Perhaps it was the news of their arrival combined with nearly ten days of travel, but the merchant caravan—and even Shizune and Genhai—had finally lowered their guard.
They entered a narrow forest path.
The carriage wheels rolled forward, crushing fallen twigs and dry leaves with crisp snaps and rustling sounds.
Saiki, walking on the left flank, scanned Shizune, Genhai, and the other members of the caravan before shifting his gaze straight ahead.
"Hana-Hana: Hundred Blooming Flowers!"
Activating his Flower-Flower Fruit ability, countless eyes bloomed upon the leaves within the forest. Everything within a thousand-meter radius fell under his surveillance.
Confirming the situation, Saiki spoke up to warn them: "The branches are getting denser. Watch your step!"
Hearing this, the merchant members merely glanced at him without much concern. Even Shizune and Genhai were somewhat lax. Only Tsume Inuzuka noticed the subtle hand signals Saiki was making to relay intelligence.
The message was: "Sensei Tsume, there are two ninjas camouflaged on the road three hundred meters ahead, and two more in the trees. Keep quiet; let's give Shizune and the others a little lesson."
Tsume understood Saiki's intent. She recalled Kuromaru, who—as a sensory specialist—should have alerted them earlier but was now staying back on her command.
As Tsume's ninken, Kuromaru shared everything with her; with just a glance, he understood her plan.
He ran back to Shizune and Genhai's side, partly to protect them from accidents and partly to put the ninjas hiding under the leaf piles at ease.
The carriage had not yet reached the hiding spot of the two ninjas buried under the leaves.
Suddenly!
Whoosh!
A violent gale erupted within the dense forest, whipping up a whirlwind of leaves and dust.
Faced with this sudden, unnatural wind, everyone instinctively closed their eyes. The merchants gripped their reins tight, while the guards grabbed the burlap covers shielding the cargo.
A chilling intent lunged at them through the wind, followed by the sharp shoo-shoo-shoo of projectiles cutting through the air.
Saiki closed his eyes along with the others, but this didn't hinder his vision. With eyes bloomed all over the surrounding trees, everything remained in his sight.
Moreover, even without eyes, Saiki possessed powerful sensory abilities.
Using Wind Style to kick up leaves and dust to obscure vision before launching a raid... is the primary goal to take out the Chunin leader first?
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The sound of shuriken and kunai piercing flesh echoed. In Saiki's forward field of vision, Tsume Inuzuka was instantly riddled with shuriken and explosive-tagged kunai from both front and back.
Then, a thunderous explosion went off. Fire and smoke completely swallowed Tsume.
The horses, spooked by the massive commotion, began to neigh and thrash. The drivers pulled back on the reins with all their might but struggled to control the panicked animals.
Faced with this sudden turn of events, Shizune and Genhai forgot all about the caravan. They whipped around to look at the smoke and dust where Tsume Inuzuka should have been.
"Sensei Tsume?!"
Shizune screamed in terror.
Swish!
Having "successfully" assassinated Tsume, the four hidden figures from the trees and the ground lunged out simultaneously in the next instant.
Sensing the terrifying threat from the rear and flanks, Genhai and Shizune were paralyzed with fear. Only Saiki, hand on his hilt, remained calm.
"Die, brat!"
Looking at the Chunin charging at him with a kunai, Saiki simply smirked. "Oh, it's you?"
A cold glint flashed. Drawing and sheathing the blade happened in a single fluid motion.
Blood sprayed. A gory head spun through the air as the headless body collapsed.
With a swift sidestep, Saiki avoided the drenching blood and the falling corpse.
The head, eyes wide in shock, rolled a few times on the ground. To his dying breath, he couldn't understand how he lost.
The destructive power of a shinobi far exceeds that of an ordinary human, yet their defensive capabilities are remarkably poor.
Their "health bars" are simply not thick enough, leaving no room for error; a single minor mistake can cost you your life, which highlights the absolute importance of intelligence.
Unless an opponent was exceptionally powerful or possessed detailed intelligence on Saiki, facing him almost always resulted in an instantaneous kill.
The Chunin wielding the kunai was the only one of his rank in this squad. Even if he couldn't defeat Saiki, he should have at least been able to use his weapon to parry a strike.
However, just as he was about to swing his kunai, an arm suddenly sprouted from his own waist and seized his wrist.
The hand he intended to use for defense was caught; he froze for a split second, and by the time he tried to defend with his other hand, it was already too late. He lurched forward toward Saiki, completely exposed.
Forget a mere Chunin—unless it was someone who had specifically tempered their physical body through elite Taijutsu, even Madara Uchiha would be cut down by Saiki in a single stroke.
While Saiki was slaughtering the group in an instant, action unfolded on the other two sides.
"Fang Over Fang!"
The great ninken, Kuromaru, transformed into a high-speed, rotating black tornado, heavily wounding the two Genin lunging at Genhai and sending them flying back in a single moment.
Before Shizune could even process what was happening, the neck of the Genin pouncing toward her was seized in a crushing grip.
A familiar silhouette stood firmly before her.
"Are you alright?"
A hand patted her head as a familiar voice reached her ears; the sound brought Shizune out of her state of shock, and a smile of pure relief and joy instantly broke across her face.
"Sensei Tsume!"
"Mm!" Tsume Inuzuka nodded.
Looking over, the spot where the explosion had occurred was now nothing but a pile of splintered wood and a fresh crater.
Saiki walked over to the two Genin who had been blown back by Kuromaru, delivered the finishing blows with clinical precision, and sheathed his blade before returning to the group.
"Boss..."
Seeing Saiki take down a Chunin with such effortless ease while his own body was still trembling, Genhai lowered his head, speaking in a voice heavy with shame.
Noticing this, Saiki patted his shoulder comfortingly. "Don't beat yourself up. The first time I faced something like this, I was in a much worse state than you. You'll get used to it. Just remember for next time: never let your guard down, and stay combat-ready every second you're on a mission."
"Yes, Boss! I'll remember that!" Genhai lifted his head and shouted, as if trying to prove his resolve to himself.
Turning to the still-startled Shizune, Saiki smiled. "Shizune, that goes for you too. I did warn you just a moment ago."
"I... I understand!" Shizune nodded, her expression equally sheepish.
Standing nearby, Tsume Inuzuka watched them with a satisfied grin, even though those words should have come from her as the team leader.
She hadn't quite seen exactly how Saiki dispatched that Chunin, but she knew that even for her, taking down an opponent of that level would have required some actual effort.
Saiki's performance only served to solidify a certain theory she was forming in her mind.
In truth, they could have struck much sooner, but Tsume had taken a slight risk to let the kids learn a hard lesson. She turned her attention to Toda and the rest of the merchant caravan.
"Is everyone alright?"
After a peaceful journey thus far, the sudden ambush had left the merchants badly shaken.
Fortunately, after killing the Chunin, Saiki had dispatched two clones to help steady the panicked horses; otherwise, their losses would have been catastrophic.
"We're fine, we're fine... I just didn't expect something like this to happen so close to our destination," Toda replied, his voice still trembling with lingering fear.
"As long as everyone is safe."
Tsume nodded and didn't linger on the matter. After offering Shizune a bit of comfort, she began inspecting the corpses.
A ninja's body is a treasure trove of information, especially for those with Kekkei Genkai. Even though these four were only Chunin and Genin, their bodies could still yield valuable intelligence.
Although he was the one who killed three of them, Saiki was still somewhat averse to touching the dead. Nevertheless, he walked over, followed closely by Shizune and Genhai.
"Sensei Tsume, these guys look like ordinary rogue ninja," Saiki remarked.
The identities of the four were a mess. Their forehead protectors suggested they were from the Hidden Rain, the Hidden Grass, and one from the Hidden Steam.
"Mm. Do you know something?" Tsume asked, standing up to face him.
Saiki nodded. "If I remember correctly, these were some of the chakra signatures I sensed back when I was patrolling that small town. I didn't expect them to tail us this long before making a move. Our escort mission isn't exactly carrying anything high-value."
"Were they after us, then?" Genhai asked, puzzled.
Hearing their conversation, Toda scrambled over to explain himself, terrified. "Everyone, this has absolutely nothing to do with us! We didn't withhold any secret information or valuable cargo!"
Mission fraud was a grave offense. Not only would the perpetrator be blacklisted from ever posting commissions again, but they would also face severe retaliation and fines from the Hidden Village.
Looking at Gato's actions in the original story with Tazuna—well, the bridge builder was only lucky he had the protagonists. With anyone else, Gato wouldn't even have needed to hire Zabuza; the Leaf would have handled the "fraud" themselves.
Seeing how nervous Toda was, Tsume reassured him, "Mr. Toda, we aren't suspecting you. Please, calm down."
In these turbulent times, nations frequently posted bounties on the black market for ninja from other villages. Even for a squad like Saiki's that didn't have specific bounties, a ninja from one of the Five Great Villages was still worth a decent payout.
In a sense, it was a practical way for the world to "recycle" rogue ninja.
The Leaf put bounties on other villages, and other villages did the same to the Leaf; it was a mutual, unspoken understanding.
This was precisely why rogue ninja were so widely detested and hunted.
Furthermore, to protect mission quotas or simply eliminate competition, ninja from different villages would seize any opportunity to kill one another during an assignment.
To build up the kids' mental fortitude, Tsume made them help dispose of the bodies properly.
After resting for over an hour and feeding the horses, the group resumed their journey.
The rest of the trip was uneventful. By late afternoon, they successfully arrived at Hot Springs Town.
Hot Springs Town was a stone's throw from the Land of Steam. As a major hub between the Land of Fire and the Land of Steam, it was quite prosperous and famous for its abundant natural hot springs.
"Here is the commission fee. Thank you so much for the protection along the way. If you don't mind, please stay at my inn for the night so I can host you properly," Toda said upon arrival, handing over 150,000 Ryo in banknotes to Tsume.
At the sight of the money, Shizune and Genhai—who had been quite shaken that morning—both broke into smiles. Saiki did too; after all, who doesn't love getting paid?
Tsume took the money and did a quick count. Finding that it was 30,000 Ryo more than the original 120,000 Ryo agreement, she smiled. "No need, Mr. Toda. Thank you for the offer, but our mission officially ends here."
After parting ways with Toda, Tsume noticed that Shizune and Genhai were still a bit drained. She decided they would stay the night in town to recover before heading back to Konoha, checking into a different hot spring inn.
The reason she didn't stay at Toda's place was twofold: first, they couldn't be 100% certain he wasn't involved in the ambush, and second, once a mission concludes, it's best for ninja and clients to limit their contact.
Once they were settled in at the inn, Tsume took the extra 30,000 Ryo and split it evenly among them, with each of the four receiving 7,500 Ryo.
Unlike Naruto's famous mission, Saiki's team hadn't officially upgraded their mission rank in the records. While the contract said 120,000, they had been handed 150,000; that extra 30,000 was theirs to distribute as they saw fit.
As for the official 120,000 Ryo listed on the scroll, that would be divided back at Konoha after taxes.
Knowing Saiki's true strength, Tsume had consulted him, but he didn't ask for a larger share. Tsume was the commanding Chunin, so back at the village, she would take half while Saiki, Shizune, and Genhai split the other half.