A month passed.
Along the Fire–Rain border, the frontline camps finally received fresh chūnin reinforcements—enough to slightly ease the manpower crisis.
Every forward encampment along the border held at least a thousand shinobi, almost all of them chūnin or higher. Only medical staff and a handful of returning Konoha shinobi on temporary reassignment were exceptions.
Even the Konoha Hospital's workload had entered a brief cooling period: with the Rain front collapsing, missions became more cautious, and the number of severely wounded returning from the front finally began to drop.
August 2nd — A Special Day
Tsunade's birthday.
At the Senju compound, she finally enjoyed a rare day off—
shopping with Nawaki in the morning, then cooking lunch together.
That evening, Jiraiya, Orochimaru, Kaito, Might Duy, Yakushi Nonōyu, and even Hiruzen (through a shadow clone) came one after another, offering their birthday gifts.
In the Senju-style tatami living room sat a three-tiered luxury cake—
now reduced to less than a quarter.
Paper plates smeared with frosting and plastic forks lay scattered everywhere.
Side note:
A cake of this custom size and quality, at this time of year? Easily over 100,000 ryō.
Kaito had deliberately skipped dinner just to eat several slices.
Even he had to stop once he felt sick from the sweetness.
"Let me see what gifts you all bought me~"
Tsunade excitedly tore open Hiruzen's gift.
Seconds later, her face darkened into a dead-fish stare.
Inside the box lay a thin red envelope.
Inside that envelope… a single 10,000-ryō note.
"That old man still thinks I'm a little kid.
10,000 ryō isn't even enough for a few rounds at the gambling hall."
On the side, Nawaki rubbed his overstuffed belly, sighing blissfully:
"So full~ hic~!"
Tsunade continued opening her gifts.
— Nonōyu had given a bouquet with a vase, now placed on the shoe cabinet.
— Orochimaru gave a piggy bank; Tsunade almost smashed it instantly, stopped only by Nawaki.
— Jiraiya gave a "creative manuscript"; Tsunade tossed it aside without a glance.
"Huh? Duy, why give me a plush toy? I'm not a little girl anymore.
I'd rather take the old man's cash!"
She flung the box aside; the plush bear Duy had spent 3,000 ryō on rolled across the floor.
"Here, Nawaki.
Take it.
Something to sleep with."
FWOOSH—THUMP!
The bear arced through the air and landed squarely on Nawaki's bloated stomach, nearly making him vomit the luxurious dinner.
"Ugh—!"
He clutched his mouth, gingerly placing the toy onto the tatami while inwardly cursing his violent elder sister.
Then—
"Eh?!"
Tsunade suddenly gasped.
She had opened Kaito's gift.
Inside the long, elegant box sat a high-grade bottle of shōchū—
around 600ml.
"This brat Kaito…
he actually understands my tastes?!"
Aside from losing money at the casino,
Tsunade's other great pleasure was drinking quality alcohol to unwind after dealing with endless medical stress.
This bottle?
At least 100,000 ryō.
She hugged it lovingly against her cheek.
"Hehehe~
A good drink on my birthday~~~"
She looked genuinely, deeply happy.
Meanwhile—
Kaito, thanks to his growing friendship with Nonōyu and Tsunade,
had been spending time in the Medical Department's archive, "learning emergency procedures."
In truth, he was secretly absorbing as much medical knowledge as possible.
During Nonōyu's off days, Kaito also casually memorized the hand-scroll for the Mystical Palm Technique as they talked.
(A Rank medical ninjutsu. Worth every ryō.)
To Kaito,
one A-rank medical technique = a 100,000-ryō gift bottle.
A perfectly fair exchange.
Gift for Nawaki
Tsunade and Nawaki normally shared a birthday celebration, but gifts were given separately—Nawaki received his on the 8th.
Kaito gave him something far more practical:
tips for Earth Release tunneling techniques.
Kaito's own Earth Release infiltration skill—though technically based on the D-rank Earth Dragon Concealment Technique—was already comparable to the superior C-rank Underground Projection Fish Technique.
The differences:
Fish Projection (C-rank): Faster, quieter, deeper tunneling; excellent for infiltration.
Earth Dragon Concealment (D-rank): Requires distractions to avoid detection; more noise; higher chakra cost; shorter duration.
Kaito's guidance effectively helped Nawaki bridge the gap.
The Mission Announcement
On the observation platform near the Hokage Monument,
Orochimaru informed Nawaki that he would lead the team on a C-rank border mission:
Retrieve frontline intelligence from the Fire–Rain border.
Nawaki immediately started his signature flag-raising speech, perfectly countered by Tsunade's emotional responses.
"Big Sis…
I've decided."
"I'm going to become Hokage!"
"I'll grow stronger—strong enough to change this world,
to end wars,
to stop people from dying on battlefields!"
"Then everyone in the world…
will finally be happy!"
"You can do it, Nawaki.
So touching… sob sob sob—!"
"…"
Kaito glanced at Might Duy, who was crying passionately for no reason.
He then looked behind—
Even Orochimaru had a warm, relieved smile.
Great.
Flags raised to the maximum.
Now we just wait for that certain old mummy in Root to make his move…
In the Root Headquarters
Shimura Danzō was indeed preparing to act—
but his target was not Nawaki.
It was Uchiha Kizuna,
the newly risen battlefield hero,
now known among enemies as the Crimson-Eyed Flame Demon.
"Too arrogant," Danzō muttered.
"A mere Uchiha jōnin… and he somehow awakens a Mangekyō Sharingan. Even Kagami never—"
He abruptly stopped.
A flicker of guilt and nostalgia crossed his eyes.
Then vanished.
Ever since the First War—
since the day Kagami saved him and nearly died—
Danzō had torn out Kagami's dying Sharingan…
and vowed never to feel weakness again.
"For Konoha," he whispered, eyes sharp as blades.
"I cannot allow such instability to exist."
"Especially not an Uchiha trained under that fossil, Uchiha Setsuna."
"If we let them push him upward…"
"…they'll try to make him the Fourth Hokage."
"Bring me someone."
FWIP—
A Root operative in an ox-mask knelt before him.
"Danzō-sama."
"What of the three Uzumaki recruits?"
"They are progressing smoothly under Vulture-sama's training. Their talent is excellent. Soon they should—"
"Not enough."
Danzō interrupted.
"Never enough."
The agent froze.
Danzō continued:
"Has anyone… notable been sent to the Rain front lately?"
The intelligence captain thought for a moment.
"…Orochimaru."
"Orochimaru's Squad One departs today at noon for the Fire–Rain border. Their mission is—"
He listed everything:
objectives, dangers, participating members.
A standard battlefield C-rank intelligence retrieval mission—
not suitable for animal messengers due to risk of interception.
"Does that useless Nawaki brat go?"
Danzō asked bluntly.
To him, those without talent were all equally worthless.
Even Might Duy—who had just handed over the Eight Gates—was beneath his notice.
"Yes, Danzō-sama."
"Tch.
If only the brat were a chūnin already."
"Continue gathering intel on the Rain front—especially anything on Uchiha Kizuna."
"Yes!"
Squad One Departs
At noon, Orochimaru led the squad through forests, cliffs, and narrow mountain routes.
Only now did he finally understand why other teams always disliked taking Might Duy:
His stamina depended purely on physical strength—
no chakra mobility, no efficiency.
After crossing a forest, Orochimaru suddenly halted.
Nawaki landed shortly after, crouching.
"Sensei, what happened?"
"Too slow."
"At this pace, we'll need over three days to reach the border."
Under normal conditions:
Orochimaru & Nawaki: 2 days
Kaito going all out: 1 day
But Duy?
Even soldier pills barely helped.
Nawaki fell silent.
After two Uzushio missions, even he knew Duy's biggest weakness.
Kaito arrived next, acting confused:
"Something wrong?"
"Same issue as always," Nawaki sighed.
Kaito nodded sympathetically.
"Yeah… the youthful wild beast can be unreliable. Hard to optimize a mission with him."
Harsh, but true.
Battlefield intel had an expiration time measured in minutes.
If the courier was slow, information died before it arrived.
After another minute,
Might Duy finally burst out of the trees, panting heavily.
"Hah… hah… so… fast…"
Orochimaru watched, assessing his limits.
(Even without Chakras strengthening, he really is miles behind.)
Then—
Orochimaru subtly signaled.
"Scatter."
FWIP! FWIP! FWIP!
Kaito, Nawaki, and Orochimaru vanished using Body Flicker.
(D-rank for students.
But when reinforced by chakra?
A Jōnin can chain it endlessly.)
"Eh?!
W-Wait for me!!"
Thinking they had resumed the journey, Duy sprinted out—
And stopped.
Ahead was a tall cliff.
Below, a clear river.
Beyond the river, a small forest clearing.
A Konoha squad was emerging from the trees.
"Ah! Isn't that Ryūun? Long ti—"
FWIP— THUNK!
A kunai sliced a few strands of hair at his temple and buried itself in a tree beside him.
The squad leader was not Yūhi Kurenai's father—
he was still recovering.
Today's leader was a stern-faced unfamiliar jōnin.
He raised his hand.
"…Password."
To read advanced Chapters, head over to p@treon:
patreon.com/nani_kaito
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