The Mission Continues

A very, very long time ago, before the concept of hidden villages even existed.

The shinobi lived for their own causes. It was an era of chaos.

Legend had it that the Sage of Six Paths founded Ninshu, discovered how to use chakra, and spread ninjutsu throughout the world through Ninshu.

After that, shinobi came into being.

The Sage of Six Paths brought peace to the chaotic era, but chaos would never disappear. One era of chaos after another would continue to arise.

Even now, with the Five Great Shinobi Villages, the Ninja World had already seen two shinobi wars.

Wars broke out frequently. There was no stopping them.

"The Land of Waterfalls used to be a small village, isolated from the rest of the world. It should have stayed that way forever, but peace never lasts."

"The Land of Waterfalls possesses two treasures that make the rest of the world covet them."

Jiraiya Squad listened quietly as Kuchiki Kei spoke. The carriage had stopped, and they wanted to learn more about the situation.

"Two treasures?"

Kushina and Mikoto repeated, completely drawn into the story.

"Mm."

Hui nodded. Heili looked troubled beside her.

"They're powers even the Kage covet, powers comparable to a Tailed Beast."

As Hui's voice trailed off, Jiraiya's eyes lit up.

Yueshu glanced at Jiraiya. Minato Namikaze, beside him, also looked surprised.

—A power comparable to a Tailed Beast?

It had happened again.

Yueshu took a breath. He had run into another event that deviated from the original story, something that had never appeared in it.

Another unpredictable event, and an extremely dangerous one at that.

"One is the Hero Water, which can increase a person's chakra tenfold. The other is the Chakra Fruit beneath it."

Yueshu sucked in a sharp breath.

He remembered now.

The Hero Water.

It was a treasure from Takigakure in the original story.

But the Chakra Fruit was different. It hadn't appeared in the original story.

"Can it increase someone's chakra tenfold?"

Jiraiya was stunned. Kushina and the others were surprised, too.

"Mm."

Hui nodded.

"But the Hero Water has a side effect. In exchange for the increase, it consumes the user's life."

"That seems fair."

Jiraiya said softly.

There had to be a price. A tenfold increase in chakra with no cost would be downright terrifying.

If the person enhanced already had chakra comparable to a Tailed Beast, or was a Jinchuriki, the effect would be horrifying.

"What about the Chakra Fruit?"

Yueshu was the one who asked. He still remembered the Hero Water, but he was curious about the Chakra Fruit, which had never appeared in the original story.

If he wasn't mistaken—

"Those people are after the Chakra Fruit, right?"

Yueshu ventured a guess. Hui and Heili fell silent, and the others looked toward Hui.

"Mm. Probably."

Hui smiled bitterly.

Heili sighed, too.

"The Chakra Fruit? Is it even more effective than the Hero Water? I mean, does it boost chakra even more?"

Minato Namikaze thought it over, then gave his answer.

"No. In truth, we don't know what the Chakra Fruit is like."

Hui shook his head.

"The Chakra Fruit is beneath the Hero Water. We don't know what it's like, either."

"Then why are you sure there's a Chakra Fruit down there?"

"We saw it."

"..."

"What did you see?"

Yueshu and Hui stared intently at each other while the others watched their exchange.

"Takigakure—"

"You mean Takigakure, right? It's not an ordinary village, but a small shinobi village."

Yueshu looked at Hui.

Hui's lips moved a few times before she continued.

"There's a stone tablet in Takigakure. It records a legend."

"The legend says that chakra came from the fruit of a tree, not that it was discovered by the Sage of Six Paths. Ninjutsu did, too. Everything about shinobi came from the fruit. It was called the God Tree Fruit, and the Chakra Fruit—"

"—is a small God Tree Fruit."

When Hui finished, the whole group fell quiet.

Yueshu's eyes trembled.

Of course he knew the truth behind the Sage of Six Paths' legend.

Everything began with the Otsutsuki Clan. Kaguya Otsutsuki brought the seed of the God Tree to this planet, planted the God Tree, and ate its fruit. That was how chakra came to be. But nobody knew this history. Perhaps only Black Zetsu and Yueshu knew the truth in the entire world.

And yet now, some inexplicable stone tablet seemed to hint at all of it.

And it even mentioned the Chakra Fruit—

Honestly, Yueshu no longer knew what he should do.

"The God Tree Fruit..."

Jiraiya murmured, resting a hand on his chin as he thought.

"Was the Sage of Six Paths' legend false?"

Kushina asked, confused.

Minato Namikaze and Mikoto also looked bewildered.

"I don't know, but the Chakra Fruit and the stone tablet are real."

"If..."

Yueshu's voice drew everyone's attention.

"If the Chakra Fruit really exists, and those people were after it, why did they attack you?"

Yueshu looked at Hui.

As he'd said before, Heili was a merchant with a gentle, innocent daughter like Hui, yet their behavior and conversation didn't feel like those of a father and daughter.

Judging by the way Heili had looked at Hui just now, that wasn't how someone looked at his daughter.

It was how someone looked at his superior, like Konoha shinobi looking at Sarutobi Hiruzen.

Heili opened his mouth to speak, but Hui raised a hand to stop him.

"Princess."

Heili said softly. Everyone froze at the word.

"Princess?!"

Hui answered their surprise with a smile.

"Let me introduce myself again."

"My name is Kuchiki Kei, and I am the Guardian of the Chakra Fruit."

Yueshu looked at Hui without speaking. Hui continued.

"The Chakra Fruit is a small God Tree Fruit. Whoever eats it gains power surpassing that of a Kage. I am the one who guards it."

"As its Guardian, my blood can make the Chakra Fruit appear. Otherwise, it cannot be found."

"So those people targeted you because they wanted the fruit. It has power that surpasses a Kage."

Yueshu slowly pieced together what had happened.

The enemy coveted the power contained in the Chakra Fruit, a small God Tree Fruit, and Kuchiki Kei was the key to obtaining it. To get the Chakra Fruit, they first needed Kuchiki Kei's blood.

Yueshu was speechless.

He really wanted to complain about Konoha's C-rank missions.

Were all of Konoha's C-rank missions actually A-rank missions disguised as C-rank ones?

"Ugh, this is getting troublesome. That's why I hate C-rank missions. My first C-rank mission was like this, too."

Jiraiya complained from the side. Yueshu's mouth twitched.

—So you're a victim of Konoha's C-rank missions, too!

"According to Konoha's regulations, we have grounds to abandon this mission."

Yueshu said to Hui.

"But Princess Hui's safety—"

Hui said nothing. Heili spoke instead.

"Still, we won't stand by and let someone die. I'm taking this mission."

Everyone present was stunned by Yueshu's words.

"You're impossible, you know that? Well, a teacher has to take responsibility for his student's impulsiveness."

Jiraiya smiled.

"Besides, we're a team."

"That's true."

"That's not like you, Yueshu."

Kushina, Mikoto, and Minato Namikaze each chimed in, all agreeing.

Every member of Jiraiya Squad approved. Yueshu's proposal passed.

"Thank you."

"Well, I just got carried away for a moment."

Yueshu wasn't good at this sort of thing, so he brushed it off casually.

Hui's smile was gentle as it bloomed in Yueshu's eyes.

Author's note: This is an original plot with original worldbuilding.