Chapter 252: Loudmouth Ino
Kurenai looked at her students who were now a little scared after hearing this. On the contrary, Asuma's students were the curious type. "A war? With whom? Another village?" Ino asked as she looked at Kana and then Asuma.
Kurenai also looked at Asuma indicating him to help her students with the current predicament. Asuma shook his head and said "No Ino the war isn't against any other village and Hinata don't be scared just by the word war. In the shinobi world, such fights occur every decade or so and the hidden mist has been under a tyrannical rule for the past few years and so now they are fighting for their freedom."
Asuma made it sound like a story that uplifted the spirits of the kids. "Then what are we doing here?" Hinata asked. Asuma was going to reply but Kiba stepped forward and asked "Are we going to help them get freedom?"
Asuma and the others smiled as they heard that. Mei and the other mist shinobis were a little surprised when they saw the enthusiasm of the little kid in helping out the hidden mist's oppressed clans.
"Yes Kiba, Lord 5th has sent us here so that we can help them in any way possible." Kurenai said to which Kiba tightened his fist and said "Yess…I am going to boast about this when I go back to the village. Hehe…Lord 5th chose me to come here instead of Naruto, Sasuke, and Yami."
"Who are these three kids he spoke of?" Kana asked the kid nearest to her which was Shikamaru. To her, he was the only one who seemed mature for his age. Santo was also a little curious about it so he also looked at Shikamaru.
Shikamaru turned toward the Terumi siblings and said "Those three are our friends but they are stronger." Kana and Santo nodded as they had guessed the three must-be peers of Kiba.
Ino quickly hmphed and said "Shikamaru…stronger is such a small world. Yami is the youngest shinobi in the shinobi world to become jonin at the age of 9. You can't compare him to Naruto and Sasuke and certainly not Kiba."
Mei raised her eyebrows as she heard that. Even the mist shinobis that were guarding the group and the Terumi siblings were shocked to hear that a 9-year-old kid had become a jonin.
Mei quickly looked at Ino and said "Jonin at 9? At that age, none of us here are even genin. Are you sure kid?"
Ino puffed her nonexistent chest proudly and said "Yes of course I am…I even heard sensei say that his strength has even surpassed that of a jonin."
The three leaf shinobis looked at each other as the topic was getting focused on Yami now. This is the last thing they wanted.
'This is the worst time and place to be fangirling over Yami.' Asuma wanted to say but he couldn't. Kakashi who was quiet up until now quickly interrupted the conversation and said "We can talk about this later, can't we? Let's not attract attention here. We have a lot to talk about."
Mei and the Terumi siblings realized that they had just forgotten the mission Yoshiro had given them and were now chatting with a 14-year-old about another boy who was obviously her crush.
"Oh yes…But I definitely want to hear about this kid who is apparently a jonin at 9." Mei said as she glanced at the Kakashi and the others. The group then continued to walk to the Terumi mansion.
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Yami who had left to see the leaf shinobis arrive didn't go to the docks but instead hung around one of the paths that he thought would most likely be used by Mei and the others to get the leaf shinobis inside the Terumi estate. There were 3 entrances from where the shinobis could come without catching much attention and 2 of them were not likely to be chosen by Mei as the travel route because one of the markets where people were looking for all kinds of information and even the smallest mistake could jeopardize everything. The other route was through the thick forest but this would make things harder for Mei as it is the perfect place for an ambush. She didn't want the leaf shinobis to have to defend themselves in case the mist shinobis can't stop the ambush. The only way left was the last route where Yami was waiting. After a few minutes, Yami saw Mei alongside others walking on that route. They had all disguised back as civilians and Kakashi had transformed into an old man.
Yami didn't stare at any of them and only glanced a few times. He didn't want to risk getting caught or even appearing suspicious.
'Only one person has the sense of humor to appear as an old man and pretend to be the hidden leaf's envoy. It's good that Lady Tsunade sent Kakashi over here. Our wavelengths match to a certain extent he might not make any move that would derail my plans.' Yami thought as he looked at Kurenai and Asuma along with their students. Except for Shikamaru and Shino, the other kids were looking around as this is the first time they have entered some other great village. The one who was most excited was Choji. For some reason, the fish stalls that were selling fried fish had really caught his heart. He even looked at Asuma with puppy eyes so that he could go and take a few of them but he was denied. Wonder what would have happened if Choji was taken the market route where food stalls cover both sides of the street.
Yami then left to start preparing for the next step of his plan. This could have been a simple step but the Leaf envoys being here made it much more difficult. After Yami left the leaf shinobis entered the Terumi mansion.
They were given a good guest house to live in where the hidden mist wouldn't monitor them. The last thing Mei wanted was to make Kakashi and the others feel intimidated. She understood that the jonins weren't just some no-name shinobis so she had to treat this very carefully. Kana had already taken such things into consideration and prepared everything so that the leaf shinobis don't feel uncomfortable at all.
Santo also made sure that Hideki and the twins are properly taken care of and are not mistreated while in custody. A few hours later in the evening when everyone had rested enough from the long travel, a mist shinobi informed them that a meeting has been set up between the leaf envoys and the clan leaders. The shinobi also informed us that Hideki and the twins would also be there.
"It would be better if we could meet Hideki and his two students before the meeting starts. Lady Tsunade has asked me to make sure that they weren't mistreated or tortured in any way." Kurenai said after the mist shinobi left. Asuma was sitting on the bed while Kakashi was standing near the window. The genins were in a different room for now.
"I agree Kurenai…but we can't use our cards just now." Asuma said. He then looked at Kakashi who nodded and said "I agree with what Asuma said and the clan leaders will want to know what we know and how we know. I am sure that the clan leaders have less than 50% of the information that we have. They don't even know how big of trouble they are in. If they lose this fight, the entire hidden mist could become the headquarters for those cultists."
"What about the kids? Are we to take them wid us? I think they are too young for this." Kurenai said to which Asuma shook his head and said "I disagree with you on this Kurenai…they are all future clan leaders. They need to know what is out there. This is the time for them to know what goes on in the shadows." Kakashi also sided with Asuma on this one. He knew that Asuma and Kurenai's kids were way more immature when compared to Guy and his team. Even the childish Sakura and Naruto had started taking training seriously.
"Fine...they can stand on the sidelines but I hope they don't say a word. Even while coming here I was afraid that Ino might say some things about Yami that might make Mei and her siblings suspicious." Kurenai sighed in relief and then left the room to go tell her students that they have a meeting to attend.
Kakashi also got up to leave the room but Asuma stopped him and said "I know what all to say and do but what is going to be our next step in countering the Mizukage faction and the others?"
Kakashi winked at Asuma and said "It was never our decision to make. It is his and will always be. I am sure he has something planned already and as his first mission, I am excited." Asuma understood that Kakashi was talking about Yami. He didn't know why Kakashi trusted Yami so much but what he did know was that Yami had sent the report to Tsunade with the intention of receiving help from them.
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