Tenten had already left the Village for a mission earlier, so Natsuki went to the Ninja Tool shop and greeted his cheap father-in-law.
He picked up the summoning scroll he had prepared long ago and walked towards the main gate.
On the way, he also encountered Team Seven who were looking for a cat.
Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were chasing and cornering a cat, but their coordination wasn't good enough, and the kitten was giving them a hard time.
Natsuki looked up and saw Kakashi on the rooftop reading his adult book, and quickly greeted him: "Kakashi-senpai, you're quite leisurely."
Kakashi closed his book: "Oh, it's Natsuki.
Looking at your attire, are you going on a mission outside the Village?"
Natsuki nodded: "Yes, Lord Hokage assigned a mission to escort a merchant convoy to the Fire Country.
I'll be leaving soon."
"Oh, well, go quickly then.
Be careful."
"Bye-bye, senpai."
Natsuki waved and quickly ran towards the main gate.
"Four Six Zero"
Naruto finally caught the kitten, but was scratched on the face by the kitten.
While he was in a mess, he saw Natsuki running past.
He seemed to have just heard Natsuki talking to Kakashi-sensei.
So he asked curiously: "Kakashi-sensei knows Natsuki?"
Sasuke and Sakura were also curious; they had also heard Natsuki greeting Kakashi just now.
"Yeah, we just met last year."
Kakashi opened his book again, his tone nonchalant, "Natsuki is much more sensible than you guys, and he's going out on a mission now. Unlike you, who can't even catch a cat properly. Oh dear, I really envy the sensei of Team Nine."
"What?! Team Nine is going out on a mission?!"
Naruto and the other two were immediately agitated when they heard this.
They had been doing odd jobs for the past month and were sick of it. They didn't expect that Natsuki's Team Nine could already go out of Konoha. How could they tolerate this?
So they strongly demanded, "Kakashi-sensei, we want to go out on missions too!"
Kakashi smiled slightly, "No way! You have to wait for Lord Hokage's arrangement!"
After all, it involved the Jinchuriki. Kakashi couldn't make the decision. Only after the Third Hokage decided could the Jinchuriki leave Konoha. Otherwise, if anything went wrong, no one could take responsibility.
Natsuki had already reached the main gate.
Yamashiro Aoba was leading the merchant caravan to register with the two gate guards, Kotetsu and Izumo. Yamashiro Rinne and Kato Megumi were very excited about leaving Konoha and had arrived early. It could be said that Natsuki was the latest to arrive, but as long as he wasn't late, it didn't matter.
However, the merchant caravan seemed dissatisfied.
Speaking of a merchant caravan, it was actually just one mustachioed man who was the merchant; the other four were servants or guards.
The mustachioed merchant saw that Natsuki was the last to arrive and couldn't help but complain, "Is Konoha Village capable or not? I paid money, and they just sent a few brats to escort me? Don't tell me their legs will turn to jelly if they encounter bandits!"
Yamashiro Rinne and Kato Megumi were immediately unhappy and glared angrily at the mustachioed merchant.
Yamashiro Aoba, however, was unfazed. After all, he had heard plenty of complaints from clients when he was on missions before.
But Natsuki was not someone to suffer in silence. He smiled and said, "If this merchant lord is not satisfied, it's still not too late to change the request now. I suggest the merchant lord spend one million ryo to post an S-Rank request. Lord Hokage will definitely send the most elite Jonin to escort you all the way. How about it? Want to change the request?"
Change it... like hell!
One million ryo! Do you think money is printed in your own home?!
The mustachioed merchant's face turned red with frustration for a moment. He had so little cargo that even if he sold it all in the Fire Country Capital, it wouldn't amount to three hundred thousand ryo. He would be crazy to spend one million ryo to post a request. But he clearly heard the little brat's sarcasm, mocking him for complaining when he didn't have money and telling him to shut his mouth!
He wanted to curse back, but facing Natsuki's gaze, his heart suddenly turned cold.
Thinking carefully, although these brats were young, they were official Ninja, much stronger than his four guards. He was foolish to dare complain.
For a moment, he chose to keep his mouth shut.
Yamashiro Rinne and Kato Megumi couldn't help but laugh. As expected of their leader, one sentence shut that arrogant guy down.
Yamashiro Aoba also looked at Natsuki in surprise. He thought Natsuki would argue with the merchant, but he didn't expect him to hit the merchant's weak spot with one sentence, leaving him speechless.
This personality, unwilling to suffer losses, but very rational and also very smart.
Yamashiro Aoba was becoming more and more satisfied with Natsuki.
"Ahem, let's get going. Natsuki, you take charge," Yamashiro Aoba completely handed the mission over to Natsuki.
This was mainly to train Natsuki. Natsuki's strength was sufficient now, but he lacked Ninja experience. To help Natsuki grow quickly, he had to let him try being a leader early on...
Anyway, with him, the sensei, backing them up, Natsuki could mess around however he wanted.
Natsuki nodded, then arranged, "I'll walk in the front, the caravan will follow behind me, Rinne and Megumi will be on the sides. Don't just get excited, remember to take turns scouting along the way. Aoba-sensei will be at the back. Well, sensei, just watch us perform."
Yamashiro Rinne and Kato Megumi immediately echoed, "That's right, Aoba-nii/sensei, watch us perform!"
Yamashiro Aoba pushed up his sunglasses, looking leisurely.
Kotetsu and Izumo, however, were quite surprised. They didn't expect Yamashiro Aoba to completely hand the mission over to his students. Although he would back them up, daring to do this on their first mission outside Konoha was quite bold.
Soon, the team set off.
Natsuki walked at the very front. It was a bit of a novelty to leave Konoha Village for the first time.
However, the environment in Fire Country was pretty much the same. The road just didn't have as many people and houses as Konoha Village. It was basically all tall trees and forests. The environment was basically unchanged, and there wasn't much to see.
Even the very excited Yamashiro Rinne and Kato Megumi quickly lost their initial excitement and focused on the mission.
The two took turns scouting. Kato Megumi used Water Release: Telescope Technique, which allowed her to see the situation within a kilometer. Yamashiro Rinne, on the other hand, summoned crows and used them for reconnaissance.
However, there wouldn't be any danger in the short term.
Because this place was very close to Konoha, and occasionally there were Ninja passing by, even if bandits were bold, they wouldn't dare to cause trouble near Konoha Village.
In addition, the main reason was that the caravan was quite slow. The merchant traveled light and easily, but the four guards had to push a cart of goods. What's more, this stingy merchant didn't even have a horse to pull the cart, so they didn't go far after walking for a long time.
And he dared to complain that the Ninja sent by Konoha were young?
You buy a horse to pull the cart first, and we can be faster!
Natsuki looked back at the mustachioed merchant, the displeasure in his eyes making the merchant sweat, fearing that this little guy would suddenly explode and beat him up.
Didn't he just complain at the gate? He still remembers?
How petty!
The team walked along, stopping only at noon to eat and rest, then continued walking until evening when they encountered a situation.