Land of Waves

Just as Akashi and the others were rejoicing that the Hokage had approved their participation in a B-rank mission...

Danzo suddenly interrupted, "Wait, are you two certain you want to take... a few genin to complete this mission? You should understand the true implications of this assignment."

Although Danzo knew this was an intentional effort to cultivate these genin so they would grow faster—with a high probability that they would be promoted to chunin in two months—he still did not approve.

For one, Danzo was very concerned about this mission; for another... there was a brat from the Uchiha clan among them!

"Advisor Shimura, Choza and the others are already mature ninja," Torifu Akimichi said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"I also believe it is time for them to see what the real ninja world is like," Jiraiya added.

Hearing this, the three of Akashi couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

However...

"See what it's like? This mission..." Danzo started to say something more.

But Sarutobi interrupted in a deep voice, "Enough, Danzo. For this mission, Torifu and Jiraiya are more than capable of handling it!"

Hearing Sarutobi's serious tone, Danzo immediately fell silent.

"The client for this mission is quite unique. It is a merchant guild from the Land of Waves that hopes Konoha can clear out a group of pirates harassing their country. Currently, it appears this group of pirates includes at least one rogue ninja of chunin level, and we cannot rule out the possibility of a jonin," Sarutobi said solemnly.

Land of Waves?

Akashi heard a name he was unfamiliar with.

"I will confirm with the eight of you: are you certain you wish to accept this mission?" Sarutobi asked, looking at the six youngsters.

"Confirmed!"

"Yes!"

Everyone agreed except for Ranwu, though she nodded as well, even if she didn't speak up.

Seeing everyone agree, Sarutobi smiled with satisfaction, though he felt a bit awkward when he looked at Ranwu, before he took out the mission scroll...

It wasn't that Ranwu was dissatisfied with the Third Hokage, but ever since her grandfather died, she had held a grudge against everyone in the guard unit equally.

With the two adults and six children having signed the mission scroll, they left the Hokage's office.

"Jiraiya, how about we meet at the village gate in two hours?" Torifu asked Jiraiya for his opinion.

"Let's set off at two in the afternoon," Jiraiya suggested.

Torifu looked at Akashi and Minato, then nodded and said, "Mm, two o'clock it is."

The leader of the joint squad was Torifu, partly because he was the one who signed as the person in charge of the mission, and partly because... although Jiraiya was a year older than Torifu, in terms of jonin seniority and status within the village, the current Jiraiya was far behind Torifu.

It was rumored that the next captain of the jonin squad would very likely be Torifu.

"Minato, as expected of you, graduating two years early," Nara said, praising Minato.

"Not at all, I was just impatient and couldn't hold back," Minato said modestly.

Indeed, "early graduation" was not common these days. Even among the geniuses of the ninja clans, few would apply for it. On one hand, it was a time of long-standing peace, so there was no need; on the other hand... since they were from ninja clans, not graduating didn't hinder their further growth.

"Ranwu, you're already able to participate in a B-rank mission? When I first graduated, I was still doing D-rank missions..." Inoichi said gently.

"Brother Inoichi, you're teasing me again," Ranwu said, feeling a bit embarrassed.

Because of her maternal lineage, Ranwu was actually distantly related to the Yamanaka clan.

Seeing this, Akashi looked at Ranwu, then at the golden-haired, somewhat handsome Inoichi, and couldn't help but curl his lip.

"You are... Akashi Uchiha? I didn't expect you to have awakened your eyes," Choza Akimichi said, popping open a bag of potato chips.

By comparison, Akashi was not as familiar to these people—after all, Minato and Ranwu were top-of-the-class, high-profile figures while at school. Akashi couldn't be called a nobody, but he was more like a...

"Just a minor improvement," Akashi said with feigned humility.

"Hahaha, no need to be nervous. Leave the rest of the mission to us; you guys just need to focus on learning," Choza said, taking full charge.

It wasn't that he was being overbearing; he just hadn't given it much thought.

After leaving the Hokage building, the two squads went their separate ways to make their own preparations.

Akashi finally couldn't help but ask, "Jiraiya-sensei, is there... something special about this mission?"

Even as slow as Akashi was, he could feel that this B-rank mission was unusual. Not only was it issued personally by the Third, but he had also been very serious about it.

Looking purely at the contents of the mission scroll, both Jiraiya and Torifu should have been able to handle it easily. Even with genin in tow, it didn't seem like there was anything to worry about, yet the Third had given them stern instructions, and the old man Shimura seemed very concerned as well.

"Do you know where the Land of Waves is?" Jiraiya asked in return.

"This..." Akashi really didn't know.

"It's a small country on the sea, right?" Ranwu had a vague impression.

"That's right. It is an island nation in the ocean to the east of the Land of Fire. It has a small population and no ninja village of its own..." Jiraiya recounted the intelligence.

Akashi still didn't understand why this was worth paying so much attention to, but Ranwu had already realized something and said, "An island nation on the sea... and they came to Konoha to post a mission?"

"Yes, this is the first time the Land of Waves has come to Konoha to post a mission, and it is even the first time a large organization from any of the many island nations on the sea has posted a mission to Konoha!" Jiraiya emphasized.

Previously, the sea had been the territory of the Land of Water, or rather, Kirigakure, and missions were always sent directly to Kirigakure.

Even with the occasional caravan or individual hiring Konoha ninja, traveling out to sea inevitably drew cold stares and could even lead to clashes with Kirigakure ninja.

However, now...

The merchant alliance of the Land of Waves has issued a mission to Konoha!

"Thirty years ago, shortly after the five great ninja villages were established, factions like Sunagakure were already eager to break the peace between the five great nations and pursue expansion.

"At that time, the First Hokage convened the Five Kage Summit, which ultimately prevented the conflicts between the villages from escalating. However, shortly after the First Hokage passed away, conflicts broke out immediately among the villages. At that time, Kirigakure and Iwagakure were both under the rule of their Second Kage..."

The First Tsuchikage and the First Mizukage were already much older than the other Kage, and they were also the first to be succeeded.

Furthermore, in Kirigakure, a particularly unusual event occurred at that time...

"The First Mizukage, Byakuren, did not pass the position of Mizukage to his intended successor, Tora, but instead gave it to Hozuki Gengetsu... Do you know why?" Jiraiya asked, using a heuristic approach.

But as soon as he heard it was a matter concerning the succession of the Second Kage, Akaseki immediately clamped his mouth shut—this sounded sensitive, especially for the Uchiha Clan!

Yet, Jiraiya took the initiative to ask Akaseki: "Akaseki, aren't you good at guessing?"

Akaseki:...

Akaseki thought about what his elders used to say about the Second Hokage, so he replied: "It should... be because of democracy, right?"

Well, Tobirama was the one who used that very reason to stop the Uchiha Clan from taking power.

Jiraiya:...