Notification, Solo

Like Minato's Team, the Konoha Ninja have recently slowed down their mission pace a bit, as they've found themselves with so many missions within the village that they simply can't finish them all.

Moreover, there are many high-quality missions available for selection, which is extremely rare; most ninjas never encounter such a situation in their careers.

Sarutobi Hiruzen stood at the window of the Hokage's Office, overlooking the entire village. Under the setting sun, Konoha was full of vitality, with parents leading energetic children walking in the streets, and everyone's face was filled with a happy smile.

Seeing how well the village had developed, the Third Hokage generation said with satisfaction, "It seems the village has recovered from the wounds of war."

Thinking about this, he suddenly realized that quietly watching the village was also a good way to relax. While the view from the Hokage Building was good, he always felt that something was missing.

"We could develop a spell to observe the village's condition." A brilliant idea flashed into his mind. "With just a slight modification to the village's Barrier and the addition of some spells, we could easily see every corner, and even..."

Perhaps realizing something, his kind yet dignified expression instantly crumbled, and his old face began to flush slightly. "We must be careful; we absolutely cannot let that Jiraiya find out."

Just as the Third Hokage began to conceive of this magnificent Ninjutsu that would make women scream and Jiraiya weep, two figures moved at incredible speed across the houses of Konoha, heading straight for the Hokage Building.

"Whoosh, whoosh!" They entered through the office skylight and landed directly behind Sarutobi Hiruzen. "Reporting to the Lord Hokage, we have urgent intelligence!"

"Cough cough..." Sarutobi Hiruzen, who was immersed in a beautiful fantasy, was interrupted by the sudden sound. He was startled by the loud report from the Anbu, which was rare for him as he did not notice the ninja approaching outside.

Quickly realizing what was happening, he turned around with a serious expression. "What happened? Is the situation so urgent?"

"That's right, the Intelligence Department just informed us..."

After listening to the report from the Anbu with a frown, he quickly gave the order, "Continue to observe, and pay attention to feedback from other teams. Notify me immediately of any unusual activity."

"Immediately summon Elder Danzo and his two advisors; there is urgent business to discuss."

"Yes!"

After having a big meal with Namikaze Minato that day, the two met several more times. After seeing that the power of Rasengan was gradually increasing, Shuichi knew that the technique was almost complete and would soon be able to be combined with the Flying Thunder God Technique.

Shuichi did not reveal anything about the subsequent Wind Release: Rasenshuriken. He did not believe that Namikaze Minato did not consider incorporating Wind Release Nature Transformation after developing the Rasengan in the original work.

The real reason is probably that it is too difficult. Apart from the ability to control chakra, the most crucial point is the huge amount of chakra consumed and the self-harm consequences when not in Sage Mode.

So even if you told Namikaze Minato, it wouldn't make much difference. Even Naruto in Sage Mode could only use it twice. Even if he learned it, there's no extreme situation where he absolutely needed this technique.

"In two years, I estimate I'll have enough chakra to create a regular Rasenshuriken. Practicing now is far too dangerous and not worth the effort. Now that I know what the finished product will look like, I just need to keep improving my control."

While thinking about these Ninjutsu, Shuichi practiced as usual at the Konoha's Training Grounds.

At that moment, a figure moved swiftly through the woods, making no attempt to conceal their presence.

Shuichi stopped training, and soon an Anbu wearing Cat Mask appeared before him. "Takeda Shuichi, the Lord Hokage requests your presence."

"Hmm? The Anbu came all the way here to find me. Isn't that a bit too urgent?" This situation is rare, because Orochimaru is usually the one who receives the mission and then notifies him. Now it seems that the Third Hokage sent someone specifically to find him, and the situation is quite urgent.

After following the Anbu to the Hokage's Office, the Anbu turned and left. Only Sarutobi Hiruzen remained inside, his expression serious.

Shuichi sensed his surroundings and discovered that the Third Hokage had even withdrawn the Anbu protecting the Hokage; now it was just the two of them in the building. "This is outrageous! What's going on?"

"Shuichi, you've arrived," the Third Hokage said. "I'm here specifically to see you because of an emergency. I already informed Orochimaru beforehand."

"What exactly happened? Why is it so urgent?"

"The village might need your help this time; we're currently facing some difficulties," the Third Hokage said with a somewhat grave tone.

"Holy crap, is the village going to sell me out? Is the enemy country threatening to start a war if I don't hand it over?" Upon hearing Shuichi instantly imagined a variety of possibilities.

Fortunately, the Third Hokage quickly cleared up his doubts and interrupted his wild thoughts, "Because I've thought about it for a long time, and only you in the village can complete this task."

"Oh, so it's a mission." Shuichi sigh of relief, then asked, "What kind of mission is it?"

The Third Hokage didn't answer directly, but instead explained the cause and effect, "A few days ago, all of our Sunagakure Infiltrators lost contact. This is an extremely rare occurrence, indicating that something must have happened within Sunagakure."

Through the descriptions of the Third Hokage, Shuichi quickly grasped several key points.

The Anbu and Root have a very deep network of informants within Sunagakure, and their infiltration has lasted for years. To minimize the risk of exposure, Konoha has rarely made any proactive contact with them. Therefore, it's unlikely that Sunagakure possesses such strong intelligence capabilities to capture them all at once; otherwise, they would have acted long ago.

"So we guessed at the time that they weren't all killed at once, but rather that they were unable to transmit intelligence due to special circumstances, a situation that had occurred many times before."

"At the same time, another important discovery confirmed this possibility."

"That's the strangeness of the mission quota," the Third Hokage said. "In the past two years, because Konoha's reputation has soared, we've received a lot of missions. But recently, this trend has even seen an explosive increase, which is quite abnormal."

The current situation has reached an absurd point; even ordinary squads can pick and choose the best missions, which is rather strange.

"At first, I thought it was just a temporary concentration of people, but after we lost contact with the people in Sunagakure, we immediately began investigating the people who commissioned the missions. We discovered that a large number of them came from the Land of Wind's Surroundings. They have always been Sunagakure's Main Clients, but recently they have been refused commissions. So we can roughly determine that something must have happened within Sunagakure."

The Sunagakure previously went so far as to hold Joint Chunin Exam to secure mission quotas, so their current behavior of turning away their employer seems highly unusual.

Shuichi was shocked after hearing this information. "Has the Third Kazekage gone missing? Considering the Sunagakure Village's anxious search over the past few months, everything makes sense! The Third Great Ninja War is about to begin."