The Plan is Underway

(ps: Skipping class! Writing books! Haha!)

After finishing his meal, Kanna knocked on the door of Kanna Tokiomi's room.

"Come in." A deep, resonant male voice came from within.

"Father." Kanna entered the room, bowed, and then knelt on a cushion, saying, "Father, I feel that my training has reached a bottleneck recently, so I would like to go out for a walk."

"Go out?" Kanna Tokiomi looked slightly surprised and asked, "Where are you going?"

"Not far, just walking around the village," Kanna said. "Also, I would like to take the opportunity to visit the various clans in the village. After all, the New Year is approaching, and as the son of the Mizukage's aide, it is only proper etiquette for me to pay my respects."

Tokiomi's lips curled slightly as he nodded with satisfaction: "Not bad, very good. You have truly grown up. Since you have such awareness, I happen to have a task for you."

Kanna said solemnly, "Please, Father."

Seeing his son's nervous expression, Tokiomi finally laughed: "It is only a D-rank mission. According to annual custom, the Third Hokage intends to invite the various clans, representatives of different circles, and outstanding ninjas to the New Year ceremony. Since you are going to visit those clans, you might as well deliver the invitations."

Success! Kanna felt a surge of joy in his heart. With these invitations, it would be much easier to visit the Kaguya Clan!

"No problem, I will make sure they are delivered," Kanna replied with a smile.

"This is also a form of training," Tokiomi said. "Take my letter of introduction and go to the Mizukage Building to find the Third. Have him give you the invitations for the clans."

Without delay, Kanna Tokiomi wrote a letter of recommendation, handed it to Kanna, and pointed out the location of the Mizukage Building (though Kanna had already learned its location back when he was practicing the Flying Thunder God technique), telling him to go alone.

It was the lunch break for normal people, yet the Mizukage remained in his office, as did Kanna Tokiomi. They processed endless amounts of government affairs with almost no leisure time, working diligently and conscientiously. Truth be told, the reason Kanna worked so hard was truly influenced by his father's work ethic.

Focus! Perseverance! Effort! Progress! Only in this way can one succeed.

After leaving his father's room and explaining the situation to his mother, he jumped off the balcony amidst her instructions to "be careful," stepped across the attic, and ran toward the Mizukage Building.

The execution speed of a ninja is famously fast. Kanna did not have to worry about taking detours; whenever he encountered an obstacle, he simply jumped over it, using the tree-walking technique to cross. Before long, he arrived at the Mizukage Building, and after showing Tokiomi's letter and proving his identity, he was led to the Mizukage's office.

Pushing open the door, what came into view was a man with a gentle face. He wore the Mizukage robe, his conical hat hanging on the back of his chair, revealing a head of soft black hair adorned with a few silver prayer beads. He was leaning over, signing documents.

He was the Mizukage with the least recorded history in the annals of Kirigakure, the only Kage without a single battle achievement passed down to the world. No one knew when he took office, nor when he died. From the perspective of the original work, he was a mysterious figure, or perhaps a high-level background character.

His name was never even mentioned. People now often referred to him as "the Third" or "Lord Mizukage," so Kanna had no way of knowing his name. However, being able to become the Mizukage meant he possessed extraordinary ability and high combat power; he was a person of some significance.

"Lord Mizukage," Kanna called out softly.

The Third looked up, sized Kanna up, and then smiled: "So it is Tokiomi's child. Why, did your father send you to see me?"

"That is correct. Father recommended me to serve as the messenger for the New Year ceremony." Kanna took out the letter and handed it to the Third. "Since I wanted to go out for a walk and pay my respects to the elders, I thought..."

"I see. Understood." The Third nodded with a smile, took a stack of invitations from his drawer, and handed them over, saying, "Children should indeed go out more. Since it is Tokiomi's request, no problem. This task is yours. Work hard; your father often mentions you to me."

"I will," Kanna said, taking the invitations. "I will do my best!"

"Haha, go on, go on."

And so, Kanna embarked on his first journey, even if it was just wandering around the village.

"This is an invitation from the Third, inviting you, Uncle, to attend the New Year ceremony. Please, you must attend."

"Haha, alright, I understand. Would you like to come in for a cup of tea?"

"I am Kanna. I have received the task from the Third to deliver these invitations. Here is your invitation..."

"Oh! I remember now. The New Year ceremony, is it? You have worked hard."

Delivering them one by one, it didn't take long to finish with all the clans in the town. What remained were the clans living on the outskirts of the village.

Like the Kaguya!

After staying the night at a clan's residence, the next day, Kanna packed his things, bid farewell to his host, and headed toward the Kaguya Clan.

The atmosphere in Kirigakure at this time was a bit oppressive, but still normal. At the very least, there were no assassinations of the Mizukage, killings of the Daimyo, or clans attacking the village. Everyone kept to themselves, living their own lives. This situation would continue until after the Third Great Ninja War, when Obito controlled the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura. Therefore, when Kanna handed over his calling card, he successfully entered the Kaguya Clan's territory.

"Is that so? The New Year ceremony. I almost forgot about that."

A middle-aged, burly man with a double-bun hairstyle, wearing a white robe and two red dots on his forehead, received Kanna. He was the current head of the Kaguya Clan.

The moment Kanna saw this guy, he almost laughed out loud, but managed to hold it in.

Holy crap! Nezha? Kanna muttered to himself in his heart.

"No problem, I will attend the New Year ceremony," the Kaguya Clan Head said with a wave of his hand, clean and straightforward.

Kanna was choked up. When he visited other clans earlier, they were all polite to each other, inviting him in for tea or to sit for a while. As it turned out, this Kaguya Clan was actually this blunt? Not even a hint of beating around the bush?

Originally, Kanna had planned that once the Kaguya Clan invited him to rest or tour their grounds, he would take the opportunity to investigate their situation, express his admiration or even worship of them, brag about them, and then give them the gift he had carefully prepared—a Flying Thunder God kunai.

But was this guy's tone just now meant to send him away?

Biting the bullet, Kanna said a bit awkwardly: "Also, I have my own business. Besides delivering the invitations, I wanted to visit the Kaguya Clan. I've been at home for too long, so I wanted to go out and see things. Clan Head, you see..."

"Oh? Visit us? Hahaha! Of course you can." The Kaguya Clan Head didn't care at all; having guests visit was a normal thing.

"Shime! You come and host Brother Kanna. Remember to be polite! And don't challenge him to a duel! Brother Kanna is only a Genin; he can't beat you, understand?"

Ignoring Kanna's conflicted expression, a young man stepped out from the crowd and replied indifferently: "Understood, Clan Head. You are really long-winded! I am only interested in the strong."

Hiss. Kanna drew a sharp breath inwardly. Hearing the dialogue between these two, he felt that all the etiquette he had learned recently had been fed to the dogs. Did these guys not know what politeness was?

"Let's go. Where do you want to go? I'll show you around." Shime walked over and patted Kanna on the shoulder, seemingly showing goodwill.

Hiss. This time, Kanna actually cried out in pain. What immense strength!

If a Kaguya clansman who hadn't awakened his bloodline limit had such a powerful physique, then what about the Shikotsumyaku?

No matter what! The bones of the Shikotsumyaku must be obtained!