The caravan traveled smoothly,
and entered the Land of Tea.
Uchiha Yuzhen knew the mission was about to end.
Sitting on the roof of the carriage, he pulled out a rune-engraved hilt.
It was the hilt of Kubikiribōchō!
While cleaning up the battlefield, Yuzhen had found it. Somehow, Scorch Release hadn't completely melted it.
He knew exactly what Kubikiribōchō was.
It was a special Ninja Blade with the property of "Indestructible."
"Indestructible" meant that even if the blade was damaged, it could recover whenever it wounded someone.
It absorbed the iron in the victim's blood to restore the blade.
When he'd seen that the hilt was intact, Yuzhen had figured Kubikiribōchō could be restored, so he picked it up.
Just as he'd expected,
the core of the blade was in the hilt. The runes engraved inside it allowed the weapon to recover as long as it could still come into contact with blood.
But that wasn't the most important part.
When Uchiha Yuzhen gripped the hilt, something completely unexpected happened.
He'd extracted an Affix from a ninja tool—or rather, a special weapon!
[Bloodsucking Immortality (Blue)]: Absorbs iron ions from blood to restore metal implements.
A special Affix!
Just like [Eye of the Divine Realm (Red)], which Obito had given him.
Both were one-time Affixes with specific requirements.
[Eye of the Divine Realm (Red)] could only be used once the Sharingan had reached the Mangekyō Sharingan stage.
Once used, it disappeared.
As for Kubikiribōchō's [Vampiric Immortality (Blue)] Affix, it had to be attached to a metal implement.
At that moment, Uchiha Yuzhen had only one thought.
Once he returned to the village, he'd get his hands on a Katana made of Chakra Metal, even if he had to sell everything he owned!
Then he'd attach this Affix, which could make metal weapons "Indestructible," to it.
That would let him create
his signature weapon for the future!
He'd upgrade the Affix through the Affix System and turn his weapon into a true Divine Artifact.
That would make him even stronger!
At that moment,
Uchiha Yuzhen was already looking forward to returning to the village.
With that thought, he called out to Minato, who was walking ahead. "Minato-sensei, I found something!"
His reasoning was simple.
He'd already obtained the Ninja Blade's Affix, so the blade itself—which Kirigakure could summon away—was useless to him.
It was useless to him, but it would be useful to the village!
The Seven Ninja Swordsmen needed seven specially made Ninja Blades to make up the full set, right?
Why did the Five Great Shinobi Nations like to
put together famous teams like these?
It was simple: name recognition!
The more famous a team was, the more the nobles trusted the village's strength.
That meant a greater share of missions!
More missions meant more money.
And more money meant more resources, allowing the village to grow stronger.
"So... after Kirigakure lost this Ninja Blade, they'll definitely come to Konoha asking about it."
"Then the village can use it as a bargaining chip and negotiate terms that benefit Konoha."
Uchiha Yuzhen had caught up with Namikaze Minato and was explaining his reasoning at length.
He genuinely believed everything he'd said.
He also had a selfish motive.
He knew no Sealing Jutsu, so he probably couldn't keep the Ninja Blade anyway.
One summoning jutsu from its owner, and it would be gone.
He might as well hand it over to the village, earn some goodwill with Minato, and secure himself an asset within the village.
Of course, the impression he'd gotten from the manga and anime made him worry that Sarutobi Hiruzen might no longer be the "Ninja Hero" he'd once been.
Maybe he'd become the appeasing Hokage of later years. That was why Yuzhen had said a few extra words to Minato.
Hearing him out, Namikaze Minato chuckled and shook his head as he took the hilt of Kubikiribōchō from Yuzhen.
"Yuzhen... you don't really think all the village's leaders are nice, do you?" After sealing the hilt with a jutsu,
Minato clutched his head and sighed to Uchiha Yuzhen, looking troubled.
He figured his student had gotten that idea from somewhere.
From Yuzhen's words, he could tell
the kid was afraid the village would hand Kubikiribōchō back to Kirigakure for nothing.
Minato thought his student was being naive.
Forget that Lord Third, the "Ninja Hero," would never do such a thing!
Danzo, that "Darkness of the Shinobi," was a hardline member of the Hawk Faction. He'd never allow it, either.
Seeing the helpless look on Namikaze Minato's face, Uchiha Yuzhen froze.
The village's leaders weren't all nice?
True!
With Danzo around, the village leaders
couldn't all be nice.
But in the manga, Sarutobi Hiruzen, who'd always pursued a policy of appeasement, and the people under him had all seemed that way, hadn't they?
Wait! Uchiha Yuzhen suddenly realized something.
He remembered that early on, Sarutobi Hiruzen had also been known as the "Ninja Hero."
With that in mind,
"So that's how it is, Minato-sensei... That's a relief." Yuzhen nodded in response.
He'd figured it out, too. If Minato said so, he'd take his word for it.
In any case, he'd handed over the special weapon. Given Namikaze Minato's character,
his contribution wouldn't go unrecognized, so he didn't need to worry about that.
After handing over the weapon,
they finally arrived at the capital of the Land of Tea.
The mission had reached its true conclusion.
The mission in the Land of Tea ended with a smooth handover.
After declining the caravan leader's invitation and signing the mission completion form,
Team Minato set off back to the village.
Konoha was located in the center of the Land of Fire.
The journey back from the Land of Tea was quick for a ninja team.
Before long,
not even two days later,
Team Minato had returned to Konoha.
It was midday, with the sun shining brightly.
Outside Konoha Gate, Namikaze Minato looked at everyone in Team Minato.
He smiled warmly.
"Thanks for all your hard work. You're dismissed for now."
"As your Jonin commander, I'll submit the mission report and collect your payment."
"Let's meet at the Akimichi Clan's Yakiniku Restaurant this evening to celebrate completing our first mission!"
"Yes, Minato-sensei! ×4"
Namikaze Minato waved goodbye to his students with a smile.
As soon as he turned around, his expression grew extremely serious.
At that moment, Minato
was wondering how he should submit the report!
It was a very troublesome report!
He was an exceptionally perceptive man. Among the village leaders, apart from Lord Third,
he could sense the others' wariness, dislike, and jealousy toward the Uchiha...
Uchiha Yuzhen had stood out far too much during this mission!
Their enemy, Juzo Biwa, was one of Kirigakure's most famous ninja.
He was one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen!
A ninja of that caliber was one of the very best among the Five Great Shinobi Nations' hundreds of thousands of shinobi.
Yet Uchiha Yuzhen, still a boy who'd only been active for a few years, had killed him!
Then there was the issue of Uchiha Yuzhen's Sharingan, which he'd awakened only recently.
He'd gone straight from just opening his eyes to the Three Tomoe stage.
His talent with the Sharingan was jaw-dropping. Aside from awakening it late, he was flawless in every other regard.
His learning ability was just as astonishing.
Flying Thunder God, Nintaijutsu, Ninjutsu,
and his ability to adapt in battle!
Not to mention the unheard-of ability to copy Kekkei Genkai...
Taken together, all of it had left Namikaze Minato stunned.
How could anyone call him merely a genius?!
He was a monster!
Thinking that such a monster had become his student,
Minato knew that as his teacher... he absolutely couldn't let darkness taint Yuzhen. He had to guide him well.
He had to help Uchiha Yuzhen become a shinobi who truly embraced the "Will of Fire."
The only good news was...
Among the village leaders, the one person without strong prejudice against the Uchiha
happened to be Lord Hokage himself!
It looked like he really would need to have a good talk with Lord Third.
Having made up his mind,
Minato sorted out his thoughts and strode toward the Hokage Building.
Unlike Minato, who was fretting over how to submit the report,
Yuzhen had returned home and begun taking stock of everything.
He opened the System Panel.
Before you continue