Plot Changes, Land of Waves Mission

The young nobleman did not catch Yu's attention, but the old man in a straw hat who looked like a fisherman stirred Yu's memories.

"Land of Waves mission, Zabuza Momochi and Haku."

Yu thought of these things.

He also remembered the old man's name: Tazuna.

In the anime, Tazuna was an old man with a strong sense of responsibility and courage, someone willing to fight evil forces for his country's prosperity.

But in Yu's eyes, Tazuna was a bastard—a bastard who cared only about his own interests and disregarded the safety of others.

Unable to afford the reward for a high-ranking mission due to insufficient funds, Tazuna had concealed the details and issued only a C-rank mission. Yet the moment Mist Ninja attempted their first assassination, it had already become a B-rank mission or higher.

Though C-rank and B-rank missions were only one rank apart, the difficulty increased by more than tenfold.

Even for newly formed ninja squads led by a teacher with elite jonin-level strength or above, encountering a B-rank mission carried a significant risk of casualties.

Moreover, the Land of Waves mission involved Mist Ninja, including Zabuza Momochi, one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen known as the "Demon of the Hidden Mist." At that point, this so-called C-rank mission had been upgraded to S-rank. If not for Kakashi, none of the later events would have happened.

Zabuza Momochi was unquestionably at elite jonin level. The fact that he could fight Kakashi for so long was enough to prove his strength.

And Zabuza Momochi was a Blood Mist ninja, a "killer" ninja who had survived only by slaughtering every one of his fellow graduates. No one knew how many people he had killed. If an ordinary team took this mission and encountered Zabuza Momochi, it would be a certain death sentence—even for their squad leader.

Although Tazuna revealed the truth after the first wave of Mist Ninja tried to assassinate him, it was already too late by then. He had merely happened to hire the protagonist group.

That was why Yu did not consider Tazuna a good person. However, with Sasuke, Naruto, Kakashi, Red Cat, and Snow Charm in the team, facing Zabuza would be an entirely different matter.

Beside them, Tazuna held a flask and took swigs from it from time to time. Though he pretended to be a carefree drunkard, it was all an act. He was only trying to hide the unease in his heart. After all, the people before him were all ninja with extraordinary powers; killing him would be as easy as slaughtering a chicken.

If these ninja found out that he had deceived them, he did not dare imagine what would become of him.

Standing near the door, Tazuna noticed Yu studying him. At first glance, he saw Yu's Sharingan. Those blood-red pupils made his heart skip a beat.

Could this boy have seen through my thoughts?

Tazuna thought this, then quickly looked away and raised the flask to his mouth, taking several large gulps. He had to do this. If he wanted to fight Gato and his people, he needed the ninja's help.

At that moment, Yu also withdrew his gaze. If someone like this fell into his hands, Yu definitely would not let him off as easily as Kakashi and the others had. They had even agreed to continue the mission after it had been raised to S-rank.

That could only mean Kakashi had the makings of a saint—a good man worthy of being named one of the top ten ninja of the era. Of course, he also had the full support of the passionate, kind-hearted, righteous trio of protagonists.

That might have been how things went in the anime, but Yu was certain that if Sasuke faced this choice, he would absolutely refuse to continue the mission. Sasuke was already far too different from his anime counterpart.

However, Yu was not sure Naruto would make the same choice, because it was simply Naruto's nature. Naruto would very likely be unable to refuse a request like Tazuna's. To put it bluntly, Naruto was a born "saint." Though he had changed somewhat after spending so much time with Yu, his fundamental nature had not changed much.

For comparison, one only had to look at Hashirama Senju, another reincarnation of Ashura. A man known as the God of Shinobi, with the power to change the entire world, yet he wanted to preserve peace in the ninja world through so-called balance of power.

Yu could only say that they were incredibly "pure-hearted"—or foolish.

While Yu was lost in thought, Lord Hokage had already begun assigning missions. Two mission scrolls were handed to Yamashiro Aoba and Kakashi.

After opening his scroll, Kakashi read out the mission written on it.

"Escort Mr. and Mrs. Takashi Kondo safely to the Land of Hot Water for their honeymoon."

After Kakashi finished reading the mission details, several people present let out astonished cries of "(⊙o⊙) Wow."

Sasuke and the other two were surprised because they had expected to receive an exciting, difficult mission. They had thought their passionate ninja careers were waiting for them, only to end up escorting a noble couple from the Land of Fire on their honeymoon. It was completely different from the mission they had imagined.

But Yu was the most shocked of all. According to the plot, Team 7 should have received the Land of Waves mission. Yet now, it seemed the Land of Waves mission had fallen into his hands, which left Yu greatly astonished.

At that moment, Yamashiro Aoba also opened his mission scroll.

"Escort bridge-building expert Mr. Tazuna back to the Land of Waves."

Holy shit, it really turned out like this. Have my little butterfly wings already had such a huge impact on the plot?! Yu thought, his face filled with shock.

Yamashiro Aoba also noticed Yu's expression. He assumed Yu thought the Land of Waves was too far away, so he came over and comforted him. "Although the Land of Waves is rather far, you haven't had the chance to leave Konoha's territory before, have you? This time, we'll not only be completing a mission, but taking a trip as well. We can broaden our horizons along the way. It's actually a pretty good mission."

"Mm, Teacher Aoba, I understand."

Hearing his teacher's words, Yu nodded obediently and agreed.

Teacher Aoba, I wonder if you'll still think that way when you encounter Zabuza Momochi. A Special Jonin against a cruel, bloodthirsty elite jonin—the gap between them is no small matter!

Yu smiled at Yamashiro Aoba, imagining the scene in his mind.

As for how to deal with Zabuza Momochi, he did not care at all. With his current strength, dealing with a "beginner village boss" would be more than easy enough.

After accepting the mission, they set out immediately. Yamashiro Aoba had already told them to prepare the day before, so they were ready to depart on a long journey at any time.

"Hello, Mr. Tazuna. Please take care of us from here on out!" Yu found an opportunity to walk over to Tazuna and said with a smile.

Tazuna's body trembled again. He truly felt that Yu had seen through his heart, but he could only nod stiffly at him.

Yu's smile left Tazuna flustered, but he had no right to request different ninja. That was a privilege that cost money, and he truly had none left.

Old man, just wait, Yu thought viciously, while the smile on his face remained unchanged.