S-rank Mission

Konoha Year 63.

In June, the weather was fine and sunny.

In the sweltering summer, the Konoha Ninja toiled across the Land of Fire, diligently working to create wealth for the village.

And our Lord Hokage is no exception.

As the Kage of Konoha Village, he was even fully involved in the country's development, making him a truly deserving leader!

Rumble, rumble--

On the East coast of the Land of Fire, in a deserted area.

The plain was overgrown with weeds, and the occasional chirping of insects could be heard sparsely.

At this moment, the ground shook violently, and all sorts of creatures, startled by the anomaly, panicked and scattered in all directions.

A moment later, a huge creature emerged from behind the hill.

Its body is dark blue, resembling a strangely shaped large tortoise. Its somewhat ugly face is blind in one eye, and three long tails swing behind its shell.

Thump, thump...

The giant tortoise moved very slowly, as if its body had sunk into the ground, causing the road to crack and scatter stones with every step it took.

A startled bird flew high into the sky and glanced down inadvertently, only to be astonished to find that the earth had been "dug" into a winding trench, the result of the tortoise's hard work.

Its path extends all the way to a nearby river, and soon it will connect to the sea!

Boom!

After some more work, the canal was finally completed.

Immediately afterwards, someone in the distance detonated the sluice gate, and the water flowed naturally along the ditches and quickly entered the sea.

*Snap! Wood Release Wood Style: Deep Forest Emergence!

A tiny figure stood atop the black hill, clapping his hands. Countless trees sprang up from the riverbank, revealing a vibrant scene, completely obscuring the appearance of the small plain from before.

"Phew, the first attempt went pretty well!"

Shuichi soft breath, a slight smile playing on his lips. He pointed his sword, giving his new pet a chance to breathe and rest.

"Roar roar roar..." An extremely angry roar came from the giant turtle's mouth.

It tried to twist its body, destroy everything nearby, and then crush the thing on its head into mincemeat, but it couldn't do it at all.

"Damn human, you forced me into Summoning Contract and manipulated me into doing this! I'll kill you..."

"Hmph, you still haven't come to terms with reality." Shuichi chuckled, "I am the Konoha Turtle Keeper, or you could call me the Fifth Hokage."

There will be many more tasks involved in land reclamation, river construction, and water transport in the future, all of which will require your cooperation, so be good!

The Isobu will be resurrected a few years after the Fourth Mizukage's death. Whether he takes care of these Tailed Beasts that have been left to roam or not is up to him.

However, it would be difficult for Kirigakure to capture and seal the Tailed Beast nowadays, and even if they created Jinchuriki, they wouldn't be able to protect them.

Shuichi didn't want the Akatsuki Organization to get it easily, so after unexpectedly receiving news of the Three-Tails' appearance, he immediately set out to search for it and then "friendly" tamed this ugliest Tailed Beast.

Considering Isobu's ability to control water flow, Shuichi deliberately let it "showcase" itself this time, helping the Land of Fire generate some GDP and contribute to environmental development. Wouldn't that be wonderful?

"Roar..."

Isobu became increasingly violent, his chakra overflowing, causing waves to surge on the sea, as he tried his best to break free from Shuichi's control.

"Quiet down! You're ruining the river!"

Shuichi's face darkened; it seemed he had to teach this turtle a lesson.

Wood Release: Piercing Technique!

With a whoosh, he leaped to the Three-Tails' neck, chakra seeping from the soles of his feet. Wooden spikes pierced deep into the opponent's flesh, and the branches spread inwards after coming into contact with a large amount of chakra.

The excruciating pain that penetrated to the bone was simply unbearable.

This is terrifying. For thousands of years, the Tailed Beast have only suffered minor injuries from humans; they have never experienced such torment.

Unfortunately, it didn't faint because its chakra wasn't used up. So, living... is also a kind of suffering?

"..."

After several hours of training, the Three-Tails was finally able to communicate with Shuichi calmly.

Most of the time, it can play freely in the sea, and if there is any danger, it can ask its master for help. Other Tailed Beast do not have this kind of treatment.

It was already afternoon when Shuichi returned to the village.

I had just sat in the office for a while when three people from Team 7 came to give their mission report. And once that blond guy showed up, the scene was destined to be anything but quiet.

"Uncle Hokage, when are you finally going to let me be promoted to Chunin?"

Naruto slumped over his desk, grumbling indignantly, "Sakura and Sasuke were both Chunin last year, and I'm still a Genin on me!"

" For Chunin, strength isn't the only factor to consider; decision-making, judgment, and analytical abilities are even more important," Shuichi said slowly as he flipped through the report.

"Didn't I give you a chance to lead the team not long ago? You still messed it up, so don't blame me for that!"

"Ahhh..." Naruto's weakness was exposed, and he could only stand there in a helpless rage.

However, he didn't give up. His eyes darted around, and he suddenly exclaimed excitedly:

"By the way, the [Kakashi-sensei Romance Surveillance] project you asked us to carry out last time, I was the one who ultimately did the work! Sakura and Sasuke didn't contribute anything at all."

"For this reason, please let me be promoted to Chunin?"

Sasuke's face darkened, clearly recalling his "terrible" performance during the prank mission.

As for Naruto... it was just a lucky accident.

Shuichi put down the report and asked curiously, "Did they really kiss?"

"Of course!" Naruto rolled up his sleeves, looking smug. "Without my help, how could Kakashi-sensei have gotten close to that pretty lady so quickly!"

Sakura broke out in a cold sweat upon hearing this, never expecting that even the strongest Hokage would be so gossipy.

"Alright, I keep my promise." Shuichi was speechless. "I'll add another C-rank mission to your resume. Keep up the good work."

"Tch, only C-rank..." Naruto scoffed. "I'm hoping to take on an S-rank mission; that would definitely get me promoted to Chunin."

Sasuke crossed his arms and scoffed, "Idiot, S-rank mission involve wars between nations. If that really happened, genin wouldn't even get Genin to participate."

The situation from Chunin Ninja Exams won't happen again.

"What did you say?" Naruto immediately became annoyed and started hurling insults back. "Don't forget who was secretly kidnapped by the enemy last time..."

"You bastard! Do you want to fight...?"

"..."

Shuichi found it incredibly frustrating; the constant bickering between best buddies was truly a long-standing tradition in Konoha. The fiercer the argument, the deeper the bond—this unique culture hadn't changed because of his arrival.

"Alright, you two, go outside and have your fun. I have no objection." Shuichi waved them away. "Also, next time S-rank mission comes up, I'll give your team priority consideration."

"So Naruto, you'd better prepare yourself."

"Yosh, just you wait and see what I'll do!"

.

Time flies like an arrow; several months have passed in a flash.

On this day, dark clouds covered the border of the Land of Rivers, and strong winds occasionally blew across the ground, gradually calming down after a few breaths.

Flickering flashes of lightning illuminated the thick, dark clouds. After a long while, a deep, powerful rumble of thunder seemed to come from a great distance, echoing endlessly in our ears.

On this land where valleys and plains intersect, there is no sign of human habitation as far as the eye can see.

It wasn't until two dark dots slowly approached from a distance and came to the edge of a cliff in a small valley that the place gained a bit of human presence.

"You guys are really slow."

The tall, shark-faced Kisame grinned menacingly, revealing a mouthful of sharp teeth. "Wasn't the leader already able to pinpoint the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki's information? How could it have taken so long!"

"Hmph, Hidan's at it again with his pointless rituals. If you're unhappy, you can try killing him." Kakuzu replied casually, his face completely indifferent.

Upon hearing this, the man with the slicked-back hair next to him excitedly shouted, "Hey, Kakuzu! You've gone too far!"

"You yourself also changed your Bounty Hunter the gold exchange halfway through, taking a long detour for over a million taels of silver. How can you blame everything on me?"

"Alright, everyone! The leader is ready and just waiting for us to go in."

Beside Kisame, a short, burly man carrying a man in a white kimono said, "Sealing two Jinchuriki consecutively won't take long."

"Okay, okay, it's so annoying. Stop reminding me all the time..."

Amid Hidan's complaints, the four of them walked to the bank of a wide river.

On the opposite bank of the river was a not-so-high mountain wall, directly below which was a huge spherical rock. A simple, rough wooden fence was erected around the rock, and a [Forbidden] character was pasted on the surface of the rock.

"A place specifically for extracting Tailed Beast? That's quite a proper place." As a senior figure in the Shinobi World, Kakuzu calmly commented.

"Yes, because we're not yet fully proficient with that seal, we need half of our personnel to come this time..." the short, stocky man explained. "Let's go."

The four of them had chakra attached to the soles of their feet, allowing them to easily walk on the water's surface without appearing to be anything unusual.

Kakuzu's face remained expressionless, as if he had been lingering over the sealed rock for a moment longer, before inadvertently falling behind the three.

As they turned their backs completely, the arm controlled by the Earth Grudge Fear silently extended and placed a Scroll on the overgrown ground.

Then three more people followed, and no one else noticed the whole process.

Splash splash--

They didn't have to wait long; the spherical boulder quickly rose up, revealing a pitch-black hole.

As the four entered, a colorful figure was waiting inside the cave. Upon seeing them, the figure said, "You're too slow. Hurry up and start preparing!"

Bang! Bang!

Utakata, in a white kimono, and Fu, a green-haired girl covered in blood, were thrown to the ground. "It's Kakuzu and Hidan who are a little late..."

Ignoring the colorful figure for the moment, the figure quickly raised its hand, formed Hand Seals, and slammed it into the ground—BOOM!

A giant stone statue with nine eyes appeared instantly, its ten fingers pointing to the sky.

It looked like only half the body of a humanoid monster, yet it was over fifty meters tall, which was truly awe-inspiring.

"Alright, everyone gather!"

Whoosh whoosh whoosh, whoosh whoosh whoosh--

Five colorful figures landed one after another on the monster's fingertips, while the other four jumped onto the other hand with a "whoosh".

Soon, everyone simultaneously Hand Seals, and chakra was slowly injected into the stone statue beneath them.

"Since this is the first time the seal has been performed, please pay close attention to your own body."

Pain instructed, "Ze, use your true form to observe the situation outside. Remember to use the one with the widest field of vision."

"Clear."

"..."

Ta-da--

Several minutes later, the stone statue's fingers emitted a continuous white light.

Immediately afterwards, the stone statue's mouth emitted light, and nine transparent dragon bodies burst forth, directly enveloping the Six-Tails Jinchuriki, Utakata.

After being lifted into the air, a massive amount of chakra flowed out of his body and was continuously absorbed by the stone statue.

"Aaaaaahhhhhh..."

Pain said, "Let's begin. Everyone, concentrate."

.

Outside the cave, on the riverbank.

More than ten minutes had passed since Kakuzu and the others entered.

Just as everything was calm, the Scroll that had fallen into the grass suddenly started moving on its own in a strange way.

The smoke exploded, and an Ink Bird soared into the sky, disappearing in the blink of an eye with lightning speed.

.

On the Land of Fire Border, there is a slightly dilapidated small town.

Having just completed their escort mission, Team 7 arrived at a teahouse, intending to rest for a while before setting off back to Konoha.

Perhaps it was because the sky was overcast but no rain was falling, and the low pressure made people feel uncomfortable.

Naruto slumped listlessly in his chair, muttering to himself, "Another boring C-rank mission!"

"Ugh, when will I finally be promoted to Chunin?"

"That's not the attitude a ninja should have, Naruto." Kakashi, with his deadpan expression, glanced at him as he flipped through his book. "The Lord Hokage, Lord Jiraiya, and I all believe you still lack some of the qualities of Chunin."

"Although your strength is not bad, and you could even say it's much stronger than the average Chunin, but... um?"

"What's wrong, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked sharply.

"I don't know yet, the village probably has some information to send me..."

Kakashi put down the book, pricked his finger, and Summoning Jutsu.

BOOM!

Pakkun, with his eyes lowered and Scroll between his teeth, appeared and immediately said to Kakashi, "The Hokage asked me to inform you; the message is written inside."

"Okay, let me see."

Kakashi took the Scroll and unfolded it. Within seconds, his expression turned serious. "It's this kind of order..."

"What happened?" Sasuke asked, seeing his serious expression.

"The Lord Hokage has ordered me to return to Konoha within a day," Kakashi said earnestly. "You all stay here to prepare. Tomorrow and the day after, you will be under the command of the temporary captain and participate in the S-rank mission!"

"What! S-rank mission?" Naruto's headache and depression vanished, and he jumped up excitedly. "Great! I'm definitely going to show off my skills on this mission!"

Sakura, not wanting to deal with this idiot, frowned slightly and asked, "Is it that important? Then who is our captain? If we don't coordinate well, everyone's situation will be more dangerous."

"I'm not worried about that. Your temporary captain is Itachi. He's very familiar with your abilities, so it'll be safer for him than if he were with me." Kakashi pondered the deeper meaning behind Shuichi's arrangement, his face returning to normal as he casually replied.

"It's my brother!?" Upon hearing Sasuke, Sasuke's body trembled slightly, a rare occurrence, and a wide smile involuntarily appeared on his lips.

My blood was boiling and my fighting spirit was surging!

Teaming up with my bro for S-rank mission? That's so awesome, isn't it?

Sakura's brows relaxed after hearing this, and she smiled, "So it's Brother Itachi, then there's definitely no problem."

This task doesn't seem easy, so everyone must get a good rest today!