He spread out the map of the Land of Birds and began comparing the several large black-market merchant gathering spots he had marked with the mission's travel route.
However, Mo quickly frowned deeply.
After winding around the Land of Rain several times, the route cut straight from the Land of Birds' border toward the capital at an extremely strange angle, staying far away from every major black market.
"A coincidence... No. As a minister of the Land of Birds, he most likely knows about the changes in the black markets as well..."
With that thought, Mo put away the scroll. His right fingertips rubbed together as his dark eyes rested on empty space, lost in thought.
On the third day, at the appointed time, Uchiha Mo brought the three little members of Team 8 to the mission hall's reception desk to meet their employer. Unexpectedly, Hiruzen Sarutobi was there as well.
Seated in the middle behind the long table, he spotted the four members of Team 8 at a glance.
"Mo, you're here. You've come to meet Mr. Yusuke, haven't you?"
The Third Hokage waved them over with a smile.
They were about to officially leave the village on a mission, and Asuma was exceptionally excited. He shouted, "Old man, stop talking nonsense and bring that whoever out already! I can't wait any longer!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed helplessly. He wanted to take out his pipe and have a few puffs, but reconsidered because of the surroundings.
Just then, a well-dressed, ruddy-faced, slightly plump middle-aged man entered the hall through a side door.
He had clearly heard the commotion inside. After glancing at Team 8, he immediately asked,
"Are these the ninjas who accepted my mission?"
Terada Yusuke looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi with some doubt in his eyes.
Seeing that all four members of Team 8 were only ten years old on average, Hiruzen Sarutobi coughed awkwardly twice before slowly explaining,
"Mr. Yusuke, don't be impatient. Although these children may not appear particularly powerful, this one..."
Before he could finish, Terada Yusuke interrupted with a sigh. "Lord Hokage, forgive my bluntness. Although a ninja's strength cannot be judged simply by age, these children look... far too young."
The moment Terada Yusuke finished speaking, Asuma bristled.
"What do you mean by that?! You looking down on—"
"Enough!" Hiruzen Sarutobi cut Asuma off sharply. Asuma immediately shrank his neck in fright, while Hiruzen Sarutobi turned to Terada Yusuke with an apologetic expression.
"Mr. Yusuke, I sincerely apologize. Asuma, he..."
Terada Yusuke waved a hand, unconcerned.
"It's fine. Anyone would be unhappy when questioned; I understand that. But Lord Hokage, I cannot treat my own safety as a joke. So even if I understand, I cannot casually entrust my life to a group of children. I hope you understand."
Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded and looked Terada Yusuke in the eyes, speaking seriously.
"Mr. Yusuke need not worry about that."
He pointed at Uchiha Mo and continued, "His name is Uchiha Mo. Perhaps you are unfamiliar with that name, but he has another title: the Blood Ninja!"
"The Blood Ninja?" Terada Yusuke's pupils contracted.
"That's right. Mo is among the best in the village as well. Mr. Yusuke can safely entrust himself to him."
Terada Yusuke nodded with an astonished expression, then turned his curious gaze toward Uchiha Mo.
"I never expected the Blood Ninja to be so young. In that case, I'm relieved."
Terada Yusuke had clearly heard of the Blood Ninja's reputation. The moment he learned Mo's identity, he stopped questioning them.
Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled faintly in satisfaction, and Mo stepped forward as he said,
"Since there are no more issues, let's go."
"No problem."
Terada Yusuke nodded and readily agreed.
And so, after Uchiha Mo collected the mission travel pass, the group of five left the mission hall and headed for Hidden Leaf's gates.
After leaving Hidden Leaf's gates and reaching the main road, Uchiha Mo glanced at the chattering group ahead before suddenly asking,
"A minister of the Land of Birds is visiting the Land of Fire without any bodyguards or support staff?"
Terada Yusuke froze slightly, apparently not expecting Uchiha Mo to ask such a question. After recovering, however, he answered casually,
"Of course I had them. But I sent them back ahead of time. Since I decided to have Hidden Leaf's ninjas escort me, ordinary bodyguards would only become dead weight. It is better to reduce our numbers; that also improves our safety."
Terada Yusuke looked at Mo's profile and spoke earnestly.
But in the next instant, Uchiha Mo suddenly turned his head. A pair of scarlet eyes instantly reflected within Terada Yusuke's mind.
Genjutsu: Sharingan!
Terada Yusuke's body trembled. His eyes transformed into the Two-Tomoe Sharingan, and his expression instantly became vacant.
As Mo controlled Terada Yusuke and made him continue walking normally, he slowly asked,
"Did you lie to me just now?"
"No."
"Why is the planned route so strange?"
"To delay returning to the Land of Birds as much as possible while avoiding the major black markets."
Mo frowned upon hearing that. "Be more specific."
"Something happened in the Land of Birds. It seems one minister offended an extremely powerful ninja. During the time I was away, many nobles in the Land of Birds died. Even my father was not spared, so I don't dare return there.
"But because of the daimyo's orders, I have no choice but to go back. So I can only avoid the places where incidents occurred, delay for time, and ensure that once we enter the Land of Birds, we can return to the capital as quickly as possible."
"An extremely powerful ninja? Who is he? How did that minister offend him? And what does any of this have to do with the underground black-market merchants? Tell me everything."
Uchiha Mo's expression remained calm as the tomoe in his eyes slowly rotated, powerful ocular force pouring continuously into Terada Yusuke's brain.
Yet after Mo finished speaking, Terada Yusuke only revealed a confused expression and shook his head.
"I don't know."
"You don't know?" Mo raised an eyebrow. "What else do you know?"
"..."
Terada Yusuke looked as though he were thinking. After a long while, he finally said with certainty,
"That person... is very strong!"
"..."
The tomoe in Uchiha Mo's eyes turned and faded as he withdrew all of his ocular force.
Clarity gradually returned to Terada Yusuke's eyes. He sneezed, then asked in confusion,
"Lord Mo, what were we talking about just now?"
At the front of the group, Asuma Sarutobi and Gekko Hayate chatted excitedly back and forth. It was both their first time leaving the village and their first time carrying out an official ninja mission, so they were exceptionally energized.
Although it was also Kurenai Yuhi's first time leaving the village on a mission, most of her attention was focused on Uchiha Mo behind her.
Even though Team 8 had been established for nearly a month, Kurenai Yuhi had never gotten a proper chance to speak with Uchiha Mo. Mo vanished at lightning speed every time he finished a mission, leaving Kurenai Yuhi no chance to catch him.
Seeing that Uchiha Mo and Terada Yusuke had stopped talking, Kurenai Yuhi immediately slowed down and moved to Uchiha Mo's other side.
A smile appeared on her delicate face. "Mo, have you been doing well these past few years?"
Uchiha Mo glanced at her. "Not bad."
"I see... Then how has your Genjutsu training been going?"
Although Mo's tone was cold, Kurenai Yuhi still felt immensely satisfied. The corners of her lips rose slightly, and she was in an excellent mood.
"Not bad."
Although Genjutsu had difficulty showing its usefulness in high-level battles, it was still extremely practical given Mo's current strength. Training Genjutsu also helped him improve his precise control over his ocular force.
Like the Genjutsu he had just used on Terada Yusuke, he needed to control his ocular force precisely enough to manipulate him completely without pouring in so much that he turned him into an idiot.
"That's wonderful! I've always been worried that my father didn't guide you properly back then!"
As she spoke, Kurenai Yuhi's ears flushed red. She grabbed Mo's right hand and secretly glanced at his profile.
Seeing this, Terada Yusuke smiled knowingly and looked away. Seemingly absentmindedly, he quickened his pace and moved to the middle of the group.
After that, the air fell quiet for a moment. Thoughts churned rapidly through Kurenai Yuhi's mind, and an increasingly deep blush appeared on her face. Finally, as though she had gathered her courage, she puffed out her chest, raised her head to look at Uchiha Mo, and said in a slightly trembling voice,
"Um... Mo, my father has been very busy lately. After this mission, could you... could you come to my house... and teach me Genjutsu?"
After she spoke, Mo turned to look at the girl.
Their eyes met. Her face was flushed, yet she still stared unwaveringly into those clear black eyes.
"I remember Uncle Shinku works shifts with the Barrier Team, handling the noon-to-evening slot."
Hearing that, the girl felt a little guilty. But having made up her mind, her resolve was exceptionally firm.
Kurenai Yuhi met Mo's gaze with a calm expression and explained evenly, "A Jonin from the Barrier Team has fallen ill recently, so my father has to temporarily take on the evening-to-midnight shift as well."
"..."
Mo turned his gaze away and pulled his right hand from Kurenai Yuhi's embrace. "I understand."
Kurenai Yuhi was ecstatic. She tried her best to suppress the corners of her mouth, which wanted to rise wildly, struggling to keep her expression unchanged.
After a while, once her emotions had calmed slightly, Kurenai Yuhi raised her smiling face again and looked at Mo's profile.
"Mo, your younger brother is very strong. Just like you were when you were little. Are you the one training him?"
The girl skipped along at the boy's side, asking question after question. No matter how coldly he responded, she never grew tired of it. If anything, she enjoyed it.
At some point, the front of the group had fallen silent. Asuma marched forward without a word, his eyes occasionally slanting backward.
At the rear of the group, Kurenai Yuhi nestled against Mo's side, her face full of smiles as nearly half her body leaned against him. Even though Uchiha Mo's expression remained cold, Kurenai Yuhi's joy was as rich as floral honey aged for decades before being uncorked. It filled the air, rushed into Asuma's nostrils, and became a bitter aftertaste.
"..."
"Cough... Asuma?" Gekko Hayate seemed to notice his mood. He looked at Asuma, then turned toward the smiling Kurenai Yuhi.
Ninjas were swift on their feet, but there was a delicate and frail ordinary noble among the group.
As a result, after an entire day, Team 8 had only barely approached the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Rain. The journey had been peaceful, with no bandits or rogue ninjas attacking them. This left Kurenai Yuhi and Gekko Hayate somewhat disappointed, while Asuma, who was usually restless and rebellious, wore a gloomy face for some reason and had gone quiet.
The group found an inn to stay at. With a grand sweep of his hand, Terada Yusuke rented out the entire inn, fully displaying a noble's extravagance.
After resting for the night, the group set out again and officially entered the Land of Rain...
The Land of Rain lay wedged between the three great nations, and its situation was exceptionally complicated. Therefore, once they entered its borders, Mo became slightly more alert.
Before they had traveled very far through the Land of Rain, however, the first unexpected development occurred.
Madman! Demon!
"Brothers! That guy is wearing nothing but high-end goods. We can definitely squeeze plenty of money out of him!"
A burly man in yellow pointed at Terada Yusuke among Team 8. A strip of white cloth was tied around his right arm, and behind him stood a group of men with varying builds, each with white cloth tied around their right arms as well.
Uchiha Mo frowned slightly. Although chaos had been the norm in the Land of Rain before Nagato took power, this was still far too outrageous. The group had only entered the Land of Rain less than half a day ago.
Yet upon seeing the bandits, the three members of Team 8 became excited instead, each rushing forward to compete for the chance.
"Don't any of you steal them from me!" Asuma charged ahead at the front, intending to turn his grief and indignation into strength.
The three children quickly became entangled in battle with the bandits, but Uchiha Mo's attention was elsewhere. His eyes narrowed slightly as Clairvoyance activated, his vision instantly passing through layer after layer of obstructions as he scanned the area.
As his perspective shifted, a village swiftly entered Mo's field of vision. With a slight focus of his attention, the village's details instantly became clear.
Inside the village, severed limbs and heads lay everywhere. Numerous mangled male corpses with terrified expressions and naked female corpses with venomous looks were piled across the streets. The already dilapidated roads had been soaked in black blood, as though covered by a dark red filter.
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