Naruto: We Agreed on a Simulation, But They Actually Came to Life?

Chapter 112: Chapter 112: Screwed Up

Pakura’s figure vanished into the depths of the dense forest.

Kitahara Kaede turned and began running southeast, following the predetermined route. When he came across a shallow creek, he paused. Using Fire Style, he incinerated his disguise outer garment into fine ash, then crouched down to sweep the remains into the water, watching the gray flakes drift away with the current.

He gave his arms and face a quick rinse. He sniffed his sleeve; the smell of gunpowder was faint and would dissipate after a short run.

He set off once more.

The client at the port was a middle-aged merchant, standing on the shore and scanning the horizon with a woven rattan case slung over his back. After verifying the documents and identification numbers, Kitahara Kaede signaled for the man to follow and led him directly toward the rendezvous point Ao had designated.

Upon arriving at the meeting point, Kaede scanned the surroundings. Ao hadn’t arrived yet. He looked up at the angle of the shadows cast by the trees; the timing was close to the estimate, perhaps even a bit early.

Shortly after, Ao and another Kirigakure ninja emerged from the forest path. Ao’s pace faltered slightly when he saw that Kitahara Kaede was already there waiting with the client.

"I didn’t expect you to beat us here."

Kaede nodded. The escort mission had gone without a hitch. Once the client signed the confirmation, the job was done.

The two of them split up within the village. Instead of returning directly to his residence, Kitahara Kaede turned into a secluded alley and pushed open the door to a pharmacy. Standing before the counter, he scanned the shelves and selected an ointment specifically designed for impact bruises.

He knew exactly how much force he had put into that kick to Terumi Mei’s shoulder. With two Jonin watching, hitting her too lightly would have raised suspicions, so he hadn’t held back much. Having taken a direct hit in that spot, her left arm would likely be numb for two or three days.

He paid at the counter and tucked the ointment into his ninja tool pouch. Leaving the pharmacy, Kaede followed the river toward the crooked tree.

From a distance, he spotted a familiar figure. Terumi Mei was sitting by the roots of the crooked tree. Her cat lay curled at her feet, half-finished with a piece of dried fish. She wasn’t reaching out to tease it as she usually did. Instead, she leaned against the trunk, staring blankly at the surface of the river. Her left shoulder was pulled slightly inward.

Kitahara Kaede walked up and stopped a couple of paces away from her.

"Is your shoulder injured?"

Lost in thought, Terumi Mei was snapped back to reality by the question. She blinked, momentarily stunned, and looked up at him.

On the way back, she had been thinking about that masked man. She thought about the moment he tore through the Lava Release blockade. She thought about being kicked away and the searing pain in her left shoulder when her back slammed into a tree trunk. She thought about Midori’s expression when she finally gritted her teeth and ordered the formation to withdraw.

It was her first S-rank mission.

She had screwed it up.

"It’s a minor injury," she replied, keeping her voice flat.

Kitahara Kaede didn’t press her. He crouched down and rummaged through his pouch, pushing aside bandages and hemostatic powder until he found the tube of ointment. He held it out to her.

"It’s for bruising. It works on the chakra pathways, too."

Terumi Mei looked down at the item he offered. The moment her fingertips touched the medicine, she paused.

’He noticed I was injured that quickly?’

"...Thanks," she murmured, her voice softer than before.

Kitahara Kaede sat down beside her, maintaining the same distance as usual. The cat, having finished its fish, wandered over. It rubbed against Kaede’s pant leg first before circling back to nudge Terumi Mei’s hand with its head. She looked down and rubbed the cat’s ears.

After a moment of silence, she spoke first.

"That mission I mentioned before... it wasn’t a peace negotiation."

Kaede tilted his head toward her, listening without interrupting.

"The objective was to execute a Sunagakure ninja with the Scorch Release Kekkei Genkai. Midori led the team, and I cooperated with a Jonin." She paused for two seconds. "But we were intercepted by a masked man."

Kitahara Kaede’s expression remained unchanged. He watched the river, waiting for her to continue.

Terumi Mei shifted her gaze from the cat to her own knees. "That person’s Lightning Style was incredible." Her pace slowed, as if she were replaying the scene in her mind. "His ninjutsu was powerful and his close-quarters entry was incredibly fast. Neither my Lava Release nor my Boil Release could stop him."

Her fingers slowly tightened. "He kicked me right into a tree."

She gritted her teeth, unable to hide the frustration on her face. She looked down at the ground. "Midori’s commands were fine, but that man had set traps in advance—smoke bombs, steel wires. He completely shattered the rhythm of our pursuit."

Her voice dropped even lower. "And I was lax. I thought the vantage point I chose was good enough, but by the time the fight ended, I hadn’t analyzed a single one of his weaknesses."

A light breeze swept across the river. The cat curled up at their feet and let out a yawn.

Kitahara Kaede remained silent for a few seconds before speaking. "Since you can recognize where you were lax, this fight wasn’t for nothing."

Terumi Mei looked up. His gaze remained on the river, and his tone was exactly the same as it was during their usual training debriefs.

"Someone who dares to attack in front of two Jonin is someone who prepares in advance, has a clear objective, and leaves immediately after the job is done." He paused. "Against an opponent like that, it’s normal to lose."

Terumi Mei looked at his profile. He didn’t say "you’ll win next time." He didn’t say "it’s not your fault." Instead, he dissected the failure. He separated the objective gaps she couldn’t change from the problems she could fix for next time.

It was just like every other debrief. The knot that had been tightening in her chest all day loosened slightly.

Kitahara Kaede turned to look at her. "But there is one thing you need to change in the future."

"What?"

"Even if you aren’t the captain, you must maintain your own judgment at all times on the battlefield." His gaze was steady. "Don’t completely hand over the power of observation and decision-making just because there’s a Jonin by your side."

Terumi Mei’s fingers clenched. Battlefield analysis and combat techniques—he was the one who had taught her all of these. Yet, during a real mission, she had simply followed the Jonin, relying on someone else’s judgment and discarding half of what she had practiced.

This sentence cut deeper than any of his previous criticisms.

Kitahara Kaede stood up. "Get some rest." He glanced at her tucked-in left shoulder. "Once your injury is healed, come to the training ground. I’ll help you review that man’s fighting style."

Terumi Mei looked up at him. The tension that had plagued her all day suddenly vanished. She couldn’t tell exactly which sentence had done it.

Perhaps it was "Is your shoulder injured?"

Perhaps it was the tube of ointment.

Or perhaps it was the phrase "come to the training ground" itself.

Kaede bent down to place some dried rations in front of the cat, then straightened up to leave. Terumi Mei’s eyes followed his movements, lingering on the side of his face. The last rays of light on the river brushed against his silhouette.

She stared for a few seconds longer. Usually, his face was infuriatingly cold. But when he spoke seriously, he really was quite handsome.

As if sensing something, Kitahara Kaede glanced back. "What is it?"

Terumi Mei’s gaze snapped away, landing on the cat. "Nothing."

She looked down and rubbed the cat’s ears, the corners of her mouth curving up slightly.

Kitahara Kaede gave her one more look, said nothing, and turned to walk back along the river.

Terumi Mei remained where she was, clutching the tube of ointment in her hand. The cat rubbed against the back of her hand before curling up by her other foot. She looked down at the medicine once more.