Urgent Mission

Hyuga Fuyuki spoke with Hiashi for nearly two hours. The specific details remained unknown to outsiders, but Fuyuki left holding a bank note stamped with the Hyuga Clan crest. Hiashi departed the Main Branch estate with a vacant expression, headed straight for the ancestral hall, and remained there until the early hours of the morning.

Furthermore, the positions of the ancestral tablets had been rearranged, with a blank space left at the very top—no one knew for whom it was intended.

If reasoning were effective, violence would not exist in this world.

Fuyuki did not resort to a son rebelling against his father; he simply summoned the Loli Ancestor to reason with this old fossil.

Having endured the Ancestor's death glare, Hiashi finally understood why his son had worn such a defiant, arrogant expression since birth, refusing to bow to anyone. As the Ancestor's favorite descendant—so favored that she had literally risen from her coffin—his son indeed had the qualifications to be arrogant.

Whatever, he's a second-generation heir, I can't afford to provoke him. Isn't it just money? Take it, take it! Just hurry up and call off this supernatural entity! The Ancestor clearly doesn't like me.

Tonight's conversation would not be known to a third party. Fuyuki wouldn't blab—he knew Black Zetsu was out there—and Hiashi certainly wouldn't, terrified that the Ancestor might strangle him in his sleep for being an unfilial descendant.

The next morning, Fuyuki swaggered into the Hokage Office Building and kicked open the doors to the mission hall, giving the Chunin organizing files and the Third Hokage's shadow clone a massive fright.

The Third's shadow clone exhaled a puff of smoke and asked, "Shouldn't you be in class right now? Don't tell me you're skipping school again?"

"What class? My house was robbed!"

Fuyuki looked indignant. "That damn Uchiha! He snuck into the Hyuga compound and stole my Summoning Scroll!"

The Third paused, recalling that a Hyuga clansman had indeed come here earlier to post a request for Konoha ninjas to find a lost Summoning Scroll, with a reward as high as three million ryo. Unfortunately, no one had been able to locate it yet.

"You say an Uchiha stole your scroll? Can you describe what it looks like? I can have some ninjas help you look for it." The Third pulled his hat lower, shielding his eyes.

"No need to look. It was Uchiha Itachi. I confirmed it through my Summoned Beast yesterday." Fuyuki slammed the bank note onto the desk in a fit of rage. "I'm here to increase the bounty so Konoha ninjas will help me take it back!"

The administrative Chunin glanced at the note, saw the number, and read it aloud: "One, ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand, hundred thousand... Good brother, father, grandfather... hiss, two hundred million ryo!"

Spending two hundred million to find a Summoning Scroll?

Rich kids, can't afford to provoke them. Terrifying.

The Third was also stunned. What kind of madness had taken hold of Hiashi to give Fuyuki two hundred million to post a bounty here? "Fuyuki, are you serious? Your father is willing to give you two hundred million for a single Summoning Scroll?"

This time, Natsumi stepped forward to explain: "Lord Hokage, you may not know this, but this Summoning Scroll is an ancient heirloom passed down through the Hyuga family. It's just that in previous years, no one could pass the trial, and no one could inherit the 'Elemental Dawn Summoning Land'."

"This scroll is a unique copy. One can only sign the blood contract through this specific scroll. The two strongest members of the Elemental Clan in the 'Elemental Dawn' possess Kage-level strength—they are Summoned Beasts no less powerful than those of the Three Great Sage Regions."

"I apologize that I couldn't disclose the information left by our Ancestor in detail before due to family regulations."

"This..."

Now it was the Third's turn to scratch his head. Uchiha Itachi had left after eating breakfast at the dango shop this morning; how was he supposed to know where Itachi had gone? He had claimed he was going to monitor an organization established by a mysterious person.

Hmm. If we get the scroll, we certainly won't return it to the Hyuga Clan immediately. Konoha needs to study it first. After all, with two Summoned Beasts of Kage-level strength, Konoha doesn't want to miss the chance to boost its combat power.

"Hmph, Hyuga."

Sitting in front of the television watching real-time surveillance, Danzo let out a cold snort. "Someone, go intercept Uchiha Itachi immediately. Make him hand over the Summoning Scroll."

The Third felt guilty toward the Uchiha and hadn't sent Anbu to monitor Itachi's departure.

He, however, had a clear conscience; he had sent six Root Division Elite Jonin to intercept and kill the clan-slaughtering criminal, Uchiha Itachi!

"My lord, it's bad! We've lost contact with the Root Division."

"What? Itachi... he actually dared!"

"He also left a note: 'If you dare touch Sasuke, I will come and kill you'."

"Hmph, Uchiha!!!"

Hokage Office Building, Mission Hall.

"Tsk tsk."

The Third Hokage gazed at the two-hundred-million-ryo bounty hanging in the most prominent spot on the board, marveling inwardly. It was likely the only mission with such a high reward in history.

"That hateful Uchiha Itachi, damn him."

Fuyuki still wore a face of fury, appearing deeply enraged by the Uchiha's shameless conduct.

"Young Master, please don't be angry."

Natsumi looked worried, fearing the Young Master would damage his health.

Master and servant acted their parts perfectly. If not for Natsumi's strong self-control, she would have laughed out loud.

A Summoning Scroll written by the Young Master himself had been transformed by his clever schemes into a hot commodity, one that would even trigger competition between the hidden villages!

Don't underestimate two Kage-level experts. This wasn't an era of gods warring yet; to compete for these two Kage-level Summoned Beasts, other villages would absolutely send Anbu and Elite Jonin to try and track them down.

And what no one knew was that all this competition was actually helping the Young Master grow stronger!

The more contractors there were, the stronger Young Master Fuyuki became!

"CRASH!"

The door to the mission hall was smashed open. The newcomer was even more arrogant than Hyuga Fuyuki; while Fuyuki had only kicked the door, this fellow had reduced it to splinters. Natsumi instinctively stepped in front of Fuyuki, activating Rotation to block all the flying wood shards.

The Third was left with a face full of confusion. How did his perfectly fine office get demolished?

Danzo wasn't even in Konoha.

"Lord Hokage, urgent report! A large-scale riot has broken out in the Land of Demons! A faction is targeting the Shrine Maiden!" The ninja scrambled toward the Third, not daring to pause for a second. The Shrine Maiden of the Land of Demons was equivalent to the Daimyo of the Land of Fire. If he delayed a request for aid from a national leader, no one could bear the responsibility!

The Third Hokage looked up, speechless. Just yesterday the Uchiha clan had been wiped out, today the Hyuga were causing trouble for Itachi, and now there was yet another request for aid from a foreign daimyo. Why was his workload so immense? Where was the relaxing smoke he had been promised?!

The Third Hokage's shadow clone grew more irritated the more he thought about it, so he simply slapped his own forehead and vanished into a puff of smoke.

There was a reason the Multi-Shadow Clone Technique was classified as a forbidden jutsu; every shadow clone possessed its own personality, and sometimes the clones would even band together to stage a coup, declaring that the original was dead and it was time for a new order!

They would beat the caster into a pulp just to let him know who was really in charge.

This particular shadow clone of the Third Hokage was clearly the type who hated trouble. The moment he saw how much work was piling up, he immediately dumped the burden back onto the Third Hokage's original body.

The Third Hokage, who had just fallen asleep, jolted awake and stared at the ceiling, speechless: "Kakashi, select a few Jonin and head to the Land of Demons immediately to assist the Shrine Maiden in suppressing the Yomi Sect that is inciting the riots."

"Yes, Lord Third."

Thanks to Ikaros for the 100-coin tip, thank you!