First Mission

Early the next morning, after washing up, Torifu packed his things and set off for the place where he had arranged to meet Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Since they were going out on a mission, wearing a robe would be inconvenient, so Torifu changed into the village's standard shinobi combat uniform.

It was a rare thing, but his home actually had a combat uniform that fit someone his age.

When he reached the meeting place, Torifu was surprised to discover that he was the last to arrive. He thought he'd gotten there quite early.

He hadn't expected everyone else to arrive even earlier.

Among the group, Torifu also spotted a very familiar figure.

"Hey, Torifu!"

Chirori waved happily, signaling for Torifu to hurry over.

"Chirori? What are you doing here?"

Torifu was baffled. Hiruzen Sarutobi shouldn't have agreed to this.

Chirori clenched her little fists and threatened him. "My brother agreed to let me come, and nobody else has a problem with it. You don't have a problem with it either, do you?"

Faced with Chirori's "threat," Torifu pretended to be afraid and hurriedly replied, "Of course not! With you here, Chirori, we're sure to finish the mission with ease."

Kagami couldn't stand watching any longer. He reached out and ruffled Chirori's hair until it was a mess.

"Remember, Chirori! You have to stick close to me this time. I'm not expecting you to kill any bandits. Just make sure you don't get yourself killed."

Chirori wasn't upset by her brother's lack of faith in her, nor did she argue. She only said that she would behave herself.

Torifu raised an eyebrow. Chirori was acting very strangely.

Truthfully, Chirori hadn't wanted to be so meek, but who knew how much she'd begged and pleaded the night before to get her brother to bring her along?

She'd tried every trick in the book, using both threats and enticements, before finally persuading Kagami Uchiha to agree.

Torifu had actually expected this. A competitive girl like Chirori would never pass up this opportunity.

The main reason Hiruzen had agreed to Chirori's unreasonable request was Kagami Uchiha's guarantee that he would take sole responsibility for her safety throughout the mission.

"All right, since everyone's here, let's get going!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke excitedly. After all, this was basically their graduation exam! If he hadn't used up so much Chakra yesterday,

he would probably already be at the bandits' hideout!

Everyone checked their equipment pouches. They had enough shuriken, Kunai, Explosive Tags, and other supplies.

They also had enough Military Ration Pills for the journey there and back.

With everything ready, the gates of Konoha slowly opened, and Torifu and Chirori set out on their first proper mission.

They had simply been born in a relatively peaceful era. Before the villages were established, six-year-old children had already been sent to the battlefield to kill their enemies.

In those days, a shinobi who lived to thirty was considered long-lived. What a tragedy.

They took the main road, so they made good time. One thing worth noting was that ever since Torifu had awakened the system, he hadn't had any spare time to play in the woods where he used to go.

He had all kinds of training to do every day.

Hiruzen Sarutobi slowed his pace and said to the others, "Everyone, stay close. I'll fill you in on the details. My father got the information."

At once, the others did as he asked. Hiruzen's father, Sasuke Sarutobi, was one of the village's most powerful shinobi and the head of the Sarutobi Clan.

He had led the Sarutobi Clan in joining Konoha, and his standing in the village was exceptionally high.

As for the information Hiruzen mentioned, he had probably gotten it from some bounty organization or the Black Market.

Those information brokers were always hoping for war to break out so they could profit from it.

"There are five samurai. Their leader is comparable to a first-rate shinobi in the village. The others aren't much of a threat."

The others nodded to show they understood. Hiruzen and the others had dealt with samurai many times before, but most of them were just useless fools.

They had none of the bearing of true samurai and were no match for them.

"As for the two rogue ninja from Sunagakure, one specializes in Fire Release and the other in Wind Release. They're twin brothers who work together extremely well."

"They escaped the pursuit of Sunagakure and fled to the Land of Fire, where they set themselves up as bandit chiefs."

"Their combined Wind and Fire attack is very powerful. We need to be especially careful and separate them before taking them down!"

"Understood!"

The briefing was brief, but it gave everyone a sense of the enemy's strength.

That way, they could avoid letting their guard down and causing an irreversible disaster.

Kagami thought for a moment, then spoke up. "The main purpose of their combined Wind and Fire attack is to increase the power of their Fire Release. If we can suppress it with a sufficiently powerful Water Release, they won't be much of a threat."

"Koharu, you specialize in Water Release. Can you suppress them?" Danzo asked from the side.

Utatane Koharu shook her head uncertainly. "I can't say without fighting them, but I can weaken their techniques."

The worst thing to do during a mission was to brag and overestimate your own abilities.

In a team operation, recklessly taking on an important task only to fail could put the entire team in mortal danger!

"I specialize in Water Release too. Koharu and I should be able to manage it together," Torifu said calmly.

Hiruzen smiled. "Torifu! I didn't know you were good at Water Release too!"

"To be precise, I'm good at all five nature transformations." Although that sounded like bragging, nobody scoffed at Torifu.

They had all witnessed Torifu's abilities for themselves, so they believed him.

During his match against Hiruzen last time, they had only seen a portion of Torifu's Crystal Release techniques. As for Torifu's true strength,

to be honest, they still knew very little about it.

But a proper shinobi should be like Torifu and never let anyone know their true strength!

Koharu smiled. "If we can't separate the two of them, then Torifu and I can use Water Release to deal with them."

The others nodded. Their plan wasn't fully developed yet, but it should be enough to complete the mission.

After that, they stopped chatting and focused on the road.

Chirori, meanwhile, ran along in a sulk. She was annoyed that everyone had ignored her just now.

But she couldn't blame them. She was the one who had shamelessly insisted on coming along. If she could join the squad through her own strength, like Torifu had, she'd probably earn their recognition.

It was a sad state of affairs. She was a genius of the Uchiha Clan, yet she'd had to resort to throwing a tantrum.

The gap between her and Torifu really was huge.

If I awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, maybe I could catch up to Torifu in strength.

Chirori thought to herself. But awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan was incredibly difficult. Even her brother hadn't awakened it yet. There was no way she could awaken hers before he did.

No matter what, I'll do my best to prove my worth on this mission.

Chirori might be humble, but pride ran through the blood of the Uchiha Clan.

Kagami glanced back at his sulking little sister and smiled faintly.

Do your best, Chirori. Let's see how far you can go.