Yohei Uchiha was truly Yohei Uchiha. Even after Taiichi told him about awakening the Sharingan, he remained calm, as if it wasn't him who had awakened it. According to him, the Sharingan was merely an aid; one's own foundation was the true source of strength.
This speech stunned Taiichi. As expected of a unique Uchiha.
The two rushed to the middle of the convoy. Taiichi immediately checked Saori's injuries. Fortunately, they were all superficial.
Taiichi cleared a small area, carefully cleaned the wounds, and used the Mystical Palm Jutsu for basic hemostasis and healing. Then, he took out the appropriate medicine and bandages from his ninja tool pouch for the final dressing. After all this, Saori's injuries would no longer affect her subsequent actions.
At this time, Masao Ishihara brought his wife and child to Taiichi's side. Watching Taiichi finish the treatment, he asked with concern, "Is Genin Saori alright?"
Hearing this, Taiichi looked up and stared at Masao Ishihara for a long time without answering. Beside him, Yohei, noticing Taiichi's demeanor, also looked curiously at Ishihara.
Ishihara felt uncomfortable under Taiichi's gaze. Just as he was about to speak, Captain Yamaguchi interrupted him, "Mr. Ishihara, don't you think you owe us an explanation?"
"Ex... explanation? What explanation?" Masao Ishihara feigned ignorance.
"A C-rank mission involving one Jonin, two Chunin, and four Genin enemies. Do you think this doesn't require an explanation, Mr. Ishihara?" Captain Yamaguchi questioned aggressively.
"I... I don't know why ninjas would come to rob a convoy of grain either. Who could predict such a thing?" Masao Ishihara continued to argue stubbornly. But his flustered appearance was obvious even to Yohei—something was wrong.
"I'm guessing what Mr. Ishihara really wants us to escort isn't this convoy of grain, right?" Taiichi spoke up.
Everyone looked at Taiichi in surprise, and Masao Ishihara looked as if he had seen a ghost.
"I was wondering why there were two accompanying personnel not listed in the mission brief," Taiichi pressed step by step.
"You had the Madam and her son deliberately find topics to get close to Saori with ulterior motives, didn't you?" Taiichi took a step forward.
"The bandit attack earlier was also to confirm the caravan's strength and locate the true target, wasn't it?" Taiichi took another step forward.
"The raiding ninjas didn't attack the guards but instead targeted the carriage protected by a ninja..." Taiichi stopped right in front of Ishihara.
"Let me guess. Our true escort target is Mrs. Ishihara... or rather, little Master Ishihara." Taiichi stared into Masao Ishihara's eyes, enunciating each word clearly.
When he mentioned "little Master Ishihara," Taiichi clearly noticed Masao Ishihara become exceptionally panicked.
"No, it's not like that! It's not what you say!" Masao Ishihara tried to deny hurriedly. "We just..."
"Enough, Masao!" Mrs. Ishihara, who had been standing behind Masao Ishihara, stepped forward. "Everyone, I apologize for deceiving you." With that, Mrs. Ishihara bowed deeply in apology, but still didn't reveal the situation.
"Madam, you don't need to do this. This was all my idea. I should be the one apologizing." Seeing the Madam act this way, Masao Ishihara didn't know whether to stop her or follow her, so he turned and bowed frantically to Taiichi and the others in apology.
Taiichi and the others watched silently. Even Saori remained quiet.
"Madam, lying about mission details gives us the right to terminate the mission." Captain Yamaguchi delivered the fatal blow from the side. "Please tell us the truth."
"Sigh. Since it has come to this, I won't hide it anymore," Mrs. Ishihara sighed.
"My name is Masami Ishihara. Masao is not my husband, but my family's steward. And this child is actually my husband's illegitimate son."
Now it was Taiichi and his team's turn to be surprised. The relationships here were a bit messy.
As Mrs. Ishihara narrated, the drama of a wealthy family's internal strife was slowly revealed to Taiichi and the others.
It turned out the Ishihara family was divided into the main branch and the secondary branch. The current head of the main branch, Mrs. Ishihara's husband, had been injured in an ambush during a trade trip some time ago. Although he recovered, he lost the ability to have children.
The secondary branch seized this opportunity to usurp the position of clan head. Under these circumstances, the Ishihara Clan Head told Mrs. Masami about his illegitimate son.
The rest was what everyone knew. They planned this trip to purchase grain as a cover to pick up the child. They then hired a team of Genin from Konoha under the pretext of guarding the grain, hoping to deceive everyone and bring the child back to the Ishihara family safely.
As long as the Ishihara Clan Head had an heir, the secondary branch's schemes would collapse on their own.
"What do you guys think?" Captain Yamaguchi pushed the question to Taiichi and the other two.
Taiichi's analysis just now had impressed him. Taiichi was not only strong but also exceptionally smart. Given time, he would definitely become a remarkable ninja. Captain Yamaguchi thought to himself.
Taiichi and the others exchanged opinions. Mainly, Saori had gotten along quite well with Mrs. Ishihara and her son over the past few days.
"Madam, what I ask next will influence our judgment on this mission. If we find you are deceiving us, we will abandon the mission immediately." Taiichi looked serious.
"Okay, ask away!" Mrs. Ishihara was ready to risk it all.
"Did you recognize that team of ninjas just now?" Taiichi asked.
"Yes. They are ninjas frequently hired by the secondary branch. The leader is a rogue ninja from the Sand Village, and the rest are wandering ninjas," Mrs. Ishihara spilled everything like pouring beans from a bamboo tube.
"There should be one more person with them, likely a Special Jonin. But for some reason, he didn't come this time."
Hearing this, the team exchanged glances, breaking out in cold sweat. Fortunately, he didn't come; otherwise, they would have been the ones fleeing.
"That means we are likely facing a lineup of one Jonin, at least one Special Jonin, one Chunin, and three Genin." Taiichi and the others looked at each other in silence. This lineup was a bit formidable.
Don't let the fact that Taiichi killed a Special Jonin before fool you; that was thanks to planning and a surprise attack. In a head-on fight, there was no guarantee Taiichi wouldn't be the first to die.
"Captain, what do you think?" Taiichi couldn't decide, mainly because he didn't know the specifics of the captain's strength.
"Big Sister Saori, are you leaving?" Little Ishihara came over at this moment, holding Saori's hand reluctantly.
Looking at the child's clear, reluctant eyes, Saori was torn. Reason told her not to let personal feelings affect her teammates' judgment, but she truly couldn't bear to see such a small child walk toward a likely death.
Seeing Saori's struggle, Taiichi turned and asked Captain Yamaguchi again, "Captain, do you think we have a fighting chance?" This question clearly showed his bias.
"I can barely hold off a Jonin plus a Special Jonin. If we add you, there should be a certain possibility of dealing with them," Captain Yamaguchi answered cautiously, clearly affirming Taiichi's strength.
Taiichi looked at Yohei. "What about you?"
"Ah... haha. I just awakened my Sharingan. Although it's only one tomoe, holding off a Chunin-level wandering ninja shouldn't be a big problem, right?" Yohei said somewhat sheepishly.
Captain Yamaguchi and Saori were shocked by Yohei's words. Yohei had awakened his Sharingan!
"Even so, our odds are at best fifty-fifty. To win, we need a good plan." Taiichi frowned in thought.
"Moreover, we don't necessarily have to clash with them head-on."
Everyone was confused by Taiichi's mumbling, except for Captain Yamaguchi, who looked thoughtful.