War Clouds Gather!

Night fell.

Asuma and the others finally finished their work.

First, they dismantled the original traps, then chose new locations and set them up again.

Not only that, they also had to redraw the patrol routes.

Back inside the underground hideout.

Hatake Sakumo said, "Tonight, Asuma and I will form a team and handle patrols."

"Kurenai and Shizune, you two will serve as backup. We'll return to the previous groups tomorrow."

"Asuma, get some rest. We leave in an hour."

Asuma and the other two immediately nodded.

Sitting down at his spot, Asuma took out rations and water to replenish his strength.

However, his attention was on the system panel.

This first-kill reward was basically the same as the previous two.

One Attribute Point, one Skill Point, and a Skill Pack.

Asuma was already familiar with the process and directly opened the Skill Pack.

Congratulations. You have obtained Level 4 Wind Style—Wind Cutting Technique, and Level 3 Wind Style—Pressure Damage.

Two Wind Style ninjutsu were directly implanted into his mind.

However, Asuma was no longer as delighted as he had been when receiving rewards before.

With Level 10 Chakra Control and Level 8 Wind Release Chakra Nature Transformation, he was not particularly interested in these two techniques.

Nor did he have the time to study them right now.

"Still, I'll need more and more Experience Points in the future, while each ninjutsu will yield less and less Experience Points as it levels up. If I want to keep gaining large amounts of Experience Points, I'll have to master more ninjutsu. Only then can I keep raising my Character Level and obtain Attribute Points and Skill Points."

At that thought, Asuma's delight diminished somewhat.

Giving him Level 3 and Level 4 Wind Style ninjutsu right away—how many Experience Points had that wasted?

Asuma was getting a bargain and still complaining.

His gaze shifted to his attributes. After some thought, Asuma allocated the newly acquired Attribute Point to agility.

The Chakra granted by his current Constitution of 62 already placed him among the best of the many Jōnin.

Even compared to a powerhouse like Hatake Sakumo, he was not far behind.

This showed that, aside from those with unusual constitutions, the strong figures of the ninja world—

Hatake Sakumo, Sarutobi Hiruzen, Namikaze Minato, Jiraiya—if their constitutions were Datafied, they were probably only around 60 to 70.

Tsunade might exceed 70.

And Uzumaki Kushina, whom he had yet to meet, might very well surpass 100.

People like that likely also included the First Hokage, as well as Naruto in the future.

"If Constitution doesn't break 100, I probably won't be qualified to clash with those at the Six Paths level, even if I master Six Paths-level ninjutsu..."

Asuma thought to himself.

His goal was to raise his Constitution past 100.

But agility was also very important.

As long as his reactions were fast enough and his body strong enough, the enemy would not be able to hit him.

Moreover, compared to Constitution, agility was much harder to improve.

But once Constitution rose, agility's Upper Limit would also be raised invisibly.

Setting those thoughts aside, Asuma checked his Experience Points.

From the previous battle, plus dismantling and setting up the traps afterward, he had gained a total of 12,000 Experience Points.

His work had not been in vain.

"At present, combat and learning ninjutsu theory are the fastest ways to gain Experience Points."

"The Experience Points from basic training have become negligible."

Asuma sighed inwardly.

But he had no intention of abandoning basic training.

Even a mosquito was still meat. No point being picky!

An hour passed quickly.

Asuma got up and left the hideout with Hatake Sakumo to begin taking turns on patrol, heading out roughly once every half hour.

Asuma did not waste his rest time either, using it to study theory.

He carried a small Sealing Scroll with him, containing training notes and insights from his brother, Sarutobi Shinya, and his father, Sarutobi Hiruzen.

The reason he did not practice ninjutsu was because battle could break out at any time.

He could not allow himself to be in a weakened state.

Therefore, Asuma did not even use a Shadow Clone.

This sight made Hatake Sakumo sigh to himself.

His son Kakashi was already a highly disciplined genius, but Asuma was even better.

With that attitude toward learning, it would be a crime against reason if someone like him failed to succeed.

The night passed without incident.

After the mission ended at dawn, Asuma returned to the hideout. He first sent out a Shadow Clone to practice ninjutsu, while his original body quickly entered deep sleep.

Four o'clock in the afternoon.

An Anbu team arrived from Konoha.

It was a three-man squad, and Asuma recognized one of them at a glance as his older brother, Sarutobi Shinya.

Five years older than him, Sarutobi Shinya was now fourteen. He had entered the Hokage's direct Anbu last year and had also been promoted to Jōnin.

They did not greet each other. Only after the Anbu completed their routine questioning regarding yesterday's battle did Asuma and Sarutobi Shinya step aside to catch up.

"Asuma, you've really grown up!"

Removing his mask, Sarutobi Shinya smiled and sighed.

He had been startled when he heard the news in Konoha, and after reading the detailed autopsy reports, he had been astonished.

His younger brother was far stronger than he had known.

That was right. Not long after yesterday's battle ended, the bodies of the three ninja Asuma had killed were transported back to Konoha by another squad using a Sealing Scroll.

They arrived in Konoha that very night, where the bodies were immediately examined for intelligence and dissected.

Ninja corpses carried quite a lot of information.

"I'm only nine. I'm still a long way from being grown up!"

Asuma smiled. "And you're only fourteen, Brother. Don't act like you're already thirty!"

Sarutobi Shinya could not help but laugh.

After chatting for a while, Sarutobi Shinya left.

After seeing off the Anbu team, Yūhi Kurenai could not help asking, "Sakumo-sensei, was yesterday's incident caused by a spy leaking the border deployment?"

This time, Hatake Sakumo did not hide it. He nodded. "That's right."

"It was a spy Sunagakure had planted in the village many years ago."

Hearing that, Asuma immediately recalled the quiet young man in the squad that had handed over with them earlier.

Judging by his age, he had most likely been planted through an orphan during the Second Great Ninja War.

That young man had also been a medical ninja.

"A medical ninja really is an excellent identity to hide behind!"

Asuma sighed inwardly.

Shizune asked nervously, "Sakumo-sensei, does this mean Sunagakure is going to attack us?"

Only five or six years had passed since the end of the Second Great Ninja War.

Her parents and her uncle had all died in that war.

Hatake Sakumo's expression did not change. He merely nodded. "That is very possible."

"Otherwise, they would not have used a piece that had been lying low for so long."

"But you do not need to worry. A Ninja World War does not simply erupt overnight."

"This time, Sunagakure failed. They also lost an important piece, and most importantly, we noticed them. They will not succeed."

Asuma, however, thought of the Third Kazekage's death as he listened to Hatake Sakumo.

He could not help but think, Could it be that Sasori of the Red Sands left Sunagakure, then returned a few years later and killed the Third Kazekage—and that this was actually connected to the Third Great Ninja War?