Special Mission and Contact Lenses

Seven days passed in a flash, and it was time for the miserable grind of missions again.

Hyuga Satoru got out of bed early and arrived at the designated training ground. Aburame Shibi had accepted the team's mission, and before seeing him, Satoru had no idea what it was.

As soon as he approached, he saw Uchiha Rin standing in the middle of the training ground, arms folded as she looked at him coolly.

"You're late."

Hyuga Satoru shrugged helplessly. "We agreed on seven o'clock. It's only a little past six now, isn't it?"

"As a ninja, arriving two hours early is the best training for honing your will. Satoru, you're far too unambitious. Do you know—"

Hyuga Satoru immediately covered his ears, unwilling to listen to this tryhard nag any longer.

With only two minutes left until seven, Anko came running over, panting as she wiped the sweat from her forehead.

"Everyone... sorry, I nearly ran late."

"It's fine. I got here late too," Hyuga Satoru comforted her.

"Anko, you're far too unambitious. Arriving early is—"

Uchiha Rin frowned in displeasure. The moment she opened her mouth, Hyuga Satoru swiftly covered it...

Aburame Shibi was unusually a few minutes late. He swept his gaze across the three of them, pondered briefly, and said,

"This mission is rather special. Only Hyuga Satoru and I will participate. The rest of you will train on your own for now. We'll resume team missions once this assignment is complete."

"What? Only Satoru and Sensei are going? Didn't I get up this early for nothing?" Anko rolled her eyes, already longing for her warm bed.

Uchiha Rin frowned. "Why was only Satoru chosen? How long will the mission take?"

"This was the Hokage's decision. As for the duration, that depends on the situation."

The Hokage? A sharp glint flashed in Uchiha Rin's eyes. If the Hokage had appointed them directly, could this be related to an ANBU mission?

Aburame Shibi drew a breath and said gravely, "Satoru, you have one hour to prepare. Everyone else is dismissed."

In a forest within the Land of Fire, two figures wrapped in black robes leaped continuously between the treetops. Like ghosts, they swiftly left the surrounding woods behind.

Aburame Shibi stepped onto a thick branch and shot upward.

"Satoru, this mission is of great importance. We'll have to adapt to the situation. Its rank is provisionally A, but if anything unexpected happens, it could become S at any time!"

"S?"

Hyuga Satoru drew a sharp breath and looked at him in surprise.

"Mm." Aburame Shibi nodded solemnly. "You know about the Underground Black Market, right?"

"The Black Market?" Hyuga Satoru frowned. "I've heard a little about it. It seems to be a place that issues bounty missions, where ninja heads are exchanged for rewards."

Of course, he was familiar with the Black Market. The head of Sarutobi Asuma, one of his classmates, would be worth thirty-five million ryo there in the future!

"Mm." Aburame Shibi pondered for a moment. "The Black Market is the dark side of the Shinobi World. The five great nations, as well as many smaller ones, have Black Markets. They are an underground world independent of the surface, used to handle transactions that cannot be conducted openly."

"Because of the Black Market's importance, Leaf Village has placed ANBU scouts in the Underground Black Markets of the Land of Fire and several nearby nations. About a week ago, an ANBU agent planted in a Black Market in the Land of Iron suddenly sent back intelligence. There was an unusually large transaction in the largest Black Market in the Land of Iron."

"The amount involved exceeded one hundred million ryo. Not only that, the ANBU agent also discovered traces of Stone Shinobi near the Black Market."

"Stone Shinobi?" Hyuga Satoru's gaze flickered.

"So the Hokage wants us... to investigate this?"

"Yes. Iwagakure has been unusually active lately, and the Land of Iron happens to be a neighboring country between the Land of Fire and the Land of Earth. A rare, unusually large transaction has appeared in the Black Market. The Hokage suspects it may be connected to war."

Hyuga Satoru's expression turned grave. This was hardly good news for him. If war came, his time to grow stronger would be drastically shortened.

With his current strength, he probably was not yet capable of facing the threat of war.

But according to his memories, hadn't Sunagakure been the first to start the Third Shinobi World War? Why was Iwagakure being so active?

Then, he seemed to realize something and smiled helplessly.

No wonder the clan head gave me the training method for Heaven Rotation a few days ago. The Hokage must have asked him for someone. For the Hokage to ask for a Branch House Genin like me was, in itself, a kind of hint.

But on second thought, this mission really did suit him.

First of all, the importance of the Byakugan in reconnaissance missions was beyond question, and ANBU had no Hyuga members. Compared with other Hyuga, he also possessed the Magnet Release Bloodline and long-range sniping ninjutsu, making him more versatile!

As for Aburame Shibi, he was known as an all-round ninja, with almost no weaknesses in his abilities. The two of them were the optimal pairing.

Having figured this out, Hyuga Satoru let out a long breath. Sarutobi Hiruzen clearly valued him greatly. Because of the thing on his forehead, he had no choice but to endure pressure from the Main House. Using the Hokage's influence to balance the Main House was not a bad choice...

After several days of travel, the two finally arrived in the Land of Iron.

Before entering a densely populated city, Aburame Shibi handed Hyuga Satoru a pair of round, thin lenses.

"Satoru, your Byakugan is too conspicuous. It's not good for keeping the mission hidden. Put these on."

Hyuga Satoru took them and examined them curiously, his mouth falling open.

"These are... contact lenses???"

No way. The Shinobi World even had contact lenses?

Aburame Shibi scratched his head awkwardly. "They're tools used by ANBU to conceal eye color. Don't worry. They may be a little ugly, but they're quite comfortable to wear."

After putting them in, Hyuga Satoru blinked. Nothing in his vision changed, and once he adjusted, his eyes did not feel particularly foreign either.

He picked up a mirror and looked at himself. His pupils had turned the most common brown in the Shinobi World, making him no different from anyone else.

The Shinobi World's technology tree had gone completely off the rails. Hyuga Satoru could not help but sigh.

Once they had finished preparing, the two entered the capital of the Land of Iron.

The Land of Iron was a typical nation of samurai. Its architecture retained the heavy style of the Warring States Period, and many armored samurai could be seen on the streets, long swords hanging at their waists.

"Although samurai can't use ninjutsu, their Biological Magnetic Fields are actually much stronger than those of ordinary ninja."

Watching the samurai on the road, Hyuga Satoru clicked his tongue in amazement.

The strength of a Biological Magnetic Field was closely tied to physical ability, yet none of the samurai on the road had a Biological Magnetic Field weaker than a Chunin's. Some of the stronger ones were even comparable to Jonin or Chunin specializing in taijutsu.

No wonder samurai had been able to establish a nation while surrounded by ninja. Their physical strength alone already surpassed that of many ninja.

Taijutsu ninja specializing in swordsmanship?

But they seemed to be the perfect targets for him. Hyuga Satoru shrugged.

Their armor was entirely metal, and their weapons were metal ninja blades as well. No matter how many of these samurai came, they would be nothing to him!