Chapter 20 Mission Complete, Return to Konoha

  Five days later, in a remote forest on the border of the Earth Country, a huge black-feathered owl landed. This was also one of Meng Ling's contracted spiritual beasts, 'Night Eagle - Feng Xuan'.

  Five days ago, after Meng Ling left the capital of Snow Country, she immediately sent a retreat message to the two sisters 'Ling Er', and then summoned 'Night Eagle - Feng Xuan'.

  Night Eagle - Feng Xuan, is an owl that has not yet transformed into a cat head, usually does not like to talk much, very cold and serious, but at critical moments is extremely enthusiastic. His wingspan is 10 meters, and when standing up, he is 4 meters tall. He has excellent endurance in flight, and his strength at night is even more outstanding, can see the situation several thousand meters away from himself. So Meng Ling lay on his back for five days, flying all the way to the Earth Kingdom.

  "Have we arrived?" Looking down at the forest beneath her feet, Meng Leng immediately jumped off Feng Xuan's eagle back, took a glance around and roughly observed the situation around her before giving the order to return to Feng Xuan behind her.

  "Thank you, Feng Xuan, you can go back first."

  "Yes, Princess Meng Ling." As soon as the words fell, a white mist dispersed instantly, and Feng Xuan also returned to Shengling Mountain.

  Meng Ling has been a bit worried these days, she doesn't know why the spiritual beasts started calling her 'Princess Meng Ling', nor does she know where Kakashi and his group are. Although Kakashi left a secret signal with her at first, but in the vast population of the Earth Country, it's not easy for her to find them.

  "Whatever, I'll just stay here for a week and see if I can find anything. If not, then I'll head back to Konoha alone." Meng Ling knew that at this time in the Land of Earth, there were many Snow Ninjas present, so it wasn't wrong that Kakashi had led the Wind Flower Snow Princess away earlier. However, she still felt that she should stay behind and confirm things properly. After all, those Snow Ninjas didn't know her current appearance, so even if she was right in front of them, they wouldn't recognize her. But Kakashi was different - his Sharingan eye and that weird hairstyle were just too attention-grabbing. Although he had used a transformation technique earlier, she still couldn't guarantee that the people from Snow Country wouldn't recognize him. So Meng Ling was now very worried. She wasn't concerned about anything else, but what she hated the most was living alone by herself. Although in her previous life, this kind of lifestyle was something she experienced every day, at least back then she still had online friends and colleagues. But looking at things now, she felt extremely lonely.

  After all, people of her 'actual age' all treat her as a child. (PS: In fact, she is just a kid.)

  I am that long-separated dividing line

  One week later, Meng Ling arrived at a small village in the Earth Country following the secret signal. Here, she obtained Kakashi's exact address and the two had already made contact. It was estimated that they would meet soon. This made her excited for a long time.

  Half an hour later, Meng Ling arrived at a small stream, which was the designated meeting place with Kakashi. She couldn't help but feel excited and thrilled to finally see Kakashi again. She wondered if it was because of their deep teacher-student bond or something else, but whatever the reason, Meng Ling's mood was exceptionally good right now. After all, whether in her previous world or in this Ninja World, there were very few people who could make her feel like she was with family, and Kakashi was undoubtedly one of them.

  It's been over two years since I arrived in the world of Naruto, and during that time, Kakashi has been extremely attentive to me as his disciple. Except for occasionally being late, which is almost every time, I think Kakashi only has one flaw - he's a bit perverted! (PS: Isn't this flaw not enough?!

  Meng Ling crouched alone by the small stream, lost in thought, and didn't notice how much time had passed, but...

  An hour later...

  Meng Ling was still in her own thoughts.

  Two hours later...

  Meng Ling had been waiting for some time and was getting a bit impatient.

  Three hours later...

  "How could I have forgotten about Kakashi-sensei's habit? He must be late again because of something." said Mugen with a sulky tone.

  ...after N hours

  "Damn it, Kakashi-sensei! I'm gonna punch him flying with my fire fist!" Mengl was so angry that she stomped her feet.

  "Hey, isn't that Little Dreaming? What are you doing here? Huh? Did you undo the transformation technique?" At this time, Kakashi's voice came from behind Dreaming.

  "Hey, hey, you're finally here, Kakashi-sensei. Tell me, what's the reason for making me wait so long?" Mèng Líng coldly smiled, a layer of flames already rising on her right fist.

  "Ah, sorry about that, I just got lost in my own life's path for a moment. Heh heh." Kakashi scratched his spiky hair, flashing a sly and foolish grin.

  "Fire Fist......" The enraged Mugen finally burst out, and a huge fireball flew straight to Kakashi's location.

  "Boom......" A huge explosion sounded, Meng Ling slowly retracted the flames on his right fist, with a 'I'm innocent, you forced me' look.

  "Ah, close call, you really didn't hold back this time." Kakashi's voice came from behind once again. This time, however, his eyebrows were singed off at the edges.

  "Hmph, speak up. I know that if you're late at this time, something big must have happened. Otherwise, being late at this hour would only harm both others and yourself." Meng Ling said without turning her head back.

  "Hmm, I suppose I won't be able to keep it from you after all. Alright, I'll tell you. This time, something small did indeed happen. The Wind Flower Snow Princess has gone missing." Kakashi said calmly.

  "What? Say that again?" As soon as she heard this, Meng Leng knew she was in big trouble. Not to mention whether Feng Hua Xue would be caught by the Snow Country's ninjas, just talking about her current situation as a nine-year-old little girl, and on top of that, a pampered little princess, how could she possibly survive in the outside world?

  "No, wait a minute, I'll ask you, Kakashi-sensei, when did Fuuka-san go missing?" Yume suddenly asked.

  "What's wrong three days ago?" Kakashi replied calmly.

  "Three days, plus the week before that, makes nine days in total. Yeah, time's about right too. Must have been Sanbi who took him away. I knew it, that's why we haven't seen Sanbi since that day when we encountered Fuuka and Raijin, it was all because of this." Mugen seemed to understand everything now, smiling at Kakashi she said: "Alright Kakashi-sensei, our mission is complete, we can return to Konoha now."

  "Huh? What about Princess Fuuka?" Kakashi asked in surprise.

  "It was San Da Fu who took him away. I met him again a few days before I came back here, and he told me about this matter." Meng Ling randomly made up a lie.

  "Hmm, no way! Why did he secretly take away Feng Hua Xiao Xue Gong Zhu? Could it be..."

  "I'm telling you, Kakashi-sensei, do you think it's a good thing that we ninjas know the whereabouts of a little princess? The Third Hokage must not trust us very much, so he doesn't want us to know where Princess Fuuka is. And as for me, this kid, I guess he thinks my mental age isn't developed enough to consider these things, after all, saying it straight to your face like that is really hurtful."

  "That's also true, alright then. Tsunade and that person have already returned to Konoha three days ago, they should be inside the Fire Country by now, let's set off." Kakashi proposed.

  "This is a good idea, I haven't smelled the aroma of La Mian for a long time. But as your punishment for being late, now you have to treat my stomach well." Meng Ling patted her own little belly and smiled.

  "Alas..." Kakashi let out a long sigh at his own miserable state, and reluctantly led Mei Terumi to the barbecue shop in the small village.

  I am that thin dividing line

  Five days later, in the Fire Country's Konohagakure village, at the Hokage Building, Mei Terumi and Kakashi are standing here to report on this mission's summary.

  "Kakashi reported, 'In this mission, Mei Terumi's performance was excellent. Not only did she single-handedly block the attack of Yukigakure's "Three Snow Ninja" and the mastermind behind this event, Fūka, but her temporary adaptability also showed that her strength far exceeded that of a Jōnin, making her an elite Jōnin.' At the same time, he pushed Mei in front of the Third Hokage."

  "Oh? Is that so? What does Little Dreaming mean?" Upon hearing this sentence, Dreaming knew that the Third Generation Fire Shadow was asking for her opinion on whether to become a ninja now.

  "Third Hokage Grandfather, I don't think this is right." Yumei bowed slightly and said seriously.

  "Huh? Why?" The Third Hokage looked somewhat puzzled. After all, becoming an elite jonin was a highly honorable thing. Who would have thought that this little girl in front of him wouldn't agree?

  "Third Hokage, sir, please listen to me. Although my current strength may have reached the level of an elite jonin, I still haven't learned some basic ninja skills such as deciphering secret codes and gathering intelligence. You could say that my foundation is unstable. Moreover, I'm still young, it's not arrogant of me to say this, but I think I don't even qualify to be a genin yet. So, I request that the Third Hokage allow me to attend the Ninja Academy to learn." Meng Ling said with neither arrogance nor humility.

  "Hmm, alright, proud but not arrogant, what you said is correct. I hereby approve your enrollment in the Ninja Academy." The Third Hokage exhaled a light puff of smoke and smiled as he spoke.

  "No, Third Hokage Grandfather, I don't want to attend Ninja School yet." Meng Ling said again.

  "Then you just..." Kakashi said with some surprise beside him.

  "Just now I haven't finished speaking, I hope that in two years I can attend the Ninja School. In these two years, I want to cultivate myself well, and in this mission, I discovered some of my own shortcomings. I want to solidify myself properly, hoping that Grandfather will be satisfied." Meng Ling said seriously.

  "Indeed, this will be very helpful for your future development. Alright, I agree. You can take the entrance exam two years later. Okay, I still have things to attend to, you all go ahead and leave." The Third Hokage said with a smile.

  "Thank you." Mei Ling bowed again and turned to leave the Fire Shadow Hall with Kakashi.