An S-rank mission

"S... S-rank?"

Several figures flashed through a mountain hollow. Liumu frowned and asked hoarsely, "Seriously? I'm still a Genin. This mission isn't right for me."

At his words, Orochimaru gave a sinister smile and replied in his raspy voice, "Kid, this mission was originally meant for us, the Sannin, but Jiraiya couldn't get away."

"That's right," Tsunade picked up where Orochimaru left off. "He said his two students were fully capable of taking his place, so he personally recommended you to the Third."

"What about him, then?"

As he spoke, Liumu looked at Yuhi Shinku.

As it turned out, Orochimaru, Tsunade, and Minato had come to Kumogakure to protect Konoha's examination team, then carry out the mission after the examination ended.

As for Yuhi Shinku, he was serving as their guide.

"We're going to Kirigakure this time. Yuhi spent quite some time there on a previous mission. Having him along will save us a lot of trouble."

"Kirigakure?"

Hearing that name, Liumu immediately pictured Han.

"We'll tell you the mission details once we're closer to our destination, but..."

Tsunade turned to look at Liumu's languid expression as she spoke. "Although this mission will delay your Chunin promotion ceremony, we still want to congratulate you on successfully completing the examination."

When Tsunade finished, Minato, who was beside Liumu, also patted his shoulder and said softly, "Congratulations."

Although Orochimaru's expression remained cold, Liumu had never expected a friendly face from him in the first place, so he stopped dwelling on it.

A six-year-old Chunin was a historic milestone even across the entire Shinobi World, so Liumu's Chunin rank held very special significance.

The Land of Water, where Kirigakure was located, lay directly south of the Land of Lightning, and nearly four-fifths of the route was across the sea.

Born inland, they all found the sudden humidity deeply uncomfortable.

Three months later.

Liumu leaned over the side of the ship, gazing at the boundless sea in the distance, when he suddenly wondered whether inheriting the Kizaru Template meant he, too, couldn't enter the water.

Why not... give it a try?

Though he thought that, Liumu wasn't foolish enough to jump straight in. After all, if he really had become a "landlubber," wouldn't that jump be the end of him?

So Liumu tied a rope to a bucket and hauled up a bucketful of seawater.

"What are you doing?"

Just then, Tsunade came out of the dock and immediately spotted Liumu drawing water.

"You can't drink seawater. It's salty."

Tsunade thought Liumu was drawing water to quench his thirst, but when she saw him pour it straight over himself, even she couldn't work out what he was doing.

Looking bewildered, Liumu stood in his sodden, drooping clothes and stared dazedly at his hands. He gently clenched them, immediately producing several crisp cracks.

"Seems like... I'm fine."

Liumu figured that the template the system gave him consisted of Kizaru's personal attributes. Whether skills or actual combat ability, all the values had a basis. The fruit's abilities had been replaced by Kizaru's personal template, so he hadn't inherited the fear of the sea.

As they approached the Land of Water.

Tsunade gathered everyone together and explained the details of their current mission.

Apparently, traces of Isobu, the Three-Tails, had appeared in Kirigakure several months ago. The intelligence also stated that Isobu had gone into hiding after being pursued by a black-robed ninja.

The Three-Tails was currently the only Tailed Beast that hadn't been sealed into a Jinchūriki. Whoever obtained him would gain a tremendous fighting force for their village.

"The Three-Tails?"

Hearing that name, Liumu immediately thought of a turtle, as well as Rin Nohara.

Liumu was no stranger to the Three-Tails. His name was Isobu, and he was a turtle-like Tailed Beast covered in spikes, with three tails.

In the original story, the Three-Tails' first Jinchūriki was Rin Nohara, whom Madara had used in a plot against Konoha.

But it wasn't that point in the timeline yet. Rin Nohara was still at the Ninja Academy and wouldn't appear here.

The second Jinchūriki was named Karatachi Yagura, Kirigakure's Fourth Hokage, who ushered in the later era of the "Village of the Bloody Mist."

Liumu figured that, if the intelligence was accurate, the Three-Tails had yet to be captured by Madara. If they subdued him now, or even brought him back to Konoha, wouldn't that directly save Rin Nohara in the future?

Could that black-robed ninja be Madara?!

"For this mission, Yuhi Shinku will guide us, and Orochimaru's orders will take precedence. Has everyone got that?"

The Land of Water.

After Liumu and the others came ashore, they put on the Kirigakure Forehead Protectors they had prepared in advance, disguised their appearances with the Transformation Technique, and began making their way toward Kirigakure.

"Kirigakure is a very unusual village. They revere strength, and in pursuit of it, they often resort to methods we find hard to understand."

Yuhi Shinku said in a low voice, "We once came here to investigate Kirigakure's Kekkei Genkai. But after arriving, we saw with our own eyes that the ninja here abandoned children who hadn't awakened a Kekkei Genkai in the wilderness, leaving them to live or die without helping them. Even children who had awakened a Kekkei Genkai were treated as weapons of war. There was no humanity in it whatsoever."

At his words, a faint sneer appeared on Liumu's lips.

What Yuhi Shinku described was probably the precursor to the Village of the Bloody Mist. Though his account was shocking, Konoha didn't seem much more democratic by comparison.

Konoha probably had more clans than any other village in the Shinobi World.

Among them were the Uchiha and the Hyuga Clan, the most powerful clans in the later Hokage era.

The Hyuga Clan had no interest in pursuing power or gain to begin with. Although they placed great importance on passing down their bloodline, Konoha's upper ranks couldn't control them.

The Uchiha possessed considerable abilities, and once a child of that clan awakened their talent at a young age, they could display a very clear bloodline advantage over their peers.

The Uchiha's decline in the later era was caused by Konoha's wariness and corruption. It was absurd, and it was tragic.

Creating a new era was truly no easy task, but no one, including the Third, Sarutobi, could escape responsibility for the difficulties involved.

Liumu looked at Minato and Tsunade beside him...

Perhaps, for some things, it was time to change the course of history.

"Kirigakure is just ahead. Everyone, be careful."

It was now the depths of winter. Liumu and the other four lay prone in the snow outside Kirigakure, wearing white cloaks.

Watching the patrol ninja passing constantly by the entrance, Orochimaru took a caterpillar the size of a finger joint from the ninja tool pouch behind him.

"It can break through the village's protective barrier. After dark, we'll sneak to the north of Mist Shadow Village and begin our investigation there."

There wasn't much intelligence on Isobu. To capture him, Orochimaru and the other four would not only have to locate him, but also avoid the eyes of Kirigakure's ninja as much as possible.