An Unusual Mission

"What is it?"

Hayato stepped beneath the shade of a nearby tree and faced Uchiha Shisui.

"I want to apologize for what I said yesterday."

As he spoke, Shisui bowed to Hayato.

Hayato immediately stepped aside to avoid the bow.

Was this some kind of joke? He was doing just fine and didn't want anyone bowing to him like that.

Besides, Shisui was publicly known as a Uchiha prodigy, while Hayato was a complete nobody. This could easily cause him a heap of trouble.

"It's fine. I only said what I wanted to say."

Hayato waved a hand. He'd already gotten the Bitter Fruit entry, and he didn't know if he'd get another chance to trigger it anytime soon.

Seeing that Hayato didn't seem particularly concerned about his apology, Shisui couldn't help feeling down.

What he'd said yesterday had only widened the divide between him and the Police Force members.

"Hayato, I've always wanted to become a Uchiha like my grandfather!" Shisui's gaze was firm, as if making a promise to Hayato.

"Your grandfather?" Hayato looked at Shisui in confusion, then realized he meant Kagami Uchiha.

"Lord Kagami Uchiha was a man worthy of respect." Hayato didn't think he had the right to criticize an elder who had dedicated himself to the Uchiha Clan.

Besides, Hayato had only heard about Kagami from other clan members.

That was also why some of the younger Uchiha looked up to Shisui as a role model.

It wasn't just because of his strength.

Hearing Hayato say that, Shisui smiled.

"Thank you." Shisui gave Hayato another solemn, slight bow, then took a manual from his clothes.

"These are some notes from my training. Well, they aren't entirely mine; I added a few things." Shisui looked at Hayato. "I watched your breathing while you were running just now."

"You're in good shape, and you have plenty of potential. I hope this can help."

With that, Shisui turned and left.

Hayato glanced at the manual in his hands and blinked. What was this supposed to mean?

Still, he put the manual away. A prodigy's training notes were bound to be useful as a reference.

Hayato turned and walked over to Seiichi and Rin, who had been waiting nearby for quite some time.

"What happened, Hayato?" Seiichi was the first to ask.

"He said he wanted to apologize for yesterday, but I turned him down." Hayato waved a hand as he explained.

"Oh, right. He gave me a training manual. Do you two want it?"

Hayato pulled out the manual and asked.

Since Shisui had given it to him, it was his to decide what to do with. The two beside him would be his regular teammates from now on.

Any boost would be a good one.

"I don't want it," Seiichi said, refusing outright.

Rin had been about to say yes, but seeing Seiichi's reaction, she fell silent.

"I'll hold on to it. Come find me whenever you want to read it." Hayato could tell Seiichi wasn't being honest, but he didn't press him.

The group continued with their other training, and didn't part ways until lunchtime.

On the way back, Hayato thought about his training plan and how to maximize the benefits of the system's entries.

The Uchiha were part of Konoha now. If Orochimaru defected, could Hayato get an entry from that, too?

After thinking it over, Hayato realized it was quite possible.

With that idea in mind, he began figuring out how to maximize the system's rewards during the incident.

It wasn't until he got home that he came to his senses and smacked his forehead. "The system is one thing, but I need to work hard at training myself, too."

Giving up on his own progress because of the system wouldn't be a mature choice.

"Let's take a look at the prodigy's training manual first."

The night was dark as ink by the time Hayato finally put the manual down.

"I have to admit, the guy really is a prodigy."

His insights into genjutsu and the Body Flicker Technique had taught Hayato quite a lot. As for Fire Release Ninjutsu?

Forget it. Although the Uchiha Clan was famous for Fire Style, ordinary clan members had to make a suitable contribution to gain access to it. Otherwise, they had to rely on whatever their families had kept from before.

Even Shisui wouldn't be so generous as to write those techniques in the manual.

Hayato had been in the Police Force for several years and had acquired a few Fire Style techniques, but most were C-rank, nowhere near as good as the ones his old man had left behind.

They weren't especially powerful, but they were far better than what some of Konoha's civilian ninja had.

For the next half month, Hayato kept up his usual routine. He no longer felt the urge to run away, which made life a little easier.

Or perhaps that was what it meant to have a clear conscience. Before, he'd thought about running, but he'd also felt he shouldn't.

There were people here he cared about. But with a knife at his throat, he had no choice but to make a decision.

"This entry system is way too hard to trigger."

For over half a month, he'd barely triggered the Bitter Fruit entry at all. It was as if all the moves happening in the shadows had stopped.

The calm before the storm?

The thought crossed Hayato's mind, and he grew quietly alert.

He had just arrived at the Police Force Building and was about to change into his gear when someone hurried over.

"Hayato, Seiichi..."

After rattling off several names, the squad leader finally spoke. "Get ready. There's been a small-scale raid at the border. The Hokage has sent word for the Konoha Military Police Force to deploy and assist."

Hayato, Seiichi, and Rin exchanged glances.

"What are you standing around for? Hurry!"

Seeing everyone frozen in place, the squad leader raised his voice.

Only then did they turn and head for the changing room. They couldn't wear their Police Force uniforms on a mission outside the village.

"What's going on?" Rin asked as she changed.

Hayato didn't answer, but he felt uneasy.

The Uchiha Clan didn't take on Konoha missions during peacetime. That had been the policy laid down by the Second Hokage.

Now they were sending out two squads. Who knew what that meant...

Thinking of this, Hayato said quietly, "Be careful. Something feels off about this mission."

After changing, Hayato followed the other two to collect the mission scroll.

They opened it and saw that their squad's destination was the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Rain.

"Let's go."

With that, Hayato headed straight for the village gates.

The mission description was far too vague. It simply told them to help deal with the bandits raiding the border.

It didn't give an accurate number of enemies, only the barest description of the location.

The mission had been classified as C-rank, but the sort of people who dared raid the border couldn't possibly be mere bandits.

The three hurried along the main road. They had all passed the tests to join the Police Force, even though none of them had visibly awakened their Sharingan.

They had all been Chunin for several years, and even Rin, the weakest among them, had held the rank for nearly two years.

"Stop!"

A few hours after the squad set out, Hayato suddenly raised a hand. Seiichi and Rin stopped at once.

A log as thick as a bowl lay across the road up ahead.

That was common in the dense forest, but Hayato noticed the deliberate cuts that made it look as though the log had snapped.