A Three-Man Team Leaves the Village!

After stepping out of his room, Roy thought it over and decided to talk to Fugaku first.

As for a mysterious organization like this, Uchiha Fugaku, who had taken part in the Second Shinobi World War and the Third Shinobi World War, ought to know something about it.

"Roy."

Just then, Uchiha Shisui appeared in Roy's courtyard.

Shisui was also wearing a special outfit—the uniform of Konoha's Military Police Force.

"Shisui, what's this about?"

Roy looked confused.

"I left the Anbu. I'm now the deputy director of Konoha's Military Police Force."

"The clan head arranged it."

Shisui glanced at his uniform and spoke slowly.

"I came to ask if you'd be interested in becoming a team leader or something."

"Of a team that operates independently."

Shisui asked with a smile.

"Sure!"

"I was just about to go talk to the clan head about this. I want to leave the village and investigate a few things."

"Shisui, how much do you know about the Satori Organization?"

Only then did Roy remember that Shisui had been a member of the Anbu and had often gone on missions outside the village.

He ought to have learned at least a little about the Satori Organization.

"Satori!?"

"Roy, how did you get involved with Satori?"

"Was it during that half-month patrol assignment?"

Shisui was stunned.

Other than that patrol assignment, Roy had never left the village.

"Yeah."

"And this Satori Organization definitely isn't ordinary."

"Maybe it'll lead me to some unexpected discoveries."

Roy nodded.

"I've encountered the Satori Organization three times."

"Once, near the border of the Land of Waterfalls, I ran into a three-man team. They were around jonin level, but their attacks were strange. The ninjutsu they used were all outdated techniques."

"They also had incredibly strong regenerative abilities."

"The second time was in the Land of Grass. There was only one of them, and he was an elite jonin who could use Wood Release."

"But in the end, his chakra went berserk, and he was consumed by his own Wood Release."

"The last time was during this mission."

"On our way back, we encountered two members of the Satori Organization in a small village. They were planning to attack it, so we took care of them while we were there."

"This organization only shows itself when carrying out missions. If a mission fails, no one survives."

"So there's very little information about them."

Shisui told Roy everything he knew.

"I see."

"Will I choose the team members myself, or will the clan arrange it?"

Roy nodded and spoke slowly.

"Itachi, and you."

"As for whether you want to take another teammate, that's up to you."

Shisui answered simply.

"Let's have Izumi join us."

Roy spoke softly.

"Izumi?"

"I remember that little girl just passed the Chunin exam, didn't she?"

"And she's... a medical ninja?"

Shisui thought it over, but didn't seem particularly suspicious. He nodded.

"I'll leave this to you, Shisui. I'm going to see the clan head first."

"Then have them wait for me at the village gate."

As soon as Roy finished speaking, he vanished with the Body Flicker Technique.

Before long, Shisui took Uchiha Itachi to find Izumi.

"Huh?"

"I'm joining a special operations team and going on a mission with Itachi?"

Izumi looked astonished when she heard this.

She knew her own abilities. Although she had passed the Chunin exam and become a provisional member of the medical corps, she was still nowhere near a genius like Itachi.

How could she possibly be teamed up with him?

"Roy arranged it. He's your team leader."

"If you have any questions, wait for your team leader to explain them himself."

"Go wait for Roy at the village gate. He'll be there soon."

After saying this, Shisui vanished with the Body Flicker Technique.

That left only Itachi and Izumi.

"Itachi, I bought dango. Would you like some?"

Izumi followed behind Itachi and asked timidly.

"Hm?"

Itachi turned around and looked at the two boxes of dango in Izumi's hands.

A look of reminiscence crossed his face.

The girl in front of him had shared dango with him when they were young.

Although their paths had grown farther and farther apart since then, seeing the dango brought those memories back to Itachi.

"Thanks."

"Izumi, do you know why you were chosen?"

"I don't know. I only just found out myself."

"By the way, what kind of mission are we going on?"

When Itachi accepted the dango, Izumi relaxed a little.

"I don't know."

"But since we're leaving the village for a mission, it won't be something inside the village."

Itachi had already gone on missions outside the village, so he knew the situation beyond its borders well.

After several Ninja Wars, the Ninja World was anything but peaceful.

As one of the largest shinobi villages in the Ninja World, Konoha naturally had plenty of enemies.

After all, Konoha hadn't been handed its territory; it had fought for it.

In such circumstances, Konoha's shinobi could easily run into old enemies while outside the village.

Those shinobi had nothing to fear from Konoha's backing. They were already beyond caring about the consequences.

As they chatted, the two of them reached the village gate.

"Roy?"

Itachi had thought they would be waiting there for Roy, so he hadn't hurried. He had walked over at a leisurely pace.

But when he arrived, Roy was already waiting for them.

"Itachi, Izumi, the mission we're going on won't come with a mission briefing."

"So be prepared. A fight could break out at any time."

"Itachi, you're responsible for protecting Izumi. Izumi, you'll be responsible for treating Itachi's and my injuries."

Roy briefly explained the plan.

"That's it?"

Itachi looked surprised.

Usually, a mission outside the village came with a mission briefing.

Even without one, they would at least be told the general objective.

Roy hadn't told them anything. They would have to adapt as they went.

But the more uncertain things were, the more serious the situation outside the village might turn out to be.

"More or less."

"Oh, and Itachi, if you find out anything about Satori, tell me right away."

"And Izumi, think of this as a chance to get some experience."

"Let's go."

After Roy said those final words, Itachi's pupils contracted slightly.

He understood what the mission was.

They were going to investigate the Satori Organization.

If it were just Roy and him going on the mission, Itachi wouldn't have been worried.

But... why did Roy want to bring Izumi along?

Itachi glanced at Izumi, who looked eager to get started. He kept his doubts to himself, then followed Roy out of the village.