First Mission

Among Team 1's members, Asuma was the Hokage's son, Hizashi Hyuga was the Hyuga Clan head's own younger brother and, even as a branch family member, still a young master. Even Kurenai had a Jonin father. Basically, none of them had ever worried about money.

Uchiha Feiyu was different. The Uchiha Clan treated him like he was invisible, both his parents had been civilians, and there was no pension to speak of. Over the past few years, aside from hunting to help support the household, he had been living off the inheritance his parents left behind. He was steadily eating away at his savings.

Under such circumstances, Uchiha Feiyu was naturally quite interested in money. In the Naruto World, money could also be considered a form of power.

If Uchiha Feiyu had been a wealthy man from the start, he would have long since hired ninjas like Kakuzu to capture a large number of Chunin- and Jonin-level Rogue Ninjas, then extracted their souls one by one to cultivate ninjutsu. He would not have been stuck with only Hatake Sakumo as a heroic spirit suitable for possession even now.

Ordinary Chunin souls offered limited enhancement to Uchiha Feiyu. Moreover, he would not use the Spirit Binding Method on human souls, so they appeared to be of little use.

But in truth, every Chunin generally possessed considerable ninjutsu experience. More experienced Chunin would even have trained in Chakra nature transformation. So long as he obtained their experience and learned from their strengths to compensate for his weaknesses, Uchiha Feiyu had every confidence he could reach Elite Jonin level in a short time.

It was nearly noon by then. Hizashi Hyuga took Uchiha Feiyu and the other two to eat first, then brought them to the mission hall beneath the Hokage Building.

Because war was approaching, Konoha had now canceled all D-rank missions. Basically, every mission started at C-rank.

The newly formed three-person team could naturally only accept C-rank missions. Generally speaking, C-rank missions involved combat but not ninjas, mostly escort and bodyguard work, driving away wild beasts, and the like.

Hizashi Hyuga looked over the mission list, accepted a mission to drive beasts from farmland, and led the three children out of the mission hall.

Escort and bodyguard missions often took a long time, requiring at least a day or two to complete. Driving away beasts was much easier. With no ordinary people slowing them down, if the destination was close, they might finish the mission in two or three hours.

This time, Hizashi Hyuga had chosen a village not far away. It was said that some kind of Fierce Beast had devoured quite a few of the villagers' cattle and sheep. The traps the villagers set had been useless, and even two hunters who had trained in Chakra had been eaten by the beast.

The Chakra Extraction Technique was fairly widespread in the Naruto World. Aside from ninjas, quite a few ordinary people trained in Chakra as well, though the vast majority did not know any ninjutsu.

But even a half-baked fighter with Chakra was a little superhuman capable of taking on ten men in the real world. Ordinary lions and tigers would not be enough to challenge them.

For it to devour hunters with Chakra, the beast could only be a Chakra Animal. Hizashi Hyuga had truly chosen this mission with care in order to train Asuma and Kurenai.

As for Uchiha Feiyu, a mission capable of training him would probably have to be an A-rank mission, or simply going straight to the front lines.

"We're here. This is the village!"

Hizashi Hyuga glanced at the village before them, stopped walking, and led his three subordinates inside.

"Are you honored ninjas from Konoha? You've finally arrived!"

An old man who looked to be in his fifties came out of a house. This village was not particularly far from Konoha, and the old man had clearly seen plenty of ninjas. Even upon seeing Hizashi Hyuga's Byakugan, he showed no panic.

"That beast has grown more and more brazen. Just last night, Jiro, who had been hiding in his home, was devoured by that monster as well. We truly have no way to deal with it. Please, honored ninjas, drive that monster away quickly!"

"That monster has started eating people on its own?! Then we really can't let it live!"

Hizashi Hyuga frowned as he spoke.

For animals, Chakra could grant intelligence. Even an ordinary frog or puppy would gradually gain a certain degree of wisdom after obtaining Chakra. Some Chakra Animals were even far more intelligent than ordinary people, while the less intelligent ones still possessed the intellect of an eight- or nine-year-old child.

Chakra Animals with such intelligence generally would not actively attack humans. But once they began attacking humans on their own, it could easily become a habit, turning them into terrifying Fierce Beasts.

"Perhaps it was because the two hunters from our village angered it last time! Before, it only preyed on livestock, but now it has begun eating people!"

"By the way, Village Chief, you keep calling it a monster. What kind of animal is this monster you're talking about?"

At Asuma's question, the village chief immediately showed a troubled expression.

"Well... to be honest, I really don't know. The monster's claw prints look like those of some kind of lizard, and it sleeps during the day and comes out at night. Everyone who has seen its true form has already died."

"Most importantly, aside from the claw prints left at the crime scenes, there are no claw prints anywhere else. We simply can't find its tracks!"

"It seems it isn't an ordinary Chakra Animal. Still, finding people is one of my specialties. Leave this fellow to me!"

Hizashi Hyuga spoke with utter confidence. With the Byakugan, he had every reason to be confident!

Yet an hour later, Hizashi Hyuga felt thoroughly embarrassed.

They had checked several locations where it had struck—the cowshed, the sheep pen, the places where the two hunters had been killed, and the room where the villager named Jiro had been eaten—but found nothing at all.

Aside from the lizard-like claw marks left at the crime scenes, there were neither tracks showing where it had come from nor tracks showing where it had left. It was as though it had appeared out of thin air, leaving them utterly baffled.

Hizashi Hyuga had even used the power of his Byakugan to search the forests around the village several times. Apart from a few ordinary wild beasts, he had found no Fierce Beast possessing Chakra.

"Sensei, where exactly is that monster? Even your Byakugan can't find it?"

Faced with Asuma's question, Hizashi Hyuga felt somewhat frustrated as well. He could only shake his head helplessly.

"Uh... it really is strange..."

"If it didn't leave any traces on the ground, could it be some kind of flying animal?"

Kurenai asked with a frown. Hizashi Hyuga immediately shook his head.

"We can tell the animal's size from the claw prints. If it were a flying creature, it would definitely have left traces in the forest and inside the rooms. At the very least, there would be holes in the roofs!"

"Then what is going on?? Don't tell me this animal has Space-Time Ninjutsu?"