Mirai Sarutobi!!

While chasing down a lost cat in the woods outside Konohagakure, the genin Mirai Sarutobi loses track of her squad and cannot find her way back. Ashamed that such a blunder poorly reflects the great ninja she dreams of becoming, in the mold of her father Asuma and grandfather Hiruzen, she tries to regain her bearings. She then overhears a man dismissing shinobi as outdated relics and identifies him from the Bingo Book as Mezu, a defector from her own village.

Mezu spots Mirai despite her efforts to stay hidden and brushes her off as a mere child, until she names him aloud and brands him a traitor turned assassin. Because she has revealed that she knows his identity, he warns that he now has to kill her. His followers gather, and Mirai throws herself into battle, first with Demonic Illusion: Tree Binding Death and then, when that fails, the Shadow Shuriken Technique. Mezu deflects nearly every blade, though one grazes his cheek, and he seizes her, meaning to make her proof of how meaningless ninja have become.

Shikamaru intervenes with the Shadow Imitation Shuriken Technique and apologizes for arriving late, but Mezu's gang keeps him busy long enough to slip free, only to run straight into Hokage Kakashi, who defeats the whole group during a casual stroll. Shikamaru assures a discouraged Mirai that owning her weaknesses is itself proof she will grow into a fine ninja. Years later, no longer a genin, Mirai comes upon the same cat, now sought by a different team, yet hurries past on her way to escort a retired Kakashi and Might Guy to the Land of Hot Water.