Sunagakure's Anomaly

Not only that, he has even resumed his normal training. Just watching him spar with his teammates, he doesn't look like a ninja who has lost his sight at all."

"Is that so? It seems that even the loss of his eyes cannot dim the brilliance of that little one's genius. Such adaptability, such talent—it would be a great pity if it were to fade away just like that."

The Third Hokage gazed out the window, seemingly having reached a decision.

"Go, notify Yuhi Shinku. Tell him to head to the mission hall early tomorrow morning; perhaps he will find a suitable assignment."

"Yes." With a respectful acknowledgment, the masked Anbu vanished using the Body Flicker Technique.

After the Anbu departed, Sarutobi Hiruzen began sifting through various intelligence reports to select a mission.

Although he had decided to try and protect the boy, Sarutobi Hiruzen could not truly allow Yuhi Shinku's team to leave the village and act freely; that would be a waste of ninja resources. Besides, it was time for Sarutobi Asuma to undergo proper training.

As a ninja, beyond formidable strength, extensive mission experience is also indispensable.

Escorting a large multinational merchant caravan to the Land of Lightning? No, that won't do. Those barbarians are unreasonable; if they discovered Asuma's identity, heaven knows what they might do.

Clearing out spies within the Land of Fire? These individuals had been under surveillance for some time, and their movement patterns were mostly mapped out. However, this was a mission Sarutobi Hiruzen had specifically reserved for Sarutobi Shinnosuke, and the execution time was too short; it wasn't appropriate.

Investigating a mysterious organization within the Land of Rain? This mission was decent, but that was the territory of Hanzo of the Salamander. Although that old man had learned his lesson after the last Great Ninja War, there was no telling if his arrogant ambitions might be rekindled. Better to keep it as a tentative option.

Hm, here is another one: infiltrate the Land of Wind and rendezvous with a spy returning from Sunagakure.

Sarutobi Hiruzen recalled that he had issued this mission himself. The situation in Sunagakure had indeed been very abnormal lately, which was why he had arranged for a spy embedded there to gather information.

However, according to the reports coming in over the past few days, the activity in Sunagakure seemed to be intensifying. It was unclear what they were up to.

Perhaps he could send Yuhi Shinku's team to rendezvous with the spy and then find a way to station them on the border of the Land of Wind.

The reason for this was not that Sarutobi Hiruzen wanted Sarutobi Asuma to undertake such a dangerous task as espionage.

Rather, he wanted them to be stationed in the Land of Wind long-term, specifically to act as a support unit for spies returning from Sunagakure.

Indeed, as the five great ninja villages that "love and cherish" one another, planting spies in each other's villages was an old tradition. Among them, Konoha certainly had the highest number of spies—well, who else had as many ninjas as they did?

Ordinarily, such rendezvous missions wouldn't require a dedicated team, but the current situation in Sunagakure was clearly quite special.

Sarutobi Hiruzen had already decided to activate several more spies hidden within Sunagakure to investigate exactly what kind of maneuvers they were making.

In this way, assigning Yuhi Shinku's team there wouldn't be considered a waste.

However, just as Sarutobi Hiruzen was calculating his plans, a surge of extra memory flooded into his mind.

Sarutobi Hiruzen paused, but a second later he realized what had happened: the Shadow Clone he had assigned to duty in the office had dispelled itself. This method was the fastest way to transmit information over short distances.

After carefully processing the additional memories, the relaxed expression on Sarutobi Hiruzen's face vanished.

"Sunagakure, what on earth are they up to? Do they actually want to incite a war?" Sarutobi Hiruzen's voice was exceptionally calm and grave.

Indeed, his Shadow Clone had just received urgent intelligence transmitted by patrol ninjas at the border while on duty.

They had discovered numerous traces of Sunagakure ninja activity in the border region of the Land of Wind, and intelligence indicated that Sunagakure seemed to be intentionally moving a large number of ninjas toward the border.

Although they hadn't done so blatantly or excessively, such behavior was already highly dangerous.

As for why Konoha's patrol ninjas were near the border of the Land of Wind to discover the Sunagakure reinforcements, well, those in the know understood.

In an instant, Sarutobi Hiruzen thought back to the instructions he had just given his subordinate regarding Yuhi Shinku.

He then thought of his youngest son, Asuma, and a flicker of hesitation arose in his heart.

He felt inclined to change their team's mission, but after careful consideration, Sarutobi Hiruzen ultimately decided against it.

No matter how well one protects their young, there comes a day when a fledgling eagle must spread its wings and fly. Could he, as a father, protect Asuma for his entire life?

Having already experienced two Great Ninja Wars, Sarutobi Hiruzen knew what the most correct choice was.

He thought of his eldest son, Sarutobi Shinnosuke, who was only slightly more capable than an average Jonin. He was also a genius, yet to this day, his strength barely reached the level of an elite Jonin.

Was it because he didn't work hard enough? Not at all. It was because he had been coddled too well, and his personality made it difficult for him to achieve anything significant.

So, was he to let Asuma follow in his brother's footsteps?

"Asuma, if you were to decide for yourself, what choice would you make?" After muttering this to himself, even Sarutobi Hiruzen smiled.

Through his observations over the past few days, the answer was already obvious, wasn't it?

"And it is indeed time to let the fledgling eagle learn to spread its wings." At this moment, it would be a stretch to say Sarutobi Hiruzen was in his prime, but his strength was certainly at the very peak, and with his eldest son still alive, he possessed the necessary resolve.

Having finalized the mission for Yuhi Shinku's team, Sarutobi Hiruzen set about making preparations to deal with the Sand ninjas.

If Sunagakure were still just playing games within their own borders as before, having spies scout for information would have sufficed.

But now, with the opponent making such significant moves, Sarutobi Hiruzen had to prepare for the worst. While readying for a potential outbreak of war, he also had to dispatch several Jonin squads to find out exactly what was going on in Sunagakure.

The Third Hokage left the Sarutobi clan compound and headed to the Hokage Building in person; tonight was destined to be a sleepless one.

The next morning, Yuhi Kurenai arrived early at Kawaki Aoba's home to inform him that their team had a long-term mission to execute outside the village.

"A long-term mission? I understand. I'll be ready to depart once I've packed my gear." Kawaki Aoba began organizing his ninja tools, just as he would for any ordinary mission.