Chapter 157

Shizune offered a suggestion, "Lady Tsunade, can we have the border patrol ninja support them?"

Tsunade shook her head decisively. "The patrol ninja stationed on the borders aren't particularly strong. Their primary roles are reconnaissance and relaying messages—they won't be of much help in a direct fight. Most of the Jōnin and Special Jōnin in the village already have their duties... wait! We do have more people!"

She suddenly lit up. "Our negotiations with Sunagakure are complete. There's no risk of war anymore, so we don't need to keep watching our flanks. Guy's team doesn't need to guard the northwest border anymore—they can go support Kakashi's team!"

That... was bold thinking.

Guy's team was on the northwest border, and Kakashi's team was at the northeast border. How were they supposed to support each other across such a vast distance?

Shizune twitched. "Lady Tsunade, wouldn't it be faster to have Natsuki support them instead? He's in the Land of Fields."

But Tsunade smiled. "You're being silly, Shizune. Natsuki knows Hiraishin no Jutsu (Flying Thunder God Technique). He can jump in at any moment. The reason he hasn't moved is because he's keeping Orochimaru under surveillance. That snake is the real threat. As for Guy's team, sure the distance is far, but you forgot about Tenten's giant mountain eagle summon, didn't you?"

"Oh right! I totally forgot about that! I'll send word to Guy's team immediately!"

Shizune finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Working in the Hokage's office, reading all these reports day in and day out, was enough to fray anyone's nerves. She could only hope everyone stayed safe.

While Shizune went off to send the order, Tsunade flipped through another set of documents — reports on recent missions carried out by the Genin teams — and her eyebrows twitched at once.

Aoba's team had done quite well. Even though Lee was a temporary addition, his combat strength played a big part, and his coordination with Rinya was great. Megumi was improving steadily, not just in strength but also in her studies of medical ninjutsu. She was a diligent and highly motivated child.

Asuma's team, however, wasn't doing so well. Sakura's strength was lacking, and her teamwork with Ino and Choji was poor.

Then there was Kurenai's team... their mission completion rate was practically zero — mostly because Naruto's performance was far too chaotic.

In terms of scouting, both Kiba and Hinata did a great job. Naruto? He wouldn't notice the enemy until they were literally in his face. In terms of stealth, again Kiba and Hinata did fine, but Naruto? Loud and careless, constantly messing things up. Even Akamaru did a better job than him.

Now Tsunade fully understood Kakashi's evaluation of Naruto: Unpredictable, above all.

There were always surprises during missions — but Naruto's unpredictable nature made him a double-edged sword. He could be unbelievably reliable in moments of crisis... and utterly unreliable in everything else.

Still, if their mission performance continued to be this abysmal, Tsunade wouldn't even dare let this team participate in the next Chūnin Exams. It was just too risky.

And honestly, it was exactly as expected.

Kurenai's team used to have the ever-reliable Shino, so everything was stable.

But now that Shino had been promoted to Chūnin, and Tsunade had arranged for Naruto to join the team, things had fallen apart. Hinata couldn't raise her voice to Naruto, and Kiba couldn't keep him under control either. Disaster was bound to follow.

"This won't do," Tsunade muttered. "I need to assign them a special task to test their coordination. If they still can't work together, I'll have to reshuffle the team again!"

With that, Tsunade made up her mind and began contacting some old friends.

These old friends weren't especially powerful, but each had their own unique talents. She asked them to design a mission that would really give Naruto's team a hard time.

—

The next day, near the northeastern border.

Shino's insects detected the presence of the Sound Four and immediately relayed the information to Kakashi and Sasuke.

Sasuke's lips curved into a grin. He'd been looking forward to this, but he held his position and waited calmly for the right moment.

Ten minutes later, the Sound Four arrived and perched in a tree, looking down at Sasuke with eyes full of mockery and disdain — which made Sasuke quite uncomfortable.

"Who are you?" Sasuke asked coldly.

"Us?" Kidomaru chuckled. "We're here to test you."

"To see if you're truly worthy of Lord Orochimaru's attention. You received the power of the cursed seal, and yet you still cower in this peaceful, pathetic village. You must be a weakling."

Tayuya scoffed, "Quit talking, Kidomaru. Let's beat him up and drag him back already!"

Jirōbō and Sakon/Ukon had no objections.

All four leapt toward Sasuke, preparing to surround him — but the next second, they heard a clicking sound as sharpened wooden stakes launched at them from all directions, completely encircling them.

"A trap? Did they know we were coming?"

The Sound Four were startled and immediately went all out.

Kidomaru spat sticky webs and wrapped them around Jirōbō's waist, then flung him around forcefully. Jirōbō used his raw strength to smash through the flying stakes.

Even so, none of them dared let their guard down — they quickly scattered.

Just then, Sasuke's Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu (Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu) exploded right where they landed. The timing was perfect. They barely dodged it — if they had been a second slower, they'd be toast.

As Jirōbō hit the ground, he suddenly heard a loud buzzing.

His expression changed, and he quickly rolled to the side — just in time to dodge a swarm of insects.

He looked up and saw a figure in sunglasses standing quietly atop a tree branch not far away. He had appeared completely unnoticed.

A true expert.

Shino merely thought, I'm just not very noticeable, that's all.

He formed several hand seals, and clouds of insects swarmed from his body, heading straight for Jirōbō. With no other choice, Jirōbō kept dodging.

Jirōbō specialized in brute strength and Doton (Earth Release). He could also absorb chakra using earth techniques — normally a tough opponent.

But Shino fought from a distance using his bugs, which was exactly the kind of match-up that would frustrate Jirōbō.

Elsewhere, Sakon/Ukon and Kidomaru had run into Kakashi.

He appeared out of nowhere and launched several powerful Rankyaku (Storm Leg) slashes, forcing them to halt their advance.

Sasuke, meanwhile, calmly drew his short blade and locked eyes on Tayuya. His voice was icy:

"You're the Sound Four, sent by Orochimaru to drag me back to Otogakure and take my body? How insulting. He sent only four nobodies like you — what a joke."

Tayuya snapped, "You don't understand Lord Orochimaru's greatness. He gave us power! He gave you power too, but you're too dumb to use it. You'll regret that soon. I'll use that power to crush you, you so-called Uchiha genius!"

She quickly formed hand seals and slapped the ground.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu! Doki!" (Summoning Technique! Doki!)

With a burst of smoke, three large humanoid creatures appeared, all grotesque and menacing.

Tayuya raised her flute and began to play. As the eerie music filled the air, the three Doki charged at Sasuke.

Sasuke instantly understood. "Controlling them through sound to attack me? If this is all you've got… then you can die now."

Ignoring the monsters entirely, he activated Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique) and vanished, heading straight for Tayuya.

(End of Chapter)

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