White Dragon Hidden in The Leaves

Chapter 22: Small Beginnings: Ayumi's Debut Mission



During the rest of the day, Izumi and I just spoke to each other. The topic of how I had killed one of the teachers who had turned traitor was brought up. She didn't seem mad and seemed a bit proud, saying I did the right thing. Once night came we headed our separate ways, Tomorrow would be the first day I would be able to do missions. And I couldn't wait, Maybe Our first mission would be going out and killing a bunch of bandits or maybe we would hunt down missing ninjas.  For now, I'd try and get some sleep and meet Izumi at the mission offices.

The sun peeked over the horizon, painting the sky with shades of pink and gold as we stood outside the mission assignment office. My heart pounded in my chest, Finally, it was show time.

"Alright, Ayumi," Izumi said, breaking me out of my reverie. "Let's see what E-rank missions they have for us today."

"Can't wait," I replied sarcastically, this wasn't what I had been hoping for, lame ass E rank missions that I could have done as a student.

As we entered the office, an older Chunin greeted us with a stern expression. "Uchiha, Kure, you two are here for your first mission together, correct?" he asked, his eyes scanning the clipboard in his hands.

"Y-yeah," I stammered, trying not to let my anxiety show.

"Good. Your first mission is to help an elderly woman with her gardening. She needs assistance with tending to her plants and carrying bags of soil."

"Seriously?" I muttered under my breath. It wasn't exactly the thrilling adventure I had envisioned when I'd become a ninja.

"Remember, Ayumi," Izumi whispered, sensing my disappointment. "No task is too small. We're here to serve the village in any way we can."

"Fine," I grumbled, following her lead as we exited the office and made our way towards our client's home.

Upon arriving at the small, humble house, we were greeted by an elderly woman with a warm smile. "Oh, thank goodness you're here," she gushed, clasping her hands together. "I've been having the hardest time keeping up with my garden, and I just don't have the strength I used to."

"Leave it to us, ma'am," Izumi assured her, bowing respectfully. "We'll have your garden looking better than ever in no time."

"Thank you, dear," the woman replied, her eyes crinkling with gratitude.

As we set to work in the garden, This was so dumb, and I didn't want to spend more time than I needed on this. Moved my fingers together as I used shadow clone and created 5 more of me to speed up the work speed. Izumi raised her eyebrow at me as I sent my clones to work.

"Good job, Ayumi," Izumi praised, as I finished transplanting a row of delicate flowers. "You've got a steady hand for this kind of work."

"Thanks," I replied, surprised by the compliment. My other clones finishing up on the rest of the large garden.

As the sun was high in the sky, we stood back to admire our handiwork. The elderly woman's garden was now a vibrant array of flowers and greenery, and she thanked us profusely for our help.

"Keep up the good work, you two," she encouraged, waving as we departed her home. "The village is lucky to have young ninja like you."

"See?" Izumi said, a smile playing at the corners of her lips. "Sometimes it's the small things that matter most."

"Maybe," still it was something that felt like something students should be doing instead of me.

"Come on let's get some more training in today" Looking at me as we walked, I couldn't help but smile as I nodded. I used my flicker step to rush ahead as she was keeping up with me. Stepping on the rooftops of the houses as we rushed to the training ground. As soon as we stepped into the surrounding forest. Izumi started to attack me.

Sunlight filtered through the trees, casting dappled shadows on the forest floor. A bead of sweat trickled down my forehead as I slid into a defensive stance, my breaths coming in short, sharp gasps. Izumi mirrored my movements, her eyes locked onto mine, her eyes red with spinning tomoes. 

"Come on, Ayumi," she goaded, twirling her kunai with an ease that made my own grip feel clumsy. "Show me what you've got."

I lunged forward, channeling my frustration into a flurry of blows, Using my kunai to slash at her. But Izumi was relentless, parrying each strike with grace and precision.

"Focus!" she barked, as our blades clashed.

I gritted my teeth. We danced around each other, and with each of my movements, she always seemed to easily deflect it. It almost felt like I was moving in slow motion to her with how easily she was able to push me back.

"Better," Izumi grudgingly admitted, as I successfully countered one of her attacks. "But you're still holding back," she said pointing towards my eyes. Even if I was already using my purple veins it wasn't enough.

I hesitated, what if someone else saw? I am putting myself in a larger target.

"Trust me, Ayumi," she urged her voice surprisingly gentle. "We're in this together."

Taking a deep breath, I allowed my chakra to surge towards my eyes, as she began to spin in a pure white iris with two grey tomoes.

"Alright, Izumi," I whispered, my voice steady with newfound confidence. "Let's do this."

We sprang into action, our movements faster and more fluid than ever before. My strikes connected with satisfying force, Still Izumi pushed me back as I was still struggling to keep up. But I was no fool, I knew she was holding back.

"Amazing," she breathed, her eyes wide with interest. "I've never seen anything like it." Her hand holding my face as she held me pinned to the ground. 

I inhaled sharply as I increased the spread of my purple veins, and my skin slowly took on a purple like shade from below my hips.

Percentage: 45

Slamming my leg upward towards her back she was forced to move from on top of me.

"Tell you what Ayumi, if you can keep this up for the next 3 minutes I'll take you on a hard mission." looking down at me as I moved to get ready.

I raised my fingers as I used shadow clones to create 8 copies of myself. I still wasn't anywhere close to Naruto's chakra level so this was the most I could make at the moment. I still had to use most of my charka on my eyes and my releases. 

Two days later

The sun beat down mercilessly on our backs as Izumi and I raced across the seemingly endless expanse of sand. Our latest D-rank mission had brought us to a remote village plagued by a series of mysterious droughts, and it was up to us to find the source of the problem.

"Keep up, Ayumi!" Izumi called out, her voice strained from the relentless heat. "We're almost there!"

I gritted my teeth, ignoring the sweat that dripped into my eyes. As we crested a particularly steep dune, I caught sight of the village nestled in the valley below.

"Finally," I muttered, relief flooding through me.

"Come on, we need to speak with the village elder," Izumi said, leading the way down the sandy slope.

As we made our way through the parched streets, I couldn't help but notice the haggard expressions etched onto the faces of the villagers. It was clear that they were struggling.

"Here we are," Izumi announced as we approached a modest hut near the center of the village. "Let's see what we can do to help these people."

Within moments, we found ourselves seated before the village elder, a wizened old man whose eyes seemed to hold a depth of wisdom far beyond his years. He explained that their water supply had been dwindling for months, with no apparent cause.

"Please, will you help us?" he asked, desperation creeping into his voice.

"Of course," Izumi replied without hesitation, her resolve unwavering. "We'll do everything we can."

Over the next few days, Izumi and I searched tirelessly for any sign of what could be causing the drought. With each passing hour, I could feel the pressure mounting as we encountered obstacle after obstacle.

"What if there's nothing we can do to help these people?"

"We can't give up, Ayumi," Izumi insisted, her tone firm yet gentle. "it's not normal for this place to be so dry like this."

"Looks like we've got our work cut out for us," I muttered as we surveyed the evidence before us.

"Indeed," Izumi agreed, her eyes narrowing with determination.

We kept looking around the village,  one of the children I was asking questions to, had told me about a strange man he had seen towards the north in a cave. And so me and Izumi made our way there. We had found the cave as the sand was blowing everywhere. Walking in and moving down the path I could feel a nasty energy.

As we reached the chamber there it held a cursed vessel, a chilling wind swept through the cave. The presence of the rogue Hidden Sand ninja was unmistakable. Before us stood two formidable adversaries, both rogue shinobi clad in tattered Sand Village attire, with distinct symbols of crossed-out Suna forehead protectors.

I pulled out my Bingo book as I honestly didn't feel any type of threat from them and their lack of an entry in the Hidden Leaf Village's bingo book was evident. They were far from a formidable opponent.

The battle began, but it was clear that the rogue ninja's skills were limited. They attempted to launch wind-style jutsu, but Izumi effortlessly deflected the attacks with her Sharingan, creating a barrier of flames that engulfed the wind jutsu.

"See this Ayumi, if you ever find yourself fighting opponents that use wind attacks use fire-style attacks. they will end up empowering your attacks."

The rogue ninja also tried to manipulate the ground beneath us with earth-style jutsu, creating pitfalls and obstacles. However, their efforts were in vain, as Izumi's Sharingan allowed her to anticipate and evade their every move.

The battle continued, but the rogue ninja's attacks lacked precision and power. Izumi's Sharingan allowed her to calmly deal with them.

In a somewhat anticlimactic showdown, Izumi used her overwhelming skill to incapacitate the rogue ninja and bring them close to death. They lay defeated, gasping for breath, unable to put up a true challenge.

Izumi stepped forward, her Sharingan eyes unwavering. "You chose this path, and it led you to this moment. Now you must face the consequences." I moved closer now would be a good time to try out one of my skills. And with that, I bite into his neck draining his chakra and adding it to my own. It felt like my charka had grown by half. And as I drained him completely he lay there dead. Izumi destroys the jar.

With justice served, we left the rogue ninja body behind and returned to the Hidden Leaf Village, where we ended the mysterious droughts and ensured the safety of the remote village. The battle had been far from explosive, honestly a letdown.


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