Chapter 374: Konoha’s Predicament

The Anbu training ended, and at the same time, the second semester of the Ninja Academy also came to an end.

Matters such as graduation internships and holiday training were also basically decided.

“Ugh, the holiday special training for the second semester isn’t with Muzuki-sensei again…”

“It’ll be a long time before I can see Muzuki-sensei again.”

After the official announcement, Class 1 of the Second Grade was filled with wails. Besides the graduates, only a few students from other grades could participate in the holiday special training, and most of the few second-graders were in Class 1 of the Second Grade.

Accustomed to Muzuki’s classes, they found other teachers’ lessons boring and difficult to learn from, making class a torment.

“Forget it, I’ll just rest well this holiday, and work hard next year.” One student felt it was better not to go if Muzuki wasn’t there.

His words made many students next to him nod in agreement.

“How come Anko and Kotetsu aren’t on the list?” Someone noticed that Anko, Kotetsu Hagane, and others were not among the Second Grade students selected for holiday training this time.

“Let me see, it seems they’re not there, how strange.” The students next to him all found it very strange.

Although Anko, Kotetsu Hagane, and the others were usually quite comical, their strength was genuinely impressive. Anko, in particular, was second only to Shisui among the Second Grade.

“After all, it’s just mere holiday special training.” Kotetsu Hagane had been waiting for them to notice this, and immediately put on a profound expression as he stepped forward.

“That’s right, truly excellent students have more secretive destinations.” Izumo Kamizuki chimed in.

“Isn’t it just participating in an internship? You’re making it sound like you’re going somewhere amazing.” The informed Anko couldn’t help but retort.

Kotetsu Hagane was displeased. As fellow geniuses undergoing early internships, how could she ruin the mystery?

“And neither of you were assigned to Muzuki-sensei.” At this, Anko revealed a smug smile.

Izumo Kamizuki didn’t expect Anko to become so malicious; interrupting their show-off was merely for her own bragging.

Kotetsu Hagane almost gnashed his teeth when he heard that. His own misfortune was indeed sad, but his brother’s good luck was even more infuriating.

Seeing the envious, jealous, and hateful expressions on his two good brothers’ faces, Anko felt a surge of pleasure.

“Shisui, do you know who our other teammate is? My notification only mentioned you.” Anko asked Shisui.

“It’s Shizune.” Shisui replied.

He didn’t get this from the school notification; Muzuki told him.

Internships typically involve three-person teams. Muzuki wasn’t planning to give Shisui special treatment, and interacting with more people would be beneficial for Shisui.

After some selection, Muzuki chose Anko and Shizune as teammates.

Shizune was to study with him for half a year, keeping her close would help her improve. Although Shizune was an already graduated Ninja, she didn’t have a squad, so adding her was not an issue.

After all, last time Kakashi was similarly assigned by Hiruzen Sarutobi. Given his current standing in the Ninja Academy, a similar operation posed no problem.

As for Anko, the reason was even simpler: she was more suitable than those Fourth Grade students, and that was all.

Anko had a cheerful personality, was quite familiar with Shisui, and her strength was not an issue. Muzuki found no reason not to choose Anko.

“Shizune-senpai, I remember she already graduated, didn’t she?” Anko scratched her head, recalling some memories related to Shizune.

Because Shizune had also participated in holiday special training, Anko was barely acquainted with Shizune, though not very well.

“Normally, we wouldn’t be able to participate in an internship either.” Shisui reminded her.

There are exceptions to everything, and their team happened to be full of exceptions.

“Hehe, I’m really looking forward to the Ninja life ahead.” Anko wasn’t one to dwell on problems, so she immediately stopped thinking about Shizune and began imagining her wonderful internship life.

Seeing Anko seemed very excited, Shisui silently swallowed the words he was about to say to Anko.

There were still several days until the official start of the internship; there was no need to let Anko know the cruel truth of the internship now.

Equally matched opponents, generous commission fees, and a carefree Ninja life—these were all things that normal internships couldn’t offer.

Because normal Intern Ninja can only do D-Rank missions, and D-Rank missions are all chores with no combat.

Normal Intern Ninja just do chores and then train, which is also the daily routine of newly graduated Genin… “Search for and eliminate the defeated Iwagakure Ninja in the southwest of the Land of Grass. This mission it is.” Minato Namikaze’s gaze quickly swept over several scrolls before he selected a relatively difficult A-Rank Mission.

Through combat training, Minato Namikaze clearly understood the strength of his three disciples.

If the enemies had no intelligence and were careless, the three of them combined might even defeat a Jonin of Dekai’s considerable strength.

Even if the enemies weren’t careless, Minato Namikaze estimated that Kakashi and his team could handle two ordinary Jonin without a problem.

Of course, if there were any more enemies, it wouldn’t work, because while Obito and Kakashi, as the main forces, were strong, neither could sustain prolonged combat.

Whether it was Kakashi’s Thunderclap Flash or Obito’s Flame Breathing Chakra Mode with full power Fire Release, both were incredibly potent, but their corresponding Chakra consumption was also high. Their current Chakra reserves couldn’t support fighting for too long under full output.

However, under normal circumstances, an A-Rank Mission certainly wouldn’t involve so many Jonin.

“Understood, Jonin Minato.” The Registration Ninja quickly completed the mission registration for Minato Namikaze.

Then Minato Namikaze handed the specific mission details to his disciples for a look.

“It’s an A-Rank war mission, and the reward is so high!” Obito immediately noticed the commission fee of up to 700,000 ryo.

With Obito’s mathematical ability, he couldn’t instantly calculate how many D-Rank missions this commission represented, but he felt it had to be at least a hundred, because a normal D-Rank mission was only five thousand ryo.

“That means the enemy’s strength isn’t simple either.” Kakashi reminded him.

Aside from getting lucky and encountering some foolishly rich merchants or nobles, most commissioned missions are a case of ‘you get what you pay for,’ and this is especially true for war commissions.

“Kakashi is right, Obito, don’t be careless.” Rin Nohara also added.

After studying with Tsunade for some time, her Medical Ninjutsu had indeed improved significantly, but Rin Nohara certainly still hoped Obito and Kakashi wouldn’t get injured, as treatment couldn’t erase the initial pain of injury.

“Since Minato-sensei took this mission, he must think we can handle it.” Obito chuckled, looking at Minato Namikaze and saying, “Right, Minato-sensei?”

Minato Namikaze smiled and nodded, saying, “You are all excellent Konoha Ninja, so of course there’s no problem. If anything unexpected happens, I’m still here.”

As Hidden Mist had also declared war on Konoha, although no attack had been launched yet, it had put considerable pressure on Konoha. Minato Namikaze accepting a high-difficulty A-Rank Mission, besides wanting to train his disciples, was also to alleviate Konoha’s pressure.

The most direct solution to Konoha’s current predicament was to defeat one of the three great Ninja Villages, to the point where they wouldn’t dare to wage war against Konoha again in the short term.

However, since they were all great Ninja Villages, achieving this was clearly very difficult.

“It’s really reassuring to be on a mission with you, Minato-sensei.” Obito gave Minato Namikaze a thumbs-up.

Minato, with his Flying Thunder God, was simply too fast, whether it was dealing with enemies or rescuing teammates.

In Obito’s mind, Minato Namikaze ranked second in terms of security, but because the first was the all-capable Muzuki Immortal, Obito felt that Minato Namikaze’s second place could be considered first in other rankings.

Kakashi also showed agreement; their encounter with the Raikage Candidate during that skirmish was the best proof.

After accepting the mission, Minato Namikaze took his three disciples and headed straight for the Land of Grass. The most time-consuming part of this mission wasn’t eliminating the enemy, but finding them, and the southwest of the Land of Grass was not small.

The White Zetsu responsible for monitoring Obito quickly relayed this information.

“Lord Madara, Uchiha Obito has gone to the Land of Grass to perform a mission.” Black Zetsu immediately reported the detailed intelligence to Uchiha Madara.

Uchiha Madara’s eyes flickered as he quickly pondered his arrangements in the Land of Grass, then shook his head.

If it were just Obito and Kakashi, Uchiha Madara would immediately launch his plan to let that Uchiha junior know the darkness of the Ninja World, but with Minato Namikaze accompanying them, it would be difficult.

Nothing else, Minato Namikaze was very strong, and the Flying Thunder God was too fast, easily disrupting his blackening plan. Uchiha Madara would not act without enough power to hold back Minato Namikaze.

“Lord Madara, the situation seems a bit unfavorable. Every time Uchiha Obito goes out on a mission, he’s accompanied by either Hayate Mugetsu or Minato Namikaze, which greatly affects your plan.” Black Zetsu thought for a moment and said.

The current Uchiha Madara was too old; if he dragged on for another few years, he might die of old age without anyone else needing to act. Black Zetsu worried that Uchiha Madara might mess up, and then he would have to painstakingly patch things up again.

Uchiha Madara’s talent and strength were both formidable; one could say he was the strongest Uchiha Black Zetsu had seen in over a thousand years, but his strategic planning was quite ordinary.

“Unfavorable situation?” Uchiha Madara revealed a confident smile, “On the contrary, the situation is becoming more and more favorable to us. Once Hidden Mist officially goes to war with Konoha, the Ninja World will fall into great chaos. How then can Minato Namikaze and Hayate Mugetsu stop my plan?”

Uchiha Madara had enough confidence in his plan, believing it to be flawless.

He considered too many aspects. Uchiha Madara also thought about the possibility of Obito failing, so he had several backup candidates, with Shisui as the first alternative.

First, Shisui’s talent was very high; Uchiha Madara could judge from the intelligence that Shisui’s talent could rival his brother Uchiha Izuna. Furthermore, Shisui only had one close relative, who was an Uchiha constantly on missions outside, making the blackening plan easy to execute.

If it weren’t for Shisui’s personality, which seemed difficult to fool, Shisui’s priority might even have surpassed Obito’s; Obito’s personality was simply too much of a bonus.

“Lord Madara’s insight is profound.” Black Zetsu praised with a grin.

PS: Today I became a jet fighter, so the word count is a bit less.