As everyone looked around carefully, a mission scroll appeared beside each of them. Clearly, these were the missions the Inventory System had prepared for them, and each person's mission might be different.
They might even conflict with one another, but the details would only become clear once they entered the instance.
Before anyone could react, the Inventory System transported them all away. Each of them arrived at a different starting location, scattered apart, which undoubtedly made things much more difficult.
Obito saw his surroundings change, and he found himself at the border of the Land of Waves. Unlike they had planned, however, Rin wasn't with him. He wondered if everyone had a different starting location.
"But this won't stump me, Obito Uchiha." With that, he hurriedly opened his scroll.
[Mission: The Land of Waves is a country without Shinobi, occupied by a man named Gato. Mr. Tazuna has come to Konoha to hire Shinobi so he can build a bridge and make his country prosperous. Your mission is to protect Mr. Tazuna until he reaches the Land of Waves safely and end Gato's monopoly over the Land of Waves.]
What's all this? The scroll was full of a bewildering array of people and place names. Is the Land of Waves really such a mess? Obito put the scroll away and looked around. Apart from a lush forest, there wasn't a person in sight.
"Is anyone there? Where is this?" Obito began walking and shouting, hoping someone would answer.
Little did he know, his behavior had long since exposed him to others. As a Shinobi, shouting while on a mission was strictly forbidden. Obito, who had never carried out a mission alone, had no idea what danger it could bring.
As Obito walked on, he thought he saw a main road ahead. He went straight to its side, intending to wait and see if anyone came along. After all, he didn't know the way, and now that he had finally found a main road, he had no idea where he might end up if he wandered off again.
At the moment, perhaps because of his Sharingan, Obito seemed able to see things he couldn't see before. The weather was especially dry, yet when he looked closely, there was a small puddle by the roadside.
It looked as though it had just rained. Strangest of all, he could sense Chakra coming from the puddle.
Little did he know, the puddle wasn't real. It was two Chunin sent by Zabuza to ambush and kill Tazuna. An ordinary Genin would never have been able to detect them.
But Obito had just awakened his Three-Tomoe Sharingan, and his observation was especially sharp. Generally, members of the Uchiha Clan who had just awakened the Mitsudomoe could reach the level of a Special Jōnin.
Obito's current Chakra and physical condition, however, fell far short. Otherwise, he would have been at least one of the strongest Shinobi sent this time.
"Big brother, will this brat hanging around here affect our plan?" one of the Chunin asked.
They had been waiting there for a long time. According to reliable information, Tazuna would pass through today, but some brat from who knew where had stayed nearby and refused to leave. He might interfere with their plan later.
"Hang in there a little longer. I can already sense them. Tazuna is coming with the Shinobi he hired from Konoha. Be careful when the time comes." The man called big brother told him to stay hidden and avoid being discovered.
Just then, Obito noticed a group of people approaching ahead. He quickly waved and shouted, "Hey, are you locals? I'm lost. Do you know—"
Before Obito could finish asking, the two in the puddle thought they were about to be exposed and struck. They sped past Obito, each holding one end of a chain, and closed in on the person leading the group.
The newcomers were none other than Kakashi and his team, who had accepted the mission to escort Tazuna to the Land of Waves. They had been walking along and chatting about the amusing things that had happened on their trip, never imagining that a simple C-rank mission would turn dangerous.
As they traveled, Kakashi suddenly heard a familiar voice. Then he saw two Shinobi wearing black cloaks attacking him. Kakashi wanted to give Naruto and the others a chance to practice working together, so he pretended to be caught while actually escaping with the Substitution Technique.
"The first one's caught." The two pulled together and sliced Kakashi apart. Neither of them realized that what they had sliced apart was merely a substitute.
Then the two suddenly appeared behind Naruto, intending to deliver a fatal blow. Naruto seemed frozen, completely unable to dodge.
At that moment, Sasuke used the Body Flicker Technique to appear above them, landing with his feet on their shoulders. Without giving them time to react, he kicked them away, one kick each.
Sasuke then swiftly pulled out several Kunai and knocked the chain from their hands, pinning it to a tree. The two tugged with all their might, but couldn't budge it.
Naruto was stunned as he watched Sasuke perform that familiar series of moves. He instinctively compared himself to Sasuke, and when he thought about how scared he had been just now, he felt completely useless.
But the enemies weren't about to give Naruto time to react. Everything they had just done was a diversion; their real target was Tazuna.
Sakura hurried to stand in front of Tazuna, intending to stop the two with her own body.
"Fire Style, Great Fireball Technique!" A huge fireball came hurtling toward them, forcing the two to abandon their attack.
"Nice one, Sasuke!" Naruto still thought Sasuke had used the Ninjutsu to drive them back, and he was relieved that Sasuke had saved Sakura.
"Idiot, that wasn't my Great Fireball." Sasuke had clearly seen the Great Fireball come from another direction and drive the two back.
Obito hurried over. Though he didn't recognize any of them, he saw the Konoha Forehead Protectors they wore and instinctively assumed they were on his side, so he decided to act.
Naruto and Sasuke finally saw who had arrived. Sasuke was shocked at the sight of him: Obito had his Three-Tomoe Sharingan activated, and the Uchiha Clan's crest was emblazoned on his back.
But before they could get acquainted, the two Shinobi hurriedly tried to launch a sneak attack from the side. Kakashi appeared beside them, wrapped his arms around their necks, and knocked them unconscious.
Kakashi paid the two no further attention and threw them to the ground. Staring at Obito in disbelief, he asked, "Are you... are you Obito?"
Kakashi couldn't believe Obito was standing in front of him. Obito had clearly already...
Hearing someone call him, Obito turned around and saw a man who looked somewhat like Kakashi calling out to him.
The man looked somewhat familiar to Obito, who asked uncertainly, "Mister, you look a little familiar."
Seeing that Obito didn't recognize him, Kakashi was about to say something else when Obito clapped his hands together.
"I know! You're Kakashi's father, Hatake Sakumo, right?"