Dark clouds obscured the moon. Sarutobi Squad had laid out their sleeping bags and were resting near the bonfire. The flames could ward off most wild beasts and provide warmth on cold nights.
"Tsunade, your sleeping bag is over there."
Orochimaru looked at Tsunade, who had come closer, then at the rolled-up, unopened sleeping bag.
"Squeeze in!"
Tsunade grinned and squeezed into Orochimaru's sleeping bag.
A single sleeping bag was fine for one person, but very cramped for two.
"How about I squeeze in with you two too?"
Jiraiya smiled lewdly, approaching Tsunade and Orochimaru. Just as he was about to squat down, Tsunade's fist hit his calf.
"Ah ah ah ah! My leg, my leg!"
Jiraiya cried out in pain, rolling on the ground clutching his leg.
"Do you still want to squeeze in?"
Tsunade extended her hand towards Jiraiya, clenching it into a fist.
"No, no, no!"
Jiraiya shook his head repeatedly, lifting his injured leg, and quickly moved away from Tsunade using both hands and feet.
Being too relaxed isn't good... Hiruzen Sarutobi lay on a tree trunk, watching everything unfold below. He closed his eyes, pretending to be asleep, but his peripheral vision glanced at the distant, dark bushes, anticipating his three students' performance.
"Orochimaru, you noticed, didn't you?"
Tsunade rested her head on Orochimaru's chest, her peripheral vision looking into the distance, and whispered.
"They've been ambushing for a long time, waiting for us to lower our guard."
Orochimaru yawned, his eyes narrowed, holding Tsunade affectionately and familiarly, as if having a pre-sleep chat with a very close friend.
"It seems Hiruzen-sensei wants us to handle it ourselves."
"Hiruzen-sensei must have already noticed."
"I wonder if that idiot Jiraiya has noticed."
"Jiraiya isn't that stupid."
Orochimaru and Tsunade "chatted" for a few moments. It seemed the day's travel had made them very tired, and they soon fell asleep. Jiraiya lay in his sleeping bag, his face contorted in pain; Tsunade's punch to his calf really hurt.
Those guys, are they still not going to make a move?
Jiraiya half-heartedly pretended to be in pain, clutching his calf, and secretly glanced in that direction.
A moment later, as Sarutobi Squad fell into "deep sleep," the people ambushing in the dark decided to act.
"A Ninja team from the Hidden Leaf Village? They have no caution at all."
"They're just snot-nosed kids. The leading Ninja is too irresponsible, hehehe!"
"I thought Konoha would send some tough characters. Konoha is nothing special."
"It seems Konoha hasn't recovered yet, otherwise they wouldn't let Ninja of this caliber lead a few kids on a mission."
Four people dressed in worn-out hemp kimonos, looking like rogue Ninja, emerged from the darkness.
"Alright, let's move. Water Release: Hidden Mist Technique!"
The leader of the four, who had a Ninja umbrella on his back, formed hand seals, and a thick mist spread, quickly enveloping the area where Sarutobi Squad was located.
Several shuriken and Kunai flew out of the thick mist, aimed at Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was lying on the tree branch, hitting his body and splattering blood.
Two rogue Ninja came to the sleeping bags where Orochimaru and Tsunade were resting, and another rogue Ninja came to Jiraiya's sleeping bag, drawing their wakizashi from their waists and stabbing towards the three. They wouldn't hold back just because the people they were killing were children.
Bang—!
The smoke dispersed. The three people stabbed by the wakizashi—Orochimaru and Tsunade turned into wooden stakes, and Jiraiya turned into a frog doll sticking out its tongue and making a funny face.
"No, it's a Substitution Jutsu! Ah!"
"How dare you ambush Jiraiya-sama! You've got guts!"
A foot flew out of the thick mist. The rogue Ninja screamed and fell to the ground, with a deep indentation of a footprint on his face and blood flowing from his collapsed nose. Jiraiya looked at the rogue Ninja on the ground and looked around. The thick mist blocked his vision, preventing him from knowing the situation with Orochimaru and Tsunade.
Just as Jiraiya was about to rush towards Orochimaru and Tsunade's direction, he heard Orochimaru's voice from within the thick mist.
"Wind Release: Violent Wind Palm!"
Orochimaru clapped his hands together, and a fierce gust of wind dispersed the thick mist.
"Bastard!"
Tsunade punched a rogue Ninja in the abdomen.
The rogue Ninja's expression twisted, his eyes wide and mouth agape. Struck by Tsunade's terrifying punch, he collapsed to the ground without even being able to scream.
Another rogue Ninja charged at Tsunade with a Kunai.
"Tsunade, duck!"
Tsunade heard Orochimaru's voice and immediately crouched down.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
Orochimaru quickly formed hand seals, making the Tiger seal with both hands, and spewed scorching flames from his mouth. The flames formed a fireball that, under the rogue Ninja's screams, consumed him and flew dozens of meters forward.
Boom—!
The fireball exploded. Scattered flames burned on the ground, and a charred corpse lay on the ground, a smell of burning flesh permeating the air.
Tsunade was amazed by the power of Orochimaru's Fire Release, but felt no envy. She had seen how hard Orochimaru trained, and while others might not reach this level, they wouldn't be too far off.
Orochimaru smelled the burning flesh, looked at the charred corpse, and frowned slightly. He felt nothing at all after killing for the first time.
Although he had mentally prepared himself, he hadn't expected to feel nothing after killing someone.
"Orochimaru, Tsunade, are you alright?"
Jiraiya rushed to Orochimaru and Tsunade's side. He looked up and saw Hiruzen Sarutobi on the tree trunk, covered in Kunai and shuriken, his head hanging down. Jiraiya clutched his head and cried out in despair, "Hiruzen-sensei!"
Orochimaru and Tsunade followed Jiraiya's gaze and were also startled by the scene.
Suddenly, a Ninja umbrella was thrown into the air, opening and spinning.
"Ninja Art: Rain of a Thousand Needles!"
The person who had not appeared until now, seemingly the leader of the rogue Ninja, emerged. The spinning Ninja umbrella launched senbon like rain, not only covering Orochimaru and his team but also not sparing his own people.
"Earth Release: Earth Shore Return!"
Orochimaru slapped his hands on the ground, and a large stone slab flipped up from the earth. Tsunade grabbed the stone slab with both hands and lifted it, blocking the incoming senbon.
"It's useless, my senbon have no blind spots! You little brats, prepare to die!"
The sound of the ground cracking rang out. The rogue Ninja looked down and saw a pair of pale hands reaching out from a crack in the ground and grabbing his feet.
The rogue Ninja screamed as he was pulled into the ground, with only his head exposed. The uncontrolled Ninja umbrella fell to the ground.
"Well done, Orochimaru!"
Bang—!
Tsunade threw the large stone slab to the ground, clenched her fists, and walked towards the rogue Ninja whose head was the only thing visible, a brilliant smile on her face.
"What did you just call us? I didn't quite hear you!"
"I will avenge Hiruzen Sensei!"
Jiraiya angrily walked towards the rogue Ninja whose head was exposed on the ground.
"You… don't come any closer!"
The rogue Ninja's eyes widened, looking in terror at Tsunade and Jiraiya walking towards him.
"The physical quality of people in this world is truly impressive!"
Orochimaru looked at the rogue Ninja, who had lost consciousness under Tsunade and Jiraiya's barrage of punches and kicks, yet was still stubbornly alive.
"Hiruzen Sensei, since Ninja are involved, is this mission still a C-rank?"
Orochimaru looked towards where Hiruzen Sarutobi was hiding; if it involved fighting Ninja, then it wouldn't be a C-rank mission, but a B-rank mission, and the reward would also need to be calculated as a B-rank mission.
"Hiruzen Sensei, isn't he already…"
Jiraiya stopped beating the rogue Ninja upon hearing this and looked at the "corpse" lying on the tree branch, only to realize that the "corpse" was a human-shaped doll with a piece of paper stuck to its face, on which an extremely abstract human face was drawn.
"Sub… Substitution Jutsu?!"
Jiraiya's mouth twitched, and he felt foolish thinking that Hiruzen Sensei was seriously injured or even dead just now.
"That's why I said you're an idiot."
Tsunade said, speechless; she had seen through the fake long ago.
"Shut up!"
Jiraiya's face flushed red, and he looked resentfully at the rogue Ninja whose face was swollen like a pig's head.
"Hahaha…"
Hiruzen Sarutobi chuckled, letting go of the cloth in his hand that was almost integrated with the tree trunk, and said with a dry laugh: "I wanted to see how far you could go against an ambushing enemy without my reminders and help… Your performance greatly exceeded my expectations."
As he spoke, he looked at Orochimaru, becoming increasingly satisfied with this disciple, who always brought him surprises.
Of course, Jiraiya and Tsunade were not bad either; their performance this time made him look at them in a new light.
"Hiruzen Sensei, please don't change the subject!"
Orochimaru looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi seriously; when money was involved, she had to be particular.
More than Hiruzen Sensei's praise, she wanted the reward for a B-rank mission.