called the Demon Brothers. They are known by such a name because they are relentless in their task; they will not rest until their target is dead or they are," Kakashi said.
Said Demon Brothers were currently tied to a tree and unconscious. We all looked at these shinobi who just attacked us with varying expressions. Kakashi had tried to interrogate them, but only got their names before he knocked them out when they tried to kill themselves.
Such a resolve to kill themselves just to withhold information was shocking to us. Naruto and Sakura were looking at them like they were not even human. I was surprised too.
Sasuke, on the other hand, knew exactly what it was like to be willing to die for a cause. His eyes only hardened when looking at them.
"These two are chunin-level shinobi," Kakashi said, his voice turning serious, "You have some explaining to do Mr Tazuna."
Mr Tazuna sweated under the pressure as Kakashi glared at him with killer eyes, "If other shinobi are targeting you, this mission should be at least B-rank or above. But you submitted a C-rank mission."
In the end, Mr Tazuna revealed everything. He was a lowly builder from the Land of Waves, and he and his team could only afford a C-rank mission.
When asked why he was targeted, he explained the story I was already familiar with. The Land of Waves was an isolated island. The only way to get to the island was through ships.
And the bridge he was building was going to finally stop that and connect the island with the mainland. But there was a criminal lord in the Waves known as Gato. He owned the shipping industry there and he used the limited transport to hoard money.
He had an absolute monopoly, and he also transported drugs and other illegal things through his shipping company. The bridge was going to interfere with his control, hence he had done everything to stop Mr Tazuna from building the bridge.
He cut off fundings as much as he could, hence why Mr Tazuna could not even afford a B-rank mission. And now that the bridge was nearly complete, Mr Gato began hiring shinobi to eliminate Mr Tazuna.
"Please, whatever you do, you need to get me safely back to my home so I could complete the bridge. It's not just me but the whole country of Waves depends on you," Mr Tazuna begged earnestly.
We were all convinced by the story and even empathised with him. But Kakashi was a different case.
"I can't do that. We need to stop this mission as soon as possible. This is beyond our capabilities," he said coldly.
"Ah, but Kakashi sensei!!" Naruto tried to protest but got a hard glare from the copy ninja.
"You saw what happened Naruto. It's dangerous. You froze immediately when those Demon Brothers attacked. What makes you think we can do this? More attacks are imminent. They would only send stronger shinobi here onwards," Kakashi said.
Naruto gritted his teeth but couldn't refuse. He looked down in shame. Indeed, he had frozen in fear when the attack happened. This Naruto was still not the greatest Hokage that he was supposed to be. He hadn't grown.
"I wouldn't hear any excuse. We are cancelling this mission," Kakashi said.
I raised my hand.
"I said I will not hear excuses Suyou," Kakashi said, turning to me.
"It's not an excuse Kakashi," I said, addressing him respectfully but not calling him sensei. "Technically you and your team are not capable of taking B-rank missions. But you are not the only one in this mission right?"
Kakashi narrowed his eyes, "A single genin is not going to change anything."
"Not a genin, a genin team. I am, myself alone, Team 1. Technically there are two genin teams responsible for this mission. That's how it's written on the mission paper if you read. And two genin teams are allowed to take B-rank missions," I said.
"And when a mission changes in rank, if the team is still capable, they automatically become eligible for the mission," I said.
Kakashi was silent and continued to stare. He contemplated thoroughly before he asked, "And you think you provide enough security and power as a full team?"
"Yes," I answered quickly.
"...."
"...."
A blur.
My eyes widened.
Kakashi blurred at me with the Body Flicker Jutsu. He was fast, but not as fast as the Hokage. Therefore, although I was caught by surprise, I reacted.
I pulled out a kunai and clashed with Kakashi's kunai that was swinging at my neck without remorse. Sparks flew and a small shockwave exploded out.
The sound of electricity rang in my ears and I saw his kunai encased by lightning chakra. His kunai cut into mine but I also applied wind chakra nature on my kunai and managed to stop him before he sliced through my kunai.
I made a single hand sign behind me and a shadow clone popped out beside me in a puff of smoke.
Kakashi reacted fast. He took out another kunai with his other hand and swung at my clone. But the clone was prepared and leaned back to dodge the swing at his neck. The clone threw a low kick, aiming at the knee of Kakashi.
He was forced to leave the stalemate and moved back. But he quickly performed hand signs and launched a jutsu at me.
I recognised that hand sign immediately. This was why learning many jutsu, even though you may not use them, was important.
"Lightning Style: Lightning Chain!!" he said and literally spat out a chain of lightning mid-air from his mouth.
It was a projectile B-rank jutsu that acted similar to the fireball. But here, instead of flames, it was lightning.
I quickly made hand signs too. I was slower than him but since I recognised his hand signs, I had enough time to react.
My clone and I made the hand signs before we crouched down and slammed our palms on the earth.
"Earth Style: Earth Wall!" The moment our hands touched the ground, a wall of earth emerged in front of us and blocked the chain of lightning.
The earth element was countered lightning but we were able to stop the attack.
My clone followed up with another hand sign immediately.
"Wind Style: Gale Palm," he said and began gathering a small tornado in both his palms.
The moment the earth wall fell back on the ground, I jumped and twisted my body. The clone slammed his palm on the soles of my feet, and I shot out like a bullet. The speed was supposed to be even faster than the Body Flicker Jutsu but the trick here was that I couldn't control the trajectory and I lose momentum quickly in comparison to the Body Flicker Jutsu.
My clone exploded from the sheer shockwave as I blitzed towards Kakashi.
But Kakashi was an elite ninja so he dodged by bending his back. I blitzed right above him and I could see his widened eyes as I flew past him in a blur.
I quickly twisted my body and flipped to slow my momentum. I landed horizontally on a tree trunk. There, I landed my legs up again and exploded out with kunai still in my hand.
Kakashi used the Body Flicker Jutsu once more and he too shot towards me.
His kunai was still covered in lightning, but I noticed that the lightning was bigger. It was probably a jutsu and not just change in nature. Of course Kakashi the copy ninja knew more jutsu than me.
For safety, I used the Susanoo to cover my hand from elbow up. It acted like an armour around my arm.
We clashed in the middle.
BOOOOOM!!
His lightning came for my arm. It was a jutsu indeed. The lightning travelled from his arm to mine, it would paralyse me had I not been careful. But luckily, the Susanoo helped me with the lightning.
We pushed each other away once more. I landed with a ready stance but Kakashi landed straight.
"Okay, let's continue the mission," he said and extinguished his lightning with a flip of his hands, like he was cleaning dirt.
I too pulled back the Susanoo and finally my kunai fell apart, sliced in half.
"I'm glad we agree," I said and fixed my posture too.
But two three shuriken flew at me right when I lowered my guard. I saw that and threw my broken kunai at them. The handle of the kunai bounced off the three shuriken, making them fall on the ground with a clang.
That was probably an attempt at a lesson from Kakashi, about never keeping my guard down. But Hiruzen already pummelled that lesson into my soul.
"Hm," he nodded.
Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura all looked at me with open jaws. Their surprise was evident in their eyes. It was like they were looking at me in a whole different light.
I waved at them with a smile and a thumbs up.
"What!! When did Suyou get so strong!!" Naruto exclaimed while pulling his hair.
Sasuke gritted his teeth and growled. I could see anger and frustration in his eyes. Sakura on the other hand simply continued to stare.
"Of course he will be strong, he trained under the Hokage," Kakashi remarked.
He was the least impressed, not only because he was aware of my strength already but because he had reached higher level when he was my age. That was the kind of talent Kakashi was.
The trauma in his life, the Sharingan that did not belong to him and the lack of wars and strong opponents was the only reason why he stagnated. If not for that, Kakashi was talented enough to be an absolute monster.
"Let's go, we will rest in the next town," Kakashi said.
When we left, Kakashi threw shuriken at the unconscious Demon Brothers. The lightning infused kunai penetrated their skull and even the tree where they were tied to, effectively killing them without the kids noticing.
Brutal.
Indeed this was a brutal world where weakness was a sin punishable by death.
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