Assigned a mission!

Whoosh~

The night breeze in Amegakure swept up to the tallest tower, stirring Konan's short, pale-purple hair as she stood by the window. Her long lashes fluttered over melancholy eyes, giving her the air of a sorrowful goddess.

As she watched Uchiha Itachi return below, a hint of curiosity crossed her face.

"Did they reach some kind of agreement?"

She could sense that Uchiha Itachi's life force had stabilized considerably.

Although she had long known that the Masked Man had ulterior motives for working with them, they could not find any other path to peace.

For now, they could only follow his lead. If anything went wrong, they would turn against him.

What intrigued her now was how he had managed to win Uchiha Itachi over.

"Sigh, I just can't figure it out."

After pressing her slightly pale lips together, she let out a helpless sigh. Since she could not figure it out, she stopped thinking about it.

For now, they shared a goal: capturing the tailed beasts. They could worry about the rest once they had them.

She still agreed with what the Masked Man had said. As long as they controlled the tailed beasts and used their power to deter the other nations, they could achieve peace. Of course, that depended on their intentions remaining unchanged.

But they could not afford to think that far ahead now. They had to take the first step.

And that very first step had already hit a wall. They needed money, money!

Konan shifted from sorrowful goddess back to accounting expert. It was time to take on a few more missions.

Konoha.

Inside a house.

Sasuke Uchiha lay on his bed, shaking the Diary up and down in his hand, utterly frustrated.

"What has Mang been doing these past few days? Has he already left?"

He had staked out the area below the Hokage Building for three days without spotting him once. Yet the diary entries had continued without fail. Every day, all he wrote was that he was tired, and then the entry ended.

So it was hardly surprising that Sasuke Uchiha would start thinking that way.

"Should I go introduce myself tomorrow?"

But the moment Sasuke Uchiha had that thought, a notification popped up in the Diary.

[Do not reveal the Diary's existence. Violations will be punished with an electric shock, followed by memory erasure and the disappearance of the Diary.]

The words echoed in his mind, making the corner of his mouth twitch. Left with no choice, Sasuke sighed helplessly. He could only wait patiently for more news.

Just as he finished thinking, the Diary began to glow.

"Hopefully he won't just phone it in today. Give me some information."

[It didn't rain today. I went out and finally got what I'd planned sorted out. Now I've got a way to keep myself alive.]

Sasuke Uchiha paused at those words, then considered what they meant.

"So he wasn't taking missions because he was looking for a way to stay alive."

That made sense. It seemed the other boy had not left Konoha.

[But something felt strange today. Someone wearing an Anbu mask actually told me he was assigning me a mission. Leaving aside whether I can even take missions when I'm not so much as a Genin yet, didn't the Third already give me a long-term babysitting mission? And now they want me to go out!]

Inside the pocket world.

In the completed Luxury Wooden House.

Over the past three days, Luo Mang had thrown himself wholeheartedly into building the house. He had worked until his arms and legs shook and went weak, but all that effort had finally paid off. He had successfully finished it.

Now that he had some time to spare, he had come into the pocket world to write in his diary.

As he reached this point in the entry, Luo Mang's expression turned odd. That man did not seem like an Anbu member, because anyone in the Anbu would surely have known about his assignment.

Why would they assign him a mission that required leaving the village? There had to be some ulterior motive behind it.

Could it be-!

After a moment's thought, Luo Mang suddenly thought of someone!

The two people most likely to be startled by his contact with Naruto were Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzō. The former had said nothing and had even assigned him a mission, so the one behind something like this had to be the latter.

That was a very plausible guess, and it also gave him a chance to test a few things.

Ever since the Diary had gained the ability to send videos, Luo Mang had suspected that other people might be able to read it. He just did not know who.

[After thinking it over, it might be that devious old bastard Danzo. He probably wants to kill me in secret, and that Anbu member is actually a Root operative in disguise.]

[People really have no decency anymore. I only had a little contact with Naruto, and now someone wants me dead. If I'd known, I wouldn't have approached him and brought all this trouble on myself.]

[When I opened the door this afternoon, I saw that Anbu member who came to assign the mission. Although he wore a mask, I could sense the stern expression hidden beneath it. If I refused, he might accuse me of disobeying orders and kill me right there.]

At the Hatake Compound.

Kakashi's expression shifted slightly as he read the diary. He had spent time training in Root.

He knew exactly what sort of man Danzo was. He would not tolerate even the slightest problem.

Luo Mang had taken Naruto along on missions before, so he must have caught Danzo's attention. Whatever his identity, Danzo would never let him go. Any claim that Luo Mang might be a spy from another village would be nothing but a lie.

"No. No!"

Kakashi slammed his hand on the table and stood up. He could not let Danzo do this. Luo Mang's prophetic ability could be an enormous help in the future.

Even leaving that aside, he had awakened a two-tomoe Sharingan at twelve. He was unquestionably a genius.

If Konoha killed every genius who appeared, the village would have no future.

[Should I bring Naruto along? Let him see the village's evil for himself and turn him straight into T0 Killer Naruto!]

But that was nothing more than idle fantasy. Even if Naruto Uzumaki agreed to go out and gain some experience with him, Hiruzen Sarutobi would never allow it. He would surely find another excuse to keep Naruto in the village.

[Forget it. I'll take things as they come. Worst case, I'll just run. With the Sharingan helping me, escaping should be no problem as long as those two at Danzo's side aren't the ones sent after me.]

After those words appeared, the Diary stopped glowing. Kakashi could sense no panic in the writing. Perhaps Luo Mang had already made up his mind to defect from the village if he was attacked.

"No, absolutely not. I have to follow him. I have to. If something really happens, my heart won't take it!"

Kakashi sat down and tapped his forehead as he thought.

If Luo Mang really fled, whether it meant the Diary disappearing or the loss of a genius, either would be an enormous blow.

Danzo was truly becoming more and more selfish. He would not even allow someone to have a little contact with the Nine-Tails. Treating that alone as a capital offense was utterly outrageous.

Elsewhere, Sasuke Uchiha's reaction was much the same. His face had darkened to the extreme, and his teeth ground together.

"Danzo again!"

"Not only did that sick bastard put Sharingan all over his arm, now he's after the life of my last remaining clansman!"

Anger surged through Sasuke, but anger was all he had. He stood no chance against Danzo.

He could only hope Luo Mang would survive. For now, all he could do was sit there and pray silently. Anything else was beyond him.

"Please don't let anything happen to him."

This was his last remaining clansman. They had not even met properly yet, and now something like this was about to happen?