Days passed, the chill of early spring had long gone, and for many days, the weather was sunny and the Konoha Village became more and more lively as the temperature rose. In an era where peace had been deeply rooted in people's hearts, no one noticed the lurking dangers. The Konoha ninjas were always able to block all threats from the village. Except for the Nine-Tails attack on the village more than a decade ago, no one could remember the last time Konoha was directly attacked.

As the day of the Chunin Exam approaches, Mizuki speeds up his preparations. A crisis is something that has two possibilities. Dangers also contain opportunities. The dead and unchanging atmosphere always makes those who are unwilling to be mediocre hate it.

Although Shuimu also likes this kind of harmonious life, when war is inevitable, considering how to survive and fish in troubled waters is also a good choice.

Just when Mizuki thought he would just wait until Orochimaru attacked Konoha, Mizuki received an emergency summons and had to give up his leisurely job as a mission NPC.

When Mizuki arrived at the Hokage's office, many people were already there, and he was the last one to arrive.

"Morino Ibiki, Yamashiro Aoba, Kamijou Izumo, Gang Zi Tie, Gekkou Gale, and myself? This is the rhythm of an S-level mission. Are we going to be forced to do something desperate?"

"Everyone is here." Sandai saw Shuimu coming in and continued, "The reason I called you all here this time is because I have a very difficult task for you to complete."

"First, I have to tell you a piece of bad news. The C-rank mission of the Genin team led by Kakashi to the Land of Waves has encountered a major change and has been temporarily upgraded to S-rank. During the mission, an S-rank rebel ninja named Zabuza appeared. After a fight, Hatake Kakashi won, but was unable to pursue. Currently, Kakashi's physical strength is seriously overdrawn and his combat power is insufficient. He is in great danger, so he asked the village for help."

"How could this happen?" Shancheng Qingye asked in surprise, "Didn't the task distribution process have a thorough review?"

"I am responsible for this matter." Sandai took a deep breath and said seriously, "When the mission was submitted, Shuimu had already mentioned this issue, and the village had also done some investigations, but unfortunately, the severity of the problem far exceeded expectations."

"I originally thought that the other party was just a local tyrant, and at most hired some wandering ninjas. With Kakashi here, there would be no problem at all. In fact, when Kakashi's team just left the village, they were attacked by two Chunin-level ninjas. The village also received the report, but did not take it seriously. But we didn't expect the demon Zabuza to appear next. The opponent is too bold to actually hire such an unscrupulous S-rank rebel ninja."

"So we need to act as soon as possible?" asked Morino Ibiki.

"Well, you have to be careful. This operation consists of a six-man team with Ibiki as the captain. Protecting Kakashi's team is the top priority. If there are other forces that want to fish in troubled waters in the Land of Waves, try to stop them."

"But..." Mizuki asked in confusion, "Why doesn't Kakashi give up the mission? The client lied about the mission level, and the village can just withdraw from the mission. Why drag the village into this troublesome matter that has no benefit at all?"

"I know." The Sandaime took a deep breath and said, "You still have a secret mission, secretly assist Kakashi to complete the mission in Wave Country. Although Wave Country is far away from the village and is very poor, it is indeed a strategic location and an important barrier for Fire Country and Water Country. If we can get them to lean towards Konoha, it will be a great help to us. So this time, if it is not necessary, don't expose yourself in public, and try not to make too much noise to avoid criticism."

"yes."

"Then I'll leave it to you. Hurry up and set off."

After everyone came out, the captain, Morino Ibiki, said, "Give everyone a quarter of an hour to get ready, and then gather at the village gate."

After saying this, everyone scattered like birds and beasts.

Mizuki quickly ran home, packed up his ninja tools, and then took some life-saving potions and set off. "Although the side effects are not small, if the dose is small, it should be no problem to use it as a temporary healing potion. If the situation is really urgent, I have no choice but to gamble my life."

Mizuki, who was about to go out, saw that there was still time, so he went to say hello to Xiaochun and asked her to help take care of the animals and plants in his room, and then ran towards the exit of the village.

"I'm the last one again? I shouldn't be late yet." Shuimu said in surprise.

"No, okay, everyone's gathered, let's go~" Captain Morino Ibiki's serious expression and scarred face gave off a very oppressive feeling. As a good young man of the new century, he was not good at dealing with such a dangerous person who was good at torture and psychological warfare.

The six people ran all the way, but they communicated very little. Yamashiro Aoba was good at illusion and could read minds. Morino Ibiki was a sadist. The torture duo usually didn't talk. Gekkou Gale was a sickly person, saving energy to keep up with the pace was the right thing to do. Gang Zi Tetsu and Kamatsuki Izumo, the two good friends, didn't talk either, because the mission was too urgent. But Mizuki couldn't stand this dull atmosphere and couldn't help but talk to Ibiki.

"Hey, Captain, do you think our team's configuration is a bit strange?"

"What's strange?" Ibiki replied.

"You and Yamashiro Aoba are good at interrogating intelligence, Izumoko is tough in frontal combat, and Gekko Gale is a good team, right? What else do you need me for?" In fact, Mizuki asked knowingly. Although it is not stated in the original work, Konoha probably sent a rescue team. It is very unlikely that an experienced ninja like Kakashi would not report to the village when encountering an incident. In addition, he was beaten unconscious in the second attack and barely repelled the strong enemy. It is not in line with the style of a jonin to hold on alone when there is the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki and Uchiha Sasuke needs protection. Most likely, Konoha also has support, but it is unknown whether they can catch up or there are other inside stories.

Originally, Mizuki should not have been in trouble, but unfortunately, he did not go to jail like in the original novel, and the three-month punishment period was almost over. After all, he was still a top chunin, so it was normal to give him a task as a test to clear his guilt. Besides, his lazy behavior would probably make people unhappy.

"Well, it's all my fault. If I don't get anything this time, it will be all in vain."

Before Ibiki could answer Mizuki's question, Gang Zitie complained, "The Third-sama is really very wise. It is really wise to let the idle ninjas come out to do something."

"Who has nothing to do? I haven't made a single mistake in my work in the past two months."

"Don't fight, ahem." Moonlight Gale said unwillingly, "As long as we can connect with Kakashi before Zabuza attacks again, the mission will be half completed, ahem."

"Brother, please stop talking." Shuimu couldn't bear to watch it any longer. "You need to rest more than I do. I am ashamed of my selfishness in front of you, a model ninja, who is sick and goes into battle."

"Haha." Ibiki laughed. "Although there is little possibility of a fierce battle in this mission, with Kakashi here, we are not a direct combat force. We just need to secretly protect the three Genin and the mission client. The rest depends on the situation."

"Please, Ibiki, stop laughing. It's even scarier than before." Mizuki couldn't help but complain, "Captain, after this mission is completed, it will be almost the Chunin Exam. Can you arrange an easy job for me? I've been so busy lately that I've lost a lot of weight. Xiaochun feels sorry for me."

"That's a shame. The arrangements have already been made. I'll let you know when the time comes."

"Oh, that's too inhumane. I had a hard time in the Death Forest some time ago."

"Then you should go find Anko."

"Next time I will have to discuss my salary with the Third Generation Master, alas."

"Shui Mu, stop complaining, ahem." Moonlight Gale was really unyielding, "I have to deal with the preliminaries before the third game, how about you switch with me?"

"No thanks." Mizuki refused without hesitation. He didn't want to experience the horror of coming face to face with the sleep-deprived One-Tailed Jinchuriki. It would have been fine if he didn't know, but if he knew and still went forward, wouldn't that be asking for trouble?

Finally, after more than three days of forced march, the six-member rescue team finally arrived at the Land of Waves and secretly contacted Hatake Kakashi.

"Hey, Kakashi, I heard that you were beaten badly. That's really unexpected." Mizuki said sarcastically.

"Indeed." Kakashi did not deny it. "After all, Zabuza is also one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen. Ninjas above this famous level are not easy to deal with."

"Okay, the next thing is up to us. You just take good care of yourself and we will support you secretly. As for Zabuza, you will have to deal with it yourself. After all, the silent killing technique is too troublesome. If you are at a disadvantage in strength, the advantage in numbers is almost meaningless. As long as Zabuza takes the initiative and has the home advantage, we will have no way to stop him." Ibiki said.

"Of course, I will take care of Zabuza. I'll be relieved if you guys take care of the others. I'll trouble you to help take care of the three Genin."

At night, Mizuki, Yamashiro Aoba, and Gekko Hayate rested in a temporary tent. Morino Ibiki divided the six people into two teams, while Ibiki took Izumo Kotetsu to monitor in another place.

"Kakashi and Ibiki were careless. Although it is hard to imagine that a force would directly provoke Konoha, according to my memory, Kakashi had a hard fight in the end, and Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto were almost killed. If Shiro had not shown mercy, they would have been unable to see the moment when Naruto exploded and reversed."

According to my own analysis, even if I didn't make any changes, it was very unlikely that Konoha would not send a rescue team. However, he did not appear at that time, so the reason was intriguing. What was the reason that delayed the rescue team and forced Kakashi to fight alone?

Shuimu is not as optimistic as others. If nothing unexpected happens, this time it might be a big deal.

"This is a real life-and-death fight. It's far worse than the time when Iruka and Naruto played around."