Tsunade's Mission

"Tsunade took Uzumaki Shin to meet Kurama Fu."

The Third Hokage held his pipe, taking a puff now and then, his brow furrowed tightly.

"Yes, Lord Third Hokage. From what we've learned, Uzumaki Shin wanted to learn genjutsu from Kurama Fu, but Kurama Fu refused."

An Anbu ninja standing beside him reported to the Third Hokage.

There was no way Tsunade could bring Shin to meet Kurama Fu without the Anbu keeping an eye on them. Once the Anbu knew, the Third Hokage would naturally find out.

"I see." Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded, then paid it no further attention.

By then, Tsunade and Shin had returned home. Shin went straight to his room and activated his Mangekyō Sharingan.

As he took in the changes, he felt his ocular power had doubled. His Sharingan's genjutsu should be much stronger now, though he didn't have anyone in mind to test it on just yet.

With his immense mental strength, Shin felt that his genjutsu attacks could become tangible.

It seemed copying the Kurama Clan's Kekkei Genkai had been the right choice. Shin's strength had increased considerably, especially since it made up for his shortcomings in genjutsu.

It wasn't that Shin's genjutsu had been weak before. After all, he had the Mangekyō Sharingan—how could his genjutsu be weak? It

just paled in comparison to his taijutsu and ninjutsu.

After studying the changes to his Mangekyō Sharingan, Shin estimated that his ocular power was already immense. But he still wasn't sure when it would evolve into the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan.

"Shin, come out for a moment."

When he heard Tsunade call from outside, Shin opened his bedroom door and stepped out.

Once outside, Shin saw Orochimaru and Jiraiya, along with the students they had brought with them.

"Shin, it's been a while."

Orochimaru smiled and greeted Shin of his own accord, which surprised him.

Shin wasn't the only one surprised. Tsunade and Jiraiya, Orochimaru's teammates, were taken aback too. Orochimaru wasn't one to strike up conversations with people.

"To be honest, I'd originally wanted to be Shin's Jonin instructor," Orochimaru said.

"Hey, I didn't expect you to think so highly of this kid, Orochimaru. But he didn't do all that well at the Ninja Academy," Jiraiya said, looking Shin over in surprise.

"If you ever want to change Jonin instructors, Shin, you can come to me."

Orochimaru ignored Jiraiya and looked at Shin as he spoke.

"Orochimaru, are you trying to poach my student?" Tsunade's anger flared, and her chakra surged as she glared at him.

That damn snake Orochimaru dared to steal her student. Did he think she was an easy target?

"That's some frightening chakra." Orochimaru glanced at Tsunade, a flicker of envy in his eyes. Her chakra was far greater than his.

But Orochimaru wasn't afraid of Tsunade. Chakra alone wasn't a measure of strength; having more chakra didn't necessarily make someone stronger.

"Shin, what do you say?" Orochimaru kept his gaze on Shin, interest flickering in his eyes.

Shin found the whole thing unsettling.

"I'm happy with Tsunade. I haven't considered changing Jonin instructors."

Tsunade breathed a sigh of relief. She really had worried Shin might go off with Orochimaru. But she'd worried for nothing—Shin wouldn't follow that weirdo.

Orochimaru might be number one in the Naruto World when it came to research, but there was no denying he was a freak.

"That's a shame." Orochimaru shook his head in disappointment.

"What are you doing here?"

Shin turned

to ask Orochimaru and Jiraiya. They wouldn't have come all this way without a reason.

"Well, the three of us have a mission to carry out, so the nine of you will work together on a mission for now. The Third Hokage will send a Jonin to lead all three of your teams," Jiraiya told Shin.

"I see." Shin nodded, then looked at Tsunade.

"Tsunade, if you run into danger on your mission, get out of there quickly."

"Hey, Shin, are you worried about me?" Tsunade asked teasingly.

"Yeah. If you don't come back from your mission, I'll be in a real bind." Shin scratched his head.

Tsunade's expression darkened, and she couldn't help giving Shin a tap.

"Couldn't you say something nice for once?"

"The mission is urgent, so I'm leaving now. Head to Training Ground 24 and wait for your new Jonin leader."

Tsunade, Orochimaru, and Jiraiya left. Whatever mission required all three of them to go together couldn't be simple.

Still, all three were strong. Even if they did run into danger, they should be able to keep themselves safe.

"Shin, we're going on a mission together!" Nawaki said happily.

"Heh, I don't want to go dig cesspits with you."

Shin's remark made Nawaki's teammates, Hizashi Hyuga and Uzumaki Kai, scowl. Nawaki had actually told him about their cesspit-digging mission.

"Come on. Let's head to Konoha Training Ground 24."

Shin led the way to Konoha Training Ground 24. Mikoto and Kushina followed him, and Nawaki, Namikaze Minato, and the others came along too.

When they reached Konoha Training Ground 24, their new Jonin leader still hadn't arrived.

Shin simply found a spot and sat down.

"Hey, Shin, have you guys been on any missions?" Nawaki asked.

"Yeah, we did a C-rank mission, that's all." Shin smiled at him.

Nawaki jumped to his feet.

"What? You went on a C-rank mission? That's not fair! Why do we only get D-rank missions?"

Nawaki shouted, drawing everyone else's curious looks.

"Kushina, did you really go on a C-rank mission?" Uzumaki Akiko asked her.

Kushina nodded. There was no need to hide it, and she was proud of it.

"Hmph. Who knows if that's true," Uzumaki Kai said with a cold snort.

Compared to the others, Uzumaki Kai seemed like he didn't belong. Even his teammates, Nawaki and Hizashi Hyuga, didn't want anything to do with him.

When they'd first become teammates, Nawaki had tried to get along with Uzumaki Kai. But he'd given up by now.

"Uzumaki Kai, are you looking for a beating?" Kushina said, standing up.

"You think I'm afraid of you?" Uzumaki Kai looked at Kushina disdainfully.

"Don't waste your breath on him. Just hit him," Shin told Kushina.

Threats were pointless. Taking action worked better than making a thousand threats.

Kushina nodded and immediately used the Sealing Jutsu Adamantine Sealing Chains, binding Uzumaki Kai so tightly that he couldn't move.

Uzumaki Akiko's eyes widened. Even she couldn't use the Sealing Jutsu Adamantine Sealing Chains that skillfully.

After being raised as a Jinchuriki, Uzumaki Akiko had received careful instruction from Uzumaki Mito. Yet

even so, she could only just manage to use the Adamantine Sealing Chains. She couldn't use them as easily or skillfully as Kushina.

Pinned down, Uzumaki Kai was so humiliated and furious that he roared and struggled. All he got in return was a disdainful look from Kushina.