Mission Start

The origin of this mission dates back to the recent Battle of Tanzaku Castle.

During the series of wars waged between the daimyo Takeda and Imagawa over Tanzaku Castle, a shipment of supplies belonging to the Takeda clan was intercepted by Imagawa.

Before the Imagawa samurai could transport these supplies to their own territory, a group of rogue ninja set their sights on them.

After a series of twists and turns, the Imagawa samurai were wiped out by these ninja, and the large cache of supplies vanished without a trace.

It wasn't until a few days ago that the Imagawa intelligence network heard rumors of someone attempting to sell a massive quantity of military supplies on the black market.

According to the black market merchant's description, the goods were identical to the lost Takeda supplies.

The leader of these rogue ninja is named Hayasaka Sae, a man who has committed numerous major crimes and is already notorious among various daimyo.

He has hidden all the supplies in Mount Hakkoda, and the black market merchant is scheduled to receive them there in five days.

Naturally, the merchants do not care who the original owner of the supplies might be.

Imagawa, having heard of the Uchiha clan's active performance during the Battle of Tanzaku Castle, sought them out specifically and issued a bounty to the Uchiha ninja.

The mission is to locate Hayasaka Sae's hideout in Mount Hakkoda and mark the target for the Imagawa army's offensive.

At the same time, before the Imagawa army launches its full-scale assault, they must infiltrate the rogue ninja's camp to carry out an assassination and secure Hayasaka Sae's head.

Inside the supply warehouse, Shiri briefed Qiancao and Wuming on the general situation of the mission.

Qiancao listened attentively from the side; after all, this was his first time going out, and if all went well, he would have to find an opportunity to escape along the way.

Wuming also stayed quietly to the side, though she wasn't really listening to what Shiri was saying. Whenever she went out on missions in the past, she only cared about "where to go and how many to kill," paying no mind to anything else.

This time was no exception. She had no interest in the mission details, merely feigning an attentive appearance while occasionally stealing a glance at Qiancao beside her.

Mount Hakkoda is one of the famous high mountains in the vicinity, with extremely complex terrain and topography. Without the help of the locals, it would be difficult to quickly find the rogue ninja hiding within.

Therefore, Shiri planned to disguise themselves as commoners to scout the outskirts of Mount Hakkoda before heading into the mountains to search for them.

The cover story she devised for the group was that they were four siblings coming to Mount Hakkoda to seek refuge with relatives who worked as hunters.

After explaining the plan, Shiri pulled out two sets of clothes and handed them to the pair, signaling for them to change.

Wuming immediately stripped off her old clothes upon receiving the new ones. When it came time to change her footwear, she hesitated for a moment, but still took off the straw sandals Qiancao had given her and replaced them with ordinary cloth shoes.

However, she found a piece of white cloth, carefully wrapped the straw sandals, and hid them against her chest.

Shiri prepared several backpacks filled with kunai, shuriken, explosive tags, smoke bombs, military rations, and other supplies, handing them to the two.

She warned them strictly not to reveal the contents of the bags until the assassination began.

Once the two were ready, Shiri led them out of the warehouse, only to run into Uchiha Naoto, who was waiting by the entrance as if he had been expecting them.

"You're here," Naoto greeted the three with a smile.

This was Qiancao's first time facing Naoto directly. For some reason, although Naoto looked handsome and kind, and his demeanor was as refreshing and approachable as a spring breeze, looking into his eyes made Qiancao's hair stand on end. A chill rose from within him, a hundred times more terrifying than the blustering Keisuke.

Sure enough, after the greetings, Naoto slid a porcelain bottle from his sleeve and handed it to Shiri, telling the two, "Eat these."

Although there was nothing unusual in his tone, Wuming and Qiancao couldn't help but each pour out a red pill and swallow it without hesitation.

It was only after the action was completed that they snapped back to reality.

Seeing the two obediently take the pills, Naoto explained, "This is a new type of military ration pill I specially crafted. It can accelerate the recovery of chakra and is effective for seven days."

"But take note: if you do not consume the blue ration pill within seven days, the supplement you just took will turn into a poison. I cannot guarantee the outcome if that happens."

Looking at the smiling Naoto, the thought crossed Qiancao's mind: 'Three-Corpse Brain-Spirit Pill? You're not playing by the rules, kid.'

However, a doubt followed: could such a convenient poison really exist in this world?

If it did, the Uchiha wouldn't have rebelled so easily in the future. This old guy was likely just trying to scare them.

Naoto offered a few more words of encouragement, mostly about completing the mission early, before clearing the path to let the three leave.

After they had walked some distance, a voice suddenly reached Shiri's ears: "Be careful with Keisuke. I feel like there is something abnormal about him."

Shiri gave a slight nod to show she understood and continued leading the two away.

Watching their retreating figures, a ripple passed through Naoto's heart.

During this period, he clearly felt that his own thoughts were becoming abnormal, as the urge to study Qiancao kept popping up from time to time.

After much deliberation, he reached a hypothesis: Qiancao's Sharingan had unknowingly exerted an influence on him.

This peculiar Sharingan had piqued Naoto's interest, compelling him to study it against his own will.

Thus, he had specifically arranged this mission, all to give Qiancao a chance to escape.

"I hope Qiancao won't disappoint me and will seize this opportunity."

The three arrived at the exit of Naka Shrine, where Uchiha Keisuke was already waiting.

Keisuke was not wearing his exquisite armor. Having removed the unique decorative plating, he was left with nothing but a plain, unremarkable face.

A look that wouldn't draw any attention in a crowd was, without a doubt, the mark of a good ninja.

Based on Shiri's understanding of him, having the three of them keep him waiting for several minutes would surely have invited a deluge of complaints and mockery.

To her surprise, Keisuke merely offered a faint smile today: "You all worked hard. Let's head out!"

Keisuke's uncharacteristic behavior reminded Shiri of Naoto's instructions from earlier, and she couldn't help but complain inwardly: Spare me, why do I get stuck with such complicated missions every single day?

The four of them walked out of Naka Shrine; this was the first time Qiancao had been outside the dungeon since his transmigration.

The morning sunlight felt almost blinding to him, so he slowed his pace slightly, falling behind with Wuming, who had been keeping a close eye on him.

According to Shiri's understanding of Keisuke, he would likely be spewing sarcasm by now.

Who would have thought that Keisuke would simply show a look of concern from the side and ask kindly: "Are you alright? Do you need to take a break?"

Qiancao shook his head to signal he was fine. Having finally made it outside, he looked around in every direction, eager to see what the Naruto World was really like.

What met his eyes was a stretch of low-lying bungalows built from wood or straw, with the Uchiha Clan crest hanging over every doorway.

As the day's labor began, men dressed in coarse linen shirts carried farming tools toward the distant rice paddies, while women wove at looms in their courtyards or by their doors.

Many children were running about in groups. Upon closer observation, he realized they were playing ninja games; the children cast as the Senju Clan often wore mournful expressions, while the other group, playing their own kin, strutted about triumphantly, their backs held noticeably straighter.

Seeing Keisuke and Shiri emerge from the shrine, people of all ages and genders greeted them warmly: "Lord Keisuke! Lady Shiri! Good morning!"

It was a scene of harmonious, idyllic village life.

As for Qiancao and Wuming trailing behind, they were completely ignored.