"Now, we shall begin the mission briefing!"
"The objective is to travel to Hell Valley. You will coordinate with the Uchiha clan currently stationed there to hold the line and prevent the Hidden Cloud's elite forces from liberating the Chinoike clan."
In the Hokage's office, Hiruzen Sarutobi sat behind his desk, exhaling a cloud of smoke from his pipe. His expression was solemn. To his right stood Shikaku Nara, the newly appointed advisor who had taken over for the elder Nara patriarch.
Shikaku held a mission scroll, his voice grave as he addressed the nine elite shinobi kneeling before the desk.
"Take note—there is a high probability you will directly encounter the Cloud's 'A-B' combo, along with their elite jonin. Consequently, the mission rank is S-rank!"
Hearing that legendary name, the nine shinobi exchanged uneasy glances. The 'A-B' combo was whispered to be the strongest force below Kage-level since the Cloud's founding. Though the current duo was young, their fame was already widespread; an ordinary jonin wouldn't last ten rounds against them before being decimated.
Wait, we're supposed to fight those monsters? Is this a mission or a funeral?
In contrast to the unease of the others, three figures at the front remained calm. But these weren't Ren, Ryōma, and Yamato.
At this moment, Ren and Yamato were standing silently behind Ryōma, tucked away in a hidden compartment behind the office wall. Across from them, behind the opposite wall, stood the Hokage's personal Anbu guards.
Ren was surprised; he'd never realized the Hokage's office had these hidden "pockets." No wonder the old man could summon Anbu with a flick of his wrist—they were literally chilling in the walls.
From his vantage point, Ren watched Shikaku continue the assignments.
"Squad One: Shibi Aburame. You will lead Hayama Shirakumo and Yuki Mizunazuki as a tactical support unit."
"Understood!" A black-haired youth in airtight gear replied firmly.
"Squad Two: Shinnosuke Sarutobi. You will lead Chen and Shinko Yuhi as a tactical support unit."
"Yes!" This was a brawny man with spiked hair and 'Flying Swallow' trench knives at his waist.
"Squad Three: Hizashi Hyūga. You will lead Kenji Hyūga and Agito Inuzuka as a sensory unit."
A stoic man with the white eyes of the Hyūga accepted the command in a low voice.
With the village's "firefighter" Minato Namikaze out of commission, Konoha was forced to deploy its next tier of talent. Shibi, Shinnosuke, and Hizashi were the "geniuses" of Minato's generation.
However, as Jiraiya once said: 'Compared to Minato, everyone else looks mediocre.' Minato's light was so blinding that it often seemed like there was a generational gap until Kakashi's cohort arrived. But the truth was different—Konoha still had many geniuses; it was just that the fires of war would bury most of them in the ash of history. The most tragic were often these very leaders.
Ren nodded inwardly at the roster. Konoha was showing a lot of "sincerity" toward the Uchiha clan with this lineup.
- Shibi Aburame: Torune's father, a master of nano-sized venomous insects.
- Shinnosuke Sarutobi: The Hokage's eldest son (Asuma's deceased brother), an elite powerhouse.
- Hizashi Hyūga: The combat specialist of the Hyūga branch.
Because Ren had rewritten the plot—preventing the Cloud's initial scheme in the Land of Rice Fields—the conflict that should have happened there was now moving to Hell Valley. By his actions, Ren had inadvertently saved the Uchiha clan from a massive loss of strength (which historically would have seen the death of Elder Setsuna Uchiha and the massacre of the valley residents by En Oyashiro).
Magic reality, Ren thought, scratching his head. I didn't mean to save the Uchiha... I just wanted to get some insurance money at the start.
Down in the office, Shinnosuke Sarutobi looked up, voicing the confusion of his peers. "Lord Hokage, all three of our squads are designated as 'support units.' Where is the main force we are supposed to be assisting?"
Hiruzen took a long drag of his pipe, exhaling a slow ring of smoke. "The main force is a powerful shinobi who performed exceptionally in the Rain Country campaign. To prevent leaks, details will be provided upon your arrival at Hell Valley."
He looked at his son, seemingly wanting to say more, but simply shook his head. "You carry a mission capable of preventing a war on the scale of the Rain Country conflict. Remember that. Depart at 08:00 AM tomorrow."
Once the room was empty, Ryōma led Ren and Yamato out from behind the wall.
This was Ren's first meeting with the "Professor," Hiruzen Sarutobi. To Ren's surprise, the old man didn't offer a grandfatherly smile. Instead, his gaze was piercing and contemplative.
"Ren Uchiha," Hiruzen began slowly. "I have one question for you. Your answer will determine whether you go to Hell Valley... or if I must go there myself."
Hiruzen narrowed his eyes, locking onto Ren's. "Everyone craves power, but only those with true wisdom and courage can master it. Your teacher, Orochimaru... I see the darkness and ambition in his eyes, yet I pretend not to. In this era of chaos, his brilliance made me hope he would inherit everything from me."
"I can feel that the will I placed in Orochimaru is now being passed to you. He has entrusted his legacy to you just as I did to him."
"So, if you are to be the future Fifth Hokage—the Hokage of the Uchiha—tell me..."
"Do you understand what this 'power' truly is?"
Note: Support me and get early access to chapters on Pat reon.com/XareonMTL