Execution

In a daze, it was time to set out on a mission.

During that time, he had returned the Water Release: Water Severing Wave and Flying Thunder God Technique scrolls, analyzed the information he had obtained about Pakura's whereabouts and personality, and developed new Storm Release techniques, among other things.

Byakuya had been so busy he was in a daze. Fortunately, his spiritual energy was far greater than before, so despite the workload, he had managed to stay in good spirits.

Now that he had money, Byakuya had also bought Military Ration Pills that restored chakra. They were a special cream-flavored variety.

It was the dead of night.

Wearing the Shuten-dōji Mask and his newly purchased Black Trench Coat, Byakuya set out with Hatake Kakashi.

It was just a coincidence.

Hatake Kakashi had a mission of his own.

They faced the night wind.

Byakuya asked, "Why aren't your teammates, Uchiha Obito and Nohara Rin, with you?"

"Sensei doesn't have time to lead the team right now, so he told Obito and Rin to wait at home. I didn't know you knew their names, senior."

"What about you?"

"Senior, I'm already a Chunin. I took a mission from the village."

After all, Kakashi owed him his life, so he explained, "All the missions the village is assigning these days have something to do with the war. I picked one that wasn't too difficult and am trying to complete it on my own. What about you, senior? Are you on a mission too?"

"Have you ever considered joining the Anbu?" Byakuya suddenly asked in return.

"Me? I'm nowhere near strong enough to join the Anbu."

"With your talent, you'll get there soon."

Hatake Kakashi pondered for a moment. "I still want to make training with Minato-sensei my top priority."

"Mm. You're practical."

They sprinted along at high speed. Byakuya had no trouble talking as they ran, but Kakashi was a little out of breath.

"Kakashi, what's your dream?"

"My dream? I want to become an excellent ninja like my father."

"That's all?"

"What's your dream, senior?"

"To stay alive."

"..."

Byakuya quietly reminded him, "One day, you'll have to repay me for what you owe."

"Yes. I've always remembered that. Thank you for saving me from Orochimaru, senior."

Looking back, he realized there had been many suspicious things about that day. But senior had saved him, all the same.

Hatake Kakashi hesitated, then asked, "When do you think you'll ask me to repay you for saving my life?"

"Maybe after you join the Anbu."

"Yes."

Actually, Kakashi didn't know whether he could become an Anbu member.

The two of them abruptly stopped talking.

A group of ninjas was hurrying back toward Konoha.

Byakuya and Kakashi stepped aside. In the group, they saw Yuhi Kurenai, alone. The Hyuga Branch Family Girl and the Inuzuka Clan boy who had been on her team were nowhere to be seen.

Yuhi Kurenai turned to look at the Shuten-dōji Mask in the moonlight. She seemed about to say something, but in the end, she passed them by without a word.

"The sorrow on her face is so thick it's practically scabbed over," Byakuya said.

"I heard about it. Kurenai's team was attacked by Cloud ninjas... Senior?"

Kakashi turned around. The senior who had been beside him just moments ago had suddenly disappeared.

"Has he left?"

It really was time to part ways.

When he saw senior's unmistakable Shuten-dōji Mask outside Konoha Gate, Kakashi's feelings had been mixed, and he hadn't known what to say. In the end, senior had spoken first and eased the awkwardness.

With the Chakra Short Blade White Fang in hand, Kakashi headed for the eastern coast of Konoha.

His mission was to investigate whether Kirigakure had slaughtered the inhabitants of a small village east of the Land of Fire without warning.

"I remember Might Guy is training there with his team leader."

Might Guy's father, Might Duy, was well known in Konoha.

Because he was the "Eternal Genin."

--

Byakuya left Kakashi behind with the Storm Release: Body Flicker Technique and headed toward the Land of Rivers at full speed.

Ninjas had chakra to aid them on the road, and the Land of Fire was full of forests. They leaped from trunk to trunk like monkeys.

The more often you did it, the easier it got.

Since he had already traveled to and from the Land of Rivers once, Byakuya didn't rest that night and kept going.

Compared to his last trip, his strength had improved again, and his chakra reserves, stamina, speed, and other attributes had increased as well.

Each attribute's improvement was connected to the others.

Byakuya had even started to become a little obsessed with the limited-time missions issued by the Fate Grid.

Completing missions made him stronger. It felt great.

Especially after his chakra control had improved last time. Byakuya thought he could now master the highly difficult Chakra Scalpel.

As he traveled through the forest, Byakuya recalled the information about Pakura.

She was still in the Land of Rivers. In fact, she had returned to Sunagakure for a time, then been stationed in the Land of Rivers again.

With his god's-eye view, he knew Sunagakure would definitely go to war with Konoha.

But he didn't know the exact course the war would take.

On the third day of his journey,

he stopped for half a day and completed all the limited-time missions issued by the Fate Grid that gave small increases to his vitality.

Only then did he choose a suitable spot, pitch his tent, and rest.

Perhaps his last visit to the Land of Rivers had left him with a psychological shadow after he ran into the Azure-Black Serpent in a cave. When he spotted a cave, Byakuya didn't even consider it and chose to camp in a dry clearing instead.

After passing the checkpoint set up by Konoha ninjas on the border and entering the Land of Rivers,

he stopped taking the easy roads. Instead, he used the Storm Release: Body Flicker Technique's mobility to pick his way forward through concealed locations.

That day,

Byakuya jumped onto a rock and gazed ahead.

A vast forest stretched before him, lush and green.

He could just make out the sound of a great river rushing by.

The terrain was so complex that it defied all expectations. That was the Land of Rivers.

He spread out the map.

According to the intelligence, he marked a red circle at this spot.

The red circle marked a place where Pakura had spent a long time. Sunagakure ninjas were probably stationed there.

"Danzo, Danzo. You already have all this information, and you still sent me to the Land of Rivers? Sunagakure has made up its mind to attack Konoha. Forget the alliance and all that. We should strike first, keep harassing the Land of Wind, and tie them down."

He paused.

A thought that had never occurred to him before suddenly became clear.

Byakuya plopped down on the rock.

The alliance was supposed to be about joining forces against Iwagakure. But with Iwagakure already at war with Kumogakure, was there any point in an alliance from Sunagakure's perspective?

"I was so convinced I had a god's-eye view that I ended up blind to what was right in front of me."

"How could that old bastard Danzo not know that this mission, whether I succeed or fail, will make Konoha look weak to Sunagakure?"

"Maybe he wants Sunagakure to use the alliance to realize that the war has left Konoha's heartland wide open, and that the village doesn't have the strength to open a new front."

"The outcome is clear."

"Sunagakure's leaders will quickly reach a consensus and decide to go to war with Konoha."

He let out a breath.

The Land of Fire had the richest resources and the most fertile soil, while the Land of Wind lay in the desert, especially barren and struggling to survive. That was a structural conflict. If Sunagakure wanted to change the Land of Wind's circumstances, it wouldn't attack the Land of Earth. It would sink its teeth into the "fat" of the Land of Fire.

"If I were Danzo, I'd take advantage of Sunagakure's rash military advance into the Land of Fire and ambush them, catching them completely off guard.

"Since the battle would be fought in the Land of Fire, not far from Konoha, Danzo's reputation would surely surpass Namikaze Minato's—and even the Third's—if he won."

He knew the name of this war.

The Battle of Kikyo Pass.

Konoha chose Kikyo Mountain as the place to ambush the Sunagakure ninjas.

The original story had very little information about this battle. It had barely even mentioned it.

Konoha won, and Sunagakure lost.

Perhaps the aftermath of this battle left Sunagakure showing signs of weakness, prompting Kirigakure to attack the Land of Wind by sea and land.

Pakura, who possessed the Kekkei Genkai Scorch Release, became a hero of Sunagakure, just as she and Rasa had successfully repelled Kumogakure's invasion. She was also resented by Kirigakure, and eventually betrayed by the leaders of her own village.

Byakuya had a new plan.

This time, he would fight to secure some "benefits" for himself from the Root Organization mission.