Surely the old man Hokage wouldn't keep him behind, would he?
Orochimaru felt a little uneasy at that moment.
"I don't know... but he's probably fine!"
Yahiko sighed.
"Forget it! Let's all get back to our own business for now. Once this storm passes and the villages let their guard down, we'll go get Shukaku first!"
Everyone agreed.
Meanwhile, the entire Ninja World was in turmoil.
And it was the kind that affected every ninja.
That was because Wudarenze Village had joined forces to issue an announcement.
A Five Kage Summit would be held in Konoha in three days!
That's right, the highest-level meeting in the Naruto World was about to begin.
The reason was simple: the strongest village, Konoha, had been attacked repeatedly.
At the same time, the other villages had also felt that terrifying wave of energy.
The other four villages had called the meeting out of fear of being caught in the crossfire.
They didn't particularly care about Konoha. They were afraid they'd be next.
By then, the news had spread through almost all of Konoha.
At the Uchiha Clan compound,
Uchiha Sora held a freshly made, standard-issue AK-47 in his hands and carefully instructed Sasuke.
"See? This is the trigger, this is the firing mechanism, and this is the safety..."
Sasuke listened intently.
Every so often, he asked a question.
"Big bro, what's this thing called?"
"A rifle. More precisely, an AK-47 rifle!"
Deidara stood nearby, brimming with excitement.
"Art! Without a doubt, this is art too! The explosion isn't very loud, but somehow it still feels connected to art!"
Uchiha Sora pursed his lips. "Connected to art"? That was quite the appreciation.
The bullets might be small, but they were packed with pure gunpowder.
They were on a whole other level compared to Explosive Clay.
Seeing Deidara eyeing the weapon hungrily, Uchiha Sora pulled a belt of grenades from his robes.
A string of fist-sized green fruits hung from it.
At least, that was how they looked to Deidara.
In reality, these were shells Uchiha Sora had bought from the shop in his spare time. He had infused them with chakra to make High-Explosive Grenades!
Each one wasn't particularly powerful on its own, but its force was comparable to stacking dozens of Explosive Tags!
And with shrapnel packed inside, they could still deal a lot of damage if thrown accurately.
"Master, what's that?"
Deidara looked puzzled. As a Fire-style assistant, he clearly didn't recognize it. As a native of the Naruto World, he had no idea what it was.
"The gateway to art. They're also called Art Fruit. Just pull this ring, then throw one like a lump of Clay, and it'll explode!"
Uchiha Sora gave a mysterious smile and casually armed a grenade.
He threw it toward a rockery in the backyard.
With a bang!
The backyard, which Uchiha Sora had already filled with craters, now had one more.
Deidara was instantly thrilled!
"Holy crap! That explosion was crisp and clean, and loud enough to shake the heavens! Even better, it's got decent power. There seems to be some kind of shrapnel inside that can cause widespread damage..."
Anything involving explosions instantly turned Deidara into an expert.
Sometimes, his analysis even amazed Uchiha Sora.
"That's right. Its real name is a High-Explosive Fragmentation Grenade. It's made to kill. I don't have many, so use them sparingly!"
Uchiha Sora looked pained.
They might not be worth much, but they still used up his chakra.
Deidara looked grateful.
"Thank you, Master! I'll be sure to treasure them!"
As they spoke, Sasuke pulled the trigger beside them. Bullets flew out one after another, and with a series of bangs, the patch of ground in front of him was riddled with holes!
"Holy crap, Big bro! This thing's way better than Kunai!"
Sasuke was thrilled. He couldn't put the rifle down.
Uchiha Sora thought, Well, obviously.
No matter how skilled you were with a melee weapon, or how accurately you could throw it, how could it compete with a firearm?
He chuckled and pulled out another big weapon.
A Gatling Gun!
"See? Now this is a weapon of mass destruction!"
Uchiha Sora looked pleased with himself.
The two beside him watched, growing more and more stunned.
Just like that, Uchiha Sora showed off all kinds of weapons.
He also assigned appropriate equipment to each of them.
Since Sasuke had the Sharingan and could slow things down, a rifle suited him best.
He could practically hit every shot.
Deidara loved explosions, so Uchiha Sora gave him nothing but grenades and the like.
What's more, Uchiha Sora planned to build him a Grenade Launcher in a while.
Wouldn't that be a whole lot more advanced than Clay?
Just then, a system notification suddenly rang out deep in Uchiha Sora's mind!
"Ding! After the host goes on an expedition and returns alive, a reward will be granted!"
Uchiha Sora froze. Since when had this lousy system become so outgoing?
Didn't it usually suggest that he stay put in his own village?
But since there was a reward, and this clearly looked like a main quest, Uchiha Sora couldn't refuse.
He decisively chose to accept.
The moment he did, he heard footsteps outside the courtyard.
At the same time, outside the Uchiha Clan compound,
Kakashi and Jiraiya were heading toward Uchiha Sora's place with Naruto's team.
On the way, Kakashi looked hopeful.
"I never thought that one day I'd have to visit someone in person to recruit a student. And now I'm actually nervous he might not choose me."
Jiraiya chuckled.
"With Uchiha Sora's strength, convention says he needs a master, but honestly, apart from the Hokage and a handful of others, there aren't many people qualified to teach him."
"But still... I think he'll definitely choose me. After all, I'm one of the legendary Konoha Sannin!"
Kakashi gave him a disdainful look.
"Give me a break. This mission is practically mandatory. We're supposed to escort a Bridge Builder. It's not difficult, but the journey is long enough to give them some experience."
"You're just tagging along as a bodyguard. The Hokage actually meant for me to go teach Uchiha Sora!"
As it turned out, the Hokage had recently decided that although Uchiha Sora and the others had all advanced in rank,
their promotions hadn't come through the usual exams, so there was some doubt about whether they truly deserved them.
The Hokage knew the truth, but other people weren't willing to accept it.
So he had arranged this mission.
They would go through the motions, complete a mission by the book, and then, once they returned, their status would be official beyond dispute.
As the two talked, they reached the gate.
They were just about to knock when the door opened.
Deidara was the one who opened it.
"Are you two here to see my master? What's up?"
Jiraiya froze. Only then did it hit him: damn, Uchiha Sora was a Genin, yet someone from the Akatsuki was willing to be his student!
That meant Uchiha Sora's students could probably hold their own against them, too!
Before you continue