A special mission-this was fate!

A series of booming explosions completely drowned out the sound of the rain, and billowing dust swept across the land like a gray earth Earth Dragon.

Konan's purpose was merely to test the strength of the group, not to kill them.

If Budong, Fufeng, and Fuen, and Bu Yuan can survive this series of explosions, they will have passed Konan's test.

Kazuma had great confidence in his subordinates, but he couldn't help but frown as he watched the wide-ranging barrage of Shuriken Explosive Tag.

"If it Budong, it should be able to block it," Kazuma thought uncertainly to himself.

Immediately afterwards, three figures leaped out from the flying dust; they were Budong, Fufeng, and Fuen.

"Looks like they avoided it..." Seeing this, Kazuma breathed a sigh of relief and turned to look at Konan in the air.

Seemingly noticing Kazuma's provocative gaze, Konan glanced back unconsciously before calmly looking away.

"Hmph, cold-blooded woman!" Kazuma snorted coldly and leaped down.

Konan's test has ended, and the battle has ceased accordingly.

Kazuma led the three Dust-Covered individuals, following Konan towards the Tower...

In Konoha, Tōka unusually entered the Third Hokage's office on this day.

If there's one place that Tōka finds most repulsive, it's this place. Facing that Fox, the Third Hokage, is more exhausting than anything else.

But Naruto is giving me a headache...

After repeating the most basic D-level tasks over and over for dozens of days, the three kids' patience had reached its limit.

Left with no other choice, Tōka led the three guys into the Hokage's Office.

To receive a mission beyond one's level, without the approval of Third Hokage of superiors, the guys in the Mission Hall would never entrust the mission to Tōka.

Knock knock knock...

A slow, deliberate knocking sounded, followed by an aged yet resonant voice.

"Come in."

Tōka pushed open the door and entered, Naruto hurriedly followed.

Although Sasuke and Sakura didn't rush in, they were both getting increasingly impatient with the relentless D-rank mission.

"Oh, it's Tōka. What's up?" The Third Hokage put down the documents in his hand, picked up his pipe and put it in his mouth, then looked up at Tōka and the three kids behind him.

Before Tōka Mirai speak, Naruto jumped high into the air and rushed forward.

He slammed his fist on the Third Hokage's table and roared.

"Third Hokage Old Man, can't you give me some higher-level quests? It's all the same old cat-catching, dog-finding, and trash-collecting quests every Tenten, it's so boring!"

"Naruto, strictly classifying mission levels is not only to improve mission efficiency, but also for the safety of ninjas," the Third Hokage said earnestly, taking out his pipe from his mouth.

Naruto squinted his eyes, pursed his lips, and looked dismissive, as if he didn't believe the Third Hokage at all.

The Third Hokage sighed deeply, Minato forehead. "Minato, your son looks exactly like Kushina!"

Everyone remained silent, though they secretly supported Naruto, they just didn't dare say it out loud.

For a moment, the Third Hokage and Naruto stared at each other blankly.

Final...

"I really can't do anything with you." The Third Hokage gave up, picked up his pipe again, glanced at Tōka, and said leisurely.

"There is a C-level mission here, concerning the livestock loss incident in Sanghe Village."

As they were talking, the Third Hokage took a Scroll from the drawer beside him and handed it to Tōka. Naruto's expression changed faster than turning the pages of a book.

While Tōka was opening the mission Scroll, Naruto immediately shamelessly moved closer.

"Livestock disappearances are usually caused by carnivorous wild Beast like wolves, but the villagers of Sanghe Village say they vaguely saw human figures."

When the topic of work came up, the tone of Third Hokage became serious.

Everyone tensed up, listening intently as the Third Hokage analyzed the intelligence.

"While we can't rule out the possibility that Beast stole the livestock, we should also be wary of it being done by bandits from the nearby mountains." The Third Hokage tapped the table with his fingertip. If Tōka was leading the team, there shouldn't be much danger.

It's time for Minato's child to see some blood. At his age, Minato is already capable of taking down a ninja single-handedly.

Tōka glanced at the three kids who were beaming with excitement, their eyes gleaming, and pursed his lips speechlessly. He had no intention of taking on the mission at all.

All we need to do is stay quietly in Konoha and wait for that time to come.

Why send them on a mission? Even if it were just a simple mission, bringing along three little brats makes all the difference.

Tōka wanted to refuse, but she could tell that the Third Hokage wanted them to take on the mission.

Swallowing back the words of refusal that were on the tip of his tongue, Tōka quickly scanned the contents of the Scroll after a moment's thought. "In that case, we'll take our leave."

As soon as he finished speaking, Tōka led the three kids from Team 7 away from the Hokage Building.

The mission is initially classified as Level C, and there is a possibility of encountering large Beast, or even bandits and robbers, posing a certain threat of force.

However, it is uncertain whether any ninjas will appear, so it is initially classified as a C-rank mission.

The reason why the Third Hokage was willing to entrust this ambiguous Class C mission to Team 7 was naturally because of Tōka's hidden strength; even he couldn't see through Tōka's abilities.

Outside the Hokage Building, the three kids were overjoyed to no longer have to do those boring D-rank missions, and now they were even C-rank missions that allowed them to leave the village.

"Meet at the village gate at 1 p. m. Remember to eat lunch early." Tōka put the Scroll in his pocket, explained the time and place, and then left.

It was a little past eight in the morning, and there were still several hours for these kids to prepare.

Tōka didn't intend to remind them of what they needed to prepare; he just wanted to see if any of the three were observant.

Naruto is probably out of the running; Sasuke is probably the best prepared.

After all, Sasuke and Itachi had hunted Giant Wild Boar together in the wild, and he often followed Itachi into the Forest. He should know about the necessities of life in the wild Forest.

As for Sakura, it's really hard to say for sure about Tōka.

After Tōka turned and left, the three kids excitedly separated and ran back to their homes.

North of Sanghe Village lies a dense forest, and a clear stream flows down from the high mountains. In the depths of winter, the melting snow turns into a trickle that flows through the North Mountain before entering the village.

The small village is two to three days' journey from Konoha. It is located in the northern part of the Land of Fire, and is still some distance from the border.

Tōka disliked spending the night in the wild, so in order to reduce the number of times he had to camp in the wild, he decided to speed up and reach Sanghe Village within two days.

We rested overnight during the journey.

The sky was filled with the darkness of night, as if splashed with ink; not a single bright star could be seen in the gloomy, oppressive sky.

Thick, dark clouds obscured the crescent moon on the horizon, leaving only a thin sliver of light visible.

Tōka used Earth Release to create a stone wall between two Big Tree, half solid and half hollow, to block the frost and Cold Wind from one side.

On the other hand, they lit a campfire to keep warm, and the simplest form of camping in the wild was a sleeping bag.

Wrapped in a thick sleeping bag, Tōka closed his eyes and breathed evenly. The other three kids, exhausted from a day's walk, were already asleep.

But Tōka didn't sleep, because it was impossible to rely on these three guys to keep watch.

"Huh? It seems something has triggered Genjutsu Trap?" Tōka half-opened her eyes, revealing a pair of Black Pearl eyes.

Strangeness...

Tōka frowned, a look of hesitation on her face.

"Triggered the trap but didn't fall for the Genjutsu??"

In the current Ninja World —no, throughout the thousand years since the Six Paths founded Ninshu — Tōka believes that, apart from Otsutsuki Kaguya's Infinite Tsukuyomi.

No Genjutsu can compare to his Six Harmonies Divine Technique.

Genjutsu enhanced by the Six Harmonies Divine Technique is impossible for anyone to unravel.

Tōka sat up abruptly, his eyes narrowing slightly as his vision instantly expanded, taking in the entire scene within a radius of one kilometer.

"A person? Really?"

Can anyone break his Six Harmonies Divine Technique? That's Kekkei Mōra Genjutsu!

No, I have to go check it out!

Tōka left a Shadow Clone inside the sleeping bag, and then his Original Body flashed into the Void and disappeared.

Under the inky night sky, the Tree Shadow swayed gently.

The air grew colder, and the frost and dew became heavier, condensing into clearly visible droplets of mist on the stone wall not far from the campfire.

"One, two... seven, there are more than twenty people in total?" Tōka quickly appeared near the Genjutsu Trap, hiding in the dense foliage of the treetops.

A total of seven dark figures were approaching their camp, seemingly attracted by the Kakkō.

However, the way these people walk is a bit strange.

"Could it be a puppet? How could Sunagakure Shinobi appear in a place like this?" Tōka thought for One Flash, then shook his head and rejected the idea.

Unable to gain the support of the Daimyo of the Land of Wind, the Sunagakure Shinobi Village had no choice but to pursue an elite strategy, treating every Sunagakure Shinobi as a treasure, not to mention their Ace Puppet Master.

Although Sunagakure and Konoha are currently Allied Nation and their relationship is relatively harmonious, the fact that Sunagakure Shinobi are attacking Konoha Ninja within the Land of Fire...

And most importantly, mechanical puppets cannot trigger Tōka's Genjutsu Trap.

Tōka slowly raised his palm, and a green orb of light condensed in his palm. An extremely large power emanated from the orb as it flickered, emitting a suffocating aura.

Call out!

As Tōka swung his arm, a bright green ball of light shot out, leaving a long trail of Green Light in the air, and instantly pierced through the chest of the person at the front.

"What a strange thing."

The enemy's chakra was expelled from his body by Tōka, and the man's body instantly turned into a puddle of mud and fell to the ground.

These people possess a strong Earth Element; their bodies are mostly composed of Earth Element.

"Humans without life are somewhat similar to the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu, but they're not on the same level." Tōka squinted, pinching his chin with one hand.

As far as I can remember, such a technique existed in the Ninja World. However, it had been a long time, and Tōka doesn't remember it very clearly.

If you can't figure it out, just look with your eyes!

Lightning Release: Senbon Thunderstorm!

Arcs of lightning flickered in Tōka's palm. He suddenly raised his hand and drew an arc in the air, a Pure White Lightning flashing across the sky.

Then countless needle-thin Senbon materialized, their translucent bodies shimmering with electric Senbon, formed from Lightning.

It rained down in dense, fluffy bursts, like a deluge.

Sizzle...

The twenty-odd figures moved stiffly, and almost none of them escaped the wide-ranging attack of the Senbon Thunderstorm.

In an instant, the figures within the Genjutsu Trap all turned to dust and collapsed to the ground.

"The soil is filled with death energy; it must be that guy's Ninjutsu." Tōka jumped down from the treetop after a high fall, and immediately felt a chilling aura rise from the soles of his feet to his back as he landed on the ground.

The Death Aura; at least hundreds, if not thousands, of people have perished on this land!

Before setting up camp, Tōka had looked around and even set up Genjutsu Trap, but he didn't notice anything unusual at the time.

So it seems it happened after they fell asleep...

Just as Tōka was frowning in thought, suddenly, four dark figures descended from the Tōka and surrounded him.

"Konoha ninja?" The leader was Kazuma, with long, light-gold Long Hair and a long scar on his left cheek.

The four were wearing Coat with Red Clouds on a Black Background, clearly indicating that they had officially joined the Akatsuki Organization.

Seeing this, Tōka couldn't help but laugh out loud. How ironic! Could these guys be sent by the Nagato to deal with him?

Is this all there is to it?

Are you underestimating him...?

"Found it!" With a snap, Fuen, who was holding a stack of intelligence reports and flipping through them quickly, slapped one of the pages.

"Elite Chunin, named Tōka, specializing in Bone Release."

"Could it be Tōka, the Bone Release Ninja almost wiped out the entire Sunagakure Shinobi in the battle at Kikyo Mountain more than ten years ago?" Fufeng is Rogue Ninja from the Sunagakure, proficient in all five types of ninjutsu, and also possesses some strange Secret Technique.

At her age, she naturally knew about that battle, Tōka's name spread throughout the entire Sunagakure.

The guy in front of me looked like a handsome young man of seventeen or eighteen, at most twenty.

I can't connect with that God of Slaughter at all!

"That's right, it's that guy." Fuen said coldly, his eyes turning serious.

Tonight, I was just testing Lord Kazuma's Secret Technique when we happened to run into a group of ninjas camping in this Forest.

They were planning to use them as test subjects, but they never expected to encounter such a dangerous guy.

"Now that you've finished your discussion, can you answer some of my questions?" Tōka was extremely annoyed by the four people's scrutinizing gazes.

He narrowed his eyes dangerously, his deep black pupils like Black Hole that could suck a person in at a glance.

"What do you want to know?" Budong voice, his contemptuous tone suggesting that Tōka didn't take him seriously.

So what if the Sunagakure Shinobi ninja were utterly defeated at Kikyo Mountain?

In Budong's view, Sunagakure was the weakest of the Five Great Nations, and the Sunagakure Shinobi were naturally worthless trash.

Defeating trash? He could do it too!

"Tsk tsk..." Tōka curled the corners of his mouth in a strange way and gently shook a finger in front of him.

With a whoosh!

Like a Cold Wind blowing through the night, everyone was forced to close their eyes, yet dared not let Tōka's figure out of their sight, forcing their eyes open.

The cold air stung my eyes, and my vision instantly became misty.

It wasn't that Kazuma and the others wanted to cry, but rather it was a self-protective reaction of their eyes.

"You're wrong. I don't want to know anything; I just want to tell you something." Tōka's figure appeared like a ghost behind Budong.

A slender hand slapped out with what appeared to be a slow but actually extremely fast movement.

Do you know the consequences of waking me from my sweet dream?

Bang!

With a seemingly light and effortless palm strike, Tōka's seemingly weak and powerless hand actually sent the Budong, Small Mountain- like, muscular body flying.

It feels like swatting a fly away...