That way, they could buy Nawaki time to kill the enemy and then come to their rescue.
If their own condition was poor and they lacked the ability to even save their own lives, then they would truly become a burden to him.
At that point, would Nawaki prioritize killing the enemy or rescuing them?
If he chose to rescue them, with his abilities, could he escape while being besieged by numerous enemies?
"Heh, this little guy..."
In the tree where the three were resting, Li Anshi leaned back and chuckled softly.
With their current strength, an ordinary Chunin would pose no threat to them.
Unless they encountered a Jonin, even if they were not in top condition, they would not be in much danger.
Putting Nawaki aside for a moment, although Rin was still a ways from completely mastering the first stage of the Little Li's Flying Dagger, that did not mean her daggers were weak.
Especially with the 360-degree vision and insight of the Byakugan, her daggers were in no way inferior to those of an ordinary person who had completed the first stage.
But the fact that Nawaki could consider the possibility of encountering an enemy at any time still pleased Li Anshi greatly.
However, on the other hand, he also thought Nawaki was being foolish.
In this team, Rin was present.
The insightful ability of the Byakugan was famous throughout the ninja world.
It could be said that a team with a Byakugan user had a natural advantage, whether in hunting down enemies or evading pursuit.
The abilities of x-ray and telescopic vision were enough to make any creature with chakra unable to hide within the Byakugan's field of view.
If he was so afraid of encountering an enemy, couldn't he just have Rin activate her Byakugan from time to time to check?
At the very least, for now, besides the "Ketsuryūgan," which was a great counter to the Byakugan, there was nothing else in the ninja world that could escape its detection.
It could only be said that right now, Nawaki was under a bit too much pressure, preparing to carry the safety of both Rin and Mikoto on his own shoulders.
But from Li Anshi's perspective, before his strength had developed to the point where he could completely protect them, this kind of thinking was undoubtedly a form of "arrogance."
He felt, from the bottom of his heart, that they couldn't help him in a fight and were people who needed to be saved, rather than "comrades" to fight alongside.
Li Anshi didn't say anything about this.
If Nawaki's upper limit was just an ordinary Jonin, then he would indeed need to cooperate with his comrades.
But it was clear that neither Tsunade nor Nawaki himself would set their goals so low.
Since his dream was to become Hokage, he would at least have to possess the strength of a "Kage," right?
In the eyes of Tsunade and the others, Nawaki's way of thinking might even be seen as possessing the "caliber" of a Kage.
Of course, this was just one aspect.
As the Kage of a village, there was another important ability.
Knowing one's subordinates and using them well!
To a certain extent, this was a trust in one's subordinates.
You know the extent of your subordinates' abilities, what they can achieve, and what kind of missions you can entrust to them.
Unfortunately, the current Nawaki had not yet reached that level.
Whether in terms of strength or "caliber," he was still far from it!
If Li Anshi remembered correctly, the current Nawaki didn't know any sensory ninjutsu at all.
Maintaining a state of high alert for a long time would cause his spirit to become overly tense, leading to a decline in his own condition.
If Nawaki could realize the improvement Rin's Byakugan could bring to the team, and could correctly use her power during the mission, then he would be close to having the mindset of a "Kage."
"This is..."
During their rest, Nawaki took out a map from his backpack.
It was clear that he had done a lot of homework.
"Our current position is here."
"From the time we left the village until now, including eating and resting, it's been about three hours."
"During this time, we've covered this much distance."
His finger tapped on the map. He looked at the road they had already traveled and the ratio to the remaining distance, silently calculating the time it would take to reach their destination.
"Good. If nothing unexpected happens, we can get there in three days."
"Three days?"
Mikoto looked at the distance he had pointed out on the map, then asked him doubtfully, "Nawaki, the three days you mentioned, does that mean we'll be spending all our time traveling?"
"Huh?"
Hearing her question, he froze for a moment, then his face flushed.
This was indeed his mistake.
He had just calculated the remaining time based on the time they had already spent traveling, and had not factored in the time they would spend resting at night.
If they added in the time for eating, resting, and sleeping, it would take at least another two days.
And that was only if they maintained today's pace.
Otherwise, it would take even longer.
But how was that possible?
Although the two girls, like him, had the blood of the Ōtsutsuki, the Uchiha had inherited the Sage's Eyes of Hagoromo, not the Sage's Body.
Similarly, the Hyuga had inherited the eyes of Hagoromo's younger brother, Hamura.
The counterpart to the Hyuga, the ones who had inherited Hamura's constitution, was the Kaguya clan.
The strength of the Sage's Eyes was in their "dōjutsu," not their constitution.
Chakra was a transcendent power refined from physical and spiritual energy in a certain ratio.
In other words, the amount of chakra the Hyuga and Uchiha had was far less than that of the Senju, Uzumaki, and Kaguya clans.
In addition, Rin and Mikoto were still young. They had only entered the Ninja Academy for certain special reasons. Mikoto was only eleven this year.
Rin was even younger, only ten.
At their age, thanks to their bloodline, their chakra was much more than an ordinary Genin's.
But compared to him, they were not even on the same level.
"I'm sorry, Mikoto."
"I miscalculated."
After taking a deep breath, he said in a low voice, "Excluding most of the factors, we can probably reach the mission location in about six days."
"After completing the mission, we'll also need six days to get back to the village."
"This means we may only have two days to complete the mission."
At this point, his voice was a little heavy.
This mission had a total of three bandit strongholds.
This meant they had to deal with all three of them, completely unscathed, within two days.
If any of them were injured during the mission, it could slow down their return journey.
At that time, if they exceeded the time limit on their pass, they would have to go through some trouble upon returning to the village.
Of course, for them, this was not a big deal.
Rin was from the main family of the Hyuga, Mikoto was the future wife of the Uchiha clan head, and Nawaki was the only one who currently carried the Senju name.
With such backgrounds, it was simply impossible for them to be turned by ninjas from other villages.
So, even if they exceeded the time limit, at most they would just be taken to the interrogation department to be questioned before being released.
However, unless absolutely necessary, they still did not want to have to go through that.
"Since time is so tight, let's set off!"
Mikoto stood up and said seriously to them, "I know that when it comes to tracking and killing enemies, I can't compare to you two."
"But, no matter what, I am a ninja of the Uchiha clan!"
"An Uchiha can die on the battlefield, but not from dragging down their comrades!"
She said this with great force.
This was the pride of the Uchiha.
Since the Warring States period, they had proclaimed themselves the strongest ninja clan in the world, and their kekkei genkai, the Sharingan, was revered by them as the number one in the world.
Their pride meant that there were almost no deserters among them.
Even if there was a large gap in strength, an Uchiha would fight to the death to take a bite out of the enemy.
In the Warring States period, if not for their clan head, Madara, leading them to cooperate with the Senju and establish Konoha, it was likely that the Uchiha would not have backed down even in the face of the God of Shinobi.
Although Mikoto was a woman, and her vision for the future was just to be a housewife, it was undeniable that she was still a ninja of the Uchiha, and possessed their pride.
Of course, there was another reason. She knew that if she were to drag them down on this mission and cause it to not be completed on time, then her value in the eyes of her clan elders would surely be greatly diminished.
If nothing unexpected happened, her damaged reputation might cost her the chance to become the clan head's wife.
It was important to know that her father was not the only elder in the Uchiha clan with a daughter of a suitable age for Fugaku.
It was just that, due to some high-level dealings, she was the one who had ended up betrothed to him.
But this did not mean her position was unshakable.
Before they were truly married, no one could say for sure what the future would hold.
Now, she had become Li Anshi's subordinate, which was a plus in the Uchiha clan.
Although this was something they had proactively offered after learning some information, if she not only failed to bring any benefits to the clan in this team, but also brought disgrace upon them, then no matter how infatuated Fugaku was with her, it would be impossible for him to make her the clan head's wife.
After all, the current Fugaku was still just the "young master." The final decision still rested with his father and the many elders of the clan.
"Yes, and the Hyuga clan too!"
After she had spoken, Rin also stood up and looked at Nawaki.
Although she yearned for freedom and wanted to escape the cage called "home," this did not mean she did not care about the Hyuga clan.
After all, she was from the "main family." She had not been discriminated against or abused by them like the members of the branch family.
In her heart, the "caged bird" was not something the main family used to enslave the branch, but a way to protect the weaker clan members from being killed and having their Byakugan stolen by enemies from other villages.
"Alright, I understand."
Seeing that both girls had brought up the honor of their families, Nawaki knew that if he were to veto their decision again, he would not only be looking down on them, but also insulting the Uchiha and Hyuga clans.
"Then, let's set off!"
"Yes!"
After the three of them had left, Li Anshi's figure appeared on the trunk of the tree where they had been resting.
"Their will is not bad."
"However..."
Looking at their retreating backs, he shook his head.
"The three of them are all fools."
"Now that they have a map, they really will only follow the roads on it."
"Haven't they considered that the map in their hands is for ordinary people and merchant caravans?"
"For a ninja, neither mountains nor rivers can stop them."
"If they were to travel in a straight line, they could cut the distance by at least half and save a lot of time."
"Three days would be enough to get to the mission location."
Although he knew they were taking the long way, he had no intention of reminding them.
The three of them had not yet adapted to the life of a ninja and were still thinking like ordinary people.
This was very fatal for a ninja.
If he didn't change his way of thinking, then in the future, on the battlefield, when he judged the distance between friend and foe and the time of engagement based on his "common sense," he would make a major mistake.
At that time, the ones who would pay the price for him would not just be Mikoto and Rin, but the many ninjas who trusted him and served under his command.
He hoped that on this mission, Nawaki would expose all of his weaknesses, and then he would, inadvertently, act in a way that was consistent with a "ninja," to deepen the memory of his mistake.
In this way, he would not make the same mistake in the future.
This also fit his teaching policy for him.
People learn from people, they learn nothing.
People learn from experience, once is enough!
…
Although the three of them had decided to speed up, they were not traveling mindlessly.
When their chakra was about sixty percent depleted, Mikoto would call a halt, and they would find a suitable place to rest temporarily.
They were indeed in a hurry, but they also had to be constantly aware of their own safety.