Chapter 22

To be steady, Mizunuki Ryosuke led the squad to first arrive at the "villager's home" mentioned in the mission scroll to conduct a verification.

This was a plain and unremarkable small village, where about dozens of households lived, relying on farming for a living.

In the home of the farmer where Nakajima Koji had stayed, a farmer who looked honest and simple was trembling as he told Mizunuki Ryosuke everything he knew.

After a round of questioning, the villager's performance had no flaws and was basically the same as the description in the mission scroll.

And many villagers near the village could testify.

The difficulty for ordinary people to lie in front of a ninja was extremely high, and Takeda Yoichi in the team was an expert in this aspect.

After leaving the village, Takeda Yoichi nodded toward Mizunuki Ryosuke, signaling there was no problem.

Thus, the squad continued to investigate forward based on the information in the mission scroll.

Another day and night passed, and the squad searched into a dense forest.

All the clues in their hands pointed in this direction.

Soon, they discovered a hidden trace in the forest.

Takeda Yoichi grabbed a handful of mud from the ground, gently placed it to the tip of his nose to sniff, and then said affirmatively.

"Captain, there is a lingering smell of blood in the mud here."

"It should be small animals like rabbits or squirrels."

"It looks like someone was hunting for food nearby not long ago."

Only the smell of blood remained in the mud, while other things like bones and corpses were nowhere to be seen.

This showed that the only ones who could do such hunting behavior were humans, and humans who did not want to be discovered.

Takeda Yoichi's investigation made Mizunuki Mitsuhiko and Terumi Mei change their views on him.

After all, such meticulous ability was something they did not possess.

Seeing this, Mizunuki Ryosuke nodded with satisfaction.

After tracking and inferring from the mission information, there was almost a nearly fifty percent possibility that the hunter was Nakajima Koji!

The squad members were all happy.

Such a discovery seemed to indicate that Nakajima Koji was nearby.

As they went deeper into the dense forest, signs of human activity became more and more obvious.

It seemed the mission target was right before their eyes!

Underground in the depths of the forest.

More than a dozen elite members of the Rock ninjas had been waiting here for a long time.

One elite Jonin, three Jonin, and nine Chunin.

Such a scale could already be considered a medium-sized ninja force.

Especially since these were Rock ninjas who were good at collective combat.

Among these Rock ninjas, the leader was a man with a hideous hedgehog hairstyle.

The hedgehog-haired man was named Kari, and he was a member of the Rock Hidden Explosion Corps.

And the Explosion Corps of Hidden Rock had a positioning similar to the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of Hidden Mist.

As a member of the Explosion Corps, Kari not only had the strength of an elite Jonin but also possessed the Kekkei Genkai of "Explosion Release," and his strength was unfathomable.

Even if a Kage-level powerhouse were present, with these Rock ninjas, it might not be impossible to fight.

This time, secretly infiltrating the hinterland of the Land of Water, their goal was a top-secret S-rank mission.

But who would have thought that after successfully infiltrating, on the eve of the mission, Kari's own younger brother died at the hands of Hidden Mist.

Kari was immediately furious; you have to know that this younger brother was someone he watched grow up.

The two brothers usually had an extremely good relationship, possessed Explosion Release, and Kari himself was not someone who could endure.

So he immediately used his own authority, vowing to avenge his grudge first.

With some help that could not be mentioned, Kari set up a carefully prepared killing trap in the deep forest far away from Hidden Mist Village!

The moment a Hidden Mist squad stepped into the forest, the reconnaissance secret technique set up at the edge of the forest was triggered.

This also let the Rock ninjas underground know the news that the other party had arrived.

Kari stood up abruptly, light flickering in his eyes like a beast.

"Everyone, the enemy is here."

"I won't say much nonsense; blood debts must be paid with blood!"

"I hope you will all help me!"

Kari said through gritted teeth, his eyes full of violent killing intent.

The Rock ninjas first looked at each other, then nodded in agreement, all promising to help.

Even though Kari acting privately during the mission was a big taboo.

But Kari, as a member of the Explosion Corps, had a high status in Hidden Rock.

The ninjas who could perform missions with Kari were all close to Kari himself.

Such a request, they naturally would not refuse.

After all, the opponent was just an ordinary Hidden Mist squad, and they wouldn't be able to make any waves anyway.

Just like that, a Hidden Rock force with powerful combat strength hid underground, waiting for the prey to step into the trap step by step.

On the other side, Mizunuki Mitsuhiko was just about to volunteer to continue deep investigation, but was pulled by Ryosuke.

"What's wrong?"

Just as Mizunuki Mitsuhiko was full of confusion.

Terumi Mei on the other side seemed to have thought of something, her expression becoming a bit speechless.

"Here we go again..."

The experience of the two previous missions together made Terumi Mei deeply understand the personality of this Captain Ryosuke.

"Excessively cautious," even steady to an appalling degree.

Mizunuki Ryosuke did not explain but said slowly.

"From now on, enter combat state, and listen to my command for everything."

Seeing Ryosuke's serious expression, the three did not dare to raise objections and had to nod one after another.

Thus, Ryosuke whispered into the ears of the three.

After receiving the orders, the three took the scrolls given by Ryosuke and sped toward three different directions.

After waiting for a period of time, Mizunuki Ryosuke stepped forward alone and walked toward the depths of the forest.

All of this was seen by something resembling an "eye" in the dark and transmitted to the underground where the Rock ninjas were gathered.

"How should this be handled? Lord Kari?"

A Jonin asked Kari.

"No matter, deal with this Jonin first; the remaining brats are not worth mentioning."

Kari looked at the handsome young man in white on the screen, his face instantly becoming incomparably hideous.

Because he had already recognized him.

This was the enemy who killed Tatsuo!

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