Chapter 21

That day, Mizunuki Taki hurriedly sent someone to summon Mizunuki Ryosuke, who had just completed a B-rank mission, to the Mizukage's office.

Mizunuki Ryosuke could not care about anything else and had to rush to the Mizukage building without stopping.

Carrying doubts, Mizunuki Ryosuke knocked open the door to this office, which was extremely mysterious to ninety percent of Hidden Mist ninjas.

Do not ever think that anyone can enter the Kage's office.

Under normal circumstances, except for confidants, the Mizukage would not meet others in the office.

Mizunuki Taki summoning Ryosuke to the Mizukage's office, strictly speaking, could also be considered a kind of attitude.

After stepping into this office, Mizunuki Ryosuke first looked around; after all, he still had a certain curiosity about such a mysterious place.

The result was that Mizunuki Ryosuke was greatly disappointed.

Except for the area being slightly larger, this was just an ordinary office, and it didn't look like there was anything strange about it.

After all, ninjas pay attention to practicality and restraint.

As a Kage, one should be even more low-key; people who are overly ostentatious cannot become ninjas.

Therefore, the Mizukage's office didn't even look as imposing or luxurious as the offices of some big bosses in his previous life.

In the main seat of the office, Mizunuki Taki had been waiting for a long time.

"Cough, cough."

"Ryosuke, you're here."

Mizunuki Taki was still the same, looking like a sickly person who didn't have long to live.

He revealed a gentle smile after seeing Mizunuki Ryosuke.

Because of having Lian as a bond, the relationship between Ryosuke and the Mizukage had become much closer at this moment.

"Lord Mizukage, I heard you have something to find me for."

Although Mizunuki Taki had instructed that other titles could be used in private, in the current situation, Ryosuke still adopted a business-like attitude.

"That's right."

"I'm looking for you this time because there is an important mission to hand over to you!"

Mizunuki Taki said seriously, and a majestic aura suddenly rose from his body.

Until this moment, Mizunuki Ryosuke felt the pressure of this Third Mizukage for the first time.

"I want you to lead your squad to hunt down the rogue ninja Nakajima Koji!"

"Remember, bring his head back intact!"

While speaking, the eyes of this Third Mizukage were full of pressure. It seemed he was truly angry.

"Understood!"

Immediately, Mizunuki Ryosuke agreed directly; after all, looking at the Third Mizukage's stance, there was no room for refusal.

Seeing Mizunuki Ryosuke agree, the aura on Mizunuki Taki's body gradually converged.

"This mission concerns many aspects."

"It is not convenient for me to explain them to you one by one."

"You just need to know that this Nakajima Koji was once promoted by me personally."

It seemed Mizunuki Taki also knew that arranging a mission so generally was a bit heartless.

So in the end, he still revealed some inside information.

Hearing Mizunuki Taki say this, Ryosuke also immediately understood a lot in his heart.

"This is the content of the mission, as well as information about Nakajima Koji."

"Go quickly and return quickly."

"A major event will happen in a few days, and by then, your strength might be needed."

Mizunuki Taki handed a mission scroll to Ryosuke, his eyes still carrying some deep meaning.

"Understood."

Mizunuki Ryosuke nodded and secretly remembered everything Mizunuki Taki said.

Afterward, he did not waste time making small talk with the Mizukage but left the Mizukage building directly.

While giving orders to the squad members, Mizunuki Ryosuke also began to think about the information revealed by Mizunuki Taki.

The so-called "major event" should be a top-secret matter.

Because Mizunuki Ryosuke had never heard in the village or the clan that any "major event" would happen in Hidden Mist recently.

Since it belonged to top secret, Mizunuki Ryosuke naturally could not speculate without reason.

On the contrary, it was this mission to hunt down the rogue ninja that made him see many clues.

According to what Mizunuki Taki said, this rogue ninja Nakajima Koji was promoted by him personally.

Then this person should belong to the "Mizukage faction."

But now that he had suddenly defected, he was afraid that he also held some intelligence about the Mizukage faction.

And the reason why the Mizukage gave him the order instead of letting the Mist Anbu do this was...

On one hand, it was trust in him.

On the other hand, it was ultimately due to insufficient control over the Mist Anbu, fearing that Yagura Karatachi would interfere at that time.

After all, as the Mist Anbu leader, Yagura Karatachi could easily intercept the intelligence in Nakajima Koji's hands.

By then, the situation would inevitably be unfavorable to the Mizukage, which was something Mizunuki Taki did not want to see.

Furthermore, Mizunuki Ryosuke guessed that it might be related to the "major event" mentioned by the Mizukage.

This major event might have already occupied most of the combat power in the Mizukage's hands, making him have to draw on "outside personnel" he could trust like himself.

Of course, everything was just Mizunuki Ryosuke's speculation.

As for what exactly was going on, I'm afraid only the Mizukage himself knew.

Thinking of this, Mizunuki Ryosuke sighed inwardly.

Recently, he seemed to have gotten a bit too close to the Third Mizukage, which had a certain impact on his "Doctrine of the Mean plan."

Ryosuke also understood in his heart that this had a certain connection with the promotion turmoil of the previous Jonin exam.

Perhaps when the turmoil of the Jonin exam ended, this situation would improve.

(Seeking flowers, seeking tickets, seeking support, thank you very much!).

Regarding this mission to hunt down the rogue ninja, the mission scroll provided clear information.

Including the abilities of the rogue ninja Nakajima Koji, his behavior on the day of defection, and the direction of defection investigated by the Mist Anbu after the defection.

Even more, there was also a statement from a nearby villager, which described in detail the experience of Nakajima Koji staying at this villager's home after defecting.

Hunting down a rogue ninja naturally had to be executed immediately.

The moment the village discovered the rogue ninja had defected, it would immediately take investigative action.

So at this moment, less than twenty-four hours had passed since Nakajima Koji defected.

In the eyes of any ninja, this mission was very simple.

Based solely on the information in the mission scroll, it was enough to infer the direction of Nakajima Koji's defection.

Plus, Nakajima Koji was only a Chunin; with the ability of a Chunin, it was absolutely impossible for him to run very far, unless someone was already waiting to receive him outside the village.

But where was this? This was the Hidden Mist Village, the hinterland of the Land of Water.

Even if someone was receiving him, it was impossible at this location.

Because once they encountered the squad hunting down the rogue ninja, it was very likely to trigger a battle, and subsequently even cause a war with Hidden Mist.

Moreover, this mission scroll was handed to Mizunuki Ryosuke by the Mizukage himself, and the information on it was extremely reliable.

In this way, the mission of just hunting down an ordinary Chunin seemed extremely simple.

But who was Mizunuki Ryosuke?

When it came to the word "steady," if he ranked second in Hidden Mist Village, I'm afraid no one would dare rank first.

Use the greatest malice to speculate on all possible situations in the mission, even if it was just helping an old lady across the street.

You have to know that even in the ninja world, helping an old lady carried certain risks.

Of course, this old lady wouldn't suddenly lie down and shout about going to the hospital, but was there a possibility that she was actually an assassin from an enemy ninja village?

Although the probability was minimal...

But what if?

Only by making all preparations and ensuring the success rate reached ninety-eight percent could one strike steadily.

This was the royal way!

After all, Mizunuki Ryosuke had promised Lian that he would never return in a "comatose" state again.

So this was even more about being steady upon steady.

For a mission that looked steady as could be to others, Mizunuki Ryosuke still tried his best to find the hidden dangers within it.

Thus, Mizunuki Ryosuke substituted himself into the role of the rogue ninja.

If you were a rogue ninja, what would you do?

In an instant, all the information in the mission scroll flooded into his mind.

As a rogue ninja, perhaps the incident was sudden, but before defecting, there must have been preparations.

The first thing was to delay the time the defection was discovered to seek as much space for escape as possible.

According to the behavior of Nakajima Koji on the day of defection recorded in the mission scroll, Mizunuki Ryosuke quickly discovered the suspicious points.

This rogue ninja did not make any disguises or deceptive behaviors, but just quickly bought some blades and military rations and left Hidden Mist.

Rather than saying it was a defection, it was more like...

Going to execute a mission!

Furthermore, there was also a problem with the direction of Nakajima Koji's defection.

As everyone knew, the Land of Water was a small island independent on the ocean; if Nakajima Koji wanted to leave the scope of the Land of Water safely, he had to take a boat across the ocean.

Heading west, not only was the path the shortest, but he could reach the Land of Hot Water in a short time, and then it was very convenient to transfer to Leaf or Cloud.

But Nakajima Koji chose to run east, which was the inland area of the Land of Water.

This point was really puzzling.

If this was just to confuse the hunting squad, the "staying at a villager's home" mentioned in the scroll proved that this was not a deception.

Because Nakajima Koji had indeed appeared in the inland of the Land of Water.

Thinking in this direction, Mizunuki Ryosuke gradually frowned; it seemed the mission that originally looked plain and unremarkable instantly became full of doubts.

What about the hunting squad? What would they do if they were caught up by the hunting squad?

Hide? Hiding would delay the speed of escape, and once discovered, the difficulty of escape would increase exponentially.

Even if they repelled the hunting squad or luckily escaped, it might anger Hidden Mist, causing them to send more hunting squads.

By then, the situation would be even worse.

If it were Mizunuki Ryosuke, he would definitely...

Kill all the hunting squads!

This way, he could gain a lot of time; perhaps by the time Hidden Mist came to its senses, he would have already run out of the territory of the Land of Water.

What? You say how could a mere Chunin have the strength to kill the hunting squad?

What about a Chunin? The so-called Chunin is just a rank and cannot represent strength; a Leaf Genin could even kill the ancestor of chakra.

Anything is possible.

Perhaps this Nakajima Koji had been hiding his strength all along?

Mizunuki Ryosuke began to evaluate in his heart: if Nakajima Koji hid his strength, where would this limit be?

Kage level? It seemed unlikely; except for Mizunuki Ryosuke, I'm afraid no Kage-level powerhouse would do this kind of thing...

So according to Mizunuki Ryosuke's estimation, the scope of the opponent's hidden strength would at most reach the level of an elite Jonin.

An elite Jonin, combined with some secret techniques, also had a certain possibility of killing a Kage-level powerhouse by surprise.

Even if this probability was not high.

In the ninja world, things like capsizing in the gutter were not uncommon.

Gold and Silver Brothers could even kill Tobirama Senju; nothing is impossible, after all, ninjas are also human.

Even the most powerful ninja, if their head is cut off or their vital points are pierced, will die (except for Hidan).

After comprehensive consideration, Mizunuki Ryosuke had already thought of the steadiest method in his heart.

"Hmm, the success rate is about ninety-nine percent."

After muttering to himself in his heart, Mizunuki Ryosuke nodded, seemingly not very satisfied.

(Seeking flowers, seeking tickets, seeking support!).