Chapter 142

After making the deal with Orochimaru, Shiro's training focus shifted entirely to Magecraft, with only basic daily training remaining.

He devoted all his remaining time to it, and didn't even attend the discussion meetings for Hawk Plan. But it wouldn't have mattered anyway, since he didn't have much say in the matter.

Secondly, the deal still didn't go through. According to Sakumo, it seems that Shiro needs to further reduce the costs, but Shiro didn't pay too much attention to this matter.

He continued to train on his own, following his own path completely, after all, Hawk Plan was a trap! Shiro knew this best; the most important aspect of Hawk Plan was its influence.

However, it will take several years to realize this; in the early stages, there is only investment and no return, just like the high-speed rail in China in Shiro's previous China.

Similarly, dividends will only be distributed after the Hawk Plan generates profits.

Therefore, Shiro wouldn't be foolish enough to throw his energy into it; he's not that noble.

Of course, Shiro didn't spend every day training; he occasionally went out for gatherings and such. It was during these gatherings that Shiro became aware of a blind spot. (To be continued...)

It's about the Rasengan. Originally, during their conversation, Shiro subtly touched on Minato's lack of attack power, wanting to guide him in developing the Rasengan.

Therefore, Shiro realized that Minato had already begun developing the Rasengan and had already made some progress.

The others were fine, after all, Minato was a genius, developing Ninjutsu was nothing special for him, especially since he hadn't succeeded.

However, Shiro was completely baffled. He clearly remembered the clothes Jiraiya showed Minato the Rasengan, so he always thought that Minato had the idea after fighting the Raikage, A.

After all, ordinary ninjas don't have the same defensive capabilities as A; they would die from a single kunai.

But now, only a year or two after Second Shinobi World War ended, this is no longer a butterfly effect, this is a roc reaction!

However, after calming down and thinking things through, Shiro remembered some things and discovered a blind spot.

In his past life, Shiro played a Naruto game where the ninja skills had to be approved by the copyright holder. One of the skills of the young Jiraiya in the game was the Rasengan!

Therefore, Shiro went to investigate and found that he had also used the Rasengan when testing Nagato and the others!

Therefore, Shiro guessed that Jiraiya must have returned to the village while teaching Nagato and the others, which is during this time when Minato developed the Rasengan and taught it to Jiraiya.

After learning the technique, Jiraiya made a point of returning to show it off to Minato before changing back into battle clothes to fight Nagato.

Although it's a bit far-fetched and doesn't stand up to scrutiny—for example, Minato not using the Rasengan against A—it's the most reasonable explanation Shiro could come up with.

Regardless, Minato's Rasengan has already begun development, and judging from the current situation, it's almost complete. Now it just needs some fine-tuning of the details.

These are the very Shiro wanted to learn through the Rasengan, therefore, he was destined not to be able to help Minato.

Then Shiro stopped paying attention to these things. What good would it do to develop the Rasengan? Before the Magecraft Workshop was completed and his attributes were broken through, everything else had to take a backseat, and his focus should be on training in Magecraft.

And so, two weeks after Shiro made his deal with Orochimaru, Shiro and his companions received another mission assigned by the Hokage.

However, this time it was only Shiro's team; no other teams joined.

This time, Shiro and the others waited directly at the village entrance instead of going to the Hokage's office. After all, the Hokage has a lot of things to do, and Shiro and the others aren't the main characters, so the Hokage won't handle every mission.

Even if he assigned it, it's the same.

Shiro and his companions are on an escort mission to the Land of Rivers. Nakamura didn't say who they're escorting, but Shiro hopes it's a princess or something, and that the two of them will have a tragic love story!

Unfortunately, even Shiro fool could see that this was impossible. It was impossible to send a princess on a diplomatic mission abroad, and the Land of Fire did not need to maintain peace through marriage alliances.

They have always been the ones accepting arranged marriages.

Shiro had no idea what they were talking about, but he guessed Nakamura didn't know either, since Shiro and his group were just high-level thugs.

Shiro and the others waited for quite a while, but the other party still didn't come. Shiro didn't want to just wait around like that.

Therefore, he asked Nakamura, "Captain, do you know who we're escorting this time?"

Upon hearing this, Nakamura, seeing that the other party had not yet arrived, answered Shiro and the others, since waiting like this was really boring.

"The target of this mission is a minister close to the Daimyo. We have important matters to discuss in Land of Rivers, so there will be assassination attempts along the way. Our mission is simple: just take care of those people."

"Minister," Shiro sighed in disappointment, then said, "Captain, are there any precautions to take for escort missions? I've never done this kind of mission before."

"Never done this before? That's alright, it's just like our usual journey, only a bit slower, and you'll need to pay more attention along the way. Just listen to my instructions."

"I understand, how come they're here? Oh, they're here."

As they were talking, the other party's carriage slowly drove out and stopped in front of Shiro and the others.

At that moment, a slightly effeminate male voice came from inside the carriage. "You must be Captain Nakamura. Thank you for your help this time. I'm sorry, but due to some reasons, I cannot show myself. Please understand."

"It's alright, sir, shall we set off now?" Nakamura understood the situation; after all, if his appearance were exposed, his danger would at least double! Therefore, he didn't care about such things.

"Thank you for your understanding, that's fine now."

Upon hearing this, Nakamura gave Shiro a look, Shiro understood.

"Summoning Technique!"

"Gray Snake, thank you for your help."

"Hiss~ Hiss~"

"Really? I understand, I will."

After hearing this, the Gray Snake quickly disappeared from Shiro and the others' sight.

What did it say?

Upon hearing Taichi's question, Shikaki and the others also looked at Shiro.

"Oh, it's nothing. There are some scout snakes in Ryūchi Cave. They said they'd take them out for some training later, but the Gray Snake will be with us too, so it won't affect our mission."

"Oh, that's alright then. It's been so helpful all this time, as long as it doesn't interfere with the mission, it's fine."

After that, they began their tedious journey as usual. Since it was an escort mission, their speed was based on that of the ministers, so it was relatively slow.

Furthermore, Shiro's Reconnaissance Network is not yet fully deployed, so we cannot let our guard down. Otherwise, it would be too embarrassing to fail at the village gate.

It'll Jonin world's front page in no time!

Therefore, they inspected this section of the road with extra care and caution, partly to cooperate with Shiro in developing his Reconnaissance Network.

Thank you to Eat My Excalibur 666, Tenghoulin, Zi Yue, and Purple Lightning for the monthly tickets! Thank you for your support! Finally, welcome to join the Projection Magecraft book club, group chat number: 735552170