Although Masakawa didn't understand why Lord Tobirama would assign a seven-year-old like Kazekaze to border patrol, he still gave him his tasks. Kazekaze was stationed at an outpost located on the edge of the forest. He was put in charge of patrolling a 35-li radius, and was to report to Masakawa at regular intervals. In case of emergencies, he was permitted to temporarily abandon the outpost.
Additionally, Masakawa specifically explained some survival methods and precautions for operating in such environments. Through this, Kazekaze came to realize—although Masakawa was the leading Jōnin, due to the distance between outposts, it was often necessary for sub-team captains like Kazekaze to make timely decisions on their own.
After understanding all of this, Kazekaze began a simple and monotonous life of patrolling the forest.
Time flew by like an arrow, the days slipping away. Before he knew it, a whole week had passed. Kazekaze felt completely cut off from the world, having received not a shred of news from the village. As for reporting to Masakawa, he left all of that to Kosuke. After all... Kazekaze was the sub-team captain now—he needed to remain stationed at the outpost. So ever since the mission began, he hadn't even seen Masakawa again. His daily routine became a loop of patrolling, standing guard, training, and resting. And as for how long this life would continue—no one knew.
"This is nothing like the border mission I imagined."
After finishing a round of physical training, Kazekaze couldn't help but complain. This kind of life wasn't what he had expected. He had thought Tobirama sent him here to stir up trouble—to suppress Hidden Cloud shinobi. But forget suppressing them—he didn't even know where they were.
No... not just them. Over the past few days, aside from Uchiha Kagami, Sakumo, and Kosuke, Kazekaze hadn't seen a single soul. And the living conditions were terrible. The so-called outpost was just a pitifully shabby wooden shack. Not only were four people crammed into it—there weren't even enough seasonings to cook a decent meal. Worst of all, the only one who could cook was Uchiha Kagami. And Kazekaze honestly couldn't praise his cooking skills.
Just as he was silently lamenting his recent hardships, Kagami's voice came from behind him.
"Captain Kazekaze."
"Kagami, huh..." Just hearing Kagami's voice put Kazekaze in a mood. Because over the past few days, the only reason Kagami came looking for him was for one thing—it was time to eat. And just the thought of Kagami's cooking, which only barely qualified as edible, gave Kazekaze a headache. Especially when—he thought about the meals Mokuken used to prepare: breakfast, bentō, dinner—all with loving care. In comparison, Kagami's skills were a disgrace to the Uchiha name.
However, this time, Kagami hadn't come about food. His face was unusually serious.
"Captain Kazekaze, Kosuke just returned from Masakawa."
"And?" Kazekaze's interest was piqued. During this period, all communication with Masakawa had been handled by Kosuke. After all, Kagami was the only one who could cook and boil water. Kazekaze really couldn't afford to lose him. Sakumo was only eight—clearly still a kid. Out of humanitarian concern, Kazekaze had no choice but to assign the duty to Kosuke. And it turned out to be the right decision. Kosuke had never failed in that role.
But that was precisely why this felt off. Kosuke's job was to report on patrols. Whenever he returned from Masakawa, he only needed to give Kazekaze a quick update before resting. But now, Uchiha Kagami had come to speak with him directly. Kazekaze guessed that Masakawa had probably assigned Kosuke a special mission. He didn't know what kind, but anything was better than this uneventful routine.
"Come with me."
However, Kagami didn't explain further. He simply motioned for Kazekaze to follow him.
Twenty minutes later—Kazekaze returned to the outpost with Kagami. The moment he stepped inside, Kosuke hurried over, took a few quick strides, bowed his head slightly, and greeted him.
"Captain Kazekaze."
Though Kazekaze was much younger than Kosuke, he was still the team's captain. And in the world of shinobi, the concept of hierarchy was taken seriously.
Kazekaze nodded. "Go on. What is it?"
"Whew..."
Kosuke took a deep breath. "There's a mission tonight."
"A mission? What kind?"
As soon as he heard the word "mission," Kazekaze perked up. He had already guessed this possibility on the way back, but now that it was confirmed by Kosuke, he couldn't help feeling a little excited. Sakumo also came over curiously.
"Here's the situation."
Kosuke repeated Masakawa's words exactly. In order to acquire intelligence on the Hidden Cloud Village, Tobirama had planted a spy among them. That was how he had learned that the Hidden Cloud was reinforcing its borders, and that Toroi planned to kidnap Yuna.
And this didn't mean Tobirama's methods were underhanded. In fact... in the shinobi world, planting spies was incredibly common. For example, the other Hidden Villages only learned of Hashirama's terminal illness thanks to their own spies. Although every village tried to root out enemy agents, it was extremely difficult to identify them.
And the mission Masakawa assigned to Kazekaze's squad—was to retrieve the intel from that spy.
"But..." After finishing the explanation, Kosuke shook his head. "Isn't it a bit irresponsible to give this kind of mission to us...?"
In fact, Kosuke had raised the same concern with Masakawa when the task was assigned. No matter how you looked at it—their squad was the weakest of all the patrol teams. Kosuke didn't even count himself. Kazekaze and Sakumo were both just seven or eight years old. The only one who could be considered dependable was Uchiha Kagami.
And meeting with a spy... It could be easy, but it could also be extremely dangerous. If the spy had done everything flawlessly, then they'd just meet at the designated location, exchange intel scrolls, and be done with it.
But if—the spy had been compromised... then they'd be walking right into a trap.
And as shinobi, they couldn't always assume the best-case scenario. They had to plan for the worst.
Especially for Kosuke—it was precisely because he had once underestimated the danger that he paid a terrible price during a mission. All of his teammates had died because of him. So now, he hoped that Kazekaze—only seven years old—wouldn't treat this mission like a game. Even a mission that seemed harmless, like exchanging intel—could still be life-threatening.
"Don't worry, Kosuke. Even if our squad lineup looks like this,"
Kazekaze said with a faint grin, the corners of his mouth curling upward. He wanted to give Kosuke a reassuring pat on the shoulder, but due to the height difference, he had to give up on the idea.
"We're actually really strong."