The camp was broken down at dawn.
Kitahara Kaede buried the remains of the campfire with earth, dusted off his hands, and stood up.
"A few words before we enter the canyon."
Guy and Kurenai Yuhi walked over.
"Along this entire route, the canyon is the only place suitable for an ambush. The cliffs on both sides are high, the field of vision is narrow, and once we're in, retreating will be difficult."
Guy nodded, his expression turning serious.
"Slow your pace once we enter. Guy, reduce the vanguard spacing to fifteen ters; don't let it widen."
"Understood!"
"Kurenai Yuhi, I'll have to rely on you for this stretch. Keep your sensory skills sharp."
Kurenai gave a short acknowledgent. She cast a lingering glance at Kitahara Kaede. His tone didn't sound like a routine reminder; it sounded as if he were certain sothing would happen.
After packing up the camp, the three of them advanced along the mountain path toward the canyon.
Twenty minutes later, the terrain narrowed. The trees thinned out, and bare rock pressed in from both sides. The canyon wasn't long—about two kiloters in total. Under normal marching conditions, they could pass through in ten minutes.
Kitahara Kaede slowed his pace.
Guy led the way fifteen ters ahead, glancing back occasionally to confirm their position. Kurenai Yuhi brought up the rear, her sensory abilities fully active.
Kaede's gaze swept across the cliff walls. Suddenly, he stopped.
Halfway up the right cliff wall, there was a bird's nest. It was woven from dry twigs and wedged into a rocky crevice. Inside, three chicks stretched their necks, beaks wide open. Their cries were raspy; they had been hungry for a while.
The mother bird was nowhere to be seen.
Kaede raised his right hand and clenched his fist.
Guy stopped in his tracks. Kurenai stopped as well.
Kaede turned to Kurenai and made a gesture—*above, confirm.*
Kurenai closed her eyes. A mont later, she opened them and held up four fingers.
Above the cliff walls, two on each side.
Kaede quickly relayed three sets of hand signals.
Guy: Charge forward and lure them down.
Kurenai Yuhi: Use genjutsu to pin one down.
Himself: Provide flank support and cover gaps.
Guy gritted his teeth and nodded. Kurenai placed her hand on her tool pouch.
Kaede pressed three fingers downward.
Move.
Guy bolted forward.
Four figures leaped simultaneously from the top of the cliffs, wearing Cloud Village headbands. Two dove straight for Guy, one circled the flank, and the fourth clung to the cliff wall, hurling three kunai to block the path.
Guy t the assault head-on, unleashing a Leaf Hurricane. His kicks were seamless, forcing the two attackers to retreat several steps. He didn't send them flying, but he successfully locked their full attention on him.
Guy didn't linger in the fight. His footwork was rapid, his punches and kicks alternating in a flurry that threw the two opponents' positioning into chaos.
Kurenai wove a series of signs.
"Genjutsu: Tree Binding Death!"
The ground beneath the flanking attacker split open. Tree roots surged upward, entwining his limbs. After two seconds of struggling, the man's eyes went vacant.
Kitahara Kaede had already moved.
The mont Guy drew the two attackers' focus, Kaede sliced in from the flank. A kunai sank into one man's nape; he collapsed without making a sound.
As the second attacker turned, Guy's knee slamd into his abdon. In the mont the man's body doubled over, Kaede's blade slit his throat.
The fourth enemy on the cliff wall spotted a gap as Kurenai withdrew from her genjutsu and threw a kunai. Kurenai pivoted to dodge, avoiding a vital hit, but the blade grazed her right shoulder.
The edge of the blade shimred with a dark hue.
Out of the corner of his eye, Kaede caught the split second her movent faltered. He was already moving.
The mont the enemy landed from the cliff, Kaede closed the distance. An elbow strike smashed into the man's temple, followed imdiately by a kunai driven under the ribs. The man fell and didn't move again.
Finally, there was the one trapped by the genjutsu. Kaede walked over and ended him with a single stroke.
From the start of the clash to the end, it took less than five minutes.
Silence returned to the canyon.
Kaede looked at Guy first. Guy was stretching his wrists. His left arm had a large bruise, but his eyes were shining with unnatural intensity.
"Kaede! Those two didn't seem like Genin, did they? Were they Chunin?!"
His voice was brimming with excitent.
Kaede stared at him, montarily stunned. When most Genin encountered a Chunin, their first thought was how to get ho alive. Guy's first thought was, *'Aweso, I finally got to trade blows with a real Chunin!'*
"Last ti you taught not to let the power drop on the second kick, I practiced it two thousand tis when I got back," Guy added, his tone as solemn as if he were reporting a grade. "I actually used it just now!"
Kaede didn't respond and turned toward Kurenai Yuhi.
She was leaning against the cliff wall, her left hand clutching her right shoulder. Blood was seeping through her fingers. Her expression remained calm, but her lips had paled.
"Let see."
"It's not serious, I can handle it—"
"It's hard to bandage with one hand. Don't be stubborn."
Kurenai paused and stopped arguing.
Kaede knelt and tore open a first-aid kit. He first wiped away the blood around the wound to check the depth of the cut. It wasn't deep, but the poison from the blade had already seeped in; the edges of the wound were tinged with a faint grayish-black.
Kaede recognized the discoloration. Having spent over twenty years with Tsunade in the simulation, he had seen her treat hundreds of types of poison. He had encountered this kind of slow-perating toxin more than once. It wasn't imdiately lethal, but if left untreated, it would continue to spread.
He fished out a tube of ointnt and two pills from his tool pouch.
"Take these to inhibit the spread. Once we get back to the village, go to the hospital for a full cleanse."
Kurenai looked at the pills he offered. "You carry antidotes with you?"
"I learned so basic dical knowledge from soone in the past. It beca a habit."
Kurenai didn't press further; she took the pills and swallowed them.
Kaede began to bandage her. When his fingers touched the skin of her shoulder, Kurenai's body tensed slightly. He was very close. His movents were steady, without unnecessary contact, yet without intentional avoidance.
Once the bandaging was complete, Kaede stood up.
"Try moving it."
Kurenai gently rotated her shoulder. The bandage was secure and didn't hinder her basic movent.
"...Thank you."
Guy, who had been crouching nearby, had sohow produced a notebook and was scribbling a line. Kaede glanced over.
*'Prioritize treating the wounded after battle — Kaede.'* Beside the text was a cross and two exclamation marks.
"...For once, your notes are actually correct."
"Hehe!"
Kurenai looked at Guy's little notebook, suddenly recalling the battle. Guy had held off two Chunin by himself—one more than she had. When had that guy, who had been labeled a "hard-working idiot" since the Academy, beco like this?
Her gaze shifted to Kitahara Kaede.
Was it him?
From reminding Guy to conserve energy before they set out, to the improvents to the Leaf Hurricane, to Guy's composed positioning in actual combat—it seed this person's influence was everywhere.
But these thoughts were fleeting. What truly left her unsettled was Kitahara Kaede himself.
In less than a few minutes, he had neutralized four enemies. Not only had he detected the ambush in advance and formulated a tactical plan on the spot, but he had also ensured the safety of both teammates while executing his kills. When she was grazed by the kunai, she hadn't even had ti to react before he was already shielding her.
Just how strong was he?
Kaede knelt beside the corpse of a Cloud Village ninja, searching through the tool pouch. There were no mission docunts, no communication scrolls—nothing that could trace the orders of a superior.
Kurenai looked at the four bodies on the ground. "A pity they're all dead. Otherwise, we could have interrogated them."
"We wouldn't have gotten anything," Kaede said, standing up. "They knew our route in advance."
Kurenai's expression changed.
*'Confird Safe'*—that line of red text in the mission briefing.
The route itself was fine. When the Intelligence Departnt assessed it, there truly had been no enemy activity. But what happened after the assessnt? Between the assignnt office and the start of the journey, how many hands had the route information passed through?
Kaede kept those thoughts to himself.
"Let's move."
The three of them traversed the remainder of the canyon in silence. As they exited the canyon mouth, their field of vision opened up once again.
Guy looked back at the narrow path they had just traversed.
"Kaede, how did you spot them?"
"The bird's nest."
"Huh?"
"The chicks in the nest were chirping, but the mother was missing."
Guy blinked, thinking for a few seconds.
"The mother was spooked?"
"Yeah."
Guy fell silent for a mont before pulling out his notebook.
'Judging an ambush by observing a bird's nest—Kaede.'
Kurenai Yuhi glanced at the line of text, the corner of her mouth twitching.
As twilight faded, the three of them set up camp on the highlands on the outskirts of the canyon. Guy was already fast asleep, his snoring echoing loudly through the air.
Kurenai Yuhi was on the first watch, sitting on the opposite side of the campfire. Kitahara Kaede leaned against a tree trunk, idly flipping a kunai he had scavenged from the Cloud Village ninjas.
They needed to reach their destination by tomorrow noon, deliver the supplies, and then return by the sa route.
Once he returned to the village and collected the paynt for this mission, combined with his previous savings, he would still be quite far from five million ryo. However, the fact that their route had been leaked bothered him far more than the money.
Kurenai Yuhi's voice broke the silence.
"Captain."
Kitahara Kaede looked up.
"About today... thank you."
Kaede gave her a brief glance.
"If I make the call faster next ti, you won't have to thank ."
Kurenai Yuhi froze for a mont. The firelight reflected in her red eyes, flickering slightly.
"Mm."
The campfire crackled softly in the night.
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