Konoha, Hokage Rock.
"Two months. A whole two months, and we've spent all of it doing low-level missions. When is this going to end?"
After finishing cleaning Hokage Rock, Nawaki sat down on the ground and could not help complaining.
"Soon. The number of low-level missions we've done should be enough to et the requirents for taking part in the Chunin Exams."
Natsuki said unhurriedly.
"It had better be."
Nawaki sighed.
"Weren't you full of energy two months ago?"
Natsuki asked teasingly.
"That doesn't an we can do low-level missions every single day. Who can stand that?"
Nawaki asked back.
"If Tsunade-sensei hears that, she'll scold you again."
Natsuki raised his head and looked not far away.
Nonō, dressed in a white training outfit, was fighting Tsunade in taijutsu.
To make it easier to learn taijutsu, she had tied up her hair in a single ponytail.
Compared to her usual gentle self, she looked more capable and efficient.
After two months of training, Nonō's taijutsu had reached a fairly decent level.
At the very least, against most Genin, she could already hold her own.
Natsuki had not been idle during these two months either.
Aside from doing missions, he had been learning Mifune's swordsmanship.
Natsuki had already learned quite a lot of swordsmanship.
Although Mifune's swordsmanship was not easy to learn, for him, it was still manageable.
Half a month ago, he had successfully learned Mifune's swordsmanship.
[Congratulations, host. You have unlocked Sasaki Kojirō Template Ability Three, Knowledge of Sōwa.]
Knowledge of Sōwa had the effect that when the sa swordsmanship was repeated against a target, the attack would not be easily seen through.
Together with Clear and Serene and his extraordinary reaction speed, Natsuki felt that the current him might already be able to defeat Hatake Sakumo.
But to be safe, he decided to unlock Starburst Stream first.
Unlocking Starburst Stream required defeating three Fire Release Jonin. He had already defeated one.
As for the remaining two Fire Release Jonin, if he did not encounter them while out on missions, Natsuki planned to challenge Fire Release Jonin from the village.
He was not sure whether other shinobi would agree to accept his challenge, but the shinobi of the Uchiha Clan would definitely agree.
However, personally, he was more inclined to defeat two Fire Release Jonin during missions.
The main reason was that he would not have to worry too much about holding back.
Just then, Natsuki saw a masked shinobi suddenly appear.
"It's an Anbu shinobi!"
Nawaki imdiately stood up, invigorated.
Natsuki glanced at him and knew why he was so excited.
The Anbu shinobi was definitely here to find Tsunade.
Most likely, Sarutobi Hiruzen had so mission to give her.
Generally speaking, missions directly issued by the Hokage would not be low-level missions. At the very least, they would be B-rank.
And if they involved Tsunade, they would be either A-rank or S-rank.
Natsuki fell into thought.
Could it be that the situation in the Land of A had escalated again?
Was the battle from the original work, where the na of the Konoha Sannin was made, about to happen?
"What is it?"
Tsunade noticed the Anbu shinobi, pulled so distance away from Nonō, and temporarily stopped the fight.
"Tsunade-sama."
After giving a slight bow, the Anbu shinobi handed her a scroll.
Tsunade took the scroll and read it.
There was no change in her expression. She only nodded and said, "I understand. Tell Sensei I'll set out tomorrow."
When the Anbu shinobi heard that, he disappeared from the spot.
"Sis, is it a mission?"
Nawaki asked impatiently.
"It is."
Tsunade did not hide it and answered, "We're going to support Sakumo."
Natsuki raised an eyebrow.
Although he had been doing low-level missions during this period, he had still learned a bit about Sakumo's situation.
Two months ago, Sunagakure's puppet corps disappeared, so Hiruzen sent Sakumo to investigate the situation.
What they eventually discovered was that Sunagakure planned to send the puppet corps around the rear to launch a sneak attack.
Fortunately, Sakumo stopped them and began a two-month-long battle of ambushes and counterambushes against them.
If nothing unexpected happened, it would end just like in the original work, with Sakumo killing Chiyo's son and daughter-in-law.
But what was the situation now?
Sending Tsunade to support Sakumo, did that an Sunagakure's puppet corps had gained the upper hand?
"A mber of Sakumo's team was poisoned."
Tsunade continued, "On top of that, Konoha needs a major victory to boost morale, so I'm being sent over to assist Sakumo."
"So that's how it is."
Natsuki understood in his heart.
It seed this was his butterfly effect.
In the original work, Tsunade most likely had not gone to support Sakumo.
Otherwise, Chiyo would not have only shown hatred toward Hatake Kakashi.
"Then isn't this an S-rank mission?"
Nawaki asked happily.
"It is S-rank."
Tsunade glared at him and said, "S-rank missions are extrely dangerous. You must treat this cautiously. Otherwise, I'll only take Natsuki with ."
Nawaki imdiately promised, "I'll definitely obey your orders. Whatever you tell to do, I'll do it!"
"During a mission, you should address her by title."
Natsuki blinked and said.
"Tsunade-sama!"
Nawaki froze for a mont, then changed his words.
"Don't make trouble."
Tsunade raised her hand and flicked Natsuki on the forehead as she spoke.
But with that interruption, her mood also dissipated, and she did not continue scolding Nawaki.
"Go back and prepare."
Tsunade reminded them, "This mission may take quite a long ti."
"Yes, Tsunade-sensei."
Natsuki and Nonō answered in unison.
"Yes, Sis!"
Nawaki followed imdiately after.
"Dismissed."
Tsunade waved her hand and said.
When going out on missions, they generally had to prepare ninja tools, bentos, and dicine.
Natsuki did not need to prepare ninja tools or dicine.
He had Projection Magecraft. If he did not have enough ninja tools, he could project them himself.
There was no need to say much about dicine. He just had to bring Blue Healing Potions and Red Healing Potions.
But Nonō did not have Projection Magecraft, so she needed to prepare so ninja tools.
Natsuki took her to a nearby ninja tool shop.
Nine in the morning the next day.
Natsuki and the others gathered at the entrance of Konoha on ti.
"The location of this mission is still the Land of A, but it borders the Land of Rivers."
Tsunade said, "Sunagakure's puppet corps originally planned to pass through the Land of Rivers and attack us."
"How despicable!"
Nawaki said indignantly.
"This is war. Anything can happen."
Tsunade shook her head and said.
"Peace really is better!"
Nawaki clenched his fists and said, "I'll learn from Great-Grandpa and end this chaotic era!"
"You're still far from that."
Tsunade laughed and said.
"Tsunade-sensei, the poison used by the puppet masters might be useful for making the antidote for Hanzō's poison."
Natsuki suddenly said.
"That is indeed possible."
Tsunade was stunned for a mont, then said thoughtfully.
"Do all puppet masters use the sa poison?"
Nonō asked softly.
"No."
Tsunade paused and said, "But the poison used by Chiyo, her son, and her daughter-in-law is definitely Sunagakure's best poison."
The brief conversation ended, and the group left Konoha.
By the afternoon, they had already arrived at the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Rain.
"We'll rest for the night and enter the Land of Rain tomorrow."
Tsunade found an open space, stopped, and said.
"I'll set up the tent."
Nawaki volunteered.
"Natsuki, check the surroundings."
Tsunade instructed.
Natsuki nodded.
He ford hand seals and used the Summoning Technique to summon the crow Kuroba.
Kuroba spread its wings and flew into the sky.
Natsuki was not idle either. He climbed a tree and used Clairvoyance to look around.
Only after confirming there were no problems did he jump down.
Nawaki had already set up the tent.
"Food."
Tsunade called out.
The four of them sat down together.
Tsunade, Nonō, and Nawaki all looked at Natsuki at the sa ti.
For so reason, Natsuki felt like he had beco a zookeeper feeding animals.
He smiled, took out bentos, and handed them to the three of them.
"Nonō, you're a dical shinobi."
As Tsunade ate, she said, "If a battle happens, prioritize protecting yourself."
Nonō paused slightly and subconsciously looked at her.
"As a dical shinobi, only by staying alive can you save your teammates."
Tsunade explained.
Natsuki suddenly rembered the three rules for dical shinobi that Tsunade had ntioned in the original work.
First, as long as a teammate was not dead, they must never give up treatnt.
Second, dical shinobi must never fight on the front line.
Third, dical shinobi must not die before their teammates.
It seed that the current Tsunade had not yet proposed those three rules.
How should he put it?
There were reasonable parts, and there were unreasonable parts too.
After all, there were simply too many unexpected situations in battle.
Once a real fight broke out, who could manage all of that?
"After dinner, we'll take turns keeping watch."
Tsunade continued, "Nonō and I will take the first half of the night. Natsuki and Nawaki will take the second half."
Everyone nodded without objection.
Now that they were already close to the Land of Rain, they could encounter battle at any ti. Having soone keep watch was undoubtedly safer.
In the latter half of the night, Natsuki and Nawaki were woken up and left the tent.
The night was deep and silent. As far as the eye could see, everything was pitch black.
However, Natsuki had the night vision ability from the Kirito Template, so night and day were no different to him.
Since he had ti, he opened his system.
Up to now, he had triggered fifteen character templates, among which nine had been fully unlocked.
The remaining character templates more or less had one or two troubleso abilities.
Although he had quite a few character templates, Natsuki discovered that his main combat thod was still swordsmanship.
All of this began with him triggering Emiya Shirou's character template.
Among them, Kirigakure's Seven Ninja Swordsn had made great contributions to him.
Natsuki rubbed his chin.
He wondered whether he would have another chance to et the Seven Ninja Swordsn.
The night passed without incident.
The next morning, after breakfast, the group continued on their way.
After entering the Land of Rain, the weather suddenly changed from a cloudless sky to endless heavy rain.
Natsuki and the others put on raincoats. After traveling for two hours, they finally t Sakumo.
"Check the wounded first."
Compared to his usual self, the current Sakumo had less approachability and seed more businesslike.
Tsunade nodded.
Saving people was the priority, so she did not care about his attitude.
Under Sakumo's lead, Tsunade saw four wounded people.
All of them had been poisoned while fighting Sunagakure's puppet corps.
Although Sakumo's team had dical shinobi, the poison made by Chiyo's son and daughter-in-law was extraordinary, leaving them helpless.
However, for Tsunade, it could not be called hopeless. At most, it was troubleso.
"I'll wait for you outside."
Sakumo consciously left the tent.
"It seems Chiyo's son and daughter-in-law have already inherited her true teachings."
After stepping forward and finishing her examination, Tsunade said this.
Natsuki secretly thought that Chiyo's grandson, Sasori, was the one who had truly inherited her teachings, and had even surpassed her.
However, the current Sasori was only four or five years old.
"Natsuki, Nonō, prepare to make the antidote."
Tsunade instructed.
Natsuki and Nonō imdiately responded.
During this period, the two of them had been following Tsunade and making antidotes the entire ti, so they were already very familiar with the process.
Although they could not neutralize Hanzō's poison, under Tsunade's guidance, neutralizing the poison of Chiyo's son and daughter-in-law was not a problem.
Nawaki did not know how to make antidotes, so he could only wait at the side.
Ti slowly passed.
By evening, the poison in all four wounded shinobi had been completely cleared.
The poison in their bodies had also been extracted by Tsunade.
When Natsuki touched it, a system prompt appeared. It was indeed one of the synthesized poisons required for Curse Antidote.
He suddenly had a question.
Could Chiyo's poison be different from her son's and daughter-in-law's?
Natsuki fell into thought.
It might not necessarily be different, but rather, it had evolved.
The reason for that evolution might have to do with the battle of poison and antidote between her and Tsunade.
Intense battles often promoted the growth of the fighters' strength.
The sa principle applied to poison.
In order to prevent Tsunade from neutralizing her poison, Chiyo could only force her poison to evolve.
Of course, as for the details, he would have to co into contact with Chiyo's poison first.
"Put it away for now. After we return to Konoha, we'll run experints."
Tsunade yawned and said, "It's finally over. Let's rest for the night first. Tomorrow, we'll discuss the mission with Sakumo."
Natsuki and the others nodded.
Ti arrived at the next day.
Tsunade brought Natsuki, Nawaki, and Nonō into Sakumo's tent.
"Tsunade, I already received Hokage-sama's ssage earlier and know the purpose of your mission."
As Sakumo spoke, he opened a scroll.
Natsuki subconsciously glanced at it.
The content on the scroll was a map.
Many red dots were marked on the map.
"This is a topographical map of this area."
Sakumo explained, "The red dots on it are the places where we have fought Sunagakure's puppet corps during this period."
"It looks like the battlefield is everywhere."
Tsunade frowned slightly and said.
"Sunagakure's puppet corps is currently operating in this area."
Sakumo used his hand to draw a large circle on the map. "They're very smart. They only carry out sneak attacks from the shadows and don't fight us head-on."
"Then why not lure them out?"
Tsunade thought for a mont and said.
"Even if they're lured out, they won't linger in battle."
Sakumo shook his head and said, "When they fight , they always retreat quickly."
"That's because they understand your strength."
Tsunade chuckled and said, "If we do the luring, they might fall for it."
Although she was famous, the outside world still mainly saw her as a dical shinobi.
"There's another problem."
Sakumo frowned and said, "They will definitely deploy quite a few Jonin. If I can't reinforce you in ti."
He did not finish speaking, but everyone understood what he ant.
"I might have a way to delay them."
Natsuki said.
(To be continued.)
◇◇◇
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)
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