There's no doubt, this is their team leader, Jonin Yuhi Shinku.
I wonder what method Yuhi Shinku-sensei used, but he's actually chatting and laughing with another samurai in that small group.
Compared to their treatment, it's much better than what the two of them are getting here.
In one day, the entire caravan only traveled from Tsuchihara Castle, which is close to the Land of Rain, to a location barely across the border of the Land of Wind. This speed is as slow as a snail for ninjas.
The slowness even made Sarutobi Asuma think that it would have been better if they hadn't joined the caravan and the four of them had directly reached their destination.
However, this idea was dispelled after the entire caravan entered the heart of the Land of Wind.
The environment within the Land of Wind is simply ghostly. Apart from some barren land near the border, all they've seen along the way is the Gobi Desert and endless yellow sand.
Especially after entering the desert, Sarutobi Asuma, a ninja who is at least above average in theoretical knowledge, lost his sense of direction.
The fiery red sun hangs overhead, making it impossible to distinguish east, west, north, and south.
If they weren't following the experienced caravan, ninjas who haven't received relevant training might actually get lost in the desert.
Of course, relying on the mobility of ninjas, unless they're extremely unlucky, the probability of being trapped to death in the desert is still not high, but it will definitely delay the mission time.
After traveling for a day and a night, and finally arriving at an oasis town in the Land of Wind, the three members of the team besides Yuhi Shinku finally understood why no one actively attacked Sunagakure in the previous two Ninja World Wars.
This broken place really doesn't have anything good that people would covet.
Moreover, Sunagakure's location is in the heart of the Land of Wind.
One can only sigh that the First Kazekage, Reto, was a genius, and he was too good at choosing a location.
Omiizu City is the first city rooted in an oasis that the caravan encountered after entering the Land of Wind, and it is the first destination of the entire caravan.
Similarly, it is also the location where Yuhi Shinku's team is to meet the spy lurking in Sunagakure. This is naturally not a coincidence, but the result of Yuhi Shinku's arrangement.
This is the benefit of having an experienced team leader Jonin. If it were replaced by other guys with less mission experience, they wouldn't know how big of a circle they would have to make in the Land of Wind, and they wouldn't know if they would expose any flaws. Unlike now, everything seems so reasonable.
Days of Waiting for the Spy
"Tsk, you two little brats are really lucky. You haven't even encountered a gang of sand bandits along the way. However, it's impossible to sell your basket of medicinal herbs at a high price in this first town. Do you want to continue with us?"
It's still that wandering ninja who tested Asuma's strength before.
Although this guy doesn't seem to have good intentions, what he said is the truth. With so many supplies arriving together, even rare items like medicinal herbs won't fetch a very high price here. But if you wait and follow the caravan to a few more towns, as the goods become scarce, Asuma's basket of medicinal herbs will become more and more valuable.
However, Asuma didn't come to the Land of Wind to sell medicinal herbs.
"No, it's fine here. Don't think I don't know, the road ahead is getting more and more dangerous. I still have a younger brother to take care of, and I can't die in this damn desert."
Asuma licked his parched lips and refused the wandering ninja's invitation.
"Tch, lucky brat, you're really ungrateful."
Muttering unhappily, the wandering ninja didn't say anything more and turned to leave with his caravan.
Sarutobi Asuma and the two of Kawaki Aoba successfully escaped, while Yuhi Shinku's side was also staging a similar scene.
"Hayashi-kun, it seems I have to break my promise. I can't continue with you on the road ahead."
Yuhi Shinku looked apologetic to the samurai beside him, but he was tightly holding Yuhi Kurenai, who was blushing and unconscious, in his arms.
"Don't be like this, Kougetsu-kun. Your daughter's condition is more important. Don't worry, no one here will blame you."
The samurai also seemed very generous, and even took out some loose banknotes from his pocket to stuff into Yuhi Shinku's hands.
However, Yuhi Shinku was adhering to his principles. He would not accept any commission without completing the agreed-upon task.
After some back and forth, Yuhi Shinku left the team with the seriously ill Yuhi Kurenai in his arms.
"Even though so much time has passed, you haven't changed at all, Kougetsu-kun. You are a true samurai. Even in the Land of Iron, there are not many people like you who never forget to adhere to the samurai code."
Looking at Yuhi Shinku's departing figure, this samurai, who thought he was an old friend of the other party, still looked emotional.
It's a pity that he didn't know that after separating from their caravan, Yuhi Shinku turned a corner and walked into a room in an inn, meeting up with the other two members of the team. Yuhi Kurenai, who had been unconscious in Yuhi Shinku's arms and looked like she had heatstroke, had also returned to normal, not looking sick at all.
"The plan is proceeding very smoothly. Next, we only need to wait here step by step. If that spy successfully escapes from Sunagakure and comes here, we will pick him up and leave safely."
"In addition, we must also be mentally prepared to be stationed here for a long time. While playing our respective roles well, don't waste your respective cultivation."
"Your current age is the best time to improve your strength."
Yuhi Shinku carefully instructed the three little guys, and his gaze was the most serious when he looked at Kawaki Aoba.
Among the three, Asuma and Yuhi Kurenai are only improving their strength to escape the ranks of Genin as soon as possible and strive to become ninjas who can stand alone.
And if Kawaki Aoba doesn't work hard to improve his strength, he might really die.
"I understand, Shinku-sensei. In the next period of time, I will put the improvement of my own strength first."
Kawaki Aoba responded solemnly.
However, Kawaki Aoba also knew that his talent was not as good as those around him thought. At best, it could only be considered barely above average.
His strength, in addition to his own hard training, mostly came from the help of the altar. Therefore, if he wants to become stronger, he still has to focus on the altar.
As everyone knows, hard work is not as pleasant as getting something for nothing.
In the next two days, the lives of the four members of the team began to become ordinary. After the initial meeting, they split into two groups.
Although they lived in the same place, they pretended not to know each other on the surface, and they all played their roles very well.
In these two days, the two lived under the same roof and ate together. Kawaki Qingyu also saw Sarutobi Asuma's efforts.
Asuma's talent in taijutsu and genjutsu cannot be said to be ordinary, it can only be said to be mediocre. Moreover, as a member of the Sarutobi clan, his growth path is quite clear. As long as he thoroughly studies Fire Release chakra, he can continue to become stronger. At least before becoming a Jonin, Asuma doesn't have to worry about encountering obstacles to improving his strength.
This is the advantage and heritage of a large family, which is far from what civilians who can only access the Three Body Techniques and some ordinary ninjutsu can compare to.
Sarutobi Asuma locked himself in his room for two days to study chakra, and Kawaki Aoba completely let himself go.
Leaving Konoha and arriving in such a small place, there is no need to worry about the detection of various sensory ninjutsu, and Yuhi Shinku-sensei also has his own things to be busy with. With Kawaki Aoba's deliberate notification, he never worries about his disciple.
And just like that, with no one watching, Kawaki Aoba completely transformed into a husky, turning everything he could get his hands on within the range of his Observation Haki, whether useful or not, into offerings on the altar.
Although the probability of getting good stuff by sacrificing ordinary items is very low, it can't stand the sheer volume.
Kawaki Aoba firmly believed that as long as the quantity increased, he would eventually get something big.
Moreover, even if he didn't get anything good, it wouldn't matter, because all he was sacrificing was trash. Exchanging some readily available garbage for something potentially useful was always a good deal for him.
Tossing a neodymium magnet into the altar space, Kawaki Aoba picked up a handful of sand and sacrificed it again.
Under the cover of night, a figure was running swiftly across the desolate desert in the manner of a ninja.
The nights in the desert were exceptionally cold, and even ninjas were unwilling to stay there longer than necessary unless it was essential. But the current situation was clearly different. Judging by the ninja's anxious appearance, it was obvious that something very urgent must have forced him to rush on his way through the night.
However, the continuous running had also noticeably reduced his vigilance. He didn't even notice the team of tails closely following him.
An Unexpected Situation
"Captain, aren't we going to make a move yet? If we wait any longer, that guy will be out of the Land of Wind."
A standard four-person configuration, consisting of four Sand Village ninjas with headbands tied and ninja vests on, was closely tailing the unsuspecting ninja ahead at a distance.
However, unlike Asuma's standard new student team led by an experienced veteran, this Sand Village ninja team was clearly an elite squad from the village.
An elite Jonin leading three experienced Chunin with rich mission experience.
Even during the Great Ninja War, this squad configuration, placed on any battlefield, would have been a force to be reckoned with, not considering the existence of some of the ridiculously strong individuals.
Now, this elite team was actually following an ordinary Chunin. This bizarre situation seemed abnormal no matter how you looked at it.
The only explanation would be that they were playing the long game to catch a big fish.
Only this possibility could explain the patience shown by this elite ninja team.
"If I remember correctly, ahead is Great Lake City. After Great Lake City is the Land of Rivers. If no one picks this guy up in Great Lake City, then the Land of Rivers will be even less likely to."
"Let's be patient. When we get to Great Lake City, if we still don't see anyone coming to pick him up, we'll capture him and interrogate him," the leading elite Jonin made a final decision, suppressing the anxious emotions of his three Chunin subordinates.
"Hopefully, we can really gain something from this guy. Otherwise, wasting so much time on him and only catching such a small fry will make it difficult to report back."
This elite ninja squad had been dispatched by the Sand Village to be stationed near the border of the Land of Fire, waiting for a war that could break out at any time.
But unexpectedly, on the way, they had encountered a spy who had escaped from the Sand Village and was preparing to send information back to Konoha.
This guy had originally received the mission to end his undercover work in the village and was about to return. However, he had accidentally discovered shocking information.
The Third Kazekage had mysteriously disappeared within the Sand Village.
This explained why the Sand Village's actions had been so large and abnormal recently.
Adding to the rumors circulating within the Sand Village—whether true or false—that the village had been completely sealed off, made this spy completely unable to sit still.
The excitement of the long-term undercover mission coming to an end, the surprise and shock of discovering a large piece of information, and the rumors of unknown truth combined, leading this spy to abandon his original plan to leave the village and choose an extremely risky way to escape.
However, who would have thought that a spy who had managed to sneak out under the Sand Village's strict patrols would encounter an elite Sand Village squad on the road?
Having just lost the Kazekage, the atmosphere among the Sand Village ninjas was extremely tense. A squad on a mission seeing a lone ninja who looked very anxious and had a very clear destination would be hard not to suspect.
After some tracking, this elite Sand Village team confirmed that they were following a spy from another village.
As such, this elite Sand Village ninja team had essentially stumbled upon a merit for nothing.
Moreover, this elite squad was bold and skilled, and with the idea of playing the long game to catch a big fish, they wanted to follow the trail and see if they could also capture the person who was picking up the spy and interrogate them.
At this point, the identity of the spy was clear. He was the target that Asuma's team was supposed to meet.
But who would have thought that this spy would bring such a big problem with him.
---
Kawaki Aoba:
"I didn't expect it, but my Observation Haki clearly captured the movements of two groups of people."
Being in the darkness of night, Kawaki Aoba's Observation Haki had already captured the ninjas approaching Great Lake City from both ahead and behind.
This was certainly not a coincidence of luck, but a habit that Kawaki Aoba had developed after obtaining max-level Observation Haki.
Every so often, as long as he was awake, he would use Observation Haki to investigate for any danger within a radius of dozens of kilometers.
As such, detecting the spy who arrived ahead of schedule and the Sand Village ninjas closely following him became inevitable.
Encountering such an unexpected situation upon entering the Land of Wind for the first time energized Kawaki Aoba. After waking up Asuma and explaining the situation, the two disregarded the risk of exposure and directly sought out Kurenai.
---
"Kurenai-sensei," Kawaki Aoba said, "When I was using sensory ninjutsu just now, I sensed that there were ninjas approaching Great Lake City quickly. It is very likely that they are the mission target we are supposed to meet. And behind him, there is also a team of elite Sand Village ninjas."
After meeting Kurenai, Kawaki Aoba relayed everything he had sensed, as if pouring beans from a bamboo tube.
Kurenai, as expected of a veteran Jonin, immediately took in the information. Regardless of whether the other party was her team's mission target, she treated the situation as the worst-case scenario, assuming their side had been exposed, and made the most prudent preparations in a short period of time.
---
Shadow Clone Technique!
Kurenai quickly formed a hand seal and created a shadow clone to replace herself.
"Kurenai, Asuma, Aoba, later my clone will replace me. If the other party is really the mission target, my clone will attract their attention, while the main body will take the opportunity to ambush. If we successfully kill or seriously injure the Jonin leading the team, you will take the opportunity to ambush the remaining three Sand ninjas. Together, we will try to completely leave them here."
"But if I fail…" Kurenai paused, then spoke again: "If the ambush fails and we are no match for the other party's Jonin, then adding you will probably be of no help. So, if it really comes to that, escape and leave the Land of Wind as quickly as possible. As your teacher, I will buy you time."
Then, Kurenai looked at Kawaki Aoba and confirmed again, "Aoba, can you really be sure that they are an elite squad configuration?"