"You really are something…"
Dashing swiftly through the forests on the way to the Land of Grass, Haori glanced back helplessly at Guy, whose face was filled with excitement.
For a moment, he genuinely didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Early that morning, when Haori arrived at the mission assembly point and saw Guy there, he immediately knew things were going to go wrong.
Sure enough, Minato Namikaze assigned Guy to the same team as him.
Sure, life had its joys and sorrows, and watching someone else put on a show could be entertaining—as long as it didn't involve you.
But once it involved him, it stopped being funny altogether.
"Didn't you say your teammates hadn't been decided yet?"
Guy shrugged nonchalantly and grinned.
"We're good friends, after all. You didn't have a team yet, and we've worked together in the Land of Whirlpools.
So yesterday I applied directly to the Hokage for the mission. I had to put in a lot of effort before he finally agreed!"
I'd much rather you stayed in Konoha, smoking and staring at the sky, enjoying each day as it comes!
Haori shot Guy a sideways glance. It wasn't that he was worried Guy would get hurt—he was worried Guy would drag him down!
Back in the Land of Whirlpools, Haori had seen Guy's skills and professionalism firsthand.
Guy was reliable, competent, and an excellent ninja.
But he had one problem—he got emotional far too easily, and ambushes had a tendency to turn into frontal charges.
Is that why even Danzo's Root wouldn't take him?
"Alright, let's talk about this mission."
At that moment, the third member of their team spoke up.
"This mission won't be simple.
So many squads are being deployed at once, with frontline forces providing cover so we can infiltrate behind enemy lines from multiple directions…
I doubt this is just about raiding supply routes."
The speaker wore dark-tinted goggles, his hair spiking upward like Kakashi's—except his was black.
It was their former classmate, Yamashiro Aoba.
Aoba was a highly capable ninja, skilled in Fire Release and in summoning crows.
At one point, Haori had even wondered whether he was secretly an Uchiha.
More importantly, Aoba possessed a rare ability in the ninja world—he could infiltrate another person's mind and read their thoughts without any tools.
That was likely why he had been conscripted for such an important mission.
Back in the Land of Whirlpools, Haori had rotated into Aoba's squad, which was why the three of them were together now.
Speaking of which, Haori really owed him one.
It was because of that rotation that Haori completed a side quest and managed to scrape some Yin Release-related abilities from Aoba, successfully upgrading his Sharingan.
"Aoba's right. This mission definitely isn't simple."
Haori nodded, his expression turning serious.
"In fact, I suspect the true goal of this mission… is to end this war."
"End the war?"
Guy's eyes lit up instantly.
"If we can end the war, that would be amazing!"
Buddy, your focus is completely off…
Haori and Aoba exchanged glances, both feeling a little deflated.
Their intention had been to warn Guy not to get too hot-blooded.
This mission was extremely dangerous—they needed caution.
Instead, Guy zeroed in on the words ending the war.
Aoba glanced at Haori as well, silently complaining—even if you're hyping things up, isn't that a bit much?
"Guy…"
Shaking his head, Aoba turned to him helplessly. He understood Guy's personality all too well.
"What we mean is that this mission will be extremely difficult—and extremely dangerous."
"So we hope you can stay calm."
Haori nodded. He was starting to wonder if Guy had been added precisely because his hot blood actually suited a mission like this.
"Haori, do you have any ideas?"
Aoba asked, choosing to ignore Guy for the moment.
"I do… though they're still pretty rough."
Haori replied casually as he continued forward.
He knew exactly what this mission entailed. Right now, he was focused on just two things.
First—how to survive on this battlefield brimming with life and chaos.
Second—how to build up his own reputation through this mission.
If he didn't have a main quest and his teammates were just faceless extras, then Haori would absolutely find a way to AFK on the border between the Land of Grass and the Land of Fire.
Didn't pray when things were peaceful, and now you want me to charge in? Dream on.
Minato's mission would succeed no matter what. All Haori needed to do was "come and go," ambush a few supply teams, and call it a day.
If his expendable teammates got hot-headed and killed themselves along the way—even better.
But the problem was, his teammates now were upright, righteous old classmates.
And he also had a main quest.
Which meant he absolutely couldn't act that way.
On one hand, his carefully crafted persona in Konoha couldn't collapse.
On the other, if he wanted to truly replace Fugaku, he needed reputation.
Uchiha Fugaku was born in Rome. Haori was born a mule—there was no comparison.
If he wanted to gain influence from nothing, he had to grind reputation, step by step.
So for this mission, survival was the top priority. Completing it beautifully and gaining fame came second.
With that decided—
"I said earlier that I suspect this mission is meant to end the war."
Haori glanced around and lowered his voice.
"And Aoba's right—this isn't just about raiding supply teams.
We already did that in the Land of Whirlpools, and it directly led to victory."
The chaos in the Land of Whirlpools had been triggered precisely by supply-line raids. Once Konoha's army pressed in, Kirigakure collapsed.
After speaking, Haori glanced at Guy. Aoba also reached out and patted Guy's shoulder.
If Guy's father hadn't dealt with the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist threatening the rear, the war there might not have ended at all.
"Iwagakure will definitely learn from that lesson, which means our task will be even harder."
Haori withdrew his gaze and continued.
"They won't sit idly by—their response will be faster.
But Iwagakure has a far bigger problem: the Third Raikage died at their hands."
The Third Shinobi World War was a chaotic free-for-all.
Konoha, because of its unique geographic position, took hits from all sides—but while Konoha was getting beaten, the other villages were also making moves.
Iwagakure and Kumogakure were already enemies. There was no way they'd stay idle.
Now that a Kage had died, the hatred only deepened. The newly orphaned Fourth Raikage had turned his full attention toward Iwagakure.
That left Iwa facing pressure from both Konoha and Kumo.
"So what we need to do now… is delay them as much as possible?"
Aoba asked quietly, catching on immediately.
"Yes—but not just that."
Haori shook his head and smiled.
"If we can sever their supply lines—even for just a few days—don't you think the war would be over?"
Haori's words stunned both Aoba and Guy.
The next moment, excitement bloomed across their faces.
That's right. Iwagakure was already in this state—if their critical supply lines were cut…
"So this mission…"
Aoba asked, barely containing his excitement.
"This mission—Jonin Minato's squad is the main force."
This was the moment Haori had been waiting for.
Under the admiring gazes of Guy and Aoba, he finally unleashed his expert-level nonsense.
"Our job is to cause as much destruction as possible—and survive.
Only then can we continuously pin down the enemy."
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