Danzo

Whoosh—!

A cat-faced mask, a special Anbu vest, and the usual blades strapped across his back.

"Jonin appointment."

Goenji looked at the scroll in his hand and fell into thought as he faced the Anbu ninja.

It had been over thirty days since he returned to the village. He had never expected to become a Jonin so soon.

The Anbu had come this time to have Goenji report to the Hokage Office and settle his appointment, after which he would begin a new mission.

That was his guess.

This was wartime. As a Jonin-level combatant, staying in the village for a month was already a long break.

The students who had graduated before him had already gone to the battlefield.

That alone showed how intense the war was. He had spent two years on the battlefield, so a month of rest was about enough.

By his estimation, once he was appointed a Jonin, a new mission would come immediately. There would be no exception.

"Be sure to arrive early." After speaking, the Anbu ninja used the Body Flicker Technique and vanished from his sight.

Goenji nodded.

That was probably it.

Hokage Office.

Hiruzen Sarutobi studied Goenji seriously.

A spirited young man.

According to his intelligence, this Uchiha before him was no longer the same as before.

He felt more like Kagami Uchiha.

And he was very strong—quite possibly strong enough to surpass Kagami.

He was a major fighting force for Konoha.

"Goenji, congratulations on becoming a Jonin," he said gently.

Yet the exhaustion at the corners of his eyes was impossible to hide.

Goenji replied, "Thank you, Lord Hokage."

He had only been in the Shinobi World for a few months, yet he had become a Jonin already. Back when he played the Naruto mobile game, he had not reached Jonin this quickly.

After becoming a Jonin, he would be considered part of Konoha's upper ranks.

From now on, he would be involved in many of Konoha's decisions.

He would play an important role within Konoha.

Unlike after the Nine-Tails' attack, the Uchiha were still at the core of Konoha now!

When the time came, he could participate in core decision-making and get involved in the major events surrounding the Hokage.

That would make survival more likely.

After all, the higher-ups had access to more intelligence.

With his current brain, he should be able to put that information to good use and keep himself from getting dragged into any major conflicts.

Or he could profit from those conflicts.

He had the Sharingan, as well as the ability to copy.

Even if he lacked certain chakra affinities, he could still use them as reference.

That was the use of a super-powered brain. Unlike Kakashi, who could only copy things mechanically without making proper use of his copying ability.

Though it was not as if Kakashi had failed to use it well. After all, he had earned the title of the Copy Ninja.

He simply had not applied it toward advancing along the path of ninjutsu.

Instead, he applied it in battle.

Hiruzen Sarutobi took out a scroll. "Now that you have become a Jonin, you naturally have to shoulder a Jonin's responsibilities. I'm assigning this mission to you."

Goenji accepted the scroll and opened it to read.

"Accompany the team to the Land of Rain and drive a wedge between Iwagakure and Amegakure, preventing them from forming an alliance. The leader of this team is Shimura Danzō."

The scroll also contained a great deal of intelligence on Iwagakure and Amegakure.

He raised his head to look at Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Hiruzen Sarutobi said, "That's right. According to intelligence from our spies, Iwagakure is preparing to make a treaty with Amegakure and withdraw the troops stationed around Amegakure, using them to attack Konoha or Kumogakure. Konoha's front is too broad and too long. We cannot allow Iwagakure to concentrate its forces."

"In other words, our actual objective is not to drive a wedge between them. It is to ensure that Iwagakure cannot withdraw its troops from Amegakure."

Goenji spoke after hearing that.

Konoha was indeed under enormous pressure. If Iwagakure concentrated its troops, the impact on Konoha would be huge.

At present, Iwagakure and Kumogakure were no weaker than Konoha.

They might even be stronger.

So this was a very important mission for Konoha.

At the same time, it showed just how important his assignment was.

And their leader was Shimura Danzō, which made Goenji somewhat wary.

He did not know how deep Danzo's prejudice against the Uchiha was at this stage.

Nor did he know how deeply Danzo coveted them.

For now, none of that was clear.

If Shimura Danzō had any ideas, he would be in danger too.

He was not that strong yet.

Not strong enough to deal with an entire team.

Hiruzen Sarutobi said, "That's right. Your mission this time is to reduce the pressure on Konoha in dealing with Iwagakure."

"Understood, Lord Hokage." Goenji nodded.

Having received confirmation, he had no further questions.

Sometimes, vague missions could be incredibly frustrating.

If they failed to drive a wedge between them, they could still do something else to hold Iwagakure's troops in place.

"Go. Prepare your ninja tools and assemble immediately."

Goenji quickly prepared his ninja tools and everything else.

Then he headed for the mission's destination.

He was still somewhat nervous about meeting Danzo this time.

Although he was a transmigrator with plenty of information, facing a schemer like this still made him uneasy.

At the end of the day, he had no system. His brain was merely a little better than average.

But even with a better brain, he was only above average in other areas. Only his talent for Fire Release stood at an incomprehensible peak.

Danzo's thoughts were also extremely difficult to predict.

No one knew what bizarre scheme he might spring first.

Whoosh, whoosh—!

He arrived in a dark area northwest of Konoha.

"He's here."

Beside Danzo, a ninja dressed as an Anbu spoke.

There were also squad after squad around them.

There were more than thirty people in total.

Danzo looked up. A figure was rapidly approaching, and his eyes narrowed.

"What a fast Body Flicker Technique."

This Body Flicker Technique reminded him of Minato Namikaze, Jiraiya's disciple.

And of the Uchiha's rising star, Shisui Uchiha.

He had not expected there to be another Uchiha with such skill in the Body Flicker Technique.

The Uchiha's talent truly lived up to their status as one of Konoha's great clans.

But they were all his subordinates now. He would make good use of them.

Whoosh—!

Goenji descended from the sky and landed before the team.

His hands rapidly formed an Anbu signal, matching it with the team's.

So this is Danzo. He was actually pretty handsome in person!

In an instant, his gaze fell on Danzo.

His right eye was wrapped in bandages, a cross-shaped scar marked his chin, and a short sword was strapped to his back. Danzo gave Goenji the impression of a battle-hardened veteran.

And that was not wrong. Danzo was indeed battle-hardened.

Especially now. Unlike Hiruzen Sarutobi, Danzo was still active on the front lines.

That powerful aura told Goenji that his current self could absolutely not be Danzo's opponent.

It was a feeling—just a feeling.

Still, Danzo really was handsome, at least in terms of bearing. Whether that would change in the future was another matter.

Though it probably would.

Shimura Danzō said, "Let's go. This is an urgent wartime mission. Everyone, move out at full speed."

Decisive and efficient, he merely confirmed that the signal was correct before immediately turning to address the team.

That left Goenji clicking his tongue.

Damn, was this what a veteran of countless battles felt like?

The uncorrupted Danzo gave him a powerful impression of being "cool."

It was a pretty absurd feeling. Back when he watched Naruto, he had not had any favorable impression of Danzo at all.