" Nawaki and Dan Katō?"
Holding the mission scroll, Shin'un's slightly surprised voice rang out, which caught Nara Shikahito's attention.
"What's wrong? Is there something amiss with these two?"
Nara Shikahito looked at Shin'un with a puzzled expression, somewhat surprised by Shin'un's reaction.
Looking at Shin'un, Nara Shikahito said:
"This personnel list can be adjusted if there are any changes."
"After all, you're in charge of this mission and have the right to request a replacement."
"No, it's nothing." Shin'un shook his head, not saying anything more.
He was only slightly surprised to see Nawaki and Dan Katō's names appear together.
Nara Shikahito glanced at Shin'un and said:
"It seems you know Dan Katō."
"He was one of the two thousand ninjas who came to provide support along with your teacher."
"Possesses a unique Spirit Transformation Technique, allowing them to infiltrate using their soul form."
"That's why I assigned him to this mission, since your task is to infiltrate the area controlled by the Sand Ninja ninja and steal intelligence."
After saying a few words, Nara Shikahito changed the subject.
"Alright, since you don't plan to change the personnel list, let's get started on the preparations."
"The faster this mission is completed, the better."
As he spoke, Nara Shikahito narrowed his eyes and said meaningfully:
"Your teacher led two thousand ninjas to reinforce us, which completely wiped out our previous setbacks on the battlefield."
"While the confused Chiyo is still on the Stone Ninja battlefield, Sand Ninja doesn't yet have any strong enough individuals to influence the battlefield situation, we must launch a full-scale attack as soon as possible and achieve a decisive victory."
"But before launching a full-scale attack, we must obtain more detailed intelligence. This discovery of a large stronghold is an opportunity, understand?"
Nara Shikahito looked at Shin'un with a serious expression.
"Understood!" Shin'un immediately became serious, turned around and led Yūichi and Shiina Kō out, preparing to carry out the mission.
Lifting the curtain, Shin'un stepped out of the tent and immediately led Shiina Kō to the open space west of the Konoha camp.
After a short while, an open space appeared before them, where two teams of ninjas were already waiting.
" Jonin Hirakawa."
"Big brother!"
" Jonin Hirakawa."
"..."
Upon seeing Shin'un, the two ninja teams that were already waiting in the open space quickly stood up to greet Shin'un.
Amidst the greetings, the word "Big Brother" stood out loudly.
Upon hearing the word "Big Brother, "Shin'un's brow twitched, and he glanced at Nawaki in the ninja group but ignored him.
"Everyone, I'm counting on you for this mission," Shin'un straightened up and greeted the ninjas in front of him.
"You're too kind," the ninjas quickly replied.
Shin'un nodded, glanced at the ninjas in front of him, and pondered to himself.
The team involved in this mission consisted of five squads, a fairly impressive lineup, including one Elite Jonin Shin'un, three Jonin, and one Special Jōnin, with the remaining ninjas, except for Nawaki, all being Chunin.
Of course, in contrast to the sheer number of mission participants, the difficulty of the mission is also enormous.
Shin'un needs to lead his team to infiltrate the Sand Ninja's controlled territory, lie in ambush near the stronghold, and gather intelligence using Dan Katō's Spirit Transformation Technique.
It sounds simple, but it's actually very dangerous.
Leading a team alone deep into the region is fine if you don't expose yourself, but once you are exposed, it will become a scene that Shin'un is familiar with.
It was just like when Konoha White Fang led his troops to flee back towards Konoha while being chased by Sand Ninja.
There's no need for that; Shin'un really doesn't want to go through that experience again.
It wasn't that they were afraid, but rather that they could only run away and couldn't fight, which, in Yūichi's words, was extremely frustrating.
"Big brother, what are you thinking about?"
Nawaki's voice rang out beside him, drawing Shin'un's attention.
Raising an eyebrow, Shin'un asked Nawaki,
"Nothing much. But how are you getting along with your new teammates?"
"Of course we got along well," Nawaki said, raising an eyebrow.
"That's good. Be careful and cautious in your actions. Observe how your teammates handle things, and don't forget the lesson from last time."
"This... is." Upon hearing Shin'un mention his former teammates, Nawaki unusually became more composed and readily agreed, then walked to the side, seemingly lost in thought.
Seeing this, Shin'un nodded without saying much, and simply led Shiina Kō to the side to wait for the two teams of ninjas who had not yet arrived.
A few minutes passed quickly.
"Whoosh~"
Several Body Flicker Technique flashed by, and the last group of ninjas appeared.
One of the Jonin with light blue hair scanned the waiting ninjas in the open space and immediately locked onto Hirakawa Shin'un with silver hair.
Then, he led his squad directly to Shin'un, bowed slightly, and said:
" Jonin Hirakawa, all three members of Katō Squad are here."
Nodding, Shin'un briefly looked over the three ninjas before him, finally fixing his gaze on the Jonin in front of him.
"You're Dan Katō?"
Dan Katō taken aback, looked up at Shin'un, and said uncertainly:
" Jonin Hirakawa knows me?"
"I know." Shin'un pondered to himself as he looked at Dan Katō in front of him.
To be honest, although I never intentionally did anything to change the original plot, the story ultimately underwent many changes because of me, a butterfly that didn't exist in the original story.
Because of his existence, Nawaki went to the battlefield earlier, failed to become Orochimaru's disciple, and experienced the tragic death of all his teammates before his eyes. His temperament was tempered as a result, making him more composed than before.
In the future, they will likely not recklessly step into Explosive Tag trap and lose their lives for nothing.
Since Nawaki wouldn't lose his life, Tsunade naturally wouldn't openly propose suggestions about medical-nin at the Jonin meeting, and Orochimaru wouldn't feel that life was fragile because of it.
Because Tsunade did not openly confront the Third Hokage at the Jonin Conference, Dan Katō naturally would not have voiced his support for Tsunade at the Jonin conference, and the two would not have met, let alone become lovers.
Since Nawaki won't lose his life, and Dan Katō is just a passerby, Tsunade probably won't develop hemophobia as originally planned due to the death of someone close to her.
Since she doesn't suffer from hemophobia, Tsunade will likely appear in the Third Shinobi World War, which she was originally absent from, to fight for Konoha. This would make Konoha's victory even easier than originally planned.
Since Nawaki didn't die and didn't develop hemophobia, Tsunade probably won't leave Konoha in the future. She'll likely spend decades gambling in various casinos throughout the Shinobi World, and the nickname "Legendary Sucker " will be no longer associated with Tsunade.
Since Tsunade did not leave Konoha, she will likely participate in the Hokage election after the Third Shinobi World War.
Who knows, Tsunade and Minato Namikaze might switch Hokage positions, with Tsunade becoming the Fourth Hokage and Minato Namikaze becoming the Fifth Hokage.
No, if Nawaki hadn't died under Orochimaru's nose, Orochimaru might not have defected from the village and missed the Hokage election as he did in the original story due to human experimentation.
Perhaps the next Fourth Hokage will be Orochimaru?