How About I Become an Elder?

Konoha's White Fang had died not long ago. Even someone like him had been shunned by the village and ultimately driven to suicide simply because he chose to save his comrades, causing the mission to go awry.

Not to mention minor shinobi like this father and son.

And this was still Konoha.

Since Kusagakure had assigned the mission, they had no choice but to carry it out.

"Yue... I'll go alone. You..." Fuma Ryoma suddenly stopped walking.

No matter what the village arranged, as a father, he could not let his son take such a risk.

"Get some rest..."

But just as he raised his head toward Yue's position, he heard a sound by his ear.

Then his body went limp, and he fell unconscious.

Yue had knocked his father out.

He knew his father's personality well. Since this was a certain death trap, Fuma Ryoma would rather risk his own life to get him out of danger.

Someone had to die to give the village an explanation.

Yue could more or less guess Fuma Ryoma's thoughts.

He intended to trade his own death for Yue's safety, put an end to this matter, and stop the higher-ups from pursuing it further.

Although the mission's failure would invite some criticism, as long as Yue survived, it would be worth it.

Little did he know that he did not want Yue to die, and Yue could not possibly stand by and watch him throw away his life.

His thinking was somewhat naïve, because... as long as the village feared trouble from Amegakure, failing to kill him this time only meant there would be a next time.

Yue took the secret letter from his father's pocket and tucked it away, placed him in a hidden location, then headed alone toward the meeting point.

Fuma Ryoma's strength was ordinary. Yue did not want him taking the risk.

Since they had sent the father and son together, it meant the opponent dispatched by the village to silence them definitely would not be strong.

A Chunin, plus a kid who had just graduated... at most, the enemy would be a Special Jonin.

And considering Kusagakure's overall standards...

Yue's current physical strength far surpassed that of an ordinary Chunin. The improvements he gained after going to the Shinigami were not limited to flesh and blood; his spiritual will had also strengthened, giving him an astonishing amount of Chakra. Since Chakra itself was "life energy," it was closely tied to the individual. As for ninjutsu and methods, thanks to his training with Akatsuki during this time, his arsenal was fairly extensive. Even without any powerful trump cards... it was more than enough to deal with situations that were not too dire.

What he lacked now were the finer details of training: delicate Chakra control and reaction speed, flaws in his hand seals, and the minute adjustments of actual combat. He was also not proficient with some ninjutsu. His body had grown stronger, but his muscles and bones were still underdeveloped due to his age. Though he had gained powerful "internal drive," fully bringing it out would require extensive real combat to familiarize himself with and develop it.

After all, the fighting styles of Shinigami and Naruto were clearly different.

In the end, he still lacked combat—lots of combat.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.

Amid layer after layer of tree shade, Yue soared through the air like an arrow released from a bow.

He was not wearing shinobi attire. He still had on the outfit from when he left Akatsuki, with a backpack slung over his shoulders.

After a long while, an hour later.

Yue hooked one hand around a tree branch and used the momentum to swing himself down to the ground.

He looked around but saw no one.

This was a shallow stretch of riverbank, surrounded by bushes, with a steep mountain cliff ahead.

He took a few steps, frowning.

He held a long blade in his hand.

It was this blade that had ultimately protected Akatsuki's base and cut off that rogue shinobi's head.

Suddenly, his eyes shifted toward the river's surface.

The next second, the water slowly rose before him, gathering into a human form and revealing a face.

A Water Release Jutsu, similar to the Water Clone Jutsu, but clearly more refined.

The other man wore no forehead protector, so Yue could not identify him. He had supposedly come from Takigakure.

But there was only one person here.

Clearly, this was the person Yue was meant to meet.

"Pretty sharp for a kid... You seem to have some talent for Chakra sensing."

The man had long hair falling to his shoulders and a hooked nose, giving him a somewhat sinister appearance.

"Didn't they say there would be two people? Where's the other one?" Yue narrowed his eyes.

"You don't need to know..."

Expressionless, Yue took out the secret letter in front of him. "Anyway, once I hand this over to you, my mission is complete."

"Hehehe... Interesting. You're not even going to verify my identity?"

"There's no need to verify it... You're not from Takigakure. As for this letter..." Yue sneered. As he spoke, he directly opened the envelope and pulled out a sheet of blank paper.

That was right, it was just a blank sheet of paper without a single word on it.

"Heh heh."

"No wonder you survived the last incident. It seems... Muramasa and the others probably died because of you. As for Ryuga and that brat named Yoshitaka... we know perfectly well what they're capable of."

Those words practically confirmed that he was from the village, one of Grass Seed's people.

"It doesn't matter... You're the one we're here to kill anyway. As for your father, let him cling to life for a few more days. Killing him would be far too easy."

As soon as he finished speaking, the man suddenly shouted, "Hah!"

He struck without warning, releasing uninhibited killing intent.

The killing intent released by powerful shinobi was almost tangible and could even create certain mental illusions.

For example, when Orochimaru left Konoha, Kakashi had tried to stop him and believed he had the strength to fight him. Yet with a single glance from Orochimaru, Kakashi's head was "blown away" by killing intent, making him realize how ridiculous he had been.

The same thing had happened many times in the story.

Normally, high-ranking shinobi possessed absolute suppression over lower-ranking ones.

Of course, certain special freaks were not included in that discussion.

As the killing intent surged toward him, it was accompanied by the Binding Jutsu Yue knew all too well.

A powerful restraining force immediately "locked" his limbs.

"A Special Jonin... what a joke."

For a Special Jonin, dealing with a kid who had just graduated should have been effortless.

Yet the man heard the youth's scoff.

"A village with no backbone, along with a pack of useless dogs it raises... At your level, let alone among the Five Great Shinobi Villages, even in the Land of Rain, you'd only barely qualify as a Chunin." Yue did not move, appearing to be immobilized by the Binding Jutsu. "Looks like... you've lived too comfortably."

But the next second, the long-haired man's face twisted.

His pupils dilated.

He could not believe it, as though he had seen a ghost.

In his vision, in an instant, heaven and earth seemed to be dyed the deep crimson of blood.

A sharp blade had pierced through the center of his brow.

He died instantly.

As for the youth standing before him, black aura like blazing fire seemed to coil around his entire body, expanding endlessly within the scarlet world before finally transforming into a massive black hole. Only two white eyes like blazing torches remained visible, like a towering entity looking down upon him.

Terrifying killing intent crashed down like waves, washing over him again and again.

This kid's killing intent... was several times, more than ten times stronger than his!

It had not only thrown his mind into disarray but also disrupted the flow of Chakra within his body.

Yue's bound hands and feet slowly lifted as though breaking free from shackles, gradually regaining movement.

"You!"

The long-haired man came to his senses, his scalp tingling.

"A Special Jonin... in a place like Kusagakure, it seems anyone can become one. Rank and status are nothing more than titles; whether you get them or not depends entirely on a word from those old bastards. Strength isn't even what matters... How tragic." Yue coldly spoke as he freed himself from the technique.

"Since strength isn't the only standard, then... I was wondering whether... I could become an elder too?"

Yue gave the man a bloodthirsty smile. "What do you think?"

"..."

The man was speechless and immediately changed his hand seals.

But Yue no longer gave him the chance to prepare a backup move.

Wind-natured Chakra coated the long blade, making the weapon even sharper. Empowered by Yue's powerful body, it became a silver-white line that flashed through the air.

Then Yue appeared behind the man.

With an indifferent expression, he slowly sheathed his blade.

One strike, one kill!

The corpse behind him still held its hand-seal posture. Before the man could even think to dodge or defend with a technique, his head had already rolled into the shallow river water.

The blood at the severed neck paused for several seconds before beginning to spray out.

"I'll start with you..."

"Come to think of it, Kirigakure's Blood Mist Village might suit Kusagakure quite well."

"A bunch of stubborn old dogs... It's time for them to die."

Yue bent down, picked up the dripping head, and muttered.

Then, without even looking at the headless corpse, he stepped across the bloodstained water and returned the way he had come.