Thoughts on Vacation

When Yuto and Yuta saw their captain again, they didn't storm forward in anger to confront him. Instead, they sank into deep confusion, their spirits utterly crushed.

In their unsuccessful ninja careers, this was yet another heavy blow.

Not only that—since their captain was a spy, they'd be implicated too. A trip to the Anbu for questioning was unavoidable, and they might even lose their status as ninjas altogether.

Higashino Makoto, on the other hand, thought this might actually be a good thing for them. In his view, the two brothers were truly unsuited to being ninjas. Whatever they ended up doing from now on would be better than this path.

The shinobi world placed extreme importance on intellect and physical talent. Powerful bloodlines could push those talents to their limits, but the two brothers clearly had nothing.

They were nearly adults, yet their chakra amount was pitifully small—barely enough for the Basic Three Body Techniques and throwing shuriken. Even 9-year-old Uzuki Yugao could take on ten of these "seniors" at once.

At this moment, the brothers realized they might have to face a choice. The dream they'd shouted in school about becoming Hokage someday had ultimately crumbled before ruthless reality.

In their eyes, Captain Ritsu, who seemed fairly strong, had been tied up like a roadside tie-up by a freshly graduated junior. And when the explosive tags detonated in the cave, Higashino Makoto had easily carried them out using ninjutsu they couldn't comprehend.

Just like Kiba Inuzuka among the Konoha 11 later on—no matter how much he refused to accept Naruto Uzumaki, he had to face the gap between them. He didn't have an Uzumaki Body, no Nine-Tails cheat, no Sannin as a master, no identity as Asura's chakra reincarnation, and no Sage of Six Paths granting authority.

He started with one dog, and in the end, he still had one dog.

After a while longer, Yugao Gekko finally appeared. Not only that, but behind him followed two ninjas wearing animal masks.

These were Anbu. They nodded at Higashino Makoto's group of three, acknowledging the newbie team's contribution, then took Ritsu away, bringing Yuto and Yuta back to Konoha as well.

Getting tangled up with a spy meant going through Anbu's procedures, whether they knew about it or not.

"Not bad. I'm satisfied with how you handled things!" Yugao Gekko gave his students a thumbs-up.

Higashino Makoto just smiled faintly. Hayate Gekko, meanwhile, was a little excited—he'd finally earned his father's recognition for once.

Uzuki Yugao deliberately put on an angry face. "Teacher, was this your real goal all along? Doing D-Rank missions with us was just a side thing?"

"Oh, Yugao seems upset. But sorry, you've got it backwards. Your growth is what truly matters. As for today's events—accident, just an accident."

"Then what really happened?"

Yugao Gekko thought for a moment before explaining. "Well, a while back, the Anbu caught a high-class spy from Iwagakure in the village. But the guy killed himself beforehand, destroyed his brain—couldn't extract any intel. That cut off the lead on his spy network.

A lot of people had contact with him, and Ritsu Squad was one of them. But it's wartime, and the Anbu don't have enough manpower to investigate everyone. Besides, it wouldn't be wise to cause too big a stir.

The Anbu knew I was leading a genin squad, so they asked me to look into any suspicious individuals I came across. You saw the result—Ritsu really did have a problem."

"Weren't you worried we'd be in danger?"

"If a guy like that could eliminate you, then it means you've reached your limit." Yugao Gekko looked seriously at Uzuki Yugao. "What do you think a ninja is? A ninja must always stay sharp, able to notice and be wary of anything out of place."

"Fine. Does this count as us earning some credit?"

"Of course it does. This is a standard B-Rank mission."

"Awesome!" Uzuki Yugao pumped her little fist excitedly. Now her genin record would have a mid-to-high-level mission to brag about.

"Alright, Yugao. Teacher was actually protecting us in secret the whole time."

"I knew I couldn't fool you, Makoto. Perception ability really is handy. But don't get cocky—I can't be by your side forever. All of you, grow up fast. Become someone your comrades can rely on. More importantly, become someone you can rely on yourselves."

Hayate Gekko asked, "Teacher, are we continuing today's mission?"

"Of course. See things through from start to finish. Cherish your time doing D-Rank missions—this is the last day we agreed on. Next time you want to do D-Rank missions, you'll have to wait until you're grown up and become leading jonin yourselves."

After the mission ended, the Third Squad got two days of rest.

Two days later, they would officially leave the village to carry out missions and face new challenges.

This was Konoha's last bit of kindness. Even if troops were scarce and they had to send children to the battlefield, they still had to give them a period of adjustment, long or short.

Every village had its own approach, but they were mostly the same. Only Kirigakure was unique—their ninjas had already racked up enough killing experience on their comrades before heading out.

Anyway, anyone without talent was just an experience pack. Might as well let their own people farm it first.

That's why Kirigakure was also called the Village of Three Multiples: lots of lunatics, lots of deviants, lots of rogue ninja.

During the two-day break, Higashino Makoto enjoyed a rare leisurely life. Aside from his daily training, he spent his days either watching the scenery of Konoha from the Hokage Rock or basking in the spring sun by the river.

Life wasn't just about training—it also had room for enjoying the passing moments. Only then could you truly feel the joy of being alive.

For someone who had died once, that was especially important.

Training was to ensure he could keep living. Being a ninja was to live more excitingly and vividly. There was no contradiction.

After all, he wasn't like those transmigrator seniors—born into the Uchiha Clan, constantly worrying about being strong enough to avoid getting stabbed to death by Itachi on the night of the massacre.

Or born into the Hyuga Branch Family, spending every day wrestling with the Caged Bird Seal on his forehead.

Or an orphan, terrified of standing out too much and ending up on Danzo's little list, having a classic "you regret, I shadow" showdown in the Hokage Office.

He certainly wasn't going to trouble himself by trying to change the so-called shinobi world or alter anyone's fate.

In the nine years he'd been in this world, the only people he'd changed were probably the three he'd grown up with. Uchiha Shisui awakened his Sharingan because of him. As for the future—he'd deal with it then.

Hayate Gekko? He definitely wouldn't let him die young.

Finally, Higashino Makoto had once subtly asked his parents and confirmed he had no Senju bloodline. He was a commoner through and through—no need to struggle to restore the Senju's glory.

Without the natural energy cheat, his limit in this life would be an ordinary jonin, like Higashino Jiro. Facing the gods of the Fourth War later on, he'd be nothing but a roadside tie-up.

If that were really the case, then by now he should have set foot on the life-consuming path of the Eight Inner Gates, or taken the risk to approach Orochimaru and see if he could change his fate through research.

To be honest, neither path was kind to him. The Eight Inner Gates had a high ceiling, but only one chance to bloom.

As for research, he had enough self-awareness to know he wasn't cut out for it. Doing research required not only a deep theoretical foundation but, most importantly, that spark of creative insight.

As the saying goes, a genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.

He had the 99% perspiration, but that 1% talent—that was a bit too much to ask of him.

So the progress he'd made so far was entirely thanks to cheating. There was no shame in that; in this world, only cheaters had a future.

As for his current strength, the development of his offensive and defensive techniques had temporarily come to a halt. Medical Ninjutsu and the second stage of Chakra training had both reached the limits of this body.

The push toward the Yin Yang Extremes of Chakra had almost completely stalled.

This was no longer a matter of his effort; his instincts told him that forcing it further might be dangerous.

Kurama Yakumo and Itachi Uchiha were unrivaled in Genjutsu, so why did their bodies deteriorate so quickly? Kaguya Kimimaro had incredible regenerative abilities, yet he couldn't cure his own bloodline disease.

The most absurd was Hashirama Senju. He possessed the most extreme vitality of any ninja, yet he didn't even live to sixty.

So Higashino Makoto guessed that without an extraordinary physique, forcibly pushing the Yin Yang attributes higher wasn't a good thing.

Everything would have to wait until he trained White Natural Energy to the third stage and his body entered Normal Sage Mode before anything could change.

As for his current strength? Higashino Makoto really didn't know. That was something you could only figure out by fighting. At the very least, Jonin like Yugao Gekko posed no threat to him at all.

As for Kage Level ninjas? Maybe one day he'd try throwing a sack over Hiruzen Sarutobi's head and see what happened?