14

"What does the map tell? How long will it take for us to reach their location?" Yukan asked as he and Minato ran through the jungle.

"Quite a while. I think we should stop in a while, before dark," Minato replied.

"Alright," Yukan said.

After an hour, the two found a suitable place to spend the night while taking turns on the watch.

-The Next Day, During Noon-

Minato and Yukan stood in front of the location they got from the mission details.

"Be careful, Yukan. The Ayoko clan lives around here." Minato said as he looked at the targets in distance. (A/N: Mengji Clan is now Ayoko clan, my bad naming sense continues)

The Ayoko clan was a clan that was famous in the Warring States period for their fast reaction speed, heightened senses and better physique than anyone but had only one weakness, they were vulnerable to genjutsu.

That was the only reason for them to fall. During a fight with the Uchiha clan in the past, the Ayoko clan almost went extinct. There were only a few survivors now living in the forests near Konoha.

Despite their small number, no village tried to kill them off.

"You don't need to warn me, slowpoke. We are already in their area. I am worried about the one sitting in the bushes," Yukan said.

Yukan could sense someone on the level of a chunin hiding in the bushes other than the targets.

There was a very high chance of someone from the Ayoko clan being there since it was their land.

Yukan had never met any Ayoko clan members, but from what he knew about them, he didn't want to fight them either.

The six targets started to move a little while Yukan and Minato followed them slowly.

The two did not attack the targets for a long time since they did not want any external interference in their fight, especially from the Ayoko clan member near them.

After covering some distance and making sure twice that there were no external forces nearby anymore, the two decided to make an attack.

"I'll start with killing the three on right. While I do that, you distract the three on the left, if possible, kill some. Any doubts?" Yukan said as he pointed to the targets.

"Nah, let's go," Minato said.

Yukan then unsheathed his katana as Minato started weaving hand signs.

Yukan created two shadow clones and said," You two, we're sneaking up on those three. We need to be real quick this time. No mistakes." Yukan said while pointing to the targets.

The shadow clones nodded as all of them got ready to start with the objective.

Just like last time, Yukan and his shadow clones jumped off the tree and aimed the three chuunin's hearts.

As Yukan was carrying out his part of the plan, Minato was also doing his job.

Minato used the only C-Rank ninjutsu he knew, [Wind-Type: Wind Explosion].

In the [Wind-Type: Wind Explosion], the wind is gathered with chakra into a swirling ball which is hurled towards the opponent. The ball explodes on impact, causing cuts on the target's body. If it explodes closely enough to someone, it might kill them.

As Yukan made his way down from the tree to kill, Minato used his jutsu and aimed it right at the centre of the three chuunin on the left.

Yukan and his shadow clones touched the ground at the same time as Minato's jutsu.

Yukan and his shadow clones were able to attack in the moment of surprise and kill their targets without any resistance from the opposition.

But, so was not the case for the other side.

Even though Minato's jutsu killed one of the chuunins luckily, Minato too was affected by killing for the first time. These few seconds were enough for the chuunin to get a hold of what was happening.

Originally, Minato should have used another wind-style jutsu by now but he got nervous in between and made a mistake.

"Get him." One of the chuunins said while he pointed to Yukan and ran in Minato's direction himself.

"...I somewhat expected this," Yukan said as he looked at his shadow clones.

Yukan's shadow clones went forward to kill the chuunin charging in their direction while the real Yukan took out a kunai from his pouch.

He already knew that this was his only option. Yukan currently was not fast enough to save Minato at the last moment like how Sakumo had saved him.

Yukan used the skill [Steel Strength] and threw the kunai in the running chuunin's direction. Yukan really used all the strength he could gather in that one throw.

The kunai pierced through the chuunin's head and got stuck half inside his skull, killing him.

At the same time, a strong gust of wind from Minato's side hit the chuunin's dead body and changed direction to fall somewhere no one even saw.

As Yukan looked at his shadow clones, he saw that both of them were already done with their targets.

Seeing that, Yukan dispelled both his shadow clones.

Dispelling the shadow clones brought all the stress on Yukan's body. Coupled with his own activity and using his skill, Yukan was a little tired.

A few drops of sweat fell from his forehead and his whole body was wet with sweat.

"You good?" Yukan asked as he looked at Minato on the tree.

Minato jumped down from the tree, in front of Yukan and said," Yeah, no injuries. What about you? Are you good?"

" I am alright, just a little tired," Yukan said.

As Yukan and Minato were talking, the two sensed some movement in the bushes. Around the same area as where the two had sensed the other chuunin not included in their mission, probably, a member of the Ayoko clan.