Signing the Peace Treaty

After confirming the abilities of Yuun and the other two, Shibi Aburame began assigning them C-rank Missions for practice. According to Konoha's rules, D-rank Missions were the simplest and paid the least, while C-rank Missions carried a certain degree of difficulty, with the possibility of combat. Their rewards were at least ten times greater than those of D-rank Missions. Even after the village took a portion of the commission and their instructor took another thirty percent, the remainder was still enough to be divided among the three of them and support an ordinary family of three. Yuun and the others did not rely on that money to live, but having a little extra cash, especially money they had earned themselves, still felt good.

C-rank Missions paid well, but they were correspondingly much more difficult than D-rank Missions and carried a certain amount of danger, even for shinobi. With the emergence of shinobi as a profession, the role of conventional armies had been reduced to almost nothing, leaving them little more than empty shells. Long ago, every nation had disbanded its military forces. As a result, large numbers of bandits and brigands had appeared throughout the lands. Some were descendants of soldiers from the disbanded armies; knowing only how to fight and with no army to join, they could only survive by becoming bandits. The rest were local thugs or farmers who had lost their land for one reason or another.

Yet neither the nobles nor the shinobi, as the ruling classes, had any intention of intervening. The nobles paid shinobi to protect their positions. No matter how many bandits there were or how chaotic the world became, it did not affect them much. In fact, they could use the opportunity to annex the lands of farmers killed by bandits. As for shinobi, the more chaotic the world was, the higher their status became and the more missions they received. That was why three Ninja World Wars over several decades had never shaken the positions of the Five Great Nations. Besides the foundations each nation possessed, the mutual understanding between them was also a crucial factor. Otherwise, given shinobi mobility, what use would city walls and defensive lines be in a real war? A few Jonin, with no shinobi standing in their way, could destroy an entire nation.

Thus, even during peacetime, the various hidden villages never lacked missions. The sheer number of bandits forced villagers to hire shinobi to eliminate them. The bandit stronghold from Yuun's Genin exam, for example, had been commissioned for extermination by nearby villagers. In addition to eliminating bandits, escorting merchant caravans or important people, and killing wild beasts, there were many other kinds of C-rank Missions. In theory, as long as the payment was sufficient, any mission could be raised in rank at the client's request. Of course, under normal circumstances, no one liked spending more money than necessary.

Under Shibi Aburame's leadership, the three of them continuously accepted and completed missions. At their busiest, they completed twenty-one C-rank Missions in a single month. Over the course of more than a year, they completed nearly two hundred C-rank Missions with a one hundred percent completion rate, setting the highest record for a Konoha Genin team. At their most frantic, Shibi Aburame accepted three assassination missions at once. Team 1 set out overnight and completed all three in a single night. Itachi awakened his Sharingan that same night. Naturally, C-rank assassination missions only involved bandit tyrants or bandit leaders. True assassination missions began at B-rank at the very least.

Just as Yuun thought his days ahead would continue to be filled with missions and training, Shibi Aburame gave Team 1 a five-day vacation. Having grown accustomed to being busy, Yuun truly did not know what to do once he had free time. During their most recent mission, Hana had discovered her own shortcomings, so she took the three ninja hounds she raised home for special training. After awakening his Sharingan, Itachi received extreme attention from his clan. During the five days off, he could basically only remain within the clan to receive training and cultivation.

After giving it some thought, Yuun decided to visit Hizashi. Since joining Shibi Aburame, he had rarely stepped through Hizashi's door. In more than a year, he had visited fewer than ten times. Although they had many missions and little time, it was not as though he could not spare even a moment for a visit. Thinking about it, he really had wronged Hizashi, such a conscientious and responsible teacher.

The doorbell rang, and the one who opened the door was little Neji Hyuga, his forehead wrapped in bandages. "Big Brother Yuun, you came." The little boy immediately beamed when he saw Yuun.

"Yeah. This is for you." Yuun handed Neji a bag of canned herring he had just bought. He had no idea why the boy liked such strange food so much.

"Big Brother Yuun, Father..." Having received Yuun's bribe, Neji seemed to have finally found someone he could confide in and began telling Yuun about Hizashi's recent situation.

The moment Yuun saw the bandages on Neji's forehead, he had a bad feeling. The Caged Bird, the Curse Mark that the Hyuga Branch House detested so deeply. Developed to protect the Byakugan and preserve the Hyuga Clan, it protected the Main House while binding the Branch House tightly in place. In the end, it had still been branded onto Neji's forehead. When Yuun reached the second floor, he found that Hizashi was not in the study. Without even using the Byakugan, Yuun knew Hizashi was in the bedroom with its doors and windows shut. As long as he approached the door, he could hear the stifled howls of a wounded beast.

It was no wonder Hizashi was like this. Having personally experienced all of it, he must have realized that everything he had endured would be repeated on his son. Yet he had no way to resist. That suffocating helplessness was enough to drive anyone mad. Not to mention that Hiashi had tortured him half to death with the Curse Mark at the Hyuga Estate today. What Hizashi was today would be Neji tomorrow. What parent could bear to see their child treated that way?

Considering that Hizashi definitely did not want to see anyone right now, Yuun could only cook lunch for Neji before taking his leave. Feeling depressed, he went out into the streets and was stunned to find them decorated with lanterns and streamers as though it were a festival. After stopping someone to ask, he learned that Hidden Cloud, which had been locked in a standoff with Konoha for years, had finally sent representatives to sign a peace treaty. That long war, whose end had seemed nowhere in sight, was about to end. No wonder the villagers were so excited.

Uninterested in squeezing through the crowds with ordinary people, Yuun activated his Byakugan and quickly found the Cloud Shinobi leader who had come to Konoha to sign the treaty. It was impossible not to notice him. The man was simply too ostentatious. He had come to sign a peace treaty, yet he looked as though he had come to Konoha to accept its surrender. That smug expression made anyone who saw him want to rush up and chop him to death.

Fortunately, most Konoha shinobi had their reservations and would not act at such an important occasion. Otherwise, if everyone gave him one slash, they could probably mince him into paste. After getting a taste of the man's arrogance, Yuun left. Rather than waste time cursing him, he might as well train. Nearly a hundred battles had allowed Yuun to gradually touch the threshold of a breakthrough, and he could break through at any moment. Once he did, he could learn Vacuum Palm. He had been looking forward to that long-range technique for years.