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Chapter 127: The Undercurrents Beyond the Battlefield!
🕑 Added 2025-08-13 14:42:22 +0000 UTCChapter 127: The Undercurrents Beyond the Battlefield!
The next morning.
"Shisui, work hard, do your best!"
"You're the last person I want to hear that from, Captain!"
The grumbling Uchiha Shisui, after retorting to his completely unreliable lazy captain, still honestly went to the main command tent, intending to accept the day's mission. The captain could be lazy, but he could not. As an Uchiha who believed in the Will of Fire and aspired to protect Konoha, Shisui wished he could dedicate his entire being to the village. How could he complain about having too few missions?
"Shisui-kun." Orochimaru's hoarse voice entered Shisui's ear, like a moist, slippery snake crawling past his ear. "Where is your captain?"
"The-the captain... is unwell," Shisui said, stammering. "He asked me to accept the mission."
Your captain is unwell, and he still asks you to accept the mission... do you have a grudge against your captain?
The sensory squad ninja at the side couldn't help but cast a glance over. You little brat, if you can't lie, then don't! But after getting a clear look at the fire-fan crest on Shisui's body, the sensory ninja silently retracted their gaze. Oh, so he's an Uchiha clan ninja... understandable, understandable.
"Is that so? Very well." Orochimaru seemed not to mind at all that Nara Keisuke had only dispatched a subordinate to accept the mission. To be honest, he was also having a headache about how to deal with Keisuke. For the other not to come for a "king meets king" confrontation suited him just fine.
It was known that Keisuke was highly valued by the Nara clan. It was known that Tsunade was standing behind him. It was known that he not only knew about the human experiments but also the experiments related to the First Hokage's abilities... That little brat was more than just a hot potato!
Actually, if it were only these things, Orochimaru still would not have easily let him go. So what if the kid's network was extensive? The wars of the ninja world were ultimately decided by strength. Even the First Hokage's grandson, didn't he die on the battlefield just like that?
On the ever-changing battlefield, to secretly eliminate a friendly ninja was simply too easy for Orochimaru, the supreme commander of the Iwagakure front. But the real problem was Keisuke's strength!
Last year, Orochimaru had tested him once. At that time, although the kid's strength was a bit tricky, if he had gone all out, he was confident he could have taken him down. But he never expected that in less than a year, Keisuke's strength would have grown explosively to a point that even he was somewhat unsure of.
During the fight with him last night, the opponent's fleeting attack, which was like a small Tailed Beast Ball, had truly left a very deep impression on him. A ninjutsu of that power, paired with that attack speed, plus the fact that he could fly...
Considering the bigger picture, Orochimaru did not want to fight Nara Keisuke for the time being. This was also the reason he had chosen to directly avoid battle last night. Keisuke always called Orochimaru a "shameless snake." But in Orochimaru's eyes, with all of Keisuke's abilities stacked together, was he not just as shameless?
'Letting such a super genius who is hostile to me continue to grow safely is not a good thing...'
'I must seize the opportunity and strike early!'
'Currently, my understanding of Nara Keisuke's intelligence is not enough. I need a more comprehensive analysis... Root?'
One thought after another flashed through Orochimaru's mind, but not a hint of it showed on his face. "This is your squad's mission for today. It's similar to yesterday's." Orochimaru handed a mission scroll to Uchiha Shisui. The latter took the scroll, bowed in farewell, and left.
Outside the Konoha camp.
Nara Keisuke, Hyūga Retsu, and Shizune were gathered under the shade of a tree, waiting for their teammate's arrival.
"Captain, the mission has been accepted." Shisui flickered over and showed the mission scroll to his captain and teammates. "Same as yesterday, it's still a mission to cut off Iwa's supplies."
Just as his voice fell, a brand new mission prompt popped up on Keisuke's panel.
[B-rank Ninja Commissioned Mission Detected!]
[B-rank Mission: Cut Off Supplies 2]
'As expected, it's the same mission as yesterday. The name and content are more or less the same.'
Keisuke skipped over the mission information on the panel and looked at Shisui. "Did Orochimaru say anything else to you?"
"No." Shisui shook his head blankly. "But... Captain, isn't your form of address for Lord Orochimaru a bit disrespectful?"
"It's polite enough." A [Shadow Creature] emerged from Keisuke's shadow, and he beckoned to his three team members. "You don't need to worry about this matter for now. Let's go carry out the mission first! I hope Orochimaru hasn't dug any pits for us in this low-level mission."
Shisui, Retsu, and Shizune looked at each other, none of them quite understanding what had happened between their captain and Lord Orochimaru. Even Retsu, who knew a certain amount of the inside story, felt a little puzzled. Didn't the captain say it was a "small conflict"? Could such a "small conflict" actually lead to Lord Orochimaru taking action against their squad?
But since the captain had said not to worry about it for now, the three of them did not think about it any further.
After all four squad members had gathered on the back of the [Shadow Creature], the shadow eagle flapped its wings and soared into the sky. Just like yesterday, with the assistance of the [Shadow Creature] and Retsu's Byakugan, Team Keisuke quickly arrived at a new area within the Land of Grass. This was a vast, flat plain. Lush green grass and trees covered the land, with almost no trace of human activity.
"Hyūga, are you sure this is the place?" Keisuke controlled the [Shadow Creature], having it circle high in the sky without immediately descending. With the [Shadow Creature]'s conspicuous color, once it appeared on the green grassland below, it was bound to attract the attention of others in the first instance. Keeping it at a high altitude, on the contrary, could maintain a good camouflage effect.
"Confirmed." Retsu activated her Byakugan and observed the grassland below. "The Iwa supply point here is hidden underground, with a special camouflage treatment on the surface."
Keisuke rubbed his chin. "What about the skill level of these ninja?"
Retsu continued to report, "Similar to yesterday."
"Alright." Keisuke looked at Uchiha Shisui at his side. "Shisui, the rest is up to you."
Shisui sighed. "Understood, Captain."
The [Shadow Creature] swooped down. Its strange movements and massive form instantly attracted the attention of the Iwa ninja at the supply point. Just as an Iwa ninja was trying to climb out of the supply point to investigate this "strange bird," Uchiha Shisui descended from the sky. And descending with him were three menacing, giant fire dragons.
"Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique!"
Boom!
The scorching, explosive fire dragons, carrying an unparalleled momentum, crashed down onto the vast grassland. The simple protection the Iwa ninja had used to camouflage the supply point was instantly annihilated under the attack of these three great fire dragons. And the Iwa ninja guarding inside were all caught in the subsequent roasting of the flames. In an instant, more than half of them were lost, and this supply point was also left in a semi-destroyed state by Shisui's fire jutsu.
Shisui drew the kodachi from his back and silently moved forward, beginning to reap the lives of the Iwa ninja while also continuing the work of destroying the supply point's structure.
"Captain, one Iwa ninja is trying to escape underground." Retsu's forehead bulged with green veins as she calmly observed the situation at the supply point. "Do you want to deal with him?"
"I'll leave it to you, Hyūga." Keisuke waved his hand. "You can see more clearly."
Retsu had no desire to argue and directly took action. Although most Iwa ninja had mastered the art of burrowing, they could not stay underground forever. Retsu quickly approached the Iwa ninja's escape route and, just as he was about to "surface," took out a kunai from her ninja tool pouch and held it in her hand.
Just as the Iwa ninja thought he had finally escaped, a kunai flew from behind him and directly took his life.
Uchiha Shisui attacked from the front. Hyūga Retsu sniped from the side. With the cooperation of the two, this Iwa supply point was quickly destroyed. The four-person squad did not linger here. After the destruction mission was completed, the squad immediately rode the [Shadow Creature] and left the grassland.
High in the sky.
"We set out in the morning, and the mission is already finished, but it's not even noon yet," Keisuke said, slowing down the [Shadow Creature]'s flight speed and turning to confirm with his three team members. "Should we first find a safe place to eat, rest, and then use the spare afternoon to train? Or should we return directly to the camp and continue to carry out missions?"
Uchiha Shisui raised his hand. "Let's do missions! I'm not very tired yet."
Hyūga Retsu said cleanly, "Eat!"
The two of them looked at Shizune.
"I-I'm fine with either," the medical-nin, who had been completely invisible during the mission, said in a small voice. "You don't need to mind my opinion."
"Alright then, the minority obeys the majority." Keisuke summarized the topic. "One vote for continuing missions, two votes for eating and resting. Let's go rest first!"
Keisuke had Retsu find a location on the map that was temporarily marked as within Konoha's jurisdiction, and controlled the [Shadow Creature] to fly there.
Eating, resting, training, researching. The four-person squad stayed outside for an entire afternoon. It wasn't until dusk that they rode the [Shadow Creature] back to the Konoha camp.
Shisui was again sent to hand in the mission. Keisuke and the others went to the squad's tent to continue resting.
Shisui of the Body Flicker was very fast. Keisuke had just pulled open the tent flap when the mission completion prompt popped up on his panel.
[B-rank Ninja Commissioned Mission Scroll has been submitted!]
[B-rank Mission [Cut Off Supplies 2] has been completed!]
[You have obtained one B-rank [Shinobi Secret Scroll]!]
Keisuke stepped into the tent and casually opened the B-rank scroll.
[Opening...]
[Contents of this B-rank Shinobi Secret Scroll: Technique]
[B-rank Technique: Earth Release: Rock Shelter Collapse]
[Technique Description: A domain of certain annihilation! A rain of rock that descends in a confined space!]
[Technique Effect: Infuse earth-nature chakra into the earth, destroying the material balance within it, and instantly causing a large-scale rock collapse. Using this technique in locations such as caves or tunnels will yield the maximum effect.]
[Technique Evaluation: A cave-in? It's our own house that's collapsing!]
'Another Earth Release?' Before falling asleep, Keisuke thought back on the content of this B-rank mission's secret scroll. 'Could it be that in the upcoming missions... all the [Shinobi Secret Scrolls] will drop Earth Release ninjutsu?'
(End of Chapter)
