Scorch Style Pakura

Several days later, in the desert of Wind Country.

Hidezawa, Yugao, and Shisui walked slowly through the desert.

Wind Country's climate was truly sunny and breezy, perfectly befitting the nation's name.

It was just that its sunshine and breezes were somewhat extreme.

For instance, Hidezawa had seen quite a few people enjoying sunbaths along the way.

Perhaps they could still be called people before reincarnating as skeletons?

"Is this really a place people can live in?"

Hidezawa truly could not understand what kind of ruthless people would dare settle in a place like this.

Back in Konohagakure, he could at least see all sorts of wild boars and foolish roe deer baring their teeth at him.

Here, he felt like baring his teeth at the animals instead.

"The climate here is indeed rather extreme."

Shisui was also sweltering, yet to protect himself from the sand and avoid sunburn, he had to wrap his head in the local-style headscarf.

"But for the mission, we still have to endure it."

"Yes, yes, I know."

Hidezawa nodded. Shisui was always going on about missions, missions. He seemed even more proactive than Hidezawa, who made his living off missions.

"Still, Hidezawa, you seem to have recovered quite a bit?"

Yugao suddenly turned to look at Hidezawa beside her. She observed him for a moment before continuing.

"You seemed somewhat listless when we set out. Although the environment here is harsher, you've recovered now. It seems I needn't worry."

"So you've been watching over me all this time, Senior. I'm truly flattered."

Hidezawa raised an eyebrow at Yugao with a smile. Still, he knew that his mood had indeed been poor these past few days.

After all, his big boss had given him an utterly awful mission.

Deal with Pakura?

With what, his head?

Setting aside the Cursed Seal and other messy factors, Hidezawa was not even sure whether he could defeat that woman.

He was indeed a Numerical Monster, and he basically already possessed Jonin-level strength. If he raised his stats to LV7, he should be around the level of an Elite Jonin.

But that woman was hardly simple. Maybe she had long since become an Elite Jonin, or perhaps something even stronger!

Besides, she was most likely heading to Kirigakure to die. Whether he could even find her was a question.

After thinking it over, an idea suddenly came to Hidezawa—could that bastard Danzo be trying to use this opportunity to see whether Shisui Uchiha could be killed?

After all, Aburame Ryūma had said, "Don't you still have your Anbu teammates?"

"Sure enough, following Danzo means you could be sold out at any time!"

A perfectly good reconnaissance mission had now turned into an assassination, and one that was practically sending him to his death.

Danzo was truly the model of "I'm not the one charging into battle, but I'm the first to brag afterward"!

And upon closer thought, the mission Danzo had given Hidezawa fundamentally conflicted with Hiruzen Sarutobi's orders.

Hiruzen Sarutobi wanted stability, while Danzo desperately wanted the shinobi world to descend into chaos.

Though it might have been a lucky coincidence, Hidezawa still firmly believed that this bastard wanted to use the opportunity to rise to power!

Fortunately, after giving it some thought, Hidezawa had already made his decision.

He only needed to complete the mission. As for how he completed it, there were no restrictions. He had plenty of room to maneuver.

"You... isn't caring about your teammates only natural?"

Yugao became a little awkward upon hearing Hidezawa's words and immediately changed the subject.

"We should focus our energy on the mission now. There are quite a few patrol squads here. It looks like Kirigakure's harassment of Sunagakure has been severe."

"That's right."

Shisui spoke up as well. Looking out over the distant desert, he could not help sighing.

"And honestly, it'll be difficult to proceed with this mission. Ordinary patrol personnel simply don't have enough intelligence, and Sunagakure..."

Shisui stopped there, but both Hidezawa and Yugao understood what he meant.

Sunagakure was currently beset by both internal and external troubles, so its defenses would be especially tight. That made infiltrating the village nearly impossible.

Without enough intelligence, this mission would truly be difficult to carry out.

At the thought of that, Shisui and Yugao both looked troubled.

"Actually, we don't need to worry so much."

At that moment, Hidezawa rubbed his chin and suddenly asked curiously.

"We really can't enter Sunagakure, but why don't we see whether we can find an opening on Kirigakure's side?"

"Kirigakure?"

Shisui and Yugao did not immediately understand, while Hidezawa flashed a brilliant smile.

"That's right, Kirigakure. Kirigakure has been constantly harassing Sunagakure, so the people they sent out surely aren't ordinary. For Sunagakure to respond, they'll naturally need to dispatch some powerful shinobi. As long as we happen to run into them, then..."

Shisui and Yugao understood now, and the way they looked at Hidezawa changed slightly.

If they were discovered and happened to run into them, they could naturally let the snipe and clam fight while the fisherman profited!

Whether they supported the weaker side, or waited until both sides had fought themselves nearly to exhaustion before stepping in to clean up, they could gain something.

Sunagakure's powerful shinobi could provide plenty of information, and they might gain something from Kirigakure as well. It would be immensely helpful to their mission!

Still, this plan was rather underhanded.

"But if we're exposed, won't it affect the village?"

Yugao frowned and asked, but Hidezawa had already thought of a solution.

"We can disguise ourselves as Iwagakure. They have conflicts with each other anyway. Besides, don't forget that Sunagakure has disguised itself as forces from other villages to attack our outposts."

"Understood. Hidezawa-kun's suggestion is excellent. Let's do that."

After hearing Hidezawa's words, Shisui agreed directly after only a brief consideration.

Those who had experienced war naturally did not have saintly mindsets. When facing enemies, they could even become people with flexible moral boundaries.

Besides, Sunagakure had plotted against Konohagakure both openly and secretly. Naturally, they would do whatever was most convenient now!

"Then, we—"

Shisui was about to say something else when he suddenly paused and looked up at the distant sky.

Not only him—Hidezawa and Yugao raised their heads almost at the same time, because a signal flare had suddenly risen into the sky!

Seeing this, the three exchanged glances, and Hidezawa froze for a moment.

Acquire a new mission

Obtain useful intelligence from Sunagakure and Kirigakure shinobi

"Another mission. That makes three."

The accumulation of three missions surprised Hidezawa somewhat, but more missions were a good thing!

With that thought, he turned to Shisui and Yugao and smiled.

"Looks like we're pretty lucky."

The moment he finished speaking, they swiftly concealed themselves and headed toward the signal flare.

The only ones who would dare release a signal flare so brazenly in this desert were clearly those Sunagakure people. Hidezawa and the others would not let such an opportunity slip away.

They were not moving particularly fast. Especially since they needed to avoid the Sunagakure shinobi converging from all around, they were exceptionally cautious.

Fortunately, the place where the flare had been launched was not too far from them.

The closer they got, the more the sounds of Exploding Tags, ninjutsu detonations, and shinobi fighting reached their ears.

"We've entered the combat zone. We all need to be careful."

Shisui spoke in a low voice as he put his mask on.

Hidezawa and Yugao did the same. However, Hidezawa turned to look at the solemn Yugao and spoke softly.

"Don't worry, Senior. As long as I'm here, you'll be fine."

"You..."

Yugao immediately recalled the scene from not long ago when they had faced Orochimaru. For a moment, she did not know whether to be angry or amused.

But before she could say anything, Shisui's deep voice rang out beside them.

"Everyone, we have a bit of trouble."

As he spoke, his gaze remained fixed on the distance.

"That woman seems to be Sunagakure's Scorch Style Pakura..."

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