Now that you've made up for your shortcomings, is there anything else you need?
"That's all. Right now, I just want to leave Konoha and find a strong opponent to test my strength."
Having successfully overcome his weakness, Jörmungandr eager to try it out and couldn't wait to show off his new moves.
Standing beside him, Kōki noticed Jörmungandr's eagerness and stepped forward to reassure him, "Don't rush, there are plenty of skilled ninjas in the Shinobi World, you'll have plenty of opportunities to try."
"Now, let me retrieve Aizen's memories first." He needs Aizen's memories regarding Genjutsu, and he also needs to gain some combat experience.
Aizen nodded. The value of Shadow Clone is to make the original body stronger, even special Shadow Clone are no exception.
After recovering the Aizen that had been separated, Kōki felt his understanding of Genjutsu gradually increase, and a large number of Genjutsu techniques emerged in his mind.
Now he can proudly say that he has no weaknesses in the three aspects of ninjutsu, body, and illusion.
It's a bit of a pity that without the Kekkei Genkai of Five Senses Manipulation, the Genjutsu he can use isn't very powerful. It's only enough for Jonin level, but not enough against Kage Level.
However, Kōki was already satisfied. His original goal was only to reduce his weaknesses; his main method was still Wood Release.
After successfully absorbing the memories, Kōki created Special Shadow Clone to reappear Aizen. Then, he said to Aizen and Jörmungandr in front of him, "Let's go. Some things are up to you."
Aizen and Jörmungandr, then left Konoha.
Amidst the windswept, reddish-brown rocky land, two figures appeared and disappeared in the dust. These two figures were none other than Aizen and Jörmungandr, who had left Konoha.
Because of Jörmungandr's constant urging, they received a mission in the black market to kill a missing-nin from Iwagakure, one of the Five Great Nations.
Aizen originally planned to find a nearby mission for Jörmungandr test his new techniques, but he said that the ninjas in small ninja villages were too weak and not good enough for him to fight, so he insisted on finding missing-nin from Five Great Nations to practice on.
Ultimately, Aizen had no choice but to give this Iwagakure missing-nin a mission, and they are currently on their way to the mission objective.
"You're saying the mission target isn't staying in a scenic spot, but instead coming to this godforsaken, desolate place? Is there something wrong with him?" Jörmungandr annoyed. He hadn't expected his first mission to take place in such a place; it was completely against his aesthetic sense.
"Alright, we're almost there. Since you can't stand it here, hurry up and finish off the target, then we'll leave immediately."
Aizen's problem wasn't the location itself, but rather that it was situated within the Land of Earth, and a battle between them could easily attract the attention of Iwagakure ). That would cause a lot of trouble.
Furthermore, he found the actions of this missing-nin from Iwagakure strange. Having already defected, why was he still hiding in the Land of Earth? Wasn't he afraid of being hunted down by the people of Iwagakure?
As for the saying "the darkest place is under the lamp," the most dangerous place is the safest place. If the whereabouts of a missing-nin can be exposed in the black market, it means that the people of Iwagakure also know this information. If Iwagakure really wanted to send people to hunt him down, they would have captured this missing-nin long ago. Why would it be their turn to take action?
This means that either the missing-nin from Iwagakure has a questionable identity, or there are some special reasons why the higher-ups of Iwagakure have given up the pursuit.
Therefore, Aizen could conclude that if the people of Iwagakure discovered they were hunting down this missing-nin, they would definitely come out to stop them.
Therefore, to complete this mission easily, we must act quickly and leave the Land of Earth before the people of Iwagakure can react.
However, considering Jörmungandr's warlike nature, he thought that this mission might not be as easy as he had imagined.
"Don't worry, once I find my target, I'll finish this quickly. I don't want to stay here a second longer," Jörmungandr assured Aizen, patting his chest.
"Alright," Aizen nodded, seeing Jörmungandr's confident demeanor.
They continued walking for another hour until they reached a canyon.
The canyon is filled with jagged rocks, towering peaks, and sharp stone pillars. Strange winds blowing from both sides of the canyon carry many loose stones down, like a rain of rocks, making it seem completely uninhabitable.
However, Aizen was certain that their target was here, because his Sensory Ninjutsu told him that a ninja was approaching them.
A series of whooshing sounds rang in their ears, and then a red figure appeared in front of them.
"So you're Iwahato?" Jörmungandr asked calmly, looking at the rugged, red-clad man before him. Aizen, standing to the side, was carefully examining the ninja.
In his perception, the ninja before him undoubtedly possessed the strength of Jonin. Furthermore, judging from his strong arms and calloused hands, he should also have considerable Taijutsu. Such a ninja would be perfect for Jörmungandr test new techniques. No wonder he accepted this mission as soon as he saw it; he was eager to try his luck.
Unbeknownst to Aizen, while he was sizing up Iwahato, Iwahato was also sizing them up.
The black trench coat and the unidentified ghost mask immediately convinced him that the two people in front of him had ill intentions.
He looked at Jörmungandr and Aizen with wariness in his eyes and said, "I am... what do you want?"
Although he believed in his heart that Aizen and Jörmungandr ill intentions, he did not take direct action because he wanted to know who had sent Aizen and Jörmungandr.
At the same time, a bad feeling flashed through his mind: Could it be that the higher-ups of Iwagakure have finally decided to eliminate him?
He reported the high-ranking official to Ōnoki because he had offended him and couldn't stand the official's behavior of claiming to be for the sake of Iwagakure but secretly enriching himself.
However, he was unexpectedly betrayed by his superiors, and he was arrested and imprisoned. Meanwhile, the superior only received some punishment and was not dismissed from his post, remaining at large.
Finally, unable to contain his anger, he injured the high-ranking official who had framed him and many of his colleagues before fleeing Iwagakure in a rage.
After leaving the village, disheartened, he stayed in Falling Rock Gorge and never left the Land of Earth, wanting to see how the village would ultimately deal with him.
Afterwards, perhaps to cover up the scandal in the village, they only announced that he had defected from Iwagakure, but no one was sent to hunt him down. It was as if they ignored his existence. Therefore, he and Iwagakure have been living in peace ever since.
So it doesn't make sense. He's always lived in Falling Rock Gorge, and the higher-ups in intelligence have known this for a long time. If they wanted to get rid of him, why wait until now?