About to Lead a Squad to Yugakure in the Land of Hot Water
Hiruzen Sarutobi has been enjoying himself immensely these past few days in the Hokage's Office.
"Master, aren't you going to deal with those documents?" Hagoromo asked, Hiruzen Sarutobi another cup of tea from the sofa.
He pointed curiously to the pile of documents on the table and said...
"No rush. Since that consultant went back, things have become much easier regarding the allocation of financial resources."
Hiruzen Sarutobi, holding his pipe, took a deep drag and exhaled before speaking slowly.
Hagoromo an eyebrow; after all, that advisor had been so frightened by him that he wet himself on the spot.
The matter was reported by the Anbu that brought it back later, and his master told him about it as a joke.
The deterrent effect was effective; at least it addressed the financial problems that Hiruzen Sarutobi had been struggling with.
Now I hardly need to worry about anything.
"Master, although we have financial aid from the Land of Fire," Hagoromo said after Hiruzen Sarutobi's thought.
"However, I think we might need to find a way out in the future, since our lifeline is in someone else's hands."
"If we become too reliant on it, it will put us in a very passive position."
Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had been quite relaxed, shook his head helplessly as Hagoromo continued his explanation.
Pointing at Hagoromo, he said, "You really don't want this old body of mine to rest, do you?"
Hagoromo looked up at the ceiling and mumbled, "I didn't say that, I was just taking precautions."
He felt that his master should be more active, otherwise his attention would definitely be drawn to him.
He's still young and doesn't want to be burdened with too much expectation too early.
"Alright, come here." Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head helplessly, got up, and walked towards his desk.
Seeing Hagoromo quickly followed and went to the desk.
"Look, this is a plea for help from the Land of Hot Water."
Hiruzen Sarutobi took out a document and handed it to Hagoromo, gesturing for him to take a look.
Land of Hot Water?
That country is famous for its hot springs and pacifism?
In previous ninja wars, it was not a buffer zone between the major powers.
Because of the prevalence of pacifism, the number of ninjas in Yugakure is small, and they are generally not very strong.
Therefore, it is basically a neutral country, just like the Land of Iron.
As Hagoromo pondered this, she opened the file.
For a moment, the only sound in the office was the rustling of papers.
After a long while, Hagoromo put down the documents, lowered her eyes, and fell into thought.
The document contained a distress signal sent to Konoha by an elder from Yugakure who had a past relationship with Konoha, through a special channel.
That's not surprising. Hagoromo was thinking about was the revival of an ancient sect mentioned in the request for help, and the information that its followers possessed 'immortality'.
Isn't this exactly the information about Hidan from the Akatsuki in the original work?
"This request for assistance was received this morning based on intelligence."
Hiruzen Sarutobi leaned back in his chair and spoke to Hagoromo.
"Master, what are your thoughts?" Hagoromo nodded and asked.
After all, this isn't a purely mission-oriented task; whether or not to deploy requires careful consideration.
Call--
Hiruzen Sarutobi slowly exhaled a puff of smoke before speaking:
"This kind of incident is too egregious; if this so-called sect grows too powerful, it could spread to the borders of the Land of Fire."
"This would threaten the safety of Konoha."
"Furthermore, Yugakure serves as a buffer zone between us and the Land of Water and the Land of Lightning, and they issue quite a few missions to our village every year."
At this point, Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at Hagoromo and solemnly said, "Its collapse would not be in Konoha's interest."
Hagoromo nodded in agreement.
Although the request for assistance came from an elder with old ties to Konoha, it remains to be seen whether Konoha will actually send anyone.
The primary consideration is the issue of self-interest.
If there is no conflict of interest, then just leave it alone. After all, Konoha's ninjas are trained little by little, to put it bluntly.
Frankly, there's no need for such an unpaid task.
"Furthermore, it mentions research on 'immortality' and curses, both of which are extremely dangerous and of great research value."
"It absolutely cannot fall into the hands of other ninja villages."
By saying this, Hiruzen Sarutobi had already decided to get involved in the matter.
"Therefore, Hagoromo, out of humanitarian considerations, I hereby announce that you will lead a team to secretly intervene."
"Due to insufficient intelligence and specific information, this mission is tentatively designated as A-rank mission."
"Yes, Master!" Hagoromo replied solemnly.
"But Master, what are the arrangements for the team members?"
After all, Hagoromo herself is not leading a team right now.
Moreover, having only recently become Jonin, he doesn't yet have any familiar teammates.
Ultimately, it depends on how Hiruzen Sarutobi arranges things.
"Everything is ready. Here is the information on your temporary team members. Please assemble at the designated location shortly."
Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke, he took out another document and handed it to Hagoromo.
Hagoromo reached out and took it, examining it curiously.
Woo--
His master gave him quite a set of equipment.
The squad leader, Hagoromo, is himself, and the members are elite members of the Yamanaka Clan, Chunin Yamanaka Kokone.
The next two were also skilled fighters, Chunin Aburame Muta, a Chunin from the Aburame Clan.
And a Special Jōnin who is skilled in Sealing Jutsu and Mastery first aid and detoxification, named 'Yutoshi'.
This squad's configuration can be described as the most elite squad ever.
The Yamanaka Kokone is responsible for sensing and communicating, reading fragments of the deceased's memories, or other aspects of their memories, so that Hagoromo doesn't lack information.
Aburame Muta, on the other hand, is responsible for large-scale environmental reconnaissance and tracking infiltration, which prevents the team from being overly passive.
Since it involves a clandestine infiltration, we need to be extra careful in that regard.
The Special Jōnin and the Yutoshi are responsible for ensuring battery life and dealing with issues related to curses.
After all, Hagoromo herself only knew a little about Sealing Jutsu.
"Master, with this setup, I could probably take down the Yugakure, right?"
Hagoromo joked that, after all, for Yugakure, this setup was indeed already obsolete.
The small ninja village was like this; the disparity in power directly resulted in it having very little autonomy.
Hiruzen Sarutobi raised his eyelids helplessly and said irritably, "Fine, you go and take it down, then you can be the 'Yukage'."
"Get used to it first, so you won't be caught off guard when you take over as Hokage."
"I'll go prepare now, Master!"
Before Hiruzen Sarutobi speaking, Hagoromo ran out of the office.
This old man is really easily provoked now; even a simple sentence can be interpreted as a veiled attack on himself.
Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head with amusement. It seemed he would have to make this disciple run around more often.
He doesn't seem like a lazy person when it comes to teaching and training.
Why do you always think of running away when it comes to things like this?