Plans

Steam filled the Ichiraku Ramen Shop, the aroma of miso mingling with the rich scent of pork belly across the counter.

Baiye ate his noodles with his head down, white steam still rising from the ramen he lifted with his chopsticks. Someone pulled out the seat beside him and sat down.

"One bowl of soy sauce ramen with pork belly."

Shikaku Nara had his hands in his pockets and leaned lazily against the back of his chair. Instead of his Jonin vest, he wore dark casual clothes, his hair tied in its usual short ponytail. He looked less like he was working than slacking off.

"Shikaku-senpai." Baiye slurped up his noodles without looking up.

"What a coincidence," Shikaku said.

His ramen arrived, but he didn't rush to pick up his chopsticks. He just watched Baiye eat.

Baiye put down his chopsticks, took a sip of soup, and turned to look at Shikaku.

"Got that much free time lately?"

"Free time?" Shikaku stirred his soup with his chopsticks, a teasing note in his voice. "I'm so busy I need your help."

"Help? With what?"

"Write me a medical record. I've been exhausted lately and want a couple of days off."

Baiye picked up his chopsticks and resumed eating. He swallowed his mouthful before speaking.

They were partners, but their partnership didn't cover writing fake medical records.

Shikaku clicked his tongue. "Stingy."

But there was no displeasure in his voice. He was only joking, after all.

He didn't really want to slack off. He just needed to complain.

The situation in the Shinobi World was growing increasingly tense, and intelligence from the borders poured into the Hokage Building like snowflakes. The number of mission requests was rising, but so was the failure rate. Several squads sent out had failed to return on time, and those who did return brought troubling news: friction with neighboring countries was increasing, and the Sand Ninja were making bigger moves.

As one of the Hokage's advisers, Shikaku had an imaginable amount of intelligence to handle. The dark circles under his eyes hadn't appeared just today.

"Speaking of which." Shikaku finally picked up his chopsticks and lifted a slice of pork. "Even a little country like Rōran has run into trouble lately."

Baiye's chopsticks paused.

Rōran. A small country sandwiched between the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind. Its territory was small, but its location was unusual.

During the Second Shinobi World War, Konoha and Sunagakure had fought several back-and-forth battles in that area. Only after the war ended and both sides withdrew their forces had Rōran barely managed to regain its independence.

"What happened?"

"The former queen sent someone to Konoha last year to commission a mission." Shikaku took a bite of pork. "She said that her minister, Anrokuzan, had grown more powerful and more ambitious over the past few years... If anything happened to her, she hoped Konoha would send someone to protect her daughter Sara. Then, a few days ago, the former queen died in an accident, and her daughter became the new Queen of Roran. The Third takes this mission very seriously. Minato and the others have already set out—he took one of his students, along with Akimichi Chōza and Shibi Aburame."

Baiye put down his chopsticks. Minato, Kakashi, Chōza, and Shibi Aburame. It matched his memories.

But there was one thing Shikaku didn't know: a Dragon Vein lay beneath Rōran, and Anrokuzan was no ordinary minister. He was Mukade, a missing-nin from Sunagakure, who wanted to use the Dragon Vein's power to fulfill his ambitions.

Once too much power was drawn from the Dragon Vein, the resulting burst of Chakra fluctuations would be enough to alert everyone nearby who could sense Chakra.

The Sand Ninja couldn't possibly sit back and ignore it. They would definitely send someone to investigate.

"There's a legend about Rōran," Baiye said. "There's a Dragon Vein underground with enough Chakra to power the entire city. Rōran has developed so quickly these past few years, it's very likely they've been using its power."

Shikaku put down his chopsticks and looked at Baiye. "A Dragon Vein? Does something like that really exist?"

"It really does," Baiye said. "It's a vast power, but it's been dormant until now. If anything major happens, though, the Sand Ninja will definitely send someone to investigate. Rōran is closer to the Land of Wind, after all... If the Sand Ninja notice anything, our reinforcements might not get there before them."

Shikaku fell silent for a moment. He poked at the noodles in his bowl without eating, then looked up.

"...I really don't know where you get all this information. Are you that sure something major will happen?"

"I'm not sure," Baiye said. "It's a precaution. If we're facing Sand Ninja, having an extra medical-nin is better than having none."

"What do you mean? You want to go?"

"Yeah."

Shikaku rested his chopsticks on the edge of his bowl and sighed.

"You won't even write me a medical record, but you're giving me work to do." He lifted his bowl and took a sip of soup, then put his money on the counter. "Some partnership this is... Fine, I'll talk to the Third."

He stood, tucked his hands back into his pockets, and strolled toward the entrance. As he lifted the curtain, sunlight flashed in from outside.

"Get ready for the reinforcement mission," Shikaku said without looking back. "I'll see what I can arrange."

Baiye put his money on the counter, rose, and headed off in another direction.

People came and went along Konoha's main street, their feet breaking up the patches of light filtering through the leaves. He went over the information he had gathered, putting it back in order in his mind.

The Dragon Vein seemed like a major matter, but Minato and the others would surely be able to handle it. They even had a son from the future helping them, after all.

The Sand Ninja were what he needed to deal with. This was a good opportunity.

Yes, whether the Sand Ninja came or not, he intended to use this chance to infiltrate Sunagakure and meet the One-Tail, Shukaku.

Apart from the Nine-Tails, Shukaku was the only Tailed Beast he could reach before the Third Shinobi World War and before graduating from the Shin'ō Academy.

His Zanpakuto's Shikai progress was still stuck at twenty percent, but he had a feeling—or rather, his Zanpakuto was somehow telling him—that with just a little more progress, it would give him a surprise.

Several months had passed since the Nine-Tails Incident, and his Shinigami powers had hit a bottleneck, but Baiye hadn't stopped improving.

In Sealing Jutsu, he could now reliably perform both the Fire Sealing Method: Flame Seal and the Evil Sealing Method. The two Sealing Jutsu shared the same basic principle: both used Chakra to construct a sealing barrier that locked a target or energy within a fixed area.

Even with his powerful spiritual strength, it had taken him a full month to master the basic seal formulas, followed by several more months of repeated practice to perform them proficiently. That showed just how difficult Sealing Jutsu was.

Next came the Four Symbols Seal. This secret Sealing Jutsu had once belonged exclusively to the Uzumaki Clan. Although the clan's Sealing Jutsu had spread after its mysterious annihilation, Kushina, a descendant of the Uzumaki Clan, and Minato Namikaze, a genius "student" of its Sealing Jutsu, were undoubtedly the ones who had mastered the Four Symbols Seal most thoroughly.

And Baiye, who had obtained Minato Namikaze's study records, would master the secret Sealing Jutsu sooner or later.

As for Taijutsu, he had opened the Eight Gates as far as the Gate of Healing.

Afterward, Baiye pushed his stamina to its limit and finally received the reward he had long been hoping for.

The special Chakra that welled up from deep within his body both repaired and strengthened him: the tiny tears in his muscles began healing rapidly, and the muscles grew stronger.

With the added help of Medical Ninjutsu and healing Kidō, Baiye's physical condition finally began approaching normal standards. His speed at extracting Chakra had also improved noticeably over the past few months.

That evening, Baiye called Hayate to the edge of the Training Ground.

Under the moonlight, Hayate's breathing was a little ragged, and his forehead was covered in sweat. He pushed off the ground repeatedly, knees slightly bent and center of gravity lowered. Chakra gathered under his feet, and then, the instant it burst forth, he shot forward a short distance. But his left foot caught on his right heel, and he stumbled several steps before stopping, nearly falling flat on his face.

"Still not quite steady."

Hayate panted, bracing his hands on his knees. Sweat dripped from his forehead onto the dirt, forming little dark spots. Baiye had created the Chakra version of Shunpo himself by breaking down the original and putting it back together, using an explosive burst of Chakra in place of its original driving force. It wasn't as flexible as the original, but it wasn't much slower.

For now, Hayate's control couldn't keep up with his speed: he knew how to exert the force, but his body hadn't yet learned to keep its balance after the burst.

Hayate wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve and straightened up again.

"But I think I'm really getting somewhere."

Baiye watched him readjust his stance. To reach this level after just a few days of practice, Hayate's talent really was impressive. The Transparent Release Kekkei Genkai made his body naturally more sensitive than other people's, which was actually an advantage for a precise, high-speed movement technique like Shunpo.

"Keep practicing," Baiye said. "At this level, you wouldn't even be able to run away."

Hayate looked up. Moonlight reflected off his goggles, hiding his eyes, but Baiye could feel him staring.

"Brother. Are you leaving the village?"

"Yeah."

"Will it be dangerous?"

"Hard to say," Baiye said. "It might just be a wasted trip. Focus on getting your Shunpo right—for now. When I come back, you'll have to show me you can run."

Hayate stared at him for a few seconds, then nodded emphatically.

Baiye turned and headed home. Behind him came the sound of Hayate pushing off the ground again, his footsteps a little steadier than before.

The next morning, approval for the reinforcements came through.

When Shikaku handed Baiye the mission scroll, he said a few more words in the corridor. The reinforcement squad had been assembled on short notice. Its leader was Tsume Inuzuka, who had short gray-white hair and red inverted triangle markings on her cheeks. Her Ninja Dog, Kuromaru, crouched beside her. Two Chunin were also coming along, making five in total with Baiye as the medical-nin.

"Tsume-senpai," Baiye greeted her.

Tsume Inuzuka looked him up and down and grinned. "You're Gekkō Byakuya? Not bad."

Shikaku handed the scroll to Baiye.

"When I spoke to the Third, I emphasized what you said about the legend of the Dragon Vein. The Third took your Gekko Clan's intelligence seriously and agreed to the reinforcement proposal shortly afterward."

Baiye accepted the scroll.

The Gekko Clan's intelligence? That's a good excuse. Maybe I can use it again sometime.

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it. Just bring me back some Rōran specialties."

Baiye neither agreed nor refused. He weighed the scroll in his hand.

They were leaving early the next morning. He still had half a day to sort out his bandages and hemostatic medicine.