The Start of the Second Shinobi World War, A New S-Rank Mission

Early morning, Training Ground No. 3.

The night rain had just cleared, and dewdrops slid along the tips of leaves, dripping onto the ground with two or three crisp echoes.

Strangely, however, this moisture seemed to exist only in sound; the earth of the training ground remained as dry as ever, devoid of any dampness, and even the humidity that should have lingered in the air had been evaporated by some force. It was as if the autumn rain from the previous night had never fallen into this forest at all.

"Huff, huff, huff, huff..."

Nawaki stood opposite Uchiha Sakuya, his hands braced against his knees, gasping for air frantically.

"Not bad, Nawaki."

Sakuya's voice was full of admiration: "Only now do you look like a Konoha Chunin."

"Thank you for your guidance, Brother Sakuya."

Nawaki said gratefully while catching his breath.

Seven days had passed since Sakuya was discharged from the hospital.

With simple treatment from the Konoha Hospital and the aid of Tsunade's medical ninjutsu, the injury on his arm had basically healed in just half a month, to the point where he no longer needed bandages.

He was just still a bit unaccustomed to it at times.

However, by using the opportunity to help Nawaki with his rehabilitation, he had managed to adapt quite thoroughly to the life of having one arm.

"You two, it's about time you took a break, right?"

Beside the training ground, Tsunade stood smiling and beckoned to them.

"I've prepared some herbal tea for you."

"Thanks, Sis!"

Hearing the mention of herbal tea, Nawaki's eyes lit up, and he hurried over.

Just moments ago, Sakuya's Fire Release had evaporated almost all the moisture in the air, and as the one facing those flames head-on, Nawaki was naturally both exhausted and parched.

At a time like this, he naturally needed to gulp down some herbal tea.

"Slow down, slow down."

Watching her younger brother chug the tea from his cup, Tsunade couldn't help but laugh.

She chided him playfully while pouring another cup for him.

"But come to think of it, Brother Sakuya's Fire Release is truly amazing."

After downing several cups of tea, Nawaki recovered and looked at Sakuya: "As expected of the greatest genius of this generation from the Fire-Wielding Clan. What was the name of that Fire Release technique just now?"

"Ah... that ninjutsu is actually a Fire Release technique I developed myself."

Sakuya said: "But it's still just a prototype."

In the original work, Fire Release ninjutsu were basically C-rank or B-rank; even the Majestic Destroyer Flame used by Madara Uchiha during the Great Ninja War, and the Blast Wave Wild Dance used by Obito, were B-rank.

For more specialized Fire Release, one would have to delve into Blaze Release, Scorch Release, or Sage Arts, but there were very few Fire Release techniques above A-rank.

Taking advantage of this simulation, Sakuya had also found an opportunity to look through the secret Fire Release scrolls in the Uchiha Clan's library.

Indeed, Fire Release was just that limited.

After all, Kishimoto was just a manga artist; his design for Fire Release was always just "bigger, stronger, and hotter," or otherwise just fireballs, big fireballs, and giant fireballs.

Using the simulation as an opportunity, Sakuya was also considering developing a brand-new Fire Release ninjutsu, though his current line of thought was similar to Boruto's—using chakra nature transformation to alter the shape of the flames before launching them.

This line of thought had also occurred to him during his trip to the Land of Fang.

But to be honest, fire-attribute chakra was indeed violent and difficult to tame; it was hard to integrate chakra nature transformation into ordinary ninjutsu. In the short term, it would be quite difficult to successfully develop that technique.

"Well, developing a technique is difficult to begin with; there's no need to rush to finish it in such a short time."

Tsunade advised from the side.

"Yeah, that's right."

Nawaki also nodded.

Unfortunately, although both of them had fire as a chakra attribute, because of Hashirama Senju, the clan's secret scrolls were all related to Water, Earth, and Wood Release. Thus, they hadn't practiced Fire Release much since childhood, and it would likely be difficult for them to offer Sakuya advice on developing it.

At the very least, Sakuya wouldn't be able to complete that ninjutsu in the short term, but watching him like this was also quite nice.

Looking at Uchiha Sakuya, who was sitting beside her quietly drinking tea, Tsunade's eyes held a hint of affection.

She truly hoped that such peaceful days could continue forever.

"Jonin Tsunade, Jonin Sakuya."

While the three were resting, an Anbu ninja wearing a cat mask suddenly appeared before them.

"Lord Hokage requests your presence."

"The Old Man?"

Tsunade and Sakuya exchanged a glance, their brows furrowing.

Ten minutes later, the two arrived at the Hokage Office.

Inside the office, Jiraiya, Dan Katō, and Orochimaru were already standing there.

"Sakuya, how is your body holding up?"

As soon as Uchiha Sakuya entered the door, Hiruzen Sarutobi asked.

"I have recovered."

Sakuya nodded: "It will not affect my ability to carry out missions."

"Good, take a look at this."

Hiruzen Sarutobi handed the scroll in his hand to the group.

Tsunade took it and glanced over it, her expression turning serious.

"Hanzo has declared war on the Land of Wind!?"

"Yes."

Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded: "Their Small Nations Alliance has already engaged the forces of the Land of Wind. Today's battle report came back, and the ninjas of Sunagakure have suffered heavy casualties."

"After all, it is an 'Anti-Five Great Nations' alliance."

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes: "However, the Land of Wind is considered an ally of our Land of Fire. Are we just going to sit by and watch them be attacked by Amegakure?"

"Of course not."

Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head: "I have already issued an order to White Fang at the border, telling him to lead a coalition of three thousand ninjas to assist the Land of Wind. We must not let the Anti-Five Great Nations alliance take down the Land of Wind."

"If something happens to the Land of Wind... the next one to have problems will be our Land of Fire."

Tsunade nodded in agreement.

Although the Land of Wind had barren territory, its underground mineral deposits were extremely rich. In particular, its gold sand mines were famous throughout the ninja world and were an important source for refining gold.

Once this land fell into the hands of the Land of Rain, that flowing wealth would be transformed into the enemy's military funds.

And if the Land of Wind fell, the next to face the sharp edge of Hanzo of the Salamander would be the Land of Fire, which possessed high-quality agricultural resources and could rapidly churn out a large number of troops.

"We can all guess the intentions of Hanzo of the Salamander, and the other three great nations can naturally guess them as well. The Land of Wind will not let Hanzo take them down so easily."

Hiruzen Sarutobi said: "Compared to this, I have an S-rank mission here that I need you to complete."

"Heh heh, just say it, Teacher. I presume it concerns Hanzo of the Salamander?"

Orochimaru said.

"Correct, it is indeed Hanzo, though it is not because of him, but rather his summoning beast."

Hiruzen Sarutobi said.

Hanzo of the Salamander was known as the Demigod. Apart from the powerful strength that allowed him to run rampant through the ninja world, his summoning beast, the Salamander, was also a very important factor.

The deadly poison of that giant beast was considered unsolvable.

Once it appeared on the battlefield, it would spew out a toxic mist that blotted out the sky and sun, shrouding the surroundings like the veil of the Grim Reaper. Without specially made antidotes or gas masks capable of isolating the toxins, those who inhaled it would die from the poison in an instant; it was truly a harvester of cannon fodder on the battlefield.

Not long ago, Sakuya and the others had been poisoned by a salamander in the Land of Fang. Although it was not Hanzo's, it had still caused them no end of trouble.