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Chapter 374: Konoha's Predicament
Chapter 374: Konoha's Predicament
As the Anbu training came to an end, the second semester at the Ninja Academy also drew to a close. Plans for the graduation internship and holiday training were finalized.
"Ah, the holiday special training for the second semester isn't taught by Teacher Mu Yue..."
"It's been so long since we last saw Teacher Mu Yue."
Upon the official announcement, Class 2-1 wailed in despair. Only a handful of students from other grades, aside from the graduating class, were eligible for the holiday special training, and a small number of them were from Class 2-1.
Accustomed to Mu Yue's engaging lessons, they found other teachers' classes dull and uninspiring. Attending those classes became a torment.
"Oh well, let's just take a good rest during the vacation this year and work hard again next year." One student felt that without Mu Yue, it wasn't worth attending.
His words earned nods of agreement from the students around him.
"Hey, why aren't Anko and the others on the list?" Someone noticed that the second-year students selected for the holiday training didn't include Anko, Kotetsu, and Izumo.
"Let me see, it does seem that way. How strange." The other students found it odd as well.
Although Anko, Kotetsu, and Izumo tended to goof around, their strength was undeniably formidable. Among them, Anko was the second most powerful ninja in the second grade, second only to Shisui.
"After all, it's just a mere holiday special training." Kotetsu had been waiting for them to notice this and stepped forward with an air of mystery.
"That's right. Truly exceptional students have more secretive destinations." Izumo chimed in, playing along.
"It's just an internship. Why are you acting like you're going somewhere amazing?" Anko, who knew the truth, couldn't help but retort.
Kotetsu was displeased with her comment. As fellow geniuses who had been chosen for the early internship, how could she ruin the air of intrigue?
"Moreover, neither of you two was assigned to Teacher Mu Yue." At this point, Anko wore a smug smile.
Izumo hadn't expected Anko to turn so venomous. She had interrupted their playful act just to boast about herself.
Kotetsu was so frustrated that he nearly ground his teeth. While he was sad about his own misfortune, he was even more outraged by his friends' good luck.
Seeing the looks of envy, jealousy, and hatred on his friends' faces, Anko felt a surge of pleasure.
"Shisui, do you know who our other teammate is? I was only informed of you." Anko asked Shisui.
"Shizune," Shisui replied.
He hadn't learned about this from the school but from Mu Yue herself.
Usually, internships were conducted in teams of three. Mu Yue didn't intend to make special arrangements for Shisui. It would be beneficial for him to interact with more people.
After some consideration, Mu Yue had chosen Anko and Shizune as Shisui's teammates.
Shizune would be studying under him for the next six months to improve her skills. Although she had already graduated from the Ninja Academy, she didn't have a team, so adding her to the mix wouldn't be an issue.
After all, Kakashi had been added to Hiruzen Sarutobi's team in a similar manner, and with Shisui's current status at the Ninja Academy, such an arrangement wasn't unusual.
As for Anko, the reason was even simpler—she was more suitable than those fourth-grade students, plain and simple.
Anko's cheerful personality, coupled with her familiarity with Shisui and her proven strength, gave Mu Yue no reason not to choose her.
"Senior Shizune? I remember she's already graduated, right?" Anko scratched her head, recalling some memories associated with Shizune.
Since Shizune had also participated in the holiday special training, Anko was vaguely familiar with her, though they weren't close.
"Normally, we wouldn't be able to participate in the internship." Shisui reminded her.
There were always exceptions, and their team just happened to be full of them.
"Hehe, I can't wait for the upcoming ninja life." Anko wasn't one to dwell on things, and she immediately stopped thinking about Shizune, choosing instead to fantasize about the wonderful internship ahead.
Seeing Anko's apparent excitement, Shisui silently decided against sharing what he had been about to say.
There were still several days before the internship officially began, and there was no need for Anko to know the harsh realities of the internship just yet.
Equally matched opponents, lucrative commissions, and a carefree ninja life—these were privileges that a regular internship couldn't offer.
Regular interning ninjas could only take on D-rank missions, which involved menial tasks without any combat.
They would spend their days doing odd jobs and cultivating—a mundane routine for newly graduated genin.
…………
"Let's go with this mission—search and deal with the Iwagakure ninjas who were defeated in the southwestern region of the Grass Country." Minato Namikaze quickly scanned several scrolls before settling on a challenging A-rank mission.
Through the combat training, Minato had gained a clear understanding of his three disciples' capabilities.
In the absence of any intelligence about the enemy and with their guard down, the trio working together might even defeat a strong jonin like Deidara.
Even if the enemy was cautious, Minato estimated that Kakashi, Obito, and Rin could handle two average jonin without issue.
Of course, they wouldn't be able to handle more enemies than that because, despite their strength, neither Kakashi nor Obito could sustain prolonged battles.
Both Kakashi's Raikiri and Obito's Fire Style: Breath of Flame in their chakra mode were powerful techniques, but they also consumed a lot of chakra. Their current chakra reserves wouldn't allow them to maintain those techniques for extended periods in a full-power state.
Minato then showed his disciples the specifics of the task.
"It's an A-rank war mission, and the reward is so high!" Obito immediately noticed the staggering reward of seven hundred thousand ryo.
With Obito's math skills, he couldn't instantly calculate how many D-rank mission rewards this amounted to, but he felt it had to be in the hundreds, as a typical D-rank mission only paid five thousand ryo.
"It shows that the enemy's strength is not to be underestimated." Kakashi reminded him.
Unless they were lucky enough to come across some foolishly wealthy merchants or nobles, most commissioned missions were a case of 'you get what you pay for,' and this was especially true for war commissions.
"Kakashi's right, Obito. Don't get careless," Rin added.
After learning medical ninjutsu from Tsunade for some time, her skills had improved significantly. Still, Rin hoped that neither Obito nor Kakashi would get injured, as healing couldn't erase the pain of the initial injury.
"Since Sensei has accepted this mission, he must believe that we are up to the task." Obito grinned at Minato and said, "Right, Sensei?"
Minato smiled gently and nodded. "You are all excellent Konoha ninjas, so there's no need to worry. And if anything unexpected happens, I'll be there."
With Kirigakure also having declared war on Konoha, although they hadn't launched an offensive yet, the pressure on Konoha was mounting. Minato had taken on this challenging A-rank mission to train his disciples and alleviate some of the village's burden.
The most direct solution to Konoha's current predicament was to crush one of the three great ninja villages, at least enough to deter them from waging war with Konoha in the short term.
However, as they were all powerful ninja villages, achieving this was obviously difficult.
"Having you with us on this mission, Sensei, makes me feel much more at ease." Obito gave Minato a thumbs-up.
With his Flying Thunder God technique, Minato was incredibly fast, whether it was in defeating enemies or rescuing teammates.
In Obito's heart, Minato ranked second in terms of the sense of security he provided, but since his first place was the omnipotent Mu Yue, Obito felt that Minato's second place could be considered first place among everyone else.
Kakashi also showed his agreement. Their encounter with the acting Raikage was the best proof of Minato's capabilities.
After accepting the mission, Minato led his three disciples toward the Land of Grass. For this type of mission, the most time-consuming part wasn't defeating the enemies but finding them, and the southwestern region of the Land of Grass wasn't exactly small.
The White Zetsu, who was responsible for monitoring Obito, quickly conveyed this information.
"Lord Danzo, Obito Uchiha has gone to the Land of Grass for a mission." The Black Zetsu immediately reported the details to Danzo.
Danzo's eyes flickered as he quickly thought about his arrangements in the Land of Grass, then shook his head.
If it were just Obito, Kakashi, and their teammates, Danzo would have immediately carried out his plan to show that Uchiha descendant the darkness of the ninja world. But with Minato along, it would be tricky.
The reason was simple: Minato was too strong, and his Flying Thunder God technique was too fast. He could easily disrupt Danzo's plan to turn Obito to the dark side. Without sufficient power to hold Minato back, Danzo wouldn't act.
"Lord Danzo, the situation seems a bit unfavorable. Every time Obito Uchiha goes out on a mission, he's either with Mu Yue or Minato. It's affecting your plan," Black Zetsu said after some thought.
Danzo was too old now. If things dragged on for a few more years, he might die of old age before his plan came to fruition, and Black Zetsu was worried that Danzo would make a mistake, leaving him to fix things afterward.
Danzo's talent and strength were top-notch; he could be considered the strongest Uchiha that Black Zetsu had seen in over a millennium. However, his strategic abilities were rather average.
"Unfavorable situation?" Danzo smiled confidently. "On the contrary, the situation is becoming more and more advantageous for us. Once the war between Kirigakure and Konoha officially starts, the ninja world will be thrown into chaos, and neither Mu Yue nor Minato will be able to stop my plan."
Danzo had absolute confidence in his scheme, believing it to be foolproof.
He had considered too many factors, even the possibility of Obito's failure, so he had several backup candidates, with the first being Shisui.
Firstly, Shisui had exceptional talent, and from the information he had, Danzo could tell that Shisui's talent was comparable to that of his younger brother, Itachi Uchiha. Additionally, Shisui had only one close relative, a distant Uchiha clan member who was often away on long-term missions, making him an ideal target for the dark side indoctrination.
If not for Shisui's personality, which seemed a bit difficult to manipulate, he might have even been Danzo's first choice. Obito's personality, on the other hand, was a huge plus in this regard.
"As expected of Lord Danzo," Black Zetsu flattered.
PS: Apologies for the shorter chapter today. I became a projectile vomiting warrior.
(End of Chapter)
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