Konoha's Preparations

"What were you guys doing?"

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

They had just walked in and already scared a child into tears.

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

Yuu noticed Kushina carefully approaching a cat atop the tree. As the cat suddenly leaped away, Kushina lost her balance and fell from the tree.

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

"We just got back after finishing a mission. We just completed a C-Rank Mission."

Nawaki, standing behind him, watched her still carrying out D-Rank Missions and thought, This is the difference. They were all Ninja Academy students, yet some were still practicing walking on water while others helped people with D-Rank Missions.

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

"I'm so jealous. When will I finally get to do C-Rank Missions?"

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

Listening to Kushina's complaints, Uchiha Yuu shook his head slightly. She could never leave the village. Tsunade had been made her teacher precisely to keep watch over Kushina. As the Nine-Tails' jinchuriki, Kushina was destined to remain in the village for the rest of her life.

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

And a village without a tailed beast would lack its ultimate deterrent force.

"We'll go hand in the mission first. We'll come chat with you when we get back."

"Okay."

Under Kushina's envious gaze, the three of them arrived at the mission hall.

The staff members 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 style is still as aggressive as ever. These poor kids really have it rough."

"I'm jealous of them. Back then, I did D-Rank Missions for months. I nearly lost my mind."

"Enough talking. Register them 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 a sufficient accumulation of missions.

It proved that they had continuously 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 amount was split evenly among the three of them.

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

Being a shinobi was a strange profession. If they put their immense strength into production, it would be no less than an industrial revolution.

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

Uchiha Yuu understood this deeply, but he was not yet qualified to change anything. He could only endure it passively.

After the mission ended, they each went home for a brief rest.

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

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

The Third Hokage's gaze held more solemnity than surprise. The overall strength of the Cloud Ninja was weaker than Konoha's, but twenty years of peaceful development had allowed many powerful shinobi to emerge in their village. Their standing was second only to Konoha's.

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

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

"There's a traitor."

The map marked the locations of Konoha's reserve warehouses in detail. Only a handful of people knew about those warehouses, and the Third Hokage's gaze fell upon the people beside him.

He frowned slightly, then dismissed his own suspicion.

They were all trustworthy people. There was no way anything could have gone wrong with them. The problem could only lie with those below them.

"Danzo, you'll be responsible for investigating this matter. Don't alert them."

"Leave it to me."

Danzo sat in the shadows, as though pondering something.

"Also, Orochimaru, guide your disciples well. They are the finest seedlings of this generation. Konoha's future will still depend on them."

The Third Hokage gave a simple series of 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 and naturally understood the atmosphere before a war began.

A small spark was enough to ignite the entire Shinobi World.

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

If another Shinobi World War came, then it would be their turn to step forward.

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

"Yes!"

The war had not yet erupted, and the Shinobi World was still temporarily at peace.

All Jonin received notice to intensify their students' training during this period.

Orochimaru even delayed some of his experiments and focused his attention on his three students.

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

"Hah!"

Yuu 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 certain abilities with auxiliary effects.

He was now a massive mobile radiation source. The dry earth beneath his feet warped.

"What a shame. This technique is still incomplete."

Simply activating the radiation source was somewhat difficult for Uchiha Yuu.

He could only rely on certain mediums to apply his radiation power, such as flesh and ninjutsu.

Even the cellular tissue that shed from his body carried radiation. As long as it came into contact with someone, it would cling to them. There were also the effects brought by ninjutsu.

Fire Release ninjutsu produced the best results. In the future, once he mastered other chakra natures through training, he wondered what the effects would be then.

"My physical strength still isn't enough."

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

He staggered a few steps. Once he adapted to the weight, Uchiha Yuu 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 Yuu's gaze followed the dust into the distance.

"Hm?"

He gathered the surrounding dust with lightning speed. Surprise filled Yuu's eyes. He had not expected her to come here.

"Yuu!"

"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 wants many shinobi to go study there and be tested to see whether they have the aptitude to become medical shinobi."

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