Silver Taels, Scrolls

"Are you sure you want to switch to a mission?"

Uchiha Qiongyue finally turned around, looking him straight in the eye, a faint trace of mockery curling the corners of his lips.

"The entry standard for the Police Force is, at the very least, the ability to independently complete A-Rank Missions. You are a Chunin; you don't even have the qualifications to accept an A-Rank Mission, let alone complete one."

He paused deliberately, savoring the sight of Uchiha Ao's tense expression, before speaking slowly, like a cat playing with a mouse:

"However... since you insist, the clan happens to have a 'B-Rank' investigation mission that has been backlogged for a few days. If you can complete it..."

Uchiha Qiongyue gave him a meaningful look and slowly spat out the second half of his sentence:

"...I will make an exception and allow you to join the force."

"Thank you, Clan Head."

"Don't be so quick to thank me. Accept the mission within three days, otherwise, don't mention this matter again."

Uchiha Qiongyue waved his hand.

"Yes."

Uchiha Ao bowed and retreated.

Inside the Hokage's Office.

"You may go."

Tobirama Senju sat at his desk, looking at the documents in his hands, and said softly.

"Yes!"

The Fox-Masked Anbu bowed, then vanished in a gust of wind.

The only sound left in the office was the soft rustle of paper.

If the recorder hadn't been an expert in stealth like Kakashi Takumi, Tobirama would have almost doubted the authenticity of this intelligence.

"Uchiha Ao, is it..."

He muttered the name under his breath, his cold brow softening for a rare moment. But immediately, that softness was dispelled by a cold snort.

"A pity, he is far too foolish."

"Used as a pawn by others, and he doesn't even realize it."

With that, he tossed the report in his hand onto the corner of the desk, as if it were nothing more than a scrap of paper.

Although he said this, a thought quietly took shape in the depths of his mind: If this kid could survive the Trial in a month... perhaps, the way he was handled wouldn't have to be so extreme.

As if thinking of something, Tobirama Senju shifted his line of sight toward the shadows on the side and asked in a tone of testing:

"Hiruzen, what do you think?"

Before his voice had even faded, a young ninja with a hedgehog hairstyle stepped out from the shadows in the corner.

He had also seen the intelligence report just now, but he did not rush to answer. Instead, he pondered for a moment before replying:

"Judging from the intelligence, he is good-natured by nature, and he is Kagami's younger brother...

I think... for the Trial a month from now, perhaps we could send a Special Jonin of average strength. This would not only verify his capabilities but also demonstrate our leniency. Perhaps we could win him over and put him to use for the Village."

"Leniency?"

Tobirama Senju looked at him gloomily: "Do you know which faction he belongs to within the Uchiha Clan?"

"..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi's body stiffened abruptly, his voice hoarse: "This disciple does not know."

"You dare suggest putting him to use for me when you don't even know that?!"

Tobirama Senju let out a cold snort and tapped his knuckles against the desk: "If I were to let you lead a squad, with such a one-sided perspective, this single oversight alone could cause an entire mission to fail when making decisions!"

"I was wrong..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi lowered his head in shame.

Tobirama Senju did not look at him again, waving his hand in a listless manner.

"Continue your watch."

"Yes..."

It was unclear whether it was mental exhaustion or physical fatigue, but Tobirama Senju leaned back into his leather chair and rubbed his brow helplessly.

In truth, Hiruzen Sarutobi was among the most outstanding of his disciples, both in terms of Ninjutsu prowess and character.

However, to be a good Hokage, being merely outstanding was not enough!

Either your intellect must be far beyond that of ordinary people, or your strength must be powerful enough to crush everything.

Just like... those two.

Thinking of this, Tobirama Senju picked up the photo frame on the desk. In the center stood his brother, laughing foolishly at the sky; on the left was himself, face turned away; and on the right was that arrogant, cold-faced Uchiha Madara.

No matter how much he hated to admit it, that man was truly strong!

Strong enough to suppress an entire nation single-handedly!

Although he is currently the Hokage of the village, everyone who sees him treats him with the awe and fear one would reserve for a tiger.

However, only he knows the truth: if his strength were even greater, how would the Cloud Village dare to provoke them so brazenly?

When it comes down to it, it is simply because he himself is not strong enough!

"I only hope I can live a little longer, so that Hiruzen can grow a bit more."

Tobirama Senju sighed softly, picked up the documents on his desk, and continued to review them diligently.

"It really is that mission!"

Uchiha Ao suppressed a smile as he walked along the main road of the clan compound.

For the past few days, he had heard that the clan had been assigned a thorny B-rank Reconnaissance Mission.

The mission content looked simple enough: just head to a small buffer state between the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning to gather intelligence.

But who didn't know that the Cloud Village had been restless at the Konoha border lately? At a time like this, sending a Chunin over was no different from sending him to his death.

However, as someone familiar with the plot, he knew very well that while the Cloud Village seemed ill-intentioned at this moment, there was still at least half a year before the two villages would go to war.

Therefore, by going now, not only would he face little risk, but he could also secure a handsome mission reward and even use this opportunity to become a member of the clan's Police Force.

It was killing two birds with one stone!

"That Qiongyue thinks he's on the second layer, but in reality, I'm on the fifth!" Uchiha Ao sneered.

Since the other party had given him three days to consider, he decided to take this opportunity to practice the Eight Inner Gates to bolster his strength, just to ensure everything went flawlessly.

Although the mission carried little danger, it was still near the eye of the storm, and any accident could happen; it was necessary to be as strong as possible.

Lost in thought, Uchiha Ao returned home.

The apartment was not large, consisting of one bedroom and a living room, but it had everything he needed.

He opened the refrigerator door, took out a can of beer, plopped down onto the clean sofa, and began to drink by himself.

"Let me try practicing the Eight Inner Gates secret technique that Guy gave me. With my current stamina, I wonder if I can open the First Gate..."

Gulp, gulp...

"Ah~~"

Uchiha Ao squinted his eyes, downed the ice-cold beer in one go, then crushed the can and tossed it aside.

It landed right in the trash can.

"Three points!"

Uchiha Ao made a victory sign happily, then collapsed onto the sofa, exhaling a long, weary breath.

Too much had happened today. He was exhausted, both mentally and physically.

In truth, he wanted nothing more than to close his eyes and sleep right there, but his feeble strength and the looming One Month Pact were both forcing him to keep pushing forward.

If this were anyone else, they might have just accepted their fate.

But he was different.

"Heaven Rewards Diligence, let me see your limits!"

Uchiha Ao flipped over, sitting up with a start, and began to earnestly study the scroll detailing the Eight Inner Gates.

The content of the scroll was even easier to understand than he had expected; it took him only half an hour to finish the entire thing.

From the First Gate to the Eighth Gate, each gate had a specific Chakra circulation path. For an ordinary person to open the First Gate, their physical strength needed to be at least several times that of a normal human.

Therefore, this Taijutsu required overload training to strengthen physical adaptability, and opening each gate would be accompanied by different physical characteristics.

The first three gates were the safe zone, emitting green energy. While the fourth to sixth gates also emitted green energy, the power they unleashed far exceeded the previous ones, rivaling that of a Kage Level ninja.

The Seventh Gate, the Gate of Wonder, triggered a transformation, causing blue steam to emerge from the surface of the body.

The final gate, the Eighth Gate, or the Gate of Death, would release red steam produced by the evaporation of blood.

"With my current physical quality, opening a gate wouldn't be difficult, but applying it fully in combat would be a massive stretch."

Uchiha Ao frowned slightly and set the scroll aside.

Reconnaissance missions had time limits. Trying to rapidly improve his physical quality in just three days was nothing more than a pipe dream.

Although he was only one step away from awakening the Sharingan, taking that crucial final step was likely not something he could achieve in three days.

"It seems the focus for now really has to be on the Great Fireball Technique..."

The Great Fireball Technique was only a dozen or so practices away from reaching Max Level. He could take this opportunity over the next few days to practice more and boost his strength.

This was the fastest and most direct way to improve his strength right now.

He just wondered, what kind of effect would appear once it was maxed out?

"Hm? What is this?"

Just as Uchiha Ao stood up, he noticed a stack of banknotes and a blood-stained scroll sitting on the desk by the window.

Beneath the two items lay a small slip of paper with a message written on it:

Save some money. ₍ᐢ..ᐢ)--Kagami Uchiha.

He looked at the stack of 100,000 Taels in his hand, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

His cousin was actually quite gentle...

It was a pity that he was a rock-hard, straight man.

"And what the hell is this scroll?

Why is it stained with blood..."

Uchiha Ao unfolded the scroll in confusion.

After a long while, as he stared at the scroll in his hands, his breathing suddenly grew rapid.

"...With this, my physical body might actually have a chance to become stronger in three days!"