S-Rank Mission: Capture

Two girls, one older and one younger, were kneeling before a grave, weeping.

The older girl was named Kanae Kocho, and the younger one was Shinobu Kocho.

A letter told the story of this young girl and her sister.

Beside the grave, a monk was also weeping.

Baiyu stood beside the young girl, quietly watching the experiences of her life.

From the moment she lost her loved ones, a swordsman with weak talent grew into a powerful Hashira.

Hashira—a title for the strongest class of demon slayers in Shinobu Kocho's world.

In the end, when she fell, she bloomed like a brilliant, dazzling firework.

The girl's originally lively and active personality gradually grew reserved after her sister's death, and until her final moments, she wore a quiet, harmonious smile.

As the girl passed away, the vision came to an abrupt end.

Before Baiyu could even lament the girl's tragic life, he suddenly heard a system prompt ring in his ears.

"Comprehended the life of Shinobu Kocho—Tragic! Obtained passive skill: Toxin Mastery."

"Toxin Mastery (Demon): Master the profound mysteries of toxins that restrain demons or spirits, making battles against demons simpler. Note: If it allows you to be destroyed, then I am happy to accept death—Shinobu Kocho."

"Ding-dong, Flower Breathing and Insect Breathing comprehension failed, item destroyed!"

As the system prompt sounded, the illusion shattered, and Baiyu returned to reality.

At this moment, his mind was flooded with a vast amount of knowledge regarding toxins from plants and animals.

"Flower Breathing, Insect Breathing... did I miss them? No wonder it was rated A-rank. If I could have comprehended the Breathing Styles, I might have inherited the lifelong swordsmanship attainments of the Kocho sisters!"

After the item shattered, Baiyu finally reacted, feeling a slight pain in his chest. He had watched with his own eyes as Shinobu Kocho studied her family's pharmacology and watched her modify potions to finally master Toxin Mastery... Breathing Styles, which relied on comprehension, were not meant for him!

He hadn't obtained the most precious Breathing Styles!

Every sword technique was accompanied by a corresponding Breathing Style.

Mastering a Breathing Style was the true beginning of swordsmanship practice.

This was the system's introduction to Breathing Styles.

And obtaining Toxin Mastery to restrain demons? In the Naruto world, that was useless!!!

An A-rank item traded for a chicken-rib skill.

The first time he spent five thousand draws, his heart ached.

Calculating it, the result of two and a half years of practice, his heart ached even more.

"I still can't rely on external objects! I will honestly practice drawing my blade for the rest of my life! I will become the world's strongest by drawing my blade!"

Baiyu cheered himself up and began practicing again, by which time the sun had already appeared.

It wasn't until the sun was directly overhead that Baiyu finished his training, packed his things, and headed back.

He had a mission at noon today, and Baiyu had remembered this at the start.

But once he began practicing his blade draws, casting aside all distracting thoughts to focus on his training, he had forgotten it entirely.

His morning of training had completed nearly two thousand blade draws.

Current blade draws: 16910/100000.

Returning to the clan's street, thinking of the one million reward for the mission, Baiyu decided to treat himself.

Time to hit a restaurant!

After finishing his meal and returning home, he found two gatekeepers standing at his front door.

"You're finally back!"

Uchiha Itachi said with a dark face.

At this point, a full hour had passed since their scheduled meeting time.

Shisui still had a smile on his face, though it was rather stiff, and he said with forced gentleness: "Since everyone is here, let's execute the mission immediately! We cannot delay."

"I need to change my clothes; this is my training gear, and I'm not wearing my forehead protector!"

Baiyu pointed at his body and then at his forehead.

"Hurry!"

Shisui's brow twitched, his awkward smile vanished, and he said expressionlessly.

After some preparations, Baiyu left the house and followed Shisui out of the village.

"What is this mission?"

Baiyu asked.

He had initially thought Shisui would explain the mission requirements to them, as Shisui had done so last time.

But after traveling for half a day, Shisui hadn't said a word.

"It's confidential for now! I can only tell you the details after we leave the village."

Shisui said.

Uchiha Itachi was startled to hear Shisui's words; ordinary missions did not come with such conditions.

"An S-rank mission?"

Itachi asked aloud.

Compared to the bumpkin Baiyu, Itachi, as the son of the Uchiha clan head, knew a bit more about the village's affairs.

He had never accepted an S-rank mission either, but he at least knew a thing or two.

"S-rank?"

Baiyu raised an eyebrow, sizing up Uchiha Shisui and the short Uchiha Itachi.

Had both of these cheaters already awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan?

A Jonin daring to take two Chunin on an S-rank mission.

This was truly arrogant!

Baiyu never dared to be arrogant, especially in a world where human life was as cheap as grass.

Without a protagonist's halo, hot-bloodedness and arrogance were just ways to court death.

Shisui looked back at Itachi, then caught the suspicion in Baiyu's eyes, and could only nod as he said, "That's right!"

"The mission details must be made clear, otherwise I refuse to carry out the mission!"

Baiyu snapped back to reality and stopped in his tracks.

In his memory, when Uchiha Shisui and Uchiha Itachi teamed up, there was no other Uchiha clan member present.

If the original Baiyu had indeed joined Shisui's squad at this time, would he have died in the next battle?

Could it be that I am the teammate whose death triggers Shisui's Mangekyo awakening???

A thought couldn't help but bubble up from the bottom of Baiyu's heart.

Heaven knows if Uchiha Shisui had already been triggered to awaken his eyes by now!

Over the two days they had spent together, he clearly felt that Shisui's relationship with this guy was not as good as it was with Itachi.

When they first met, Itachi still had the one million ryo reward from their last mission tucked in his pocket, the corner of that familiar envelope just peeking out.

He had personally visited yesterday to deliver the money and even shared a meal.

Yet Itachi only handed him the money when they met up today.

Who was held in higher regard was clear at a glance.

Baiyu's guess was not without merit.

Shisui saw that both Itachi and Baiyu had stopped, and he knew that he couldn't get away without explaining this clearly.

"Obey orders!"

Shisui put away his smile and said coldly, attempting to exert his authority.

"Captain, this is the first time I've called you that, and it might be the last. You cannot disregard our safety! To take on a mission far beyond our current strength—not only will the mission fail, but it will also cause incalculable consequences. I believe you are not qualified to serve as a captain!"

Baiyu retorted.

His words received partial approval from Uchiha Itachi.

Putting the completion of a mission above all else was an iron law for ninjas.

But there was a prerequisite: the mission had to be within the strength range of the ninja squad; if it exceeded that, one could choose to abandon the mission.

S-rank missions involved state and village secrets, and the danger level skyrocketed.

Chunin had another name in such missions—cannon fodder.

"This mission, I tell you in the name of the clan's safety, is very important!"

Shisui's expression softened, and he said helplessly.

"This..."

Uchiha Itachi hesitated; at this moment, the clan still occupied a certain place in his heart.

"That does not prevent you from informing us of the specific details of the S-rank mission."

Baiyu did not compromise; instead, he continued to press him.

After a standoff, seeing Baiyu's resolute attitude, Shisui finally compromised and revealed the content of the S-rank mission.

"This mission is titled: Hunting Orochimaru! Orochimaru has been classified as an S-rank missing-nin by the Anbu, and the Third Hokage has ordered that Orochimaru be captured alive and brought back to Konoha to be dealt with by the Hokage himself."

"However, that is the duty of the Anbu; our mission is to head to the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Water to prevent Orochimaru from defecting to the Land of Water!"