"Judging from your expressions, you probably already guessed why I called you here, right?"
In the Command Room, Dan Katō, with his usual gentle smile, spoke to Uchiha Meikyō and Shirakumo Tokinobu.
After receiving the reply, Dan Katō read through the appointment document written by the Third himself.
"However, there is another reason why I called you here today. To be precise, it is an S-rank mission involving relations between countries."
Upon hearing Dan Katō's words, Meikyō and Shirakumo Tokinobu's expressions suddenly turned serious.
Of all the missions Meikyō has carried out so far, only two are S-rank. One was when he unexpectedly intercepted intelligence about the Sunagakure ninja's intention to attack and kill Tsunade, which was counted as an S-rank mission. The other was when he and Dan Katō, along with a dozen Jonin, traveled hundreds of kilometers in one day and destroyed sixteen Suna Village strongholds.
None of these tasks are unimportant.
"There's no need to be so serious, because this mission doesn't actually require any combat."
Dan Katō explained with a smile.
"Speaking of which, Meikyō was the one who proposed this plan. After I contacted the Third Hokage-sama, the Third Hokage-sama also agreed to try to bring the Country of Roran into Konoha's sphere of influence as a node to monitor the western Suna."
How could Hiruzen Sarutobi disagree?
Even if the negotiations fail, it won't have any negative impact on Konoha, and he, as the Hokage, won't be held responsible. If the negotiations succeed, it will naturally benefit Konoha, such as increasing the number of missions, and it will be thanks to him, the Hokage.
"So tomorrow, you will be part of the Konoha delegation, traveling to Rōran with the senior Jonin from Nara as the chief envoy, to try to persuade the Queen of Roran. Once the Queen of Roran agrees and a fait accompli is established, then during our subsequent negotiations, even if Suna doesn't want to agree, we will have no choice but to agree."
Meikyō's eyes lit up, and he suppressed his excitement, putting on a serious and calm expression.
Now, we have a chance!
After giving the order, Dan Katō waved his hand, dismissing Meikyō and the others.
As a commander, even though the war had just ended, he still had a lot to do.
"Eh... Eh? Eh!"
"You've already Jonin!"
Upon learning that Meikyō had gone to the Command Room and had already shed his Chunin title, Inuzuka Ryo was speechless with surprise. Aburame Nami...
She is usually not very talkative, but even through her sunglasses, you can see the shock in her heart.
"He's Special Jonin; he's still not as good as a regular Jonin."
Meikyō waved his hand modestly, but he couldn't hide the smug look on his face.
"Damn it, don't Jonin Special Jonin, you arrogant brat!"
Inuzuka Ryo his foot in anger, nearly driven mad with jealousy. If he also had Uchiha blood, he might be able to awaken his Sharingan by now.
"Although Master Dan had long ago recognized your Jonin -level strength and even took you on an S-rank mission, it's still a bit unsettling to see this day come."
After a long while, Inuzuka Ryo shook his head helplessly and said...
He and Aburame Nami were both considered geniuses since childhood, and they were always the ones who were ahead of others. They never expected that one day they would be the ones who were overtaken by others.
"Well, there's no need for you to be discouraged. The reason I got to this point so quickly is because of the advancement of my Sharingan. With your talent and strength, your future development is unlikely to be too bad. You have your families behind you, and you have Master Dan and Lady Tsunade above you. You can definitely grow into elite Jonin."
"I hope so."
Inuzuka Ryo thought about it and realized it made sense, which made him feel a little better.
He was unaware that beyond the Sharingan the Mangekyou Mangekyo, a secret known throughout the Ninja World, even among Jonin.
The most important factor in Uchiha Meikyō's current ability to fight at the Jonin level Three-Tomoe Sharingan.
However, even excluding the Sharingan, he still possesses excellent swordsmanship and has mastered skills such as the Fire Style Chakra Nature Transformation, so his strength is still slightly higher than that of Inuzuka Ryo and Aburame Nami.
But Inuzuka Ryo selectively ignored these points.
Given his personality, he'll probably forget about these things after a while.
"It's a pity you have to go on another high-level mission. Now that the war is over, I won't be able to find anyone to spar with."
Inuzuka Ryo and sighed, looking like a lonely master.
Aburame Nami gave Inuzuka Ryo a disdainful look.
"So that's what you call sparring? I always thought Meikyō was helping you with your resilience training, since you were always the one getting beaten up when you fought Meikyō."
Aburame Nami remained silent until she opened her mouth, and then dealt a heavy blow to Inuzuka Ryo.
"Hey! What nonsense are you talking about!"
"Awoo awoo!"
"What! Tetsu Maru, you actually think she's right!"
The next morning, Meikyō bid farewell to his two teammates and followed Shirakumo Tokinobu to the camp gate.
There, the old patriarch of the Nara Clan was waiting with a group of people.
As a veteran strategist of Konoha, the current Nara Elder was also highly regarded by the current Hokage. He was also the first person to lead the Ino-Shika-Cho Clans to align themselves with Hiruzen Sarutobi after Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Even if the Sarutobi Clan was a witness to the alliance of the Ino-Shika-Cho Clans during the Sengoku period, it was because the Nara Elder foresaw what the future situation would be like within Konoha.
Given the circumstances at the time, Konoha Hiruzen Sarutobi was the most suitable person in Konoha to become Hokage, and the only one capable of taking over the position of the Second Hokage and barely keeping Konoha afloat.
Given that Hiruzen Sarutobi was still very young at the time, and the new generation of ninjas had not yet emerged, it was foreseeable that the Third Hokage would have enough time to lay the foundation and consolidate his rule.
It was because of his decision that the Ino-Shika-Cho Clans benefited immensely for decades to come.
After counting everyone present and ensuring that everyone was there, the Nara Elder finally spoke:
"Gentlemen, I will be primarily responsible for the handover negotiations during this mission to Rōran. Most of you here are young and strong individuals specially selected by the Jonin. Therefore, I hope that you can showcase the talent and strength of the village's younger generation to the outside world, which will greatly benefit our negotiations."
The Nara Elder made some more requests to the ninjas present, then waved his hand and led the group of ninjas on their way.