Otogakure-Orochimaru

When they returned to the foot of the mountain, Ye Wuyue felt somewhat puzzled when he saw Sai unconscious.

"What happened to him?" Ye Wuyue asked.

"I saw some interesting things in his genjutsu world. In that world, he went up the mountain with you to eradicate the bandits and rescue the hostages. Then... five Kusagakure shinobi appeared..." Itachi said slowly.

After hearing Itachi's words, Ye Wuyue realized something. The genjutsu Itachi had cast on Sai reflected the depths of Sai's heart. The genjutsu world would develop according to what Sai himself considered a reasonable progression, and those five Kusagakure shinobi had also appeared in Sai's genjutsu world.

That meant Sai knew those five Kusagakure shinobi would appear. In other words, they had known each other from the start. The identities of those five Kusagakure shinobi were therefore obvious: they were Danzo's Root.

"Then the two of you fought those five Kusagakure shinobi and were ultimately defeated. Sai took a fatal blow for you, and afterward I appeared and saved both of you."

Only after Itachi finished explaining did Ye Wuyue understand what Danzo was trying to do. Wasn't he putting on a show so that Sai could gain their trust? He had even made Ye Wuyue owe Sai a favor.

Still, Ye Wuyue felt that Danzo's brain probably wasn't working properly. After going to so much trouble and losing one Jonin and four Chunin, was it all just for this?

If Danzo wasn't an idiot, then this matter must have a follow-up. Sai needed to gain their trust within a short period of time.

Ye Wuyue couldn't figure out what Danzo was thinking for the moment, but... as long as he was strong enough, everything would be fine.

Seeing Ye Wuyue constantly looking down and thinking, Itachi tried to reassure him. "Just be more cautious around him in the future. There's no need to worry too much."

He had witnessed the entire incident, so he naturally knew what Ye Wuyue was thinking about.

Ye Wuyue nodded. "Indeed. We'll deal with the soldiers when they come and block the water with earth."

Itachi then smiled and said, "You've awakened your Sharingan. Father should be very happy when we get back."

Hearing this, Ye Wuyue could already imagine what Fugaku would look like then. He would probably stare at him coldly before saying, "As expected of my son. You only awakened your Sharingan at twelve. Your brother awakened his at eight, and he even opened it with two tomoe."

Just thinking about it made him miserable.

"I hope he'll be happy." Ye Wuyue answered without much enthusiasm.

Team 11's first mission had been completed perfectly!

After completing the mission, Itachi carried Sai on his back, and the three of them began their return journey.

The wounds on Sai's body had naturally been inflicted by Itachi. That way, even after Sai woke up, he would still believe that the illusion he had experienced was real.

After submitting the mission, Ye Wuyue received a reward of twenty thousand ryo. They had written up the mission details according to Sai's illusion. Later, it was said that Danzo had used this matter to propose sending troops against Kusagakure and building Konoha's northwestern defensive line within Kusagakure to guard against Iwagakure. However, his proposal was rejected. This time, even Hiruzen had not sided with him.

Only after learning about this did Ye Wuyue understand that the old fox Danzo had been trying to accomplish two goals at once. He wanted Sai to gain their trust while also using the matter to propose sending troops against Kusagakure.

A month later, Ye Wuyue and the others received a mission outside the Land of Fire. Before this, they had already completed quite a few C-rank missions.

This mission was to investigate the frequent disappearances of infants and children in the Land of Rice Fields, a small country north of the Land of Fire. The mission was rated C-rank, but there was a high chance they would encounter shinobi, because the Land of Rice Fields had its own shinobi village: Otogakure.

Ye Wuyue naturally knew what was going on. Otogakure had been established by Orochimaru, so the missing infants and children in the Land of Rice Fields were certainly his doing. There was another matter worth noting as well. In the six years since Uchiha Setsuna and the others had taken away the Uchiha's hawkish faction, quite a few of them had been captured, but five Uchiha defectors—including Uchiha Setsuna—had still not been found. The last place they had appeared was in the Land of Rice Fields.

Orochimaru? Perhaps he could discuss a few things with him.

Ever since he had obtained the Gigai Creation Method through a sign-in reward, Ye Wuyue had spent a long time studying it but still hadn't figured out how Gigai were made. If he encountered Orochimaru, perhaps he could make a deal with him.

Ye Wuyue thought.

The next day, Ye Wuyue saw the clients for this mission at the entrance of the mission office. They were a haggard-looking husband and wife.

"They're the team of shinobi who accepted your commission." The mission office employee pointed at Ye Wuyue and the others as he spoke to the couple.

The couple immediately ran over when they saw them and grabbed Itachi's hand.

"Honored shinobi, please, save our child!" The couple knelt directly in front of Itachi and began to weep.

Itachi hurriedly helped them up. "We've already accepted your mission. We'll investigate this matter thoroughly."

After a while, once the couple had calmed down, they told them the whole story.

"About a year ago, infants and teenagers began disappearing in our Land of Rice Fields. But since they were isolated cases at the time, and the missing children were all orphans, it didn't attract much attention. Of course, some people reported it to the local officials, but in the end, nothing ever came of it.

"Half a month ago, the number of missing children began to increase, and it was no longer only orphans who disappeared. The children of several families also went missing. Just a few days ago, our six-year-old child..."

The woman began crying again as she spoke.

"He only went out to play with his friends, but he never came back... We searched everywhere nearby, but couldn't find him..." the woman said between sobs.

"Then the families who had lost children pooled their money together, hoping that the honored shinobi could help us find our children." The man beside her continued where his wife left off.

After hearing them out, Itachi felt somewhat puzzled and asked, "You have a shinobi village in the Land of Rice Fields as well, don't you? Why didn't you commission your own village's shinobi instead of coming to Konoha? Konoha's mission fees are considerably higher than those of the other villages."

The woman was angry and frightened after hearing this. She opened her mouth and said, "Those people..."

But before she could finish, her husband nudged her with his elbow and gave her a meaningful look. The woman closed her mouth and said nothing more.

Her husband answered for her. "Because we believe Konoha's mission completion rate is high. Otogakure in our Land of Rice Fields is only a small shinobi village that was established a few years ago. It can't compare to the greatest shinobi village in the world. We felt that the chances of Konoha's shinobi finding our children would be higher."