Gacha Senju: Lucky Perks, Lucky Ladies

A/N : I need ... motivation to write . Give me that motivation(ʃƪ＾3＾）

Chapter 9: The Real Mission Begins (1)

The morning air was crisp, the scent of damp earth lingering from the night before. Kiyoshi sat cross-legged near the embers of their dying fire, absentmindedly rolling a kunai between his fingers. Every muscle in his body ached from the previous day's battle, but the satisfaction of winning kept a smirk on his face.

Ryota lay sprawled on the ground, arms stretched out. "I don't wanna move…"

Mikoto, ever composed, finished retying her wrist wraps. "You'll have to." She turned her crimson gaze toward Kenshiro, who stood a few feet away, arms crossed.

Their Jonin instructor had been watching them in silence, waiting. And now, the moment had come.

"Alright," Kenshiro finally said, his tone unreadable. "Enough rest. It's time for the real mission."

Kiyoshi's smirk faded. Wait. What?

Ryota groaned. "You mean that wasn't the mission?"

Kenshiro chuckled. "That? No. That was to see if you were worth sending on one."

Silence.

Mikoto narrowed her eyes. "What's the objective?"

Kenshiro's smirk disappeared. "We're leaving Konoha."

Kiyoshi's breath hitched. Leaving?

Ryota shot up. "Wait, hold up—aren't we, like, fresh Genin? Aren't we supposed to start with boring escort missions?"

Kenshiro didn't even blink. "That's what the weak ones do."

Kiyoshi felt a cold weight settle in his gut. This wasn't normal. Something was off.

"Sensei," he said carefully, "where exactly are we going?"

Kenshiro turned, walking toward the treeline. "Follow me."

They traveled for hours, the towering trees of the Fire Country gradually thinning as they approached unfamiliar terrain.

Kiyoshi's mind raced. Leaving the village, skipping D-rank missions, being tested by Chunin-level opponents—this isn't normal at all.

Mikoto was silent, but her watchful gaze showed she was thinking the same thing.

Finally, Ryota lost his patience. "Can you please tell us where we're going?"

Kenshiro stopped. He turned to them, his green eyes sharp.

"We're headed to the border of the Land of Fire."

Silence.

Kiyoshi felt his heart speed up.

Border missions…? But those are—

Mikoto's voice was calm, but there was a distinct edge to it. "Border missions are usually given to Chunin or Jonin teams. What are we doing there?"

Kenshiro studied them for a moment before answering.

"There's been… activity in the area. Teams have gone missing. Our job is to investigate."

Kiyoshi's stomach twisted. Missing teams?

Ryota paled. "So, let me get this straight. You want us—a group of Genin—to check out a mission that got actual ninja killed?"

Kenshiro didn't answer immediately. His silence was more telling than words.

Mikoto exhaled. "Who are we dealing with?"

Kenshiro's jaw tightened. "We don't know yet. That's the problem."

As they continued walking, Kenshiro finally gave them real details.

"Over the past two weeks, three teams have disappeared near the border. No survivors. No reports. Just gone."

Kiyoshi swallowed. "No signs of battle?"

Kenshiro shook his head. "We don't know. The only thing left behind was bloodstains and shredded gear."

A chill ran down Kiyoshi's spine.

Mikoto furrowed her brow. "So it's not bandits."

Kenshiro nodded. "No. Bandits don't erase an entire squad like that."

Ryota crossed his arms. "Then it's shinobi. Rogue ninja?"

"That's what we're going to find out."

Kiyoshi frowned. "And Konoha is really sending us to deal with this?"

Kenshiro smirked. "Not to fight. To gather intel."

As the sun began to set, they reached a high ridge overlooking a dense valley. Kenshiro gestured for them to stop.

"Below us is the last known location of one of the missing teams."

Kiyoshi peered down. From this height, the valley looked… normal. Dense trees, a slow-moving river, rolling hills of green. Peaceful.

And yet… something felt wrong.

Mikoto's gaze sharpened, her irises deepening into an unmistakable crimson. A faint flicker passed through them—subtle, yet telling. She swept her eyes over the valley, dissecting every shadow with an eerie stillness.

Her fingers twitched.

"Kenshiro," she murmured. "Something's there."

Kiyoshi tensed. "What do you see?"

Mikoto's lips parted slightly.

"Nothing."

Kiyoshi blinked. "Wait, what?"

She turned to them, her expression unusually serious. "That's the problem. There's nothing. No animals, no chakra signatures, no movement. Just… silence."

Ryota swallowed. "That's not normal."

Kiyoshi's gut tightened. In a forest this dense, there should be birds. Bugs. Anything.

Instead, there was nothing.

Kenshiro exhaled. "That settles it. We're heading down."

Kiyoshi hesitated. "Are we sure this is a good idea?"

Kenshiro gave him a sharp look. "If you're scared, stay behind."

Kiyoshi clenched his fists. Damn him.

"Not a chance."

Kenshiro smirked. "Good answer. Let's go."

And with that, they entered the valley of silence.

The descent into the valley was slow and methodical, every step calculated. Kiyoshi could hear nothing but the faint rustling of leaves as they moved, and even that felt… unnatural. The usual sounds of a forest—chirping birds, buzzing insects, the distant howl of some nocturnal animal—were completely absent.

It was too quiet.

Mikoto's single tomoe Sharingan scanned ahead, her crimson eyes flickering as she searched for any sign of movement. Ryota kept a hand near the hilt of his katana, his muscles tense.

Kiyoshi exhaled softly, trying to keep himself calm, but the air here felt heavy, as if something unseen was pressing down on them.

He glanced at Kenshiro. Their Jonin instructor looked as casual as ever, but there was something off about his posture—his movements were too controlled, too precise.

Even he's on edge.

That was not reassuring.

They reached the forest floor, stepping cautiously over damp earth. Kenshiro raised a fist, signaling them to stop.

"Look around. Find anything that tells us what happened here."

The team spread out, carefully inspecting the area.

Kiyoshi's boots crunched softly over fallen leaves as he moved. His hands clenched into fists. Three teams. Gone without a trace. What the hell happened here?

Then—

"Kiyoshi."

Mikoto's voice was quiet but sharp.

He turned and saw her kneeling beside something, half-buried under foliage.

A shinobi headband.

It was cracked down the middle, stained with something dark.

Kiyoshi swallowed hard. Blood.

Ryota crouched down, inspecting it. "It's from Konoha." His voice was tense. "This belonged to one of the missing ninja."

Kenshiro stepped closer, eyes narrowing. He reached down and lifted the headband, rubbing the cracked metal with his thumb. His usual smirk was gone.

Mikoto wasn't looking at the headband anymore. Her gaze had shifted—her Sharingan locked onto something just beyond the trees.

"I see more," she murmured.

Kiyoshi and Ryota followed her line of sight.

Their stomachs dropped.

A shredded flak jacket lay discarded near the base of a tree, torn apart as if something had ripped through it. The kunai holster was empty, straps sliced clean through. The fabric was stiff and dark—dried blood.

No body.

Just remnants.

Kiyoshi felt his fingers twitch. Where are the corpses?

Something had *killed these shinobi… but not left a single body behind.

Ryota took a slow step back. "Okay. I'm officially creeped out."

Mikoto stilled. The glint in her crimson gaze sharpened, a flicker of understanding passing through her features before she even spoke. "Sensei… we've been in it from the start."

The second she spoke, the wind shifted.

It was subtle—barely noticeable—but Kiyoshi felt it. A change in the atmosphere, like the valley itself had just… exhaled.

A chill ran down his spine.

Kenshiro's hand slowly moved toward his kunai pouch. His voice was calm but firm:

"Don't react. Don't make a sound."

Kiyoshi felt his heartbeat hammering against his ribs.

Then—

A single leaf fell from a nearby tree.

And vanished before it hit the ground.

Kiyoshi's breath caught in his throat. What the hell—?!

Mikoto's eyes widened. "Genjutsu."

Kenshiro nodded. "A powerful one."

Kiyoshi swallowed. Crap. Crap. Crap.

Ryota's knuckles turned white around his sword. "How long have we been in it?"

Kenshiro's expression darkened. "The moment we stepped into the valley."