First Mission!

Uchiha Shunichi had spent a long time in the laboratory, yet the experiment's progress remained the same.

It had an effect, but it was completely unstable.

Even with his Regression ability, Uchiha Shunichi had no intention of injecting those experimental results into his own body.

Because this was not a one-time thing. It would have a lasting effect on the body. The results might look good at first, only to suddenly worsen months or even years later.

"This world's science... really isn't rigorous at all!" Uchiha Shunichi frowned.

At that moment, he finally understood why Orochimaru conducted human experiments.

Scientific research in this world had no formulas, nor was there any systematic explanation. Basically, once someone had an idea... they just went ahead and did it!

As for whether it would succeed... that depended on luck...

The power of chakra lay in the fact that this energy could suppress all kinds of cellular reactions, and could even link together two completely unrelated things.

For example... Bloodline Limit Transfer.

Scratching his head, Uchiha Shunichi decided to give up for the time being. He could not bring himself to conduct human experiments, while developing human clones required a great deal of funding. Uchiha Shunichi did not want to resort to robbery yet, nor did he want to betray the village for now.

However, Sarutobi Hiruzen was absolutely not someone he could trust. Better to wait until Tsunade became Hokage. That woman... should be able to recognize the value of my research.

For the next stretch of time, Uchiha Shunichi fell into an extremely boring routine.

Yes, it was truly boring!

Naruto Uzumaki was generally safe within the village. As a result, the Anbu assigned to protect him spent their usual days simply idling around.

Fortunately, the schedule for this assignment was rather flexible. He did not need to watch Naruto Uzumaki when Naruto was carrying out missions with Kakashi, and he could relax a little while Naruto slept at night.

In truth, it was not just Uchiha Shunichi. Even Uchiha Sasuke was becoming impatient.

Every day, they did childish missions like catching cats, chasing dogs, or cleaning up trash. It was truly tiresome.

At last, Naruto Uzumaki was the first to lose patience. He complained to Sarutobi Hiruzen and hoped to receive a more advanced mission.

Sarutobi Hiruzen agreed to his request and assigned an escort mission to Team 7.

Just as Naruto Uzumaki received his new mission, Uchiha Shunichi received a new one as well. This time, they were not merely protecting Naruto. Their Anbu squad had a mission of its own.

"Going to the Land of Waves to eliminate rogue ninja? But don't we still have another mission?"

Uchiha Shunichi looked at Tenzō in confusion. No matter what, he had not expected to leave Konoha before Team 7 did.

"We only need to maintain a certain distance. With a ninja's speed, if anything happens, we'll have time to rush over!" Tenzō did not seem too concerned about it. Or rather, he trusted Kakashi Hatake's strength.

"I understand!" Uchiha Shunichi nodded and asked no further questions.

Tenzō was still somewhat worried. "This is your first mission outside the village. Although your strength has been acknowledged, anything can happen during a mission. If you encounter an accident, make sure to ask me for help immediately."

It had to be said that there were quite a few good people in Konoha. Though Uchiha Shunichi knew Tenzō's mission definitely included monitoring him, those words still left him with a somewhat better impression of the man.

"Yeah, I've always been calm. Nothing unexpected will happen." Though he had never killed a person, Uchiha Shunichi had already slaughtered over a thousand white mice in the laboratory.

Some of those mutated white mice were not much smaller than humans.

Moreover, Uchiha Shunichi had been trying to develop cloning. He simply had no way to solve the problem of replicating a person's soul.

After all, all he wanted to create was a body. He did not need a person with a soul. If it had a soul, there would be far too many variables in the experiment.

"Fine, get ready. We leave in an hour!" Tenzō clearly had little faith in Uchiha Shunichi's assurance.

In truth, no one could be blamed for that. Before stepping onto a battlefield, no one could know what would happen. Some people adapted well, while others simply could not.

Following behind Team 7, Uchiha Shunichi stepped through Konoha's gates for the first time. The sight outside felt somewhat unfamiliar, but it greatly improved his mood.

However, that good mood came to an end after they reached the next town...

The entire town was fairly tidy, but the streets were filled with sallow, emaciated villagers and somewhat dilapidated courtyards.

"This place..." Uchiha Shunichi was puzzled.

Though he had long known that many people in the world of Naruto suffered greatly, he had never expected even the Land of Fire to have places like this. After all, the Land of Fire was the most prosperous among the Five Great Nations.

"It looks very different from the village, doesn't it? This place is quite remote, has no valuable specialties, and most importantly, it's close to the border..." Tenzō did not seem particularly concerned.

He had grown up through the war. Though he had not been to the battlefield many times, he had seen plenty of Root's cruelty and the suffering endured by ordinary people in this world.

"No. I just didn't expect this place to be in such a state." Uchiha Shunichi shook his head as he spoke.

Tenzō looked at the surroundings and said with some emotion, "Not every place is Konoha. This place is actually considered fairly good already."

"Alright, let's rest for now. Go gather some information and regroup in fifteen minutes. This is the mission target. Be careful not to expose yourselves," Tenzō said.

Uzuki Yugao and Gekko Hayate clearly already knew the mission target, so the mission intelligence Tenzō handed over was specifically for Uchiha Shunichi.

Uchiha Shunichi took it and gave it a glance. The ninja was someone he did not recognize at all. The intelligence said that this man was a Special Jonin who had chosen to desert during the war out of fear of battle.

After scanning it twice and memorizing the information and the target's appearance, Uchiha Shunichi returned the intelligence to Tenzō.

Observation was a skill that every ninja had to master. Of the Three Basic Techniques taught at the Ninja Academy, the most difficult was not the Clone Technique, but the Transformation Technique.

It was not that the Transformation Technique itself was particularly difficult. Rather, it required careful observation. Especially when transforming into someone else, one needed to observe not only their build, but also their belongings and various habits.

In a sense, Naruto Uzumaki truly was a genius. He simply had never had a good teacher to guide him.