Kaida had been talking with his new friends when an Anbu suddenly entered the basement, calling him back. Apparently, the merchant's caravan was ready to move.
"Take care, boy. I don't think we'll be able to find someone as good as you if you get injured," a civilian Jonin said.
In just two days, Kaida had almost become friends with all the Jonin present in the basement. Considering he had gone out of his way to speed up their recovery on the second day and ensure there were no side effects from the treatment, it wasn't surprising.
Despite the age gap—most of the Jonin being around 30-35 while Kaida was barely ten—their conversations had quickly gone beyond just health and healing. Some of the Jonin had outgoing and extroverted personalities, and as their discussions drifted toward life in general, they naturally became something very close to friends.
"Don't worry, Hisato-san. I'm strong enough that I won't need the help of some young, talented genius after a fight," Kaida said with a cheeky smile and a smug expression, further irritating the Jonin.
"This brat," Hisato muttered, followed by laughter from the Jonin around him.
"Take care, guys," Kaida said before leaving the basement with the Anbu.
The merchant caravan really was ready. The display of wealth was truly apparent in the show, with the carriages lined in a straight row, many of them bigger than a house—enough to fit a family of four. Many horses, which somehow more resembled beasts than horses, were tied in front of them.
This was enough to put even a small clan's wealth to shame, but when Kaida saw the caravan, he didn't find it that impressive. Having traveled with the Daimyo of the Fire Country himself, who could be considered the richest man in the world as the king of the most fertile country, this display of wealth was mediocre in comparison. Heck, even his own projects would be able to produce enough money to make something like this in two or three months.
That's why Kaida was not that impressed by the caravan, unlike the rest of the Jonin who were going on the mission with him. They were looking at the caravan in awe. Kaida noticed the evident lack of Clan ninja, with only one Jonin being from the Sarutobi clan, while the rest were civilian ninja.
Then Kaida remembered that he would not be the head of the force and someone else was going to be the leader. Seeing only one clan ninja present in the group, and that too from the Sarutobi clan, a smile formed on his face.
'I can bet my whole chakra that this Sarutobi is going to be the leader of the group,' Kaida thought and slowly made his way towards them.
The Jonin noticed Kaida coming toward them, so they stopped their discussion as their leader, who was as everyone expected, the Sarutobi, went towards Kaida.
"So you are the young genius I have the honor to do the mission with. Name is Sarutobi Taizen," the Sarutobi said.
"Kaida Uchiha, please take care of me during the mission," Kaida said, giving a little bow to the leader, and he could smile internally seeing the shock appearing in Taizen's eyes.
When he heard the sarcastic tone in his voice, Kaida understood the ninja in front of him was not happy with him for some reason. If he had to deduce, he may have been notified about his strength along with his clan. He must have thought Kaida would be some arrogant young prick who was going to disrespect him just because he was stronger than him.
'For some reason, I feel like a manipulator while doing something like this,' Kaida thought. After getting Mangekyo, he had found himself having better mental capacity than ever before, with his eyes even in normal form scanning and analyzing details better than any 2-tomoe Sharingan user.
Anything he did nowadays was usually already planned in his mind way before he took action, not that he was complaining about it, as everything was going in the right direction, like the Jonin in front of him whose expression was shifting from shock to acknowledgement.
"Don't be too humble, boy. It's us who will be depending on your strength during the mission," Taizen said, patting Kaida's shoulder while the smile on his face became more apparent.
Seeing a child with manners even when he was strong enough to handle him in seconds was... relaxing, as Taizen was dreading the thought of handling a child wielding more power and arrogance than he should be allowed to have—the most difficult kind of people to be around.
"I will try my best," Kaida said, after which he was led to the rest of the group by Taizen. Just when they were finishing the introductions, the merchant came out of the newly arrived carriage, as he was busy with some 'meetings.'
"Sorry for keeping you guys waiting hick... ahem. These two carriages are for you guys. I know the journey will be long, so please use them to rest or as you see fit," Ryozo said before entering his carriage like he was fleeing from something... or someone.
"Kaida, what was that?" Taizen asked when only they were remaining in the area.
"What do you mean, leader?" Kaida asked.
"Oh! You know what I mean. You are not dumb enough to think we will miss something this obvious," one of the civilian ninja said.
"I may have demonstrated my strength to him on Shikaku-san's order, so that I can confirm that I am powerful enough for the role I was selected for."
"Hahaha, Shikaku always finds the most interesting ways to cut his work," Taizen said. Though Kaida wanted to ask what he meant, he refrained from it. There was no need when Kaida could already guess how that saved his workload.
"Well, our client is here, so there is no point in waiting anymore. Let's start this mission so we can return on time," Taizen said, and the caravan started moving. The Jonin swiftly took their positions, four surrounding the carriage in every direction, while the rest sat on top of all four carriages of the merchant.
"Umm, captain, sorry to be a bother, but I don't know my role," Kaida asked Taizen, who had taken his seat at the top of Ryozo's carriage.
"What do you mean? You are our big sword. We can't ask you to do menial jobs," Taizen said as a small chuckle left his mouth.
"Kidding. There is no need for you to move for now. Go and rest in the carriage behind. Once we leave Konoha domain, I will call you out."
"Sure," Kaida said and went to the carriage at the end of the caravan, ready to take some rest when he was getting the chance.