The man points his sword at the ninja in front of him, his eyes narrowed as a slight feeling of fear runs through his body.
The tired-looking man with a solemn look observes the rabbit-masked ninja Anbu who raises his hands in a sign of surrender in front of him, the man who points his sword at the Anbu ninja of Konoha is called Carico.
Carico a new recruit to the new Bandit team 'Paper and Ink', has his first mission, his boss told him that he should bring the head of a Anbu ninja and, looking at the Anbu ninja in front of him, it is safe to say that he has succeeded.
Carico, with tired eyes, a face with a few wrinkles and slightly tousled long black hair, clenches the hilt of his sword, he doesn't know what's wrong with his body, he doesn't know why, but he feels he is in danger.
Carico sticks out his tongue in an unconscious act to lick his lips before opening his eyes in surprise, the Konoha Anbu ninja in front of him watches him with a dead stare, and Carico knows the Anbu's intentions.
Immediately afterwards he withdraws his sword and using his special teleportation ability he gained at birth, he moves several dozen meters away from the Anbu.
A moment later...
*Explosion*
The Anbu ninja exploded into a thousand pieces, a few moments before and seeing that his death was imminent, the Anbu prepared several explosive seals without Carico noticing, the Anbu wanted to take Carico to hell with him.
Not far away, Carico covers his eyes and face from the wind generated by the explosion, waits a few seconds and then sighs.
"Isn't this the second Anbu ninja to end his own life before falling into my hands"', Carico sighs tiredly, but, again he starts up.
Carico watches the cloudy sky and the small drops falling as he walks and can't help but feel a slight tightness in his heart, time is running out, the boss didn't give him many days and the time for the end of his mission is near.
Not long after he arrives at a small hill where several ninjas are fighting against each other, Carico watches them.
"Ninjas from Konoha and Iwagakure...", he mutters as he hides in the vegetation not far from the clash.
However, it doesn't take long for him to be surprised, one of the Konoha ninja moves at such a speed that he appears to be a golden lightning bolt that pierces through the enemies, killing them in an instant.
Carico's eyes widen in surprise, Isn't that the boy from Konoha who has been gaining prominence over the past few days?, the boss of Paper and Ink spoke about that boy as well, his name is Minato.
Carico can't finish marveling at the lightning that pierces the Iwagakure ninja for long, as a kunai suddenly presses against his neck.
"You've been watching for a while, Do you like what you see?", the youthful voice behind Carico sounds a little mocking and a little full of, Regret?
Carico doesn't move, he lets out a slight sigh before closing his mouth, the kunai presses even harder on his neck and some blood stains its edge.
However, Carico remains silent, he knows, the ninja behind him is the renowned Minato, he cannot win against Minato, but, he can escape.
His teleportation ability allows him to instantly teleport several tens of meters away in any direction.
If it weren't for the fear of dying buried and unable to breathe under the ground, Carico would have already used his ability to transport himself under the ground.
"Hmph...", Minato behind Carico makes a slight noise with his mouth as he checks his body, his hands run over his neck, his clothes, his trousers and.... Carico feels a slight tingle in his lower body, something has woken up.
"What is this?", Minato mutters before pulling a strange book out of Carico's pockets, the book has a completely white cover, and as he opens the book to read it, Minato opens his eyes in surprise and begins to focus a little more on the content of the book.
...
Why do I feel that Minato is breathing a little too fast?
Carico swallows saliva for a moment, Minato is too close and his body starts to feel unpleasantly warm.
"Ahem, good content, good content, good content," Minato repeats three times before closing the book and stuffing it into his ninja pocket.
Minato's eyes focus for a moment on his fellow Konoha ninja not far away who are nursing their wounds before he smiles brightly.
"You wrote this?", Minato asks.
"Well, in part..." Carico tells the truth, the coverless book itself is not entirely to his credit, but to the joint work of him and a rather nice friend.
Minato smiles at that answer, "I don't see you wearing a ninja bandana, Where are you from?"
Carico doesn't think for a second before answering, "I come from a poor place near Amegakure, my parents were peasants who died, and I've been struggling and learning a few things on my own," Carico says with complete sincerity.
Minato's eyes, focused on the middle-aged man below him twinkle slightly, Isn't this guy ideal for the job?
"Hey, hey, a guy like you near the fighting ground between Konoha and Iwagakure, you're pretty brave, aren't you," Minato chuckles lightly before removing the Kunai from Carico's neck and standing up.
Carico wanted to say something but simply forces himself to shut his mouth, he understands that Minato wants to use him for a specific purpose, he simply stands up carefully before turning around to face Minato.
Minato had previously checked, his thorough study of the ninja of the five major enemy villages gave him extensive knowledge, he can easily tell that the middle aged man he just captured has no connection to one of the five villages.
Even if he did and Minato made a mistake in his analysis, the mission Minato has for Carico is simple and does not put any of his companions at risk.
Minato looks at Carico's tired face with a forced smile.
"Why do you look like you've fought a thousand battles?", Minato makes a small comment that Carico doesn't respond to.
*Sigh*
After a moment Minato sighs at Carico who looks like a statue waiting for orders in front of him, Minato can tell just by looking into Carico's eyes, this man has lost any trace of humanity in him.
"I want you to send me reports periodically about what Hanzo are doing in Amegakure..." Minato says seriously observing Carico's slightly dull eyes.
Reports?
Carico opens his mouth slightly before looking at Minato, he doesn't understand, sure, he understands the need to spy on your enemy, but, Why would Minato entrust such a mission to a stranger like him?
"I like your book, write me a couple of reports and deliver them here ten days later, Understand?" Minato smiles brightly, the sun makes his perfect skin glow a little and his white teeth look dazzling.
Carico opens his eyes, his body shudders, he can't understand it, writing a report, for a moment he thinks Minato is joking or just playing with him.
However, Minato signals for Carico to leave, and then Carico gets even more confused, let him escape, Why?
Carico wants to say something, but he can't, he thinks Minato is an idiot, Minato should kill him, killing the enemy is what a good ninja should do, but Minato is letting him escape.
Carico is silent for a moment before turning around and simply walking back the way he came. He was prepared to be attacked from behind, or for Minato to laugh and then come to kill him, however, that never happened.
Soon, Carico lost sight of Minato, and simply walked around the forest for a while.
Is that kind of man Minato the Yellow Flash of Konoha?, A man who lets an enemy escape, a man who smiles and looks like the world is shining on his face.
Carico swallows for a moment before shaking his head.
"A report?, you don't even try to threaten me or do anything to make me do the mission," Carico sighs before trying to find another Anbu.
Not long after Carico found an Anbu from Iwagakure, this time, Carico was quick and killed the Iwagakure Anbu with a few moves before cutting off his head.
"Time to return to base," Carico mutters holding a cut off head in his blood covered hands.
Carico passes by several places, in many of them there are dead bodies, desperate and crying people, in war, people simply prefer to hide in some secluded places in the forest, but, that only exposes them more.
Carico pays them no mind and after six hours of travelling he arrives at a settlement hidden among several trees, the base of the bandits Paper and Ink.
At the entrance two bandit guards see the head still wearing the mask of an Iwagakure ninja in Carico's hands and smile broadly.
"Looks like you had it easy, eh, Carico, that head is very fresh, the boss will be happy, by the way, you'd better get some rest these days, we'll be leaving soon for a team mission," one of the guards smiles and shakes Carico's free hand.
Carico forces a slight smile on his face before bowing his head slightly to the guard.
"The boss has prepared a gift for you, hurry to his office..." the other guard smiles and pats Carico's shoulder.