Mission Complete and Small Team Circles

Before long, Shuichi had come to his senses.

Although a ninja's value is determined by his death, Shuichi wasn't completely swayed by the cruel reality of the Shinobi World. "I'm determined to live a good life. I transmigrated here with a cheat Cheat/System; if I still can't protect myself and those around me, what's the difference between me and a piece of trash?"

Having a past life experience, he and Orochimaru are, in a sense, the same kind of people. This may explain why they got along so well despite their short time together.

After the Rock Village Ninja self-destructed, he left no trace in the world. Shuichi guessed that he carried not only ordinary Explosive Tag, but also something like Explosive Clay similar to Explosion Release, otherwise the power would not have been so astonishing.

After searching the area around the explosion zone, Shuichi and Orochimaru found nothing else; the other side had left no clues. So the two headed back to the caravan.

When Orochimaru intercepted the Masked Man, his actions were earth-shattering, clearly indicating that his true form had come in person.

With his extensive experience, he certainly wouldn't make the basic mistake of forgetting his employer and mission. After Shuichi set off, he quickly dealt with the uncertainties around him and even left a Shadow Clone in place, making everything virtually foolproof.

A little earlier in time, in the jungle near the caravan, the Yaocang group, a local strongman in Harukura Daimyo's Mansion, hadn't gone far. Several people were carefully observing the caravan's situation from a hundred meters away.

"How is it now, Gu Hui?"

All eyes were on Gu Hui, who was holding binoculars; whether he could get a piece of the pie depended on his luck.

"Orochimaru has left!" Gu Hui, who had been observing, suddenly exclaimed excitedly. "It seems he's still worried about his disciple. Our chance has come."

"Great!" Harukura and the others were secretly delighted. This way, if any problems arose, the Wildfire Group would take the blame. As long as they weren't too greedy and just grabbed a little something and ran, this dangerous operation could actually turn into a good thing.

"Then let's prepare to move in." Harukura began to formulate a plan. Time was of the essence. Regardless of which side won, they would return to the caravan, and they certainly wouldn't let those petty thieves get away with it.

"Gu Hui, you and Liang continue harassing with arrows, and be ready to provide backup. Everyone else, use your Transformation Technique immediately. We'll disguise ourselves as members of the Wildfire Group, and be careful not to lose the tattoos on our hands..."

"Hehe, what a great plan! Can I join in too?" Suddenly, a slightly hoarse voice rang in their ears, startling the excited group so much that Gu Hui's beloved binoculars fell to the ground and cracked.

They turned around shakily and saw the black-haired, snake-eyed man standing curiously behind them. They hadn't noticed him at all, and their conversation had been overheard word for word.

"O- Orochimaru..." "Ahhh..."

Several screams echoed through the forest, followed by complete silence.

"Oh? Master, you didn't kill them in the end?" Shuichi was somewhat surprised to hear Orochimaru's solution. Orochimaru released them after interrogating them, which was quite unusual for him.

"Hmph, why kill someone who has value to you?" Orochimaru's handling of this matter indirectly served as another lesson between master and disciple.

Ninjas like Jiraiya and Orochimaru have their own intelligence networks in the Shinobi World, which they have gradually built up through years of mission experience.

If they are threatening enemy ninjas, of course they should be killed. But for people like Harukura, whose roots are in the Daimyo's Mansion and whose fighting spirit has been corrupted by wine and meat, it is more appropriate to develop them into our intelligence sources.

Because their weaknesses are too obvious and they pose no threat in the future, these people are even more eager to latch onto Orochimaru's coattails, hoping that a seemingly insignificant piece of news might come out in the future and be of great help.

Upon returning to the caravan's location, they found that most of the people were alright, including the soldier who had been bitten by the poisonous frog, who had regained consciousness. Orochimaru's Shadow Clone automatically dissipated the moment they returned.

"Uncle Danza, I've retrieved your goods. Please check if there's any damage." Shuichi put down the large box on his back, still somewhat worried that the ninja's movements might have damaged these fragile items.

Inoue Danza immediately beamed, "That's wonderful! Shuichi-kun, you're truly amazing! I was prepared to lose that batch of goods on this trip, and I couldn't blame you for any internal problems. But you've managed to recover them all. You truly deserve to be a worthy disciple of the Hokage lineage!"

"Uh..." Shuichi was a little embarrassed when he heard this. He probably caused this whole thing from beginning to end because of him, the man with 30 million yen. Inoue Danza's caravan suffered an undeserved disaster, and now he was the one being thanked.

After opening the box, Inoue Danza first took out a plate inlaid with gold and sapphire to check it. Shuichi discovered that there were multiple soft compartments inside the box to separate the valuable goods, which was obviously a special preparation by the thief.

Next, the box contained a luminous pearl and some exquisite ornaments, all of which appeared to be intact.

"No problem at all, thank you so much."

After the goods were sorted and organized, the caravan set off again as normal.

It was late winter, and the Land of Iron was blanketed in snow. Fortunately, although the journey ahead involved occasional mountain climbing, the terrain was relatively flat, and the caravan arrived at the capital of the Land of Iron smoothly after half a month.

Compared to the magnificent capital of the Land of Fire Capital, the capital of the Land of Iron can only be described as ordinary, with the mottled marks on the city walls revealing its long history.

As he approached the city gate, Shuichi noticed that the guards were dressed in thick armor, looking like steel warriors, with even their heads covered by helmets.

After the caravan stopped, Inoue Danza went up to talk to them. Soon after, the guards cleared the way through the city gate, and the caravan began to enter the city in an orderly manner.

"So many samurai, but after walking around for a while, I haven't seen many people dressed as ninjas." Looking around the city streets, there weren't many people on the streets at the moment, but there were quite a few samurai carrying long swords.

"Teacher, are there any highly skilled samurai? I don't seem to have seen so many samurai in other parts of the Shinobi World." Shuichi started asking Orochimaru about samurai, wanting to understand what was special about this group.

"Actually, in this day and age, the difference between samurai and ninjas isn't that significant anymore." Orochimaru's statement surprised him somewhat. "Take Hanzo from Amegakure, for example. His fighting style combines Ninjutsu of a ninja with swordsmanship of a samurai. It's hard to say whether he's a ninja or a samurai, or perhaps both."

"With the transmission of chakra, pure samurai have long since disappeared. The people of the Land of Iron now only inherit a portion of the samurai's training methods; they can be considered chakra-wielding swordsmen, who refrain from using Ninjutsu simply for the sake of the samurai title."

"Therefore, these conservatives can only huddle together for warmth in remote and barren parts of the Shinobi World; decaying things will eventually disappear."

"Hiss!" Shuichi hearing Orochimaru's words. If the surrounding samurai heard this, they would be ganged up on and beaten up.

"I feel like you're implying something, but I have no proof." After thinking for a moment, Shuichi still didn't say anything. In his heart, he thought that what his teacher said made some sense.

The caravan's subsequent transactions were no longer Orochimaru and Shuichi's concern. The two waited idly in the Land of Iron for several days until the day finally arrived for their return journey.

"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting. This time, the return journey will be much faster." Inoue Danza apologized for the slow pace of the transaction.

They took only famous swords, weapons, and armor from the Land of Iron, and two wagons were still not fully loaded, so there was no need to worry about damage on the return journey. In addition, the entire caravan was eager to return to the warm Land of Fire as soon as possible, so everyone began to travel at full speed.

Nearly a month has passed, and no further incidents have occurred on the return journey. It seems that most people in the Shinobi World are still intelligent. With Orochimaru by their side, the chances of killing Shuichi are extremely slim.

The caravan successfully arrived at the Daimyo's Mansion before sunset one day. Inoue Danza did not delay the two of them. After reporting to the Daimyo, he came to see Shuichi off.

"Thank you so much this time, Lord Orochimaru, Shuichi-kun," Inoue Danza said sincerely. "Especially because of the problem caused by the traitor in the Daimyo's Daimyo's Mansion, I've troubled you to resolve it. For this, I've prepared two gifts, please be sure to accept them."

After saying that, he took out two exquisite Katana from his subordinates behind him, one slightly longer and one slightly shorter, clearly taking Shuichi's situation into account, these were specially prepared for him.

"... What a kind person!" Because the Daimyo's Mansion was not short of money, the reward for this mission alone for Orochimaru and Shuichi was nearly 1 million ryo, and these two swords were exquisite items traded from the Land of Iron.

After Inoue Danza communicated with the Daimyo, the Daimyo probably wanted to win over Shuichi, the genius boy who brought fame to the Land of Fire and Konoha, so he offered two precious Katana as gifts.

"Then I won't stand on ceremony. Feel free to come back to Konoha for future missions! Goodbye, Uncle Danza."

After completing the mission, Shuichi and Orochimaru returned to Konoha that very night. Since the mission had lasted a long time, they could probably get some rest for a while.

In the Hokage's Office, Sarutobi Hiruzen listened attentively to Orochimaru's mission report. "... I see. Was it the Iwagakure people who made the move?"

"The Jonin, but the bodies of two Chunin were also brought back, although it's very likely that nothing can be analyzed from them."

After the Wildfire Group was wiped out, Shuichi told Orochimaru about the performance Chunin the five Chunin. The two of them basically concluded that the crazy Raiya and the other person were probably subordinates of the Jonin, so they collected their bodies.

"In your estimation, Shuichi to be able to go on a mission alone?" The Third Hokage was a bit of a headache; having Orochimaru constantly protecting him was a waste of top-tier combat power.

Shuichi's current strength is quite good, but he is too young to be the captain. In addition, his unlimited potential poses a threat to the enemy country. So I would like to ask Orochimaru's opinion.

"I think another one or two years will be enough." Orochimaru was very confident in his disciple. "With his chakra reserves and ninja skills, even if a top-tier expert attacks, it's impossible for him to be unable to unleash his Ninjutsu."

"He's already this strong..." The Third Hokage thought this was good news; Konoha would soon have another elite ninja, and Orochimaru would be able to free up his resources. "Then let's wait a little longer."

At the end of February in Konoha Year 45, it was graduation time at the Ninja Academy, a significant step in many students' ninja careers. Although Ishikawa Tatsuki had become much stronger after Shuichi's special training, he was still a little nervous about officially becoming a ninja.

"Shuichi, will we be divided into classes after the graduation exam? I wonder what kind of teammates I'll be assigned to. It would be troublesome if they were difficult to get along with."

In a training ground in Konoha, Ishikawa Tatsuki and Yūhi Kurenai were sitting on the ground resting. Both of them had gotten used to Shuichi's beatings, and their pain and pleasure were intertwined with their increasing strength.

"I don't know about that, but with your grades, you should be assigned to some good teammates." Shuichi was a little disappointed that he graduated early and didn't end up in a class with other students; Orochimaru was definitely a special case.

"Furthermore, ninjas are ultimately meant to be independent; a mentor is merely a guide, and they will gradually drift apart after becoming Chunin or Jonin."

"You may form teams with many different people in the future. After all, the world of ninjas is full of surprises. You might even become Jonin Ishikawa Itsuki leading a new team in the future."

"Haha, will that day really come?" Ishikawa Tatsuki's Shuichi stirred his imagination, and he began to picture himself wearing Jonin Vest in his mind.

Regarding the matter of different ninjas teaming up to take on missions, since his two childhood friends were about to graduate, Shuichi first recalled the original work and then carefully investigated the situation in Konoha.

Overall, the class placement in the graduation exam is somewhat important, but not that important.

The instruction of Jonin or Chunin instructors is a continuation of the Ninja Academy, guiding Genin in advanced chakra training. Mission practice and teaching are carried out simultaneously, essentially transforming the academy into small-class teaching, all in order to help them mature as quickly as possible.

So Shuichi was somewhat misled by the original work. After all, the Hokage storyline only lasted for a little over four years, and he assumed that everyone who graduated and was assigned to a class would have a very deep bond with the Hokage lineage.

In reality, every ninja in Konoha has their own small circle, and when forming a team for missions during peacetime, they usually look for people they know well.

For example, in the original work, Kakashi would carry out missions with his former colleagues from the Anbu, as well as with Might Guy, Asuma, and others, while also taking time to guide Naruto and the others.

When Naruto Sasuke graduated, being assigned to Team Kakashi was equivalent to gaining entry into his inner circle. Naruto's inner circle included his classmates from the Ninja Academy and Jonin who were close to Kakashi.

Forming teams within these small circles is quite flexible. For example, Shikamaru becomes Chunin a team to chase Sasuke, Yamato replaces Kakashi and follows Naruto and Sakura, Naruto goes to find other classmates to form teams, Kakashi temporarily becomes the captain of the Ino -Ino-Shika-Cho, etc.

Therefore, Shuichi knew that he would definitely team up with Ishikawa Tatsuki and Yūhi Kurenai in the future, even now, but his Chunin as a Chunin was too conspicuous at the moment.

If he were to take the two men out of the village, they might encounter a skilled assassin who could kill them, and he might escape while causing their deaths. Let's leave this matter for another day.