Senjutsu

The two strolled to the barbecue restaurant. Most of Konoha's ninja were fighting outside the village, and without its main clientele, the restaurant was quiet.

During the meal, Izumi Orange seemed to have something else she wanted to say, but when the moment came, she instead tried to brainwash Byakuya into pledging loyalty to Hiroya.

"Byakuya, it's getting late. Oh, right, I've already paid."

Izumi Orange smiled brightly. She'd used a trip to the restroom as an excuse to settle the bill. "I know what you're going to say, but you really did treat me, and I paid. Seems fair to me. When you get your salary, it'll be your turn to pay."

Byakuya apologized and exchanged a few pleasantries with her. Then the two walked home beneath the moonlight.

"Looks like Teacher Izumi Orange has secrets of her own. I wonder what she wanted to tell me."

With his enhanced perception, how could he fail to notice the strange look in her eyes?

But strengthening himself remained his top priority.

The Third Shinobi World War was raging. Outside the village, the flames of war blazed; inside, people schemed against one another. Without strength, he'd become a pawn that powerful figures could discard at will.

The Way of Survival was an art with endless subtleties. He couldn't stand out too much, but neither could he become a fish on the chopping block, waiting to be slaughtered. He needed to show just enough value—be only a little better than the dead last—to secure room to maneuver and keep his options open.

Just as Hiroya had said, time flew by in the blink of an eye. Seven days—one whole week—had slipped through his fingers like sand. Now, standing outside Hiroya's office, Byakuya belatedly realized that he was much stronger than he'd been a week ago.

His body was still that of a boy, but his soul was mature. He could rein in the reckless nature of his youth and endure lonely training, studying, and even the tedious work of developing new jutsu.

In a way, Byakuya was a genius too.

Besides, completing the Fate Grid's timed missions was like steadily accumulating experience. Now, he was just one step away from crossing the threshold and entering a new realm.

What stood in his way was—combat experience.

A Way of Survival without combat experience was as fragile as a moon reflected in water: it would shatter at the first touch. Still, he had to keep his footing and proceed one careful step at a time. He couldn't go looking for death.

"Byakuya, come in."

"Sorry to trouble you, Principal."

Hiroya looked Byakuya up and down. He seemed to have grown taller. "How's your ninjutsu training going?"

"I haven't let you down, Principal. I've made some progress."

"Good. Show me the Shadow Clone Technique."

Byakuya joined his index and middle fingers, then crossed both hands into a seal.

"Shadow Clone Technique."

A Shadow Clone identical to him appeared beside him in an instant.

Hiroya observed it for a while, then suddenly burst out laughing. "This jutsu divides chakra evenly to create a solid clone. It's not difficult, but it's not easy either. Senkaku Byakuya, you haven't disappointed me. Looks like I'll have to rethink my impression of you."

"I did it all for your mission, Principal."

"Good. I'm glad you can think that way. Since you've learned the Shadow Clone Technique, the other two jutsu should be no problem either. I can safely assign you an outside operative mission for Root."

Hiroya patted him on the shoulder, then turned and took a mission scroll from his desk drawer.

"Aren't I doing weighted runs today?"

"You stopped yesterday. You needed to recover your strength and rest up."

The weighted running had been a timed mission from the Fate Grid—

Heaven Rewards Diligence, Perseverance Leads to Success

Timed mission: 6 days. Run 100 kilometers carrying 30 kilograms (100/100)

Reward: Increased stamina

It had nearly killed him!

The "Increased stamina" reward had been remarkably effective. He'd gone to the forest early to experience Natural Energy, then practiced his newly developed Storm Release jutsu. Right now, he didn't feel tired at all!

Heaven Rewards Diligence, Perseverance Leads to Success

Timed mission: 4 days. Experience Natural Energy (Incomplete)

Reward: Slight increase to Sage Art Talent

At this stage, he actually wanted an increase to his ninjutsu talent more than to his Sage Art Talent. Unfortunately, the Fate Grid's missions seemed to be random.

"Seeing you work so hard makes me sincerely happy for your parents."

The old fox was all honeyed words and hidden knives.

Byakuya cursed him silently.

"Principal, if you don't have anything else for me, I'll get started on the mission."

"Not so fast. This is your pass. Without it, you can't leave Konoha. The mission has no time limit, but I hope you'll complete it as soon as possible."

"Yes."

He had just turned to leave the office when Hiroya suddenly called after him. "You can use any ninja tools in the Ninja Academy warehouse for this mission."

The old fox did have a bit of a conscience after all.

Byakuya bowed. "Thank you for your kindness, Principal."

"Go on."

On his way back to the warehouse, he noticed that some of the Ninja Academy students were gone. They'd probably passed their graduation exams and left the school.

He closed the door.

Then he switched on the warehouse lights.

Reading the Root mission on the scroll, Byakuya furrowed his brow.

A group of rogue ninja had attacked Konoha's Ninja Tool Research Branch. Byakuya had to find and kill them.

The Ninja Tool Research Branch was sixty-five li southwest of Konoha.

"There's too little information. I don't know how strong these rogue ninja are."

Rogue ninja didn't belong to any village. They wandered from country to country, stealing jutsu, but what they learned was usually only a poor imitation and not much of a threat.

"Why would rogue ninja attack Konoha's Ninja Tool Research Branch? Did someone hire them to do it, or are ninja from another hidden village pretending to be rogue ninja and sabotaging Konoha's rear?"

He really hadn't expected his first Root mission to be this tricky. If they were truly rogue ninja, that would be one thing. If not, things would get complicated.

Byakuya rolled up the scroll and selected a ninja sword suited to him from the warehouse. An Explosive Tag was hidden in its hilt. When he fought an enemy, he could press a switch, sending the tag through a thin needle from the hilt into the enemy's body, where it would explode.

The sword was a decoy. The mechanism hiding the Explosive Tag in its hilt was the real weapon.

He had no idea why such a dangerous ninja tool was in the Ninja Academy warehouse. Since it was right in front of him, he might as well take it.

He packed plenty of kunai, shuriken, and Military Ration Pills, slung the ninja sword over his back, and put on a black cloak to conceal his weapons. Then he donned the Shuten-dōji Mask his father had bought him at the fireworks festival years ago, climbed over the Ninja Academy wall, and took the back streets toward the gates of the Hidden Leaf Village.

Konoha lay underground, with a spherical surveillance barrier above it. Anyone who entered or left without authorization would be detected immediately by the Barrier Squad. Ninja also patrolled the surrounding area every day and had to submit regular reports.

The pass Hiroya had given him was authorization to enter and leave Konoha.

Looking through the eyeholes of the Shuten-dōji Mask, he studied the pass. It had come from Anbu, yet contained no information about his identity. That showed just how domineering Shimura Danzō's Root was. No wonder even the Third, Hiruzen Sarutobi, knew nothing about some of the missions they carried out.

After leaving Konoha's gates, he headed southwest, experiencing Natural Energy along the way.

Natural Energy was dangerous. Fortunately, the Fate Grid's timed mission only required him to experience it, not absorb it. Even so, experiencing it alone was extremely difficult, and Byakuya had no idea where to start.

"Lord Danzō, this is the latest intelligence on the rogue ninja."

Shimura Danzō took the report and sneered. "Third Tsuchikage Ōnoki always enjoys playing these little tricks. He hired bounty hunters through the Underground Exchange, did he? Tatsuma..."

"Lord Danzō."

"Go to the Bounty Exchange and hire ninja to sabotage the Land of Earth's rear as well. Then put out a bounty: three million ryō for Higashi Shinin of Iwagakure."

"Understood."

"These bounty hunters are not to be underestimated. We need to take them seriously. Have the mission been assigned?"

Aburame Tatsuma, a member of the Aburame Clan, answered at once. "I gave it to Hiroya."

"The outside operatives under Hiroya are all useless. Sending them will only get them killed. Assign someone else to kill them."

"Yes!"

Shimura Danzō wasn't in the underground base. He stood by the window, looking out at Kage Rock. "Four Chunin-level ninja with plenty of combat experience. We can't afford to be careless."