"So you are Yagyu Sosuke?"
After observing Yagyu with curious eyes, Kurenai Yuhi smiled and spoke.
"I heard Kiba and the others mention you. The top graduate of this class. It seems all the graduates admire and respect you."
Hearing this.
Yagyu smiled calmly and said modestly,
"You flatter me, Kurenai-senpai. I'm only a little stronger than everyone else."
As he spoke.
Yagyu raised his hand and made a gesture with two fingers.
It clearly showed a tiny distance between them.
But in Kurenai's eyes, who already knew about the battle between Anko and Yagyu, that small gap looked like an enormous chasm.
"Anko."
Kurenai looked at Yagyu with a strange expression, then turned to Anko beside her.
"I feel like Yagyu is very humble. He doesn't seem arrogant like you described."
Hearing that.
Yagyu gave Anko a strange look.
He did not expect that in Anko's eyes he had the image of someone arrogant.
Being stared at by Yagyu, Anko's face stiffened.
She looked helplessly at Kurenai.
This good friend had truly sold her out.
"Cough, cough."
After coughing awkwardly, Anko explained,
"Sosuke in battle is not the same as Sosuke normally. I think being a little arrogant during battle is normal."
After giving Anko a meaningful glance, Kurenai did not continue the topic.
"I see."
She casually responded and changed the subject.
"It's about time. Let's go accept our missions."
Anko quickly nodded and walked into the Hokage Tower with Kurenai.
Yagyu did not mind.
He simply followed behind them and entered the Hokage Tower.
…
Unlike Kurenai, who was accepting a D-rank mission.
This time Anko planned to take Yagyu on a B-rank mission, so the process took a little longer.
More than ten minutes later.
Yagyu and Anko finally left the Hokage Tower.
"Do you need time to prepare?"
Standing at the entrance of the Hokage Tower with her hands in the pockets of her long coat, Anko asked Yagyu.
"This mission won't be like the previous ones. We might encounter real danger, and unexpected situations could occur."
Yagyu shook his head.
With his arms folded and confidence on his face, he replied,
"No need. I've already prepared everything. We can go directly. Don't worry, I definitely won't be the one holding the team back."
Seeing Yagyu's confidence.
Anko nodded and said nothing more.
Whoosh.
Her figure moved as she used the Body Flicker Jutsu and quickly headed toward the gate of Konoha.
Yagyu glanced once at the Hokage Tower.
Then his body disappeared in a gust of wind.
Only a single leaf floated slowly to the ground.
…
Whoosh. Whoosh.
Among the tall trees of the forest.
Yagyu and Anko moved rapidly from branch to branch.
"This mission is a special rogue ninja tracking mission."
While moving quickly ahead, Anko explained to Yagyu, who followed behind her calmly.
"You should know the name of the target… Uchiha Itachi."
Hearing that.
Yagyu's pupils shrank.
He looked at Anko in disbelief and almost crashed into a tree.
"Uchiha Itachi?!"
Swallowing nervously, Yagyu looked at Anko.
"Anko-nee, if you want to die, please don't drag me along. Do you know what the name Uchiha Itachi represents?"
It represented extreme danger.
Even with Yagyu's current strength, if he encountered Itachi, escaping alive would already be the limit.
If they rashly sought him out, there would be only one result.
They would be completely crushed.
Yagyu truly could not understand what Anko was thinking by accepting such a suicidal mission.
He also did not expect the Third Hokage to approve this mission and assign it to him and Anko.
This should have been a mission for elite ANBU.
"I know."
Anko continued moving forward, her expression unchanged.
"But this is the mission. We just need to do it. As for danger, of course there is danger."
Hearing this.
Yagyu narrowed his eyes and began analyzing Anko's reaction.
"This mission…"
His thoughts raced rapidly.
"This is probably not as simple as it looks. There must be another reason why it was assigned to me and Anko."
Others might not know.
But Yagyu understood very clearly.
Uchiha Itachi's defection was actually to infiltrate the Akatsuki as a spy.
"Could it be that this mission is meant to…"
A cold light flashed in Yagyu's eyes as he made a guess.
"To obtain intelligence from the Akatsuki through Itachi?"
If that were the case.
Then it would make sense.
However, regardless of the reason, this mission was still extremely dangerous.
"Don't overthink it."
Noticing Yagyu deep in thought, Anko spoke.
"Missions above B-rank are usually like this. Most of the time we're just tracking accurate information. Generally speaking, this kind of mission isn't too dangerous."
Anko's explanation stopped Yagyu from continuing his thoughts.
He could only let it go.
Even so, Yagyu had already finished estimating the danger level of the mission.
His final conclusion was simple.
He might get injured, but his life should not be in danger.
Of course.
Yagyu could only estimate his own situation.
As for Anko, he could not guarantee anything.
Silently, Yagyu decided to continue the mission.
However, if something unexpected happened, preserving his own life would be his top priority.
If possible, he would help Anko.
If not, he would have no choice but to abandon her.
No one valued Yagyu's life more than Yagyu himself.
In the blink of an eye.
Three days passed as Yagyu and Anko traveled.
The Land of Birds.
Following beside Anko, the two walked along a rural path.
"According to intelligence, Uchiha Itachi appeared here about a week ago."
Anko spoke seriously as they walked.
"Our mission is to confirm his traces. We don't need to confront him directly. Normally it's difficult to even encounter a powerful ninja like him. So this mission isn't difficult, it's just troublesome."
Beside her, Yagyu listened with the corners of his mouth twitching repeatedly.
For some reason.
He had a very bad feeling.
Everything Anko was saying sounded like a series of flags being planted in Yagyu's ears.
"Anko-nee, I think you should stop talking…"
Yagyu said while looking at her.
"Otherwise we might really end up in danger."
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