It's You, Samehada!

Uchiha Yashiro nodded, his tone turning serious: "One last thing, I have a mission for you."

"Go and rendezvous with Yoiichi Kumade, who is on an espionage mission in Kirigakure. You must bring him back safely."

As he spoke, he took a scroll from his drawer and handed it to Aragaki Yasushi.

"Yoiichi Kumade?"

Aragaki Yasushi took the scroll, muttered the name with a frown, and immediately broke the seal to read it.

He was no stranger to Yoiichi Kumade; the two had been classmates in the same year at the Ninja Academy.

This guy wasn't much for anything else, but he was a master at gathering intelligence. After being promoted to Chunin, he stopped going on missions with his small squad.

Instead, he joined the village's intelligence department alongside Yamashiro Aoba and the others, becoming a full-time intelligence ninja.

Aragaki Yasushi remembered that in the original story, this guy seemed to have died at the hands of Momochi Zabuza.

He recalled it being a throwaway line mentioned by Kakashi when he was explaining Zabuza to Naruto and his team; he hadn't expected the man to still be alive.

Being sent to retrieve him meant he would likely face the Mist Anbu, which was theoretically quite dangerous.

But danger meant more points!

Aragaki Yasushi spoke up immediately: "Fine, my squad will prepare to depart right away."

Uchiha Yashiro waved his hand, stopping him: "It is best if you go alone."

"According to the last piece of intelligence sent back by Yoiichi Kumade, he has been exposed and is currently being hunted by the Mist Anbu."

"Can't your Paper Style fly? I need you to get there as quickly as possible. His head contains intelligence the village desperately needs; there can be no mistakes."

Upon hearing this, Aragaki Yasushi readily agreed: "Alright, no problem."

"One person it is. I guarantee I will bring Yoiichi Kumade back safely."

At the same time, a system notification suddenly popped up before Aragaki Yasushi's eyes.

[Mission: Rendezvous with Yoiichi Kumade]
[Reward: Points +800]

The system mission had been triggered!

Seeing the mission reward, Aragaki Yasushi was somewhat surprised.

800 points?

That was higher than he had anticipated!

But after a moment's thought, he felt relieved.

True, this operation would involve a head-on clash with the Mist Anbu, so the danger level was certainly not low.

He might even encounter quite a few Mist Jonin.

Half a day later, Aragaki Yasushi flapped his wings and arrived at the Land of Water at high speed, landing near a village on an island.

He pulled out the intelligence scroll given by Uchiha Yashiro, examined it carefully, and confirmed the meeting point.

According to the last intelligence sent by Yoiichi Kumade, the agreed-upon meeting place was the tavern in this village.

If everything went smoothly, Yoiichi Kumade would arrive here before tomorrow morning, and the two would be able to rendezvous at the tavern.

But if Yoiichi Kumade failed to arrive on time, his fate would likely be grim.

Nine times out of ten, he would have been caught by the Mist Anbu.

If that really happened, Aragaki Yasushi would have no other way to find him.

After all, to evade pursuit, Yoiichi Kumade's movements were erratic; he might not even know where he would be the next second himself.

The only thing he could do now was to wait here like a rabbit waiting for a tree stump, waiting for him to arrive for the rendezvous.

Aragaki Yasushi performed a Transformation Jutsu to disguise his appearance, walked into the tavern, and quickly scanned the room.

After confirming that Yoiichi Kumade had not arrived early, he quietly retreated and hid in a narrow alley next to the tavern, keeping a close watch on the tavern entrance.

The waiting time was truly boring, and Aragaki Yasushi recalled his previous speculation.

Could the Poke Balls from the Pokemon world be used in the Naruto World?

Action followed thought; he took a regular Poke Ball from his system space and brought out Samehada.

Aiming at Samehada, Aragaki Yasushi gently pressed the switch on the Poke Ball.

The next second, the Poke Ball clicked open, a flash of white light streaked out, and Samehada was instantly sucked into the Poke Ball.

The Poke Ball landed on the ground, wobbled twice, and finally came to a stop with a soft "ding."

Aragaki Yasushi immediately picked up the Poke Ball, grinning from ear to ear.

It really worked!

Samehada had actually been identified as a Pokemon!

In that case, there is hope for me to capture a Tailed Beast as well!

However, Aragaki Yasushi quickly calmed down.

Samehada itself had no resistance, so even a regular Poke Ball could capture it with ease.

Tailed Beasts, on the other hand, would not be so easy to talk to; their tempers were explosive, one after another, so he would likely need a Master Ball to get the job done.

Beyond that, even if he could actually capture a Tailed Beast, he might not necessarily be able to control it.

A Poke Ball does not alter a Pokemon's mind; just like when Ash Ketchum first obtained Pikachu, Pikachu resisted him at every turn—could he not control it then?

Yet even so, the benefits of subduing a Tailed Beast were far too great, and even if it were troublesome, he was determined to succeed!

At night, the tavern lights flickered out one by one, and the owner locked the door, closing up shop.

Aragaki Yasushi had no intention of leaving, nor did he think about finding an inn to get a good night's sleep; he remained huddled in that narrow alleyway.

Yoiichi Kumade was still on the run for his life, and no one could say for sure if he might arrive here ahead of schedule tonight.

Aragaki Yasushi had to keep watch here; he could not afford the slightest lapse in vigilance.

Otherwise, if Yoiichi Kumade went through the trouble of reaching the rendezvous point only to find that he had gone off to sleep, then this bit-part role would truly be dead in the water.

Most importantly, his 800 points would also go down the drain, and that was absolutely unacceptable.

Fortunately, Aragaki Yasushi's wait was not entirely without results.

Although Yoiichi Kumade had yet to show his face, he made another unexpected discovery late in the night.

Mist Anbu!

Aragaki Yasushi followed the faint movement and looked toward a certain direction.

Moonlight spilled over the eaves of the village houses as two dark figures moved with agility, sprinting at high speed.

Aragaki Yasushi's heart skipped a beat.

Could it be that Yoiichi Kumade was already dead?

Had these Mist Ninja found the rendezvous location on him and come specifically to lie in wait?

Although Yoiichi Kumade was an intelligence ninja who had undergone professional training and should theoretically be able to withstand torture, the Mist Anbu had plenty of methods at their disposal.

Even if the person was dead, they could still extract intelligence from the corpse.

Qualified ninjas, in order to prevent intelligence leaks, would always find a way to destroy their own remains upon death.

Just like Kisame in the original story, who summoned sharks to eat himself before dying, leaving not even a bone behind.

But sometimes, when things happen suddenly and there is no time to clean up, being taken out by the enemy in an instant is a common occurrence.

Thinking of this, Aragaki Yasushi hesitated no longer and quietly followed them.

If he captured a prisoner and interrogated them, wouldn't everything become clear?

Moreover, Aragaki Yasushi pondered it further and felt the situation might not be that dire.

If Yoiichi Kumade were truly dead, the system would likely have already prompted a mission failure, rather than letting him wait here blindly.

Since there was no failure prompt, it meant that the bit-part actor at least still had a breath left and could be saved.

What's more, he observed the direction those two Mist Anbu were heading, and they were clearly not aiming for the tavern.

It looked like the two of them were just searching the village at random without any clear target.

Perhaps Yoiichi Kumade had already hidden in the nearby waters, and these two Anbu were just here for a sweep and investigation.

Once he had sorted out his thoughts, Aragaki Yasushi immediately took action.

I choose you, Samehada!