A Mission Concerning Nawaki's Death

"There is no point in dwelling on the oddities now."

Orochimaru looked at the two of them and said, "Let us depart immediately. The village places great importance on this incident, and we must treat it with the utmost seriousness."

"Understood."

Sakuya and Tsunade nodded.

Though Konoha was only dispatching three people this time, the attitude behind it was entirely different.

Sakuya, as the strongest genius of the current Uchiha clan, had already awakened his Three-Tomoe Sharingan and stood as one of Konoha's top combatants. Tsunade was the last descendant of the Senju and a formidable contender for the title of Fourth Hokage, while Orochimaru was the prized student of the Third Hokage and the pinnacle of civilian-born ninja.

Their combined strength was enough to easily sweep through a small ninja village. Using them to deal with a group of rogue ninja was akin to using a butcher's knife to slaughter a chicken, which showed just how furious the Third Hokage was regarding the attack on the sugar refinery in the Land of Fang.

"Very well, the hour is late. Prepare to depart."

Orochimaru said, "The Land of Fang is five days' journey from Konoha. At our pace, we should arrive in just over four days."

"I recall it being to the west."

Tsunade pointed westward and said, "It borders the Land of Rain, the Land of Claw, and the Land of River. It is essentially a low-lying basin."

"Correct. It is precisely because it is a basin that it serves as such an excellent location for sugar production."

Sakuya nodded.

In other words, it is a place of strategic importance, he thought to himself.

As the three of them prepared to set off, a hurried voice rang out from behind them.

"Sister! Sister!! Wait for me!"

Tsunade turned at the sound, only to see a familiar figure sprinting out from within the village.

"...Eh? Nawaki? Why are you here?"

Realizing it was her younger brother, Tsunade asked in confusion.

Sakuya took the opportunity to size Nawaki up.

He was about twelve years old, roughly a year younger than Sakuya. He had messy, ash-blonde hair and wore a Konoha forehead protector. His face, still quite youthful, was filled with the naivety of one who had yet to experience the harshness of the world.

"Sister!"

Nawaki ran up to them, bracing his hands on his knees as he panted heavily: "Are you going to the Land of Fang? I heard it from Grandma!"

"And?"

Tsunade asked, puzzled.

"I want to go too!"

Staring at Tsunade, Nawaki said earnestly: "I want to go to the Land of Fang as well!"

"?"

"Sister, Grandma Toka came to our house just now."

Nawaki said: "Do you remember Uncle Shota, the one who was always so kind to me?"

Toka Senju—no, the woman once known as Toka Senju—had been the most trusted aide to the clan leader Hashirama Senju during the era before the ninja village was established. Back when the Senju clan still existed, her status was second only to the Senju brothers, making her effectively the third-in-command of the clan.

However, this old woman had lived a life of solitude; her children had either died or scattered. Now, at over seventy years old, she had only one grandson left, who had been called Shota Senju when the clan was still intact.

"...Shota?"

Tsunade seemed to recall something, and her face turned pale.

Because he was the direct grandson of Toka Senju, even though he was only a Chunin in his thirties, the village had always treated him with special care and arranged a lucrative position for him.

That position was... serving as a squad leader at the port of the sugar refinery in the Land of Fang.

In all honesty, this post was the closest to Konoha, allowing him to return at any time. The work pressure was low, and with the sugar refinery, it was easy to earn a little extra money. It was considered an excellent assignment.

But who could have foreseen that a group of rogue ninja would dare to snatch food from the tiger's mouth and suddenly attack the factory?

The intelligence report stated that of the two Chunin who had gone missing at the port, one of them was this very Shota.

"Sister, I want to go to the Land of Fang!"

Nawaki stared at his sister and said seriously: "Uncle Shota was very kind to us; he is one of our few remaining relatives. Now that he has met with disaster and gone missing, I cannot just stay at home and wait for news! Sister, and Master Orochimaru, please let me go to the Land of Fang as well!"

"Absolutely not!"

Tsunade refused immediately: "You will stay at home!"

The risks of this mission were unknown, and Tsunade instinctively rejected the idea of her brother accompanying them to the Land of Fang.

"But the Third Hokage-jiji has already agreed!"

Nawaki, knowing Tsunade would object, immediately produced a mission scroll: "If you don't believe me, look!"

"It is written by the Master."

Orochimaru took the scroll, glanced at it, and nodded with a smile: "It seems the Master has changed his mind. He believes they are merely a group of rogue ninja who have grown too bold."

He understood his teacher very well.

Initially, after the Land of Fang port was raided by rogue ninja, Hiruzen Sarutobi must have been absolutely furious, dispatching the three of them—powerful ninja—to crush the rogues with thunderous, overwhelming wrath.

But after reviewing the intelligence reports and learning they were likely just a rabble of miscreants, he changed his mind, shifting his perspective to view this Land of Fang mission as an opportunity to train the younger generation.

It just so happened that Nawaki had volunteered following the disappearance of Shota, so he simply went with the flow and agreed to let him join the mission.

After all... Nawaki was the direct grandson of Hashirama Senju; if there were to be a Fifth Hokage in the future, he was a prime candidate, so there was no reason not to take this chance to cultivate him properly.

However, Teacher, these little schemes of yours—heh—are truly... awkward and yet so easy to read.

Orochimaru chuckled inwardly, looking toward Tsunade: "Since the teacher has agreed, let Nawaki come along."

"But..."

Tsunade still did not want her younger brother to tag along.

Perhaps it was a woman's instinct, but she always felt that if Nawaki went, he would encounter some kind of danger.

[The attack in the Land of Fang has drawn high-level attention from Konoha, and the Third Hokage has resolved to dispatch your trio to execute a mission to wipe out the rogue ninja. Given that the mission risks are unclear, and Tsunade's younger brother, Nawaki, has applied to accompany you, a disagreement has arisen within the team regarding whether to permit his inclusion.]

[Looking at Orochimaru and Tsunade, you may have a premonition that whether or not Nawaki goes to the Land of Fang will be closely tied to the outcome of this simulation. Your choice is...]

If I am not mistaken, in the original story, Nawaki died during an unknown mission, right?

Staring at the system prompt, Sakuya was lost in thought.

Could it be this Land of Fang mission?

Then...

"Let him come along."

Watching the two of them at an impasse, Sakuya suddenly spoke up.

"Hm?"

Orochimaru and Tsunade turned their heads upon hearing this, looking at Uchiha Sakuya in surprise.

"Sakuya-kun, you mean..."

"The Hokage wants him to come along for the experience, so let him come."

Uchiha Sakuya glanced at Nawaki and said.

"Besides, he is, after all, the grandson of the First Hokage; keeping him by our side ensures we can at least look out for him. If we go by this stubborn kid's temper, if we don't let him follow openly, he will most likely tail us in secret—and if he encounters danger alone then, it will be even harder to handle."

Hearing this, Nawaki looked at Sakuya with a face full of astonishment.

He never expected that someone from the Uchiha Clan would actually speak up for him.

Speak up for him, someone who was once of the Senju Clan.