Moreover, Nawaki had also miscalculated a little.
This was a timed mission.
The time limit given by the village was two weeks.
This meant that they had to reach the border of the Land of Fire and the Land of Rain within a week, eliminate the three groups of bandits, and then return to Konoha to deliver the mission.
Otherwise, if they exceeded the time limit, they might be suspected of "defecting."
From Konoha to the border, at a Genin's speed, it would take at least five days of full-speed travel.
Adding in rest time, it would take at least seven days.
However, among the group, even the weakest, Mikoto, in terms of chakra alone, was in no way inferior to an ordinary Chunin.
Their speed was much faster than a Genin's.
However, if Nawaki was not clear about the time it would take to reach their destination, this mission would surely fail.
Even if they completed it in the end, they would be interrogated by the interrogation department upon returning to the village.
Of course, Li Anshi did not tell him this.
Since he had already become a ninja, he had to bear the price that a ninja had to pay.
And his purpose in bringing him out was just to get him used to killing.
When he became familiar with this kind of assassination combat, in the future, when the Second Great Ninja War broke out between Konoha and the Land of Rain, the Land of Earth, and the Land of Lightning, he would have more opportunities to survive and grow on the battlefield.
Besides, even if they were late in returning, with him around, no one in Konoha would dare to interrogate them.
More likely, Konoha would just pretend not to know.
"Let's go!"
It was clear that for their first time out of the village, the three of them were very excited.
After handing their proof of leaving the village to the two Chunin guarding the gate, they ran towards the distant road.
Behind the gate, a group of four- or five-year-old children looked at their retreating backs with envy in their eyes.
They also wanted to leave the village and see the world outside.
But unfortunately, except for ninjas, ordinary villagers could not leave Konoha.
After all, they were all old foxes. The leaders of the villages did not want their own to become a village of spies.
If an ordinary person became a spy for a certain village, even if they were found out, it would not be a good thing for the other ordinary villagers.
After all, in the eyes of the common people, a ninja's chakra was an omnipotent force that could do many miraculous things.
If an ordinary spy were to widely publicize that the ninjas of their village were persecuting the ordinary villagers, many of the ordinary villagers would instinctively take the side of the ordinary people and hate the ninjas.
This was a class conflict, not something that could be shifted by personal likes or dislikes.
In order to prevent this from happening, the leaders of the villages had simply made it more difficult to leave, and it was much more convenient to investigate only the few villagers who entered and exited frequently.
If there really was a spy, there would also be evidence that ordinary people could understand, reducing the friction between them and the ninjas.
The only ones who could leave were ninjas and merchants.
The elders of these children were just ordinary commoners.
They had no funds to buy goods to become merchants.
Therefore, becoming a ninja and seeing the world outside the village was the dream of most commoner children.
"Heh heh..."
Seeing their cheerful appearance, Li Anshi did not want to be a spoilsport and leisurely followed behind them.
In any case, he had already left a Flying Thunder God mark on the three of them. As long as he wanted, he could appear by their side in an instant.
…
"So boring..."
On the road, Nawaki voiced his feelings.
When they had just left the village, the three of them had been very excited and curious about everything outside.
But unfortunately, this feeling of excitement did not last long.
After seeing more, they discovered that there didn't seem to be much difference between the outside and the inside of the village.
Well, to be specific, there was no difference from the forest behind the village.
It was just that the road was a little wider, the trees were a little farther apart, and there were fewer animals in the forest.
And along the way, they hadn't run into anyone.
Occasionally, they would meet some senior ninjas who had already completed their missions and were heading back to the village.
"Yeah."
Mikoto wiped the sweat from her forehead and echoed, "Before I left the village, I imagined how many things I would see that I had never seen before, and how happy I would be."
"But after really leaving, I feel that the outside and the village don't seem to be any different. In fact, it's not even as good as the village."
"Mm."
Rin nodded lightly.
If the three of them were not close, Nawaki and Mikoto probably wouldn't have even heard her voice.
Among the three, she was the youngest.
In terms of chakra, she had even less than Mikoto.
But the Hyuga had a natural advantage in chakra control, and recently, with her training with the daggers, her control over her body and chakra had improved a notch.
So, in terms of traveling, her performance was much more relaxed than Mikoto's.
At the very least, there was no sweat on her head right now.
And the strongest of the three, Nawaki, didn't feel the chakra consumption of traveling. He was just bored from the simple act of it.
"Rin, Mikoto, are you hungry?"
"If you are, let's eat something before we continue."
Looking at the sweat on Mikoto's head, Nawaki suddenly asked.
"Is... is that appropriate?"
She hesitated for a moment.
They were in the middle of a mission.
"What's not appropriate?"
Hearing her say this, he immediately found a large, shady tree and put down his backpack.
"We only ate a little in the morning. After accepting the mission, we spent a lot of time gathering intelligence and supplies."
"Eating now, resting our spirits, and then continuing on our way won't delay us much."
"Alright then."
Hearing him say this, the two girls also stopped and sat cross-legged with him under the tree.
In a few seconds, he had already taken out potato chips, cola, cup noodles, and other things from his backpack and placed them in front of them.
"Nawaki, aren't we going to wait for Sensei to eat with us?"
Seeing him start to tie up his backpack, Rin couldn't help but ask.
"I'll ask."
He turned to look back at the road they had come from and frowned.
He didn't see Sensei Li at the end of the road.
"Sensei..."
Just as he was about to shout, Li Anshi's figure appeared behind him in an instant, and he placed his right hand on his shoulder.
"Nawaki, when you're on a mission, the most taboo thing is to shout loudly."
"Because it will not only expose yourselves, but also the strength behind you to the enemy."
"In a war, if you encounter someone like this, even if the enemy doesn't act, your comrades will kill them before they can speak, to shut them up and prevent greater losses."
"This is the first time I've saved you. Do you have any objections?"
Hearing his words, Nawaki's face turned pale.
In fact, the teachers at the Ninja Academy had told them about this kind of situation.
However, they had not said that they would kill the shouting ninjas.
But he knew that if such a person appeared on the battlefield, what Sensei Li had said was correct.
He was no longer an ordinary person in the village, but a ninja on a mission outside, who had to be able to stand on his own.
A ninja's battle began the moment they accepted a mission.
If this were a battlefield, his previous actions would surely have led to the annihilation of his team.
"I'm sorry, Sensei."
"I have no objections."
"Very good. Seeing as you wanted to find me to eat, this time, I'll save you for free."
"For every subsequent time I act, your mission reward will be reduced by ten percent."
"And I will only act three times at most."
"If you make me intervene more than three times for a mere C-rank mission, then even if you are Lady Tsunade's younger brother, I will tell her that you have no potential to be a ninja."
"I hope you understand that."
"Yes, Sensei!"
"Then I won't disturb your meal."
"For the rest of the time, you can completely treat me as if I don't exist."
After scolding him, Li Anshi's figure disappeared again and appeared on the branch of a large tree fifty meters away.
"I'm sorry, Nawaki."
Rin lowered her head and apologized to him.
"If I hadn't said we should wait for Sensei to eat with us, you wouldn't have made such a mistake."
"I wanted to explain to him just now, but I just couldn't speak."
"It's not your fault, Rin."
He shook his head and comforted her, "It's true that I was too careless."
"I clearly told you in the village that I would definitely protect you."
"But now, I've lost the most important thing for a ninja: vigilance."
"However, please rest assured, this is the last time!"
"I swear!"
"Mm."
Mikoto and Rin nodded, acknowledging his will.
"Then let's eat quickly so we can get on the road."
Mikoto said, "As a ninja, the mission comes first."
"Although we have two weeks, if we can complete it ahead of time, I think it would be a good thing for both us and the village."
"Mm."
With this realization, the three of them did not go through the motions of starting a fire and boiling water to make cup noodles. Instead, they ate potato chips and bread, things that could fill their stomachs quickly.
Perhaps because they had to continue on their way, the three of them did not eat much.
Traveling on a full stomach would be a little uncomfortable.
If one was not in a good state, the strength one could exert would be weakened to a certain extent.
Although the three of them did not think the effect would be great, they did not want to put themselves in a dangerous situation because of some avoidable mistakes.
"Not bad."
Following behind them, Li Anshi nodded slightly.
To be honest, for a first mission out of the village, to be able to do what they had done was already quite remarkable.
"At their speed, they won't run into any danger within thirty minutes."
"In that case, I'll go back to the village for a bite to eat, and then come back to see how they're doing."
Thinking of this, his figure disappeared in an instant.
The reason he hadn't brought anything with him was because he could return to Konoha at any time through the Flying Thunder God Technique.
Along the way, he had left many of his marks.
In any case, as long as this thing was left, it would not disappear with the passage of time.
Leaving a mark outside the village would make it much more convenient for him to leave in the future.
He was different from them.
If he could live well, who would be willing to suffer?
He was not a masochist.
After a delicious lunch in Konoha, he used the Flying Thunder God Technique to appear behind them.
The three of them, focused on their journey, did not notice his figure.
He didn't say anything, just flashed into the forest, keeping them in his sight, and followed behind them, hiding his presence.
"Phew, let's take a rest."
Noticing that Mikoto and Rin were starting to pant, Nawaki looked up at the surroundings and led them into the forest.
"Nawaki, I can still go on."
Mikoto pursed her lips and said to him.
She knew he was doing this to take care of her.
But she didn't want to drag the team down.
Beside her, Rin also had a stubborn expression.
The two of them were already his hangers-on. It was one thing if they couldn't help him, but to drag him down on a mission—how could they accept that?
"Don't overthink it."
Seeing the expressions on their faces, how could he not know what they were thinking?
He then said softly, "Mikoto, Rin, don't forget, we're on a mission right now."
"Maintaining a certain state will allow us to have the ability to deal with a crisis when we encounter one."
"If we continue like this, your condition will only get worse. Not only will our speed slow down, but we also won't have enough ability to deal with a crisis in a special situation."
"At that time, you will really be dragging me down."
"So, Mikoto, Rin, not just now, but in future missions, if you feel any discomfort, please tell me directly."
"Because this concerns the lives of all three of us."
"I understand."
"Mm."
Even if they were unwilling, they had to admit that what he had said was reasonable.
By maintaining their condition, when they encountered an enemy, they would have a certain ability to protect themselves.