Chapter 56: A Light Touch

"Today's patrol report."

The instigator who had caused the Third Raikage to personally go to Thunder Valley, along with the orange-haired young woman beside him, now handed in their fabricated patrol report.

Without looking at the report, Kakashi and Mei Terumi's superior officer accepted it and set it aside.

"Your patrols have been diligent. Lord Raikage has assigned you a new mission."

"A new mission?"

"I think this mission is quite good."

The two spoke in unison, neither wanting to give up this mission that offered free time and the ability to leave at any moment. Having stayed in Kumogakure for a long time, they found its management lax, much better than Kirigakure or Konoha's operations of constantly hunting down rogue ninja.

The two were on Konoha and Kirigakure's wanted lists. It wouldn't be fun if they unwillingly ended up on Kumogakure's wanted list as well.

"We all know this mission is tedious and boring. This reassignment is an A-rank mission, most suitable for you two."

"Can I refuse?"

Kakashi asked tentatively.

"No, this is an order, not a discussion."

The stern-faced Kumogakure superior handed the mission scroll to Kakashi.

"From now on, these two will take your positions."

Two dark-skinned Kumogakure ninja with crestfallen faces behind the superior greeted the silver-haired youth and shrugged.

"…"

"What mission?"

Mei Terumi leaned closer to Kakashi to check the mission description and objectives with him.

「Investigate the ancient country of Rouran, obtain information on the Dragon Vein, and clear a path for the subsequent sealing team. If necessary, threaten the Rouran royal family. Support teams will be dispatched according to the situation.」

"'Support teams according to the situation'... that clearly means sending us to our deaths."

"Are only the two of us going?"

The feeling of being treated as disposable pawns again made Mei Terumi look up and ask the Kumogakure Jonin.

"That's right. This is a test for you two. If you complete it well, perhaps Lord Raikage will let you live inside Kumogakure Village."

"...Who cares about that," she muttered softly to the other two ninja taking over, and once they showed embarrassed expressions, Mei Terumi was pulled aside by Kakashi.

"We will complete the mission properly."

Assuring the Kumogakure Jonin, the silver-haired youth casually tossed the scroll into a trash can.

Mei Terumi thought Kakashi was being sarcastic, thinking he must be furious, and grabbed his hand.

"Don't be angry. At worst, we'll go first. If it really doesn't work out…" Mei Terumi's eyes brightened, her long hair falling onto the youth's shoulder. "We'll just run away again. I'll always be with you."

After a long moment, Kakashi didn't react. The young woman looked again; there was no anger, he was clearly trying to suppress a smile.

The youth's eyes curved into crescents, the corners of his mouth turned up, making the young woman both puzzled and a little embarrassed and annoyed.

"Kakashi, is it very funny?"

Thinking it was her almost comforting confession that the youth found funny, Mei Terumi kicked his shin with her boot.

"What did you kick me for?" Kakashi never understood the young woman's train of thought. He found an empty spot, cornered Mei Terumi against the wall, his left hand braced on the wall, his right hand in his pocket.

A classic kabedon pose.

The orange-haired young woman stared blankly as Kakashi's face slowly approached. As if accepting her fate, she closed her eyes.

"It's the Dragon Vein."

The silver-haired youth blew air into the young woman's ear, speaking of the momentous discovery that excited him.

"What?"

The young woman, still with her eyes closed, answered subconsciously, not yet opening them.

"I said, it's the Dragon Vein!"

This time, the young woman heard clearly and opened her eyes. Kakashi was still leaning close to her ear, the two almost touching.

"...What's a Dragon Vein?"

Sighing in relief while asking the question with an irrepressible tone of disappointment, she swore that if Kakashi gave a nonsensical explanation, she would wake him up with Water Release the next morning.

"A super-massive chakra cluster! That should be the place with the most ownerless chakra!!"

"…Oh."

"Don't you think about it? So much chakra, so much!!"

To this day, Mei Terumi still didn't understand. Kakashi's chakra wasn't low; why was he still so obsessed with increasing his chakra? Admittedly, for most ninja, this was a normal way to become stronger, and his excitement was understandable, but wasn't he a bit too fanatical?

"How much?"

"If measured in numbers, it's over one hundred thousand Kcal."

"One hundred thousand Kcal, what kind of unit of measurement is that?"

"You wouldn't understand even if I explained."

The two returned to a normal distance. Mei Terumi's face was sullen; raising this guy's emotional intelligence was harder than climbing to heaven.

"Are you angry?"

Kakashi looked at the young woman whose pace had suddenly quickened.

"No."

"Really not angry?"

"No."

"I don't believe you."

"You…"

Mei Terumi had to admit that when it came to annoying people, Kakashi was indeed stronger than all the enemies she had encountered before combined.

"Tonight, we'll pack up and set off first thing tomorrow morning. The sooner, the better. As long as we get there, I might be able to figure out a way to use that enormous amount of chakra. At worst, I can use scrolls to pack some of it away."

"We don't even know where Rouran is right now. Don't you think it's too rash to set off so quickly?"

"I know where it is."

Kakashi took out a ninja world map, pointing to a small, hard-to-find country on it.

"Right here."

"So far?"

"The farther, the better. The longer the distance, the smaller the possibility of the Land of Lightning interfering with us, and the smaller the possibility of Konoha interfering with us."

"Why would Konoha interfere with us?"

The young woman, finally drawn into the topic by Kakashi, eventually suppressed her little emotions.

After all, they were ninja; official business was more important.

"There's that possibility. If I were to explain it, it's that I can see a part of the future."

"Let me see what my future looks like."

The young woman stood fixed in front of Kakashi, forcing the latter to stop.

Skillfully using a head-pat, the youth spoke heart-piercing words.

"First, you slowly become stronger, become the Mizukage, improve the environment of the Land of Water, adjust Kirigakure's policies, and advocate for peace."

"And then? Is that all?"

"And then? Then you stay single, want to get married, but can never find a suitable partner. You can find a lover in your dreams, but when you wake up, there's nothing. In the end, you become melancholic and die alone."

What girl could endure such a curse? Mei Terumi's face turned pale with anger, her hands gripping her hem tightly.

"You bastard!! Mmph..."

A light touch, like a dragonfly skimming the water. The lingering sensation on her lips made Mei Terumi's anger vanish, and two blushes instantly appeared on her face.

"This was forgotten over there just now, I'm making it up now."

Kakashi's crescent-moon-like eyes, in the young woman's view, suddenly didn't seem so annoying anymore.

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