Konoha's Preparations

"What have you been up to?"

Kushina hung from the tree, looking at the three of them in bloodstained clothes. Although the blood on their bodies had been washed away, the stains on their clothes could not be cleaned with water alone. The remaining bloodstains made all three of them look like monsters.

They had just come in and already frightened a child into tears.

"Oh, it's Kushina. Why are you still catching cats?"

You noticed Kushina carefully approaching a cat at the top of the tree. When the cat suddenly jumped, Kushina lost her footing and fell from the tree.

"I'm doing missions. Don't you need to do missions too?"

"We just came back from a mission. We just completed a C-rank mission."

Nawaki, standing behind them, watched her still carrying out D-rank missions and thought, This is the difference. They were all students from the Ninja Academy. Some were still practicing walking on water, while others were helping people with D-rank missions.

Meanwhile, they had already started taking missions that involved killing.

"I'm so jealous. When will I get to do C-rank missions?"

She spent every day doing missions—either catching cats or looking for dogs. And Minato Namikaze had been called away by Lord Jiraiya for secluded training, leaving only her in the village.

Listening to Kushina's complaints, Uchiha You shook his head slightly. She would never be allowed to leave the village. Tsunade had been made her teacher precisely so she could watch over Kushina. Her identity as the Nine-Tails' jinchuriki destined Kushina to remain in the village for the rest of her life.

The death of a jinchuriki would affect the Nine-Tails. For such a massive chakra beast to gather itself again, several years would not be enough.

And without a tailed beast, a village would lose one of its strongest deterrent forces.

"We're going to turn in the mission first. We'll come talk to you when we get back."

"Okay."

Under her envious gaze, the three of them arrived at the mission hall.

The staff did not believe that a group of children who had just graduated from the Ninja Academy could complete a C-rank mission.

"Lord Orochimaru's teaching methods are still as aggressive as ever. Those poor kids."

"I'm really jealous of them. Back then, I did D-rank missions for months. It nearly drove me crazy."

"Enough talking. Register their mission first."

Every completed mission became part of one's record. To advance to Elite Chunin or Jonin, strength alone was not enough. One also needed to accumulate enough missions.

It proved that they had consistently contributed to the village.

The enormous sum of fifty thousand ryo fell into their hands, though half of it had to be given to Orochimaru.

The remaining half was divided evenly among the three of them.

The money they received was not much. Just replacing the kunai used up during this mission would cost a considerable amount.

Shinobi was a strange profession. If those with such powerful abilities went into production, it would be no less than another industrial revolution.

Yet their existence was more like that of tools of war, born for war.

Uchiha You understood that deeply, but his current abilities did not qualify him to change anything. He could only endure it passively.

Once the mission was over, they each returned home for a brief rest.

Meanwhile, something else was happening in the Hokage's office.

"Orochimaru, you're saying you found traces of Cloud Ninja in the forest?"

The Third Hokage's gaze was filled more with gravity. The Cloud Ninja were weaker overall than Konoha, but after twenty years of peaceful development, their village had produced many powerful shinobi. Their standing was second only to Konoha's.

"Yes. This is the mission briefing I obtained from them."

The mission scroll was unfolded. It recorded the Cloud Ninja's mission intelligence, along with a map of the Land of Fire.

"There's a traitor."

The map showed the exact location of Konoha's backup warehouse. Only a handful of people knew about it, and the Third Hokage's gaze fell on those beside him.

He frowned slightly, then dismissed his own suspicion.

They were all trusted allies. There was no way something could have gone wrong with them. The problem could only lie with those beneath them.

"Danzo, you will investigate this matter. Don't alert the enemy."

"Leave it to me."

Danzo sat in the shadows, as though contemplating something.

"Also, Orochimaru, take good care of your disciples. They are the most outstanding prospects of this generation. Konoha's future will still depend on them."

The Third Hokage gave a few simple orders. The arrival of the Cloud Ninja signaled that twenty years of peace had come to an end.

They had all lived through the Shinobi World War, so they naturally understood the atmosphere before war arrived.

A tiny spark could set the entire shinobi world ablaze.

The First Shinobi World War began with two powerful figures clashing. Konoha's strength had declined, but fortunately, the Second Hokage had turned the tide.

If the next Shinobi World War came, it would be their turn to take the field.

"Have Tsunade train more medical shinobi, and secretly prepare military supplies!"

"Yes!"

The war had not yet broken out, and the shinobi world was still temporarily at peace.

The Jonin all received notice to step up the training of their students during this period.

Orochimaru even postponed some of his experiments and turned his attention to his three students.

The sense of an approaching storm did not affect the Genin.

"Whew!"

You trained beside the small house where he lived. A wave of heat rose from his body. As he absorbed sunlight and his physical strength increased, he could develop abilities with auxiliary effects.

He was now a mobile, massive radiation source. The dry soil beneath his feet twisted and warped.

"What a pity. This ability still isn't perfect."

Simply activating his radiation source was still somewhat difficult for Uchiha You.

He could only rely on certain mediums to imbue things with radioactive power, such as flesh and blood or ninjutsu.

Even the cells and tissue that fell from his body carried radioactive power. As long as they touched someone, they would attach themselves to that person. Then there were the effects produced through ninjutsu.

Fire Release ninjutsu produced the best results. In the future, he would be able to master other chakra natures through training, and he wondered what the effects would be then.

"My physical strength is still lacking."

He bought some weighted gear from a weapons shop and strapped it to his body. Every step now consumed more stamina.

He staggered forward two steps. Once he adjusted to the weight, Uchiha You moved his body and said:

"I hope this method can improve my physical strength."

After a round of intense training, large amounts of radiation-filled dust floated through the air. Uchiha You's gaze followed the dust into the distance.

"Hm?"

He swiftly gathered the surrounding dust. Surprise filled You's eyes. He had not expected her to come here.

"You!"

"Why are you here?"

This was the edge of the Uchiha Compound. He did not know whether ANBU were following her, and if they encountered them, trouble could easily arise.

"Lady Tsunade is preparing to establish a Medical Corps. She's having many shinobi come learn, while also testing whether they have the talent to become medical shinobi."

The moment Kushina learned the news, she immediately thought of Uchiha You.