A week had passed since the bell test.
The sun spilled golden light through the high windows of the Hokage's tower, filtering down to the lower floors where the Mission Assignment Office buzzed with energy. Genin teams clustered around large boards filled with missions — most low-ranked, most uninspiring.
Rei stood in front of the board with arms crossed and an annoyed twitch in his eye.
"If I pull one more cat out of a tree," he muttered, "I'm going to become a rogue ninja."
Kuro, his loyal white-furred companion, gave a sympathetic bark.
Hinata, just behind them, offered a quiet smile. "Sensei said it builds patience…"
"I want to build legend," Rei replied. "This is not the path to legend."
Kaito stood a few feet away, watching—not the mission board, but the tall figure cloaked in black standing near the exit. A masked ANBU, silent and still, yet unmistakably focused on something… or someone.
Still watching.
Then, without warning, Takeshi appeared at their side.
He said nothing at first. He simply handed them a scroll sealed with silver thread and stamped with the Hokage's mark.
"A C-rank request," he said. "Escort mission. We leave in two hours."
Rei blinked. "Wait—C-rank? Already?"
"You're ready," Takeshi replied.
Kaito narrowed his eyes. "What's the real reason?"
Takeshi's gaze lingered on him for a beat too long. "Pack lightly."
And with that, he turned and walked away.
Their client was a carpenter from the Land of Rivers — older, soft-spoken, and visibly uneasy about the journey. He had received threats recently, something about a land dispute, and requested a Leaf escort back to his home village.
For two days, the mission passed uneventfully. They followed a winding trade road, crossing low hills and shallow rivers. The pace was steady. The forest dense. The air peaceful.
On the third night, they set up camp near the Nami River.
Mist crept along the ground, thick and heavy, blanketing the world in silver. Even the moon was little more than a pale blur above the trees.
Hinata gathered firewood. Rei set perimeter traps with Kuro, grumbling the whole time about how escort missions should involve more punching. Kaito stood at the river's edge, eyes on the dark water, listening.
The wind had gone silent.
No.
Not silent.
It was holding its breath.
Something moved in the fog.
It happened fast.
Three shapes exploded from the mist — kunai flashing.
"Bandits!" Rei shouted, instantly leaping into action. "Kuro—go!"
But Kaito's voice was sharper. "Not bandits. They're trained."
The attackers moved with a precision no bandit possessed. Silent. Coordinated. Two flanked them, one went straight for the carpenter.
Hinata darted in, palms glowing. She struck the attacker in the shoulder with a pinpoint burst of chakra. His arm went limp. He dropped his blade with a grunt.
Rei and Kuro took the second, spinning in unison like twin hurricanes. The missing-nin tried to block — and failed. He hit the dirt hard.
But the third—
The third came for Kaito.
The blade swung fast, straight at his heart.
Kaito didn't move.
And the blade stopped midair.
A violent gust of wind exploded outward from his body in a tight spiral, knocking the attacker backward as if struck by an unseen force. Dirt sprayed. Trees bent. The man hit the ground and didn't rise.
Hinata gasped. "That wasn't a jutsu…"
Rei stared. "You didn't even make a hand sign."
Kaito looked down at his hands, slightly trembling. The wind still swirled around him, whispering something only he could hear.
Takeshi appeared seconds later in a blur of movement. His eyes swept the battlefield, then the attackers.
"Alive?"
"Barely," Rei said. "These guys weren't amateurs."
Kaito crouched beside the one he'd repelled. He reached down and pulled away the attacker's mask.
A stitched mouth.
The same symbol from the scroll.
Kaito stood slowly, eyes narrowing. "This wasn't a random ambush."
"You know something?" Rei asked.
Kaito didn't answer. The mist around them thickened slightly. The wind picked up, just enough to rustle the trees.
"I want answers," Takeshi said quietly. "But not here."
They made camp again after binding the attackers. The carpenter was shaken but unharmed.
That night, Hinata approached Kaito as he stood by the river again.
"You moved like… something else was guiding you."
Kaito didn't look at her. "Maybe something was."
Rei joined them. "Look, I don't trust a lot of people. I barely trust my own clan most days. But I'm not dumb. That wind — that power — it's not normal."
Hinata hesitated. "It's not chakra either. Not fully."
Kaito turned to them. For once, his eyes were open — not guarded, not veiled.
"I don't understand it. But I think someone else does. And they're watching."
From the trees beyond, a figure moved in the mist.
Not an attacker.
Not Takeshi.
A silhouette in a long coat, holding a blade shaped like a crescent moon.
Then it was gone.
The wind died again.
But the warning it carried still echoed in the air.
Storms were coming.
And Kaito was at the center of them.