In the following days on the ship.
Yakumo also didn't continue pretending to be seasick.
Believing herself to be far ahead, she decided not to provoke Hinata for the time being.
However, what surprised her a little was that Hinata also seemed weighed down these past few days, often distracted.
She kept avoiding looking at her and Aoba. Whenever she saw them, she blushed, which Yakumo found hard to understand.
'It was just sleeping in the same bed together, wasn't it? Still not over it after so long?'
'If it was like mine, wouldn't she have fainted on the spot?'
Anyway, over the next few days, the three of them didn't cling together like on the first day. Everything was calm, and nothing happened.
This situation made Kurenai and Kasui feel a little uncomfortable.
"We can already see that bridge, Aoba-kun. Is that our target this time?", Standing on the deck, with her Byakugan activated, Hinata was staring intently at the mist ahead.
Just speaking, her pink face already flushed a little.
Aoba just felt like laughing. Clearly, it was Hinata who took the initiative back then.
Even the second time, it was Hinata who proposed it. In the end, she's still the one who hasn't recovered.
"Mm, that's the one," Aoba leapt up onto the bow of the ship.
Looking at the half-built bridge looming faintly in the mist ahead, he shouted loudly, "BRING THE SHIP OVER!"
The large ship's speed increased slightly.
"Hey! Are you guys also here to fight us?", As the ship had just reached below the bridge, Naruto, who was standing on the bridge observing them, suddenly shouted at them loudly.
The mist was too thick, Naruto couldn't see them clearly.
"Idiot Naruto, that's Aoba and the others," Sasuke's mocking voice also rang out. With his Sharingan activated, he had already analyzed who was coming.
"Eh? Aoba!", Naruto exclaimed in surprise.
After handing the final payment to the shipowner, Aoba and the others leapt up directly from beneath the bridge.
That's what being a ninja is.
"Naruto, long time no see," Aoba smiled and greeted Naruto.
"Aoba! Why are you here?", Naruto's eyes were full of joy.
"Teacher said you guys might run into special situations, so after we finished our commission, we dropped by to check on you," Aoba replied while surveying the surroundings.
Naruto's clothes were somewhat torn, likely from using the Eight Gates technique. Sasuke's clothes also had several rips, but there weren't any serious wounds.
Kakashi was lying on the ground. Sai, who was uninjured, was tending to him.
Zabuza and Haku were lying not far away, though it seemed they were still breathing.
There were still many civilians on the bridge, but he didn't see any corpses.
"You guys are also on an out-of-village mission?", Sasuke immediately noticed the key point.
Aoba nodded, "We went to the Land of Whirlpools."
Upon hearing this, Naruto boasted a bit, "Aoba, you guys came late. We've already completed our mission. And we even defeated a jōnin named Zabuza together. I heard he's a really strong ninja from Kirigakure!"
"Hmph~", Sasuke also let out a slight snort, feeling a bit proud himself.
This was one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen. According to Kakashi, this was already an A-rank mission.
'Team 7 is already way ahead.'
"Is that so? Then it does seem like we arrived late," Aoba didn't refute, but from the look of things, this mission wasn't just about Zabuza.
He had already sensed a few chakra signatures spying on them from the shadows, one of which seemed fairly strong.
———
[On the Other Side]
"Kakashi, what happened to you?"
Kurenai looked at Kakashi, who looked like he was on the verge of collapse, with some surprise.
"I overused the Sharingan. My body is a bit weak now, but I should recover after lying down for a day or two," Kakashi replied weakly from Sai's back.
"Didn't expect you guys to run into one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen. Good thing you were leading," Kurenai had a lingering look of fear on her face.
The Seven Ninja Swordsmen were the top-tier combat strength of Kirigakure. And Zabuza was a killer. If it had been any regular jōnin, they wouldn't have escaped.
"Luckily we had Naruto and the others. Otherwise, I really might not have managed," Kakashi was also a bit relieved.
If Naruto and Sasuke hadn't taken down that ice-release kid in time, he would've had to overextend again.
Looking at the group of freshly graduated genin chatting, Kurenai's expression grew a bit complicated, 'This year's genin… they're all monsters.'
She then glanced at Kasui and said, "Kasui, those two seem to still be alive. Go place a chakra suppression seal on them."
"Yes!"
———
"Lady Terumi Mei, another Konoha squad has arrived. Should we make a move?"
In a hidden forest near the shores of the Land of Waves, several ninjas wearing Kirigakure forehead protectors were secretly observing Kakashi's group on the bridge.
The one who just spoke was a male ninja wearing an eye patch. The leader was a voluptuous, scantily clad female ninja.
"Another batch of Konoha ninjas... Then let's not act for now," Among the group, the female ninja in the lead, Terumi Mei, ordered the others not to act rashly.
"Then are we going to let them take Zabuza away? He's still alive…"
"Now's not the right time for us to act."
"Among all of them, the strongest should be that Copy Ninja Kakashi. He's already down. With you, we…"
"Ao, just to be safe, let's wait until they lower their guard before we make a move."
"All we need to do is take Zabuza and the Executioner's Blade."
Even though Konoha's strength was no longer what it once was, for the current Kirigakure, any action required extreme caution.
"Yes!"
———
[Nightfall]
Considering Kakashi's condition, Aoba's group decided to rest for a day in the Land of Waves.
The accommodations were naturally arranged by Tazuna.
"Aoba! I challenge you!", Just as they settled in and Aoba was about to send a shadow clone to gather intel on Gato, Sasuke suddenly burst in.
Having just completed an A-rank mission and defeated Zabuza, he was feeling inflated.
Aoba looked slightly helpless, "You just had a big fight today. Shouldn't you rest first?"
"No need! I've fully recovered!"
Both of Sasuke's Sharingan eyes with three tomoe lit up.
Aoba could only shrug helplessly.
———
Moments later.
Sasuke walked out of the room with a bruised and swollen face.
"Haha, Sasuke, you got beat up again," Naruto immediately rushed to the scene.
"Hmph!", Sasuke just snorted coldly, then silently ran outside to train.
Seeing this, Naruto also ran over to train with him.
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