A group of five people took a fishing boat and arrived at an inconspicuous and nameless island under the cover of night.
However, before they got close, they could basically confirm that this was the place.
Because on this remote island that is not even marked on the map, there is a small camp built around a simple port.
There were flickering lights at the port, and several small boats were moored there. Deeper in the forest, there were all kinds of strange wooden and stone houses scattered among the sparse woods, and some figures could be vaguely seen walking around in the camp.
Fortunately, Dazu's fishing boat was not very big. Seeing this, he began to slow down the speed of the fishing boat from a distance and spoke in a low voice.
"Ninja-sama, the pirate ship doesn't seem to be here. Those who survived the previous pirate attack in the village said that the pirates were sailing a medium-sized sailing ship."
Naturally, several people also saw the situation at that port.
"It might be that the pirate ship has left. Judging from the architectural style, we should have found the right place." Mirukawa Kaito frowned after he said this. It would be nice to say that the pirate ship had just left.
But if the pirates had looted Ringo Village and never returned, it would undoubtedly be much more difficult for everyone to rescue the target of the mission.
After all, it has not been more than ten days since Ringo Village was attacked, and the pirate ship is likely still sailing.
"Let's go to the island first. Mr. Dazu, don't go close to the port. Go a little further east and find a more secluded place to dock. There are still pirates left on the island, so don't alarm them yet."
Perhaps he was worried that the three disciples were inexperienced and would affect the rescue. At this critical moment, Ao directly spoke up and made arrangements.
Although we have already made a certain assessment of the situation, the specific conditions of the camp and whether the mission target is on the island still require further investigation.
Since the Jōnin sensei has already made arrangements, everyone will naturally have no objections.
Then Dazu carefully turned the bow of the boat, tried to lower the noise of the engine as much as possible, and slowly drove the fishing boat towards a shallow beach in the blind spot on the east side of the port.
However, just as the boat was about to slowly approach the shore, the "Anticipation" in Kaito's mind suddenly sent a rapid warning. The degree of danger was no less than the previous time when it was enveloped by the water waves created by Terumī Mei.
Without any time to delay, Kaito hurriedly said to Ao beside him: "Sensei, there is danger, please use your sensory ninjutsu to sense the surrounding area!"
At the same time, without waiting for the boat to stop, he immediately took out a kunai from the ninja tool bag and jumped directly onto the shore.
As a senior ninja who had experienced countless dangers, Ao naturally would not have any hesitation at this time.
After seeing Kaito's series of abnormal behaviors, he closed his eyes, formed the "Ram" seal with one hand, and concentrated his mind, and began to perform perception ninjutsu.
Zabuza and Mei did not say anything upon seeing this, but jumped off the boat in tacit understanding, and formed a "D" formation with Kaito to protect the small boat behind them.
Faintly, an invisible ripple spread out from Ao's body to the surroundings.
The enemies hiding in the dark naturally noticed the alert posture of the three little ones and Ao who was performing perception ninjutsu.
Without waiting for Ao, who had already discovered their hiding place, to launch any attack, two masked ninjas walked out from behind a huge rock on the shallows.
Judging from their figures, they should be a man and a woman, both dressed as members of the Kirigakure Village Hunter-nin Corps. They are wearing ANBU vests and cloaked masks on their faces, with the Kirigakure Village logo printed between their eyebrows.
Only the Anbu of the Kirigakure Village are so stupid that they would print the village logo on their masks, as if they were afraid that when they did something bad, others would not know which village did it.
The two people just walked out so openly, without any attacking gesture, and seemed to have no hostility at all.
However, Kaito's mind still had the "Anticipation" that did not stop, so he did not dare to relax.
The male ninja ignored the three little ones who were still on guard, but spoke directly in the direction of Ao.
"Jōnin Ao, we are on an ANBU mission to search for a group of missing people from the Land of Water, and we do not wish to come into conflict with you."
When they saw that the other party was dressed in ANBU attire and directly pointed out Ao's identity, they let down their guard a little, but still held their weapons tightly and waited for Ao's order.
After Ao pondered for a moment, he explained the situation.
"I am leading a team to carry out a C-rank mission. I do not intend to offend you, and it will not affect your mission."
After all, the Kirigakure Village is not entirely harmonious, and Ao doesn't want to have any conflicts with these Anbu members during the mission.
The two ANBU members didn't seem to want to stay any longer, and didn't say anything after hearing that. They just glanced at these people, turned around without saying a word, and quickly left towards the back of the island.
Seeing the other party finally leave, everyone breathed a sigh of relief and put away their weapons.
The three little ones were still waiting for Ao's next order, but Ao stood there motionless with a thoughtful look on his face.
"Ao-sensei?" Mei called out after approaching Ao.
After being awakened by Mei, Ao spoke to everyone with a serious expression.
"Something's not right about those two. The Anbu will not casually tell others about the mission! And from my perception, the woman is the Jōnin, but the man who spoke is a Chūnin!"
Seeing Ao raising doubts, and thinking of the previous crazy alarm of "Anticipation", Kaito also became suspicious of the two people, and continued to speculate along the lines of Ao's words.
"There aren't many female jōnin in the village. Maybe that jōnin happened to be known by Ao-sensei, and she didn't want to be known by others when she spoke?"
"Fake ANBU?" Mei and Zabuza exclaimed in surprise.
Ao did not continue analyzing, but turned back to look at Dazu, who still did not quite understand the situation.
"Mr. Dazu, you should return to the village first. Leave the rescue to us. It's not safe to stay here."
"Then I'll trouble you all, ninja-sama."
Dazu also knew that he, an ordinary person, could not play any role here. He immediately untied the chain, left the empty ship behind, and returned alone.
When Ao saw Dazu start the engine, he immediately stopped hesitating and ordered the three disciples: "Mei, you will lead the team to continue the mission. I will catch up with the two and confirm the situation."
"There won't be too many pirates left on the island. If the mission is completed, wait for me near the port. If you encounter any danger, fire flares in time."
"Yes, Sensei." The three answered in unison.
After saying this, Ao was still a little worried and added another sentence.
"It doesn't matter if the target of the mission is not on the island. After you deal with the remaining pirates, I will consider how to find the pirate ship when I come back."
"Ao-sensei, don't worry. We can deal with these ordinary pirates." Mei frowned and said in a somewhat dissatisfied tone.
Seeing Mei speak confidently, Ao said no more.
He turned around and quickly chased in the direction the two people had just left.