Boomerang

In the Hokage's office, Uchiha Shūichi pushed open the door and entered, spotting the Third Hokage seated in his chair.

"Lord Third, may I ask what orders you have for summoning me here?"

The Third Hokage smiled, sizing up Uchiha Shūichi from head to toe: "Shūichi, since you became a jonin, you've rarely taken on missions, haven't you?"

"Yes, after becoming a jonin, I haven't been able to find any subordinates, so executing missions has indeed been troublesome."

It wasn't just rarely taking missions—the Uchiha Clan had always been Lone Stars of Doom, with few shinobi willing to team up with them. This was why most Uchiha were free agents rarely, with the majority serving in the Military Police Force. There was no helping it—the Uchiha Clan's Sharingan often required Teammates to be sacrificed to unleash its power. This trait was far too daunting, and in the past, the Uchiha Clan had even deliberately arranged certain things.

No need for anything too obvious—every year, so many ninja graduated. Picking two who didn't seem too bright, with sincere, hotheaded, and reckless personalities, and whose strength and potential weren't strong enough, to team up with an Uchiha elite. After fostering some bonds over time, they'd then go execute two high-difficulty missions...

Basically, after one full round of this process, the Uchiha's chance of awakening their eyes was about ten to twenty percent, but the probability of their companions dying was as high as sixty to seventy percent.

Ninja weren't fools. Even if they didn't know the specifics of the Sharingan's awakening trait, they could at least see how dangerous it was to be teammates with an Uchiha. The more a ninja knew, the more wary they were of the Uchiha Clan.

So generally, once an Uchiha became a jonin, almost no one was willing to team up with them anymore.

Of course, this was also somewhat related to the guidance of Konoha's higher-ups. At the genin and chunin levels, Uchiha teammates were easily sacrificed, but at the jonin level, they were very reliable partners.

Because by the time one's strength reached jonin level, they had basically already awakened the Three Tomoe Sharingan. If they still hadn't, then they had no hope of awakening it in this lifetime.

Moreover, the Uchiha Clan couldn't manipulate the distribution of jonin-level missions. Even in Konoha, jonin were part of the ruling class and certainly couldn't be sacrificed lightly.

At this point, the Uchiha Clan's formidable strength came into play, making it safer to be teammates with an Uchiha jonin.

But the higher-ups certainly wouldn't publicize this, and ordinary ninja only saw the Uchiha's Lone Star of Doom attribute at the genin and chunin levels.

Because of this, most Uchiha clan members worked in the Military Police Force. Occasionally, some free ninja would return to the Military Police Force after becoming jonin.

Although Uchiha Shūichi hadn't returned to the Military Police Force, his identity as an Uchiha made it hard to find compatible chunin or Special Jonin subordinates.

As for going on missions alone as an individual, that required special approval from Konoha's higher-ups. The ninja profession was unique, and solo operations were rare.

Often, a ninja's companions weren't just helpers for completing missions but also their monitors. Even the Akatsuki Organization chose to operate in pairs. Unless one was extremely strong or had a high level of trust, Konoha wouldn't let a ninja go out alone.

Under these circumstances, how could Uchiha Shūichi possibly take on missions? Even if a mission did come down, he'd have to suspect a trap.

After all, Konoha's higher-ups had never hidden their malice toward the Uchiha Clan. Even though he outwardly leaned toward them, the chance of being set up was extremely high.

The Third Hokage was well aware of Uchiha Shūichi's situation, so he didn't dwell on this topic: "Shūichi, I called you here this time because I have a mission to assign to you. I really can't find any other elite ninja capable of handling it."

As the Third Hokage spoke, Uchiha Shūichi's thoughts raced, a vague guess forming in his mind. He lowered his head in silence.

In the Hokage's office, only Hiruzen Sarutobi's aged voice echoed: "This time, important intelligence has emerged from the Land of Rain. Take a look first."

With that, a scroll of intelligence landed before Uchiha Shūichi. He felt a wave of speechlessness inside as he opened the scroll—sure enough, it was the mess he had left behind.

Although the intelligence had been spread by Root Ninja, the Five Great Shinobi Villages had plenty of spies infiltrating each other. When the intelligence circulated among the other four villages, some naturally flowed back to Konoha Village.

So even though Root hadn't publicized the intelligence within their own village, the Third Hokage and the Anbu had still obtained some information about the Land of Rain. Both the Rinnegan and the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path filled Hiruzen Sarutobi with concern.

"Lord Third Hokage, is this intelligence true? A Rinnegan user has appeared in the Land of Rain! And the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path—I've never heard of such a thing."

"These things should have some credibility. At least the Rinnegan is definitely real!"

The Third Hokage spoke, then his expression turned serious as he looked at Uchiha Shūichi: "The other villages, especially Kumogakure, have already taken action. No matter what, we cannot fall behind them."

"In recent years, the Land of Lightning, with its militaristic policies, has greatly increased Kumogakure's strength. Given this village's warlike nature, it will inevitably become Konoha's major enemy in the future."

"So this time, if we can obtain the Rinnegan user or the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, that would be ideal. But the most important thing is to completely disrupt Kumogakure's plans—we must not let them seize the treasures of the Land of Rain."

For the Third Hokage, who was now focused on maintaining stability, the Rinnegan and the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path were certainly good things. But first, their authenticity was uncertain, and second, Konoha in its current state might not be able to hold onto them.

In recent years, Konoha had been on a steady decline, yet because it occupied the richest Land of Fire, it was resented by the other Four Great Shinobi Villages. The aging and increasingly decrepit Third Hokage truly didn't dare to spark another Ninja World War.

"Understood, Lord Hokage! But this mission—I can't complete it alone."

Even though this was a trap he had set himself, Uchiha Shūichi didn't plan to refuse. Of course, there was no way this mission would let him go solo.

Or rather, even if Uchiha Shūichi didn't say it, the Third Hokage wouldn't let an Uchiha handle a mission alone.

"Don't worry, this time I've chosen reliable Teammates for you. Come in, all of you!"

The Third Hokage clapped his hands, and three ninja walked in through the door.