Land of Waves

Just as Akaseki and the others rejoiced that Lord Hokage had approved their participation in a B-rank mission...

Danzo suddenly interrupted, "Wait. Are you two sure you want to take... several Genin to complete this mission? You should understand what this mission truly means."

Although Danzo knew this was meant to cultivate these Genin and help them mature faster, and that they would most likely be promoted to Chunin in two months, he still did not particularly approve.

For one thing, Danzo cared deeply about this mission; for another... there was an Uchiha brat among them!

"Advisor Shimura, Choza and the others are already mature ninja," Torifu Akimichi said in a methodical tone.

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

Akaseki and the other two could not help but breathe a sigh of relief.

However...

"See it? This mission..." Danzo was about to say more.

But Sarutobi sternly cut him off. "Enough, Danzo. Torifu and Jiraiya are more than capable of handling this mission!"

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

"The employer for this mission is quite unusual. It is a merchant association from the Land of Waves, hoping Konoha can eliminate a group of pirates harassing the Land of Waves. At present, it appears that the pirates include at least wandering ninja at the Chunin level. The possibility of Jonin cannot be ruled out," Sarutobi said gravely.

The Land of Waves?

Akaseki had heard an unfamiliar name.

"I'll confirm this with all eight of you. Are you certain you wish to accept this mission?" As Sarutobi spoke, he looked at the six youngsters as well.

"Definitely!"

"Yes!"

Everyone except Ranwu voiced their agreement. Ranwu nodded as well, but she did not say anything.

Hearing their answers, Sarutobi smiled in satisfaction. He looked a little awkward when he saw Ranwu, then took out the mission scroll...

Ranwu was not dissatisfied with the Third Hokage. Rather, ever since her grandfather had died, she had harbored some resentment toward every member of the guard squad, treating them all equally.

After the two adults and six children signed the mission scroll, the eight of them left the Hokage Office.

"Jiraiya, how about we gather at the village entrance in two hours?" Akimichi Clan asked Jiraiya for his opinion.

"Let's leave at two in the afternoon instead," Jiraiya suggested.

Akimichi Clan looked at Akaseki and Minato, then nodded. "Alright, two o'clock it is."

The commander of the joint squad was Akimichi Clan. First, Torifu Akimichi was the one listed as the mission leader; second... although Jiraiya was a year older than Torifu Akimichi, in terms of Jonin seniority and status within the village, Jiraiya was currently far beneath Torifu Akimichi.

It was said that the next captain of the Jonin Corps would most likely be Torifu Akimichi.

"Minato, as expected of you. You actually graduated two years early," Nara praised Minato.

"Not at all. I was just impatient and unable to settle down," Minato said modestly.

Indeed, "early graduation" was not common at the time. Even gifted members of ninja clans rarely applied to graduate early. On one hand, the world had been peaceful for a long time, so there was no need; on the other... if they came from ninja clans, they could continue growing even without graduating.

"Ranwu, you can actually take on a B-rank mission already? When I had just graduated, I was still grinding D-rank missions..." Yamanaka said gently.

"Brother Inoichi, you're teasing me again." Ranwu spoke with some embarrassment.

Because of ties through her maternal family, Ranwu was distantly related to the Yamanaka family.

Akaseki looked at Ranwu, then at the slightly handsome, blond-haired Inoichi Yamanaka, and could not help curling his lip.

"You're... Akashi Uchiha? I didn't expect you to have awakened your eyes already." Choza Akimichi spoke as he tore open a bag of chips.

Compared to them, Akaseki was less familiar in everyone's eyes—after all, Minato and Ranwu had been the top students and prominent figures in their grade at the academy. Akaseki could not exactly be called unknown; he was more like some random nobody by the roadside...

"It is only a tiny bit of progress," Akaseki said modestly on the surface.

"Hahaha, don't be nervous. Leave the mission to us later. You just need to focus on learning," Choza said, taking everything upon himself.

It was not that he was overbearing. He simply had not thought it through at all.

After leaving the Hokage Building, the two teams split up to make their preparations.

Akaseki finally could not help asking, "Teacher Jiraiya, what is so special about this mission...?"

No matter how slow Akaseki was, he could tell this B-rank mission was unusual. Not only had the Third Hokage personally issued it, but he had looked extremely serious as well.

Judging solely from the contents of the mission scroll, either Jiraiya or Akimichi Clan should have been able to handle it easily. Even with Genin along, there seemed to be nothing to worry about. Yet the Third Hokage had repeatedly stressed its importance, and that old bastard Shimura seemed to care about it too.

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

"Well..." Akaseki truly did not know.

"An island nation at sea?" Ranwu vaguely remembered something.

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

Akaseki still did not understand why that warranted such concern, but Ranwu had already thought of something. "An island nation at sea... came all the way to Konoha to issue a mission?"

"Yes. This is the first time the Land of Waves has issued a mission in Konoha. In fact, it is the first time a major organization from the many island nations at sea has issued a mission to Konoha!" Jiraiya emphasized.

The seas had previously been the territory of the Land of Water—or rather, Kirigakure. Missions were all sent directly to Kirigakure.

Even if scattered merchant caravans or individuals hired Konoha ninja, they would inevitably receive cold looks at sea and might even clash with Kirigakure ninja.

But now...

The merchant associations of the Land of Waves had issued a mission to Konoha!

"Thirty years ago, not long after the Five Great Ninja Villages were established, the likes of Sunagakure had already begun to stir, wanting to shatter the peace among the Five Great Nations and expand their territory.

"At that time, the First convened the Five Kage Summit, ultimately preventing the conflicts between villages from escalating. Yet not long after the First passed away, conflict immediately broke out between the villages. At the time, both Kirigakure and Iwagakure were led by their Second Kage..."

The First Tsuchikage and First Mizukage had originally been much older than the other Kage, so they were also the first to be replaced.

And something particularly unusual had happened in Kirigakure at the time...

"The First Mizukage, Byakuren, did not hand the position of Mizukage to his designated successor, Tora, but gave it to Hozuki Gengetsu instead... Do you know why?" Jiraiya asked in an instructive manner.

But the moment he heard this involved the succession of the Second, Akaseki immediately clamped his mouth shut—this sounded like a sensitive subject, especially for an Uchiha!

Yet Jiraiya deliberately asked Akaseki, "Akaseki, aren't you good at guessing?"

Akaseki: ...

Akaseki recalled what the elders had once said about the Second and answered, "It should... be because of democracy?"

Yes, Tobirama had used that very reason to prevent the Uchiha Clan from taking power.

Jiraiya: ...