Mission in the Land of Fire

Inside the Hokage Office of the Hokage Building, the Third Hokage was lost in thought.

Watching Uchiha Yusuke standing straight before him, the Third Hokage pondered his next move.

He had originally planned to appoint Yusuke as a team leader for an escort mission, but after chatting with his son, Asuma, yesterday—where the topic of Yusuke's conflict with fellow Uchiha clansmen at a teahouse had come up—the Third Hokage had changed his mind.

This was a genius youth with astonishing talent; based on Asuma's description, his strength currently surpassed that of Kakashi.

More importantly, his sense of clan loyalty did not seem particularly strong. If he could be absorbed into his own faction, the Third Hokage would gain another expert capable of handling matters independently.

At this moment, the Third Shinobi World War had just ended, marking the most prosperous period for Konoha since the passing of the First Hokage.

The powerful Uchiha Clan still stood, and the reputation of the Yellow Flash was at its zenith. Although Tsunade of the Sannin had left Konoha, heartbroken after the consecutive deaths of her younger brother and lover, Orochimaru and Jiraiya remained in the village. To the outside world, the Sannin were still a highly intimidating collective.

While Konoha during this era did not possess the absolute dominance it had when the First Hokage and Uchiha Madara were alive, if the other four great ninja villages wanted to challenge Konoha, at least three of them would have to join forces to have any chance of success.

Although the Third Hokage greatly admired Yusuke's talent, he was not in urgent need of personnel at the moment, so he decided to arrange a mission to test him.

Taking a puff from his pipe, the Third Hokage said slowly, "Yusuke, I've called you here today to assign you a very important mission."

Yusuke remained silent, waiting for the Third Hokage to explain the details.

"After the Third Shinobi World War, as the victor, the village needs to collect certain reparations from the defeated nations. This time, Danzo will be responsible for negotiating with the defeated Amegakure to discuss their post-war reparations."

At this point, the Third Hokage paused to take another puff from his pipe before continuing, "And you will act as my representative to supervise Danzo. I need to be clearly informed of the entire negotiation process and the agreements he reaches with Hanzo the Salamander."

This was a mission the Third Hokage had been considering for a long time. Danzo's methods were notoriously overbearing and ruthless; it was difficult to deal with him without sufficient strength.

It wasn't that the Third Hokage hadn't assigned others to supervise Danzo in similar missions before, but every ninja sent to carry out such a task had either been controlled by Danzo or had died under various circumstances.

The Third Hokage had eventually given up; even his own pool of experts was limited, and he was unwilling to let them be wasted at the hands of Danzo.

Now that a talent like Yusuke had appeared—someone who did not belong to his direct faction—the Third Hokage was naturally happy to make the best use of him. Regardless of whether Yusuke succeeded or not, he would suffer no loss.

There was also a very important point: the conflict between Danzo and the Uchiha Clan. Danzo had inherited the Second Hokage's prejudice against the Uchiha, and the Uchiha Clan naturally held no affection for Danzo. Arranging for Yusuke to supervise Danzo could also serve to keep the two in check, effectively killing two birds with one stone.

Through the nature of the mission, Yusuke had guessed most of the Third Hokage's intentions. However, he was not the type of ninja to naively believe in the so-called "Will of Fire," so he was not surprised by this arrangement.

"When does the mission begin?" Yusuke asked, his expression blank.

"In three days. Someone will notify you then," the Third Hokage said.

Yusuke nodded. "Understood. If you have no other instructions, I will return to prepare."

The Third Hokage gave an "um," signaling that Yusuke could take his leave. Just as Yusuke stepped out of the Hokage Office, the Third Hokage offered a final reminder: "Danzo may use some less-than-honorable methods, so you should be careful."

Having received the mission from the Third Hokage, it was just past noon.

There are still three days left; it's a good time to lay some foundations for Kabuto. This mission will likely take a long time, so this way, Kabuto can do some training on his own while I'm away, Yusuke thought to himself.

Before going home, I should pay a visit to Uchiha Fugaku. Recalling that Uchiha Soichiro had come to find him in the morning, Yusuke decided to see what Uchiha Fugaku's purpose was in seeking him out.

In the Uchiha district, at the residence of the clan head, Uchiha Fugaku.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!" A six or seven-year-old boy stood by the lake, performing the Uchiha Clan's signature fire jutsu toward the center of the water.

A massive amount of flame erupted from the boy's mouth, forming a huge fireball above the lake. Clearly, the boy had completed the technique very successfully.

The fireball lasted for about five seconds before the boy stopped the flow of chakra, and the Great Fireball Technique ceased.

A middle-aged man in a kimono standing beside the boy laughed with satisfaction, praising him with a proud look on his face: "As expected of my son." The middle-aged man hadn't expected that his son would be able to perform the complete Great Fireball Technique after watching him demonstrate it only once.

This father and son were Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Itachi. Originally, Uchiha Fugaku had intended to guide Itachi's ninjutsu gradually after he entered the Ninja Academy, but he now had other plans and had begun teaching Itachi early.

However, the more he taught Itachi, the more shocked Uchiha Fugaku became at his son's talent, which made him firmly believe that Itachi was the future hope of the Uchiha Clan!

"Clan Head, Uchiha Yusuke is here to visit, saying you asked to see him," a member of the Uchiha Clan reported at that moment.

"Invite him here," Uchiha Fugaku said, his face returning to its usual stern expression.

"Itachi, you don't need to leave; just stay here and watch," Uchiha Fugaku said to Itachi, who was preparing to withdraw.

Itachi acknowledged him and stood obediently to the side.

Before long, the clansman who had delivered the message brought Yusuke to the small lake where Uchiha Fugaku and Itachi were practicing ninjutsu.

Seeing Itachi standing beside Uchiha Fugaku, Yusuke was slightly surprised. He had originally thought Uchiha Fugaku wanted to speak with him privately to instill some concepts about prioritizing the clan and to encourage him to participate more in collective clan activities.

In Yusuke's view, Uchiha Fugaku was a dutiful clan head and a father who loved his children dearly. It was just a pity that his control over the clan was truly insufficient; he could neither restrain the arrogant clansmen nor convince the clan's two greatest geniuses, Shisui and Itachi, to stand on his side.

In the end, Uchiha Fugaku, who possessed the Mangekyou Sharingan, was willing to die to fulfill Itachi's will, sacrificing the entire clan in the process—a tragedy that was truly lamentable.

Seeing Yusuke arrive, Uchiha Fugaku's expression became even more stern as he said in a deep voice, "Uchiha Yusuke, Tatsuya and the others reported that you not only fabricated excuses to skip the clan meeting but also bullied them and injured them. What do you have to say for yourself?"

Yusuke frowned slightly. He had considered that Uchiha Fugaku might be looking to hold him accountable, though the probability seemed low; after all, for a leader lacking capable subordinates, winning over talented members should be the top priority.

In his opinion, with Uchiha Fugaku's intelligence, he shouldn't make such a mistake.

"Clan Head, I am very sorry for not being able to attend the clan meeting. I originally had an important matter to attend to at that time, but some unexpected things occurred," Yusuke said calmly.

Pausing there, Yusuke continued, "As for the three clansmen who took the initiative to provoke me, I only gave them a slight punishment." Yusuke would not compromise or admit fault for things that were not his error, even if the other party was the head of the Uchiha Clan.

Uchiha Fugaku sneered, "As expected, you are unruly. The outside world says you and Kakashi are the strongest geniuses of Konoha's new generation, and they've even given you the nickname 'Flame Tachi.' Let me measure whether you live up to the reputation." Having said that, Uchiha Fugaku signaled for Itachi to step aside.

"Since the Clan Head wishes to offer me some guidance, I shall respectfully comply," Yusuke said calmly.

He hadn't expected Uchiha Fugaku to actually want to fight him. However, judging by the situation, it seemed the other party wanted to give him a warning and teach him a lesson. If he really wanted to deal with him, he wouldn't have let Itachi, who currently had no combat capability, watch from the sidelines.

The two stood quietly, looking at each other. Seeing that Yusuke had no intention of attacking first, Uchiha Fugaku prepared to take the initiative, while the pupils in his eyes shifted from pure black to the Three-Tomoe Sharingan.

Uchiha Fugaku's hands moved in a blur as he formed hand seals, and Yusuke immediately recognized the sequence for the Great Fireball Technique. Deciding to counter with the same jutsu, Yusuke's hands flew through the seals, and despite starting after Uchiha Fugaku, he managed to complete the technique at the exact same moment.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!" their voices rang out in unison.

Massive torrents of flame erupted from both their mouths and collided, the air in the vicinity distorting from the sudden, intense spike in temperature.

The Great Fireball Technique was one of the signature ninjutsu of the Uchiha Clan, often used by its members to probe or disrupt an opponent. In truth, it was rarely enough to actually burn an enemy ninja to death in a real battle.

As he maintained the Great Fireball Technique, Uchiha Fugaku felt a flicker of surprise. He had not expected Yusuke's hand seal speed to be so fast; even though he had started after him, Yusuke had still managed to complete the technique simultaneously.

Furthermore, Uchiha Fugaku keenly sensed that while the amount of chakra he had poured into the technique was greater than his opponent's, the flames Yusuke unleashed seemed more potent, forcing him to expend even more chakra just to hold his ground.

What? He's still forming seals? Has his control over chakra reached such a level? Uchiha Fugaku suddenly realized that Yusuke, while still locked in the clash of fire, had begun forming another set of seals with blinding speed, completing them in the blink of an eye.

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