[Arc Three: Summary—]
[After your three-man squad's first battle in the Land of Birds, Hiruzen Sarutobi adjusted the mission authorization levels for the three of you.]
[Missions below C-rank were no longer assigned.]
[During the long period of peace that followed, the Five Great Nations maintained a fragile balance. Life in the Hidden Leaf was relatively peaceful, but no village ever turned away a talented rookie. Your performance in the Land of Birds far exceeded that of your peers, and the re-evaluation report in your mission files caught the attention of the village upper managent.]
[B-rank requests began appearing in your mission logs. Escorts, reconnaissance, outpost clearances—the difficulty climbed steadily. The three of you sotis worked as a team, and other tis you were split up and integrated into different operation groups.]
[You once completed a B-rank intelligence mission alone, infiltrating the border of the Land of Rain. There were no battles and no casualties; you brought back the intel cleanly. In the mission report, Hiruzen wrote four words: "Capable of great things."]
[You only realized the weight of those words later. In Hiruzen Sarutobi's entire teaching career, only one other person had received the sa evaluation—Orochimaru.]
[Tsunade's dical ninjutsu advanced rapidly through practical combat. After the Land of Birds, you found yourself injured more often—not because the missions were more dangerous, but because your fighting style was too aggressive, and you had a habit of using yourself as bait. She scolded you every ti she treated your wounds, but the green glow of her palms never flickered.]
[Her precision in chakra control began to surpass all other dical ninjas of her generation. In private, Hiruzen remarked that Tsunade's talent had already exceeded that of the current head of the dical corps.]
[Jiraiya's progress, however, followed a style uniquely his own.]
[One day after training, he pestered Hiruzen to teach him the Summoning Technique. Unable to resist him, Hiruzen perford a demonstration, summoning Gamabunta. Jiraiya's eyes lit up. Before Hiruzen could explain the principles or the precautions, the idiot bit his finger and began weaving signs.]
[Then, he vanished.]
[Attempting a summoning technique without a signed contract leads to one of two results: failure, or being reverse-summoned to the summoning beast's territory. Jiraiya suffered the latter. He was transported to Mount Myoboku.]
[A few days later, Jiraiya stood at the main gate of the Hidden Leaf, a small toad perched on his shoulder and a blade of grass in his mouth, wearing a punchable grin.]
["The Great has returned!"]
[Tsunade beat him up.]
[You laughed.]
[...]
[In the third year, you took the Chunin Exams. You were the fastest of your peers; all three of you were promoted.]
[On the day of the promotion ceremony, Hiruzen didn't say a word; he simply patted your shoulder.]
[After becoming Chunin, you and Tsunade were frequently paired in the sa operation groups. She smashed the front, you cleaned up the back, and Jiraiya's summoned beasts occasionally stepped in to block. This synergy worked on the battlefield, and it worked in private as well.]
[She knew your combat habits. You knew when she was pretending to be strong. Without her having to ask, you would hand her Military Ration Pills; without you saying a word, she would bring the green glow of healing to your wounds.]
[Others saw this, and the rumors spread.]
[Neither of you acknowledged them.]
[Your reason for remaining silent was simple—this story would eventually have an ending. But you wanted to finish everything that needed to be done while you were at your best. Now was not the ti.]
[...]
[In the second year as a Chunin, you led your first independent A-rank mission. The objective was to wipe out a Missing-nin stronghold entrenched in the southwest corner of the Land of Fire. Intelligence indicated twelve enemies, but upon arrival, you found twenty-seven, three of whom were Jonin-level.]
[The battle lasted six hours. Your chakra was depleted, and your tool pouch was empty. In the end, using a broken blade scavenged from an enemy, you pinned the last man to the ground.]
[All four mbers of your team returned alive.]
[At the end of the mission report, Hiruzen wrote a single line: "Zero casualties, mission accomplished. Recomnded for Jonin candidacy."]
[Upon hearing the news, Jiraiya sent a ssage back via a ssenger toad: "Once the Great learns Sage Mode, you're the first person I'm punching."]
[Tsunade said nothing. But after work, she showed up at your door with two bottles of sake.]
[You both drank a lot that night. Leaning against your shoulder with her eyes closed, she mumbled sothing.]
[You didn't catch what she said.]
[...]
[In the fourth year as a Chunin, you and Tsunade were promoted to Jonin simultaneously. Jiraiya followed six months later. On the day of his promotion, he treated everyone to the most expensive barbecue in town; his face turned green when the bill arrived. Tsunade ate the most, and you paid half for him. He was touched for three seconds—until Tsunade told him that the half you paid was now a debt he owed you.]
[After becoming Jonin, S-rank missions began appearing in your file. Intercepting an assassination squad in a blizzard on the northwest border, wiping out six n. Infiltrating an intelligence outpost in the Land of Rain, independently killing an S-rank Missing-nin.]
[Before every mission, Tsunade would check your tool pouch. Whether you had enough Military Ration Pills, if you had bandages, if your explosive tags had expired. She never gave a reason. You never asked.]
[You always returned safe and sound. Every ti, she would huff, "At least you're sensible."]
[During one joint mission, the three of you coordinated to annihilate an elite enemy company that had infiltrated the Land of Fire. Thirty-two enemies, all wiped out, zero casualties on your side.]
[When the news reached the Hidden Leaf, people began grouping your na with Tsunade and Jiraiya's, calling you "The Three Prodigies of Hiruzen."]
[You treated the title as a joke. Tsunade beat up anyone who said it. She claid that titles are earned through one's own strength, not by being lumped into a group.]
[...]
[Nawaki.]
[Tsunade's younger brother and the First Hokage's grandson.]
[The first ti you t him, he was just a little toddler crawling around. Tsunade brought him to see you; the little guy slapped you across the face, leaving Tsunade doubled over in laughter.]
[As he grew older, he started following you and Tsunade everywhere. When you went to the training ground, he'd bring a small stool and sit nearby to watch. When you practiced ninjutsu, he'd secretly mimic your stance. When Tsunade went on missions, he'd refuse to leave your house, pestering you to tell him stories about the outside world.]
[You watched him go from not being able to walk, to chasing Tsunade through the streets, to entering the Ninja Academy, and finally, this year—graduation. He beca a Genin.]
[A twelve-year-old boy. Round face, short hair; when he grinned, he looked sixty or seventy percent like Tsunade did as a child. He claid he would surpass his sister, but in reality, he couldn't even manage three Shadow Clones.]
["Kaede-bro, do you think I can be as strong as my sister soday?"]
["You can," you told him.]
[He believed you, spinning around in circles with joy.]
[...]
[The 36th year of the Hokage's reign.]
[Militarist factions within the various hidden villages were on the rise. The stable situation began to fluctuate, and tensions gradually escalated. The shinobi world was like a steel wire stretched to its absolute limit; everyone knew it only took a single spark to ignite a war.]
[You were twenty-six. Tsunade was twenty-five. Jiraiya spent his ti commuting between Mount Myoboku and the Hidden Leaf, honing his summoning and fire style to a level that even Gamabunta had to acknowledge.]
[The three of you had each walked a long road. And now, you stood before the sa crossroads.]
[Nawaki had just beco a Genin. His birthday was approaching.]
[Arc Four, begins.]
...
Kitahara Kaede snapped back to consciousness from the fast-forwarding text.
Fifteen years of ti had been compressed into a few minutes of information and poured into his mind, leaving his temples throbbing with pain.
He rubbed the corners of his eyes, waiting for the flood of mories to slowly subside.
Twenty-six years old.
From the four-year-old young master of the Hagoromo family to a Jonin on the eve of the Great Ninja War, the simulator had unconsciously run for twenty-six years.
Having completed a dozen S-rank missions and partnered with Tsunade for over a decade, his strength, reputation, and connections had accumulated to a considerable degree.
And now?
Kitahara Kaede closed his eyes.
The Second Great Ninja War was coming.
According to the tiline, Nawaki had recently graduated, and his birthday was fast approaching.
In the original story, Nawaki died shortly after his birthday.
Although there was still a brief buffer period before the Second Great Ninja War officially broke out, it wouldn't be long now.
Kitahara Kaede knew he had to accomplish two things during this window.
First, he had to save Nawaki.
In the original plot, Nawaki's death was the turning point of Tsunade's life. After losing her brother and later her lover, she beca the "legendary big fish"—the gambler who wandered the world, drowning her sorrows in alcohol.
If Nawaki lived, everything that followed would change. There would be no hemophobia, no abandonnt of the Hidden Leaf, and no twenty years of decadence.
From a strategic standpoint, this was a calculation to complete the route.
But it was more than that.
Fifteen years.
No matter how much the simulator compressed ti, those mories were visceral and real. He had watched Nawaki grow from a tiny toddler crawling on the floor to a boy reaching his waist, and eventually to a youth who could pat him on the shoulder.
The way the kid would pester him for stories, the silly grin on his face when he was caught trying to mimic Kaede's stances, the earnest way he would ask, "Brother Kaede, can I be as strong as sister one day?"
Those monts were real.
They weren't system tasks or strategic maneuvers. They were the hard, undeniable bonds forged through fifteen years of companionship.
Second, he had to achieve the "White Moonlight" ending.
The more experiences one shared, the more painful the farewell. He understood this logic perfectly.
As the thought crossed his mind, he noticed a slight, heavy pressure settling in his chest.
Kitahara Kaede opened his eyes and looked out the window.
Children were chasing each other in the streets, and a vendor was pushing a cart selling dango. It was so peaceful that it felt unnatural—the kind of silence that only exists before a storm.
He shook his head, temporarily suppressing those heavy emotions, and began to focus on more practical matters.
The Chidori Sharp Spear.
It was a technique he had spent over half a year replicating in the simulator. By extending Lightning Style chakra from the palm into a controllable, razor-sharp blade, its penetration was nearly double that of the original Chidori, and its attack range increased from zero to five ters. The trade-off was a threefold increase in chakra consumption.
In the real world, the Chidori already had an "owner"—Hatake Kakashi. Using it openly would be far too conspicuous.
But the Chidori Sharp Spear was different.
In the original tiline, this variant was developed by Uchiha Sasuke. In reality, that Uchiha show-off wouldn't even be born for another decade or so.
Kaede was using it an entire generation before him.
When it ca to patents... it was first co, first served.
*Hehe.*
Who told you to be born so late?
As he was thinking, the sound of footsteps echoed from outside. They were familiar—fast, heavy, and tinged with a hint of impatience.
Then ca the knocking.
*Tap, tap, tap.* Three quick, loud knocks.
Kitahara Kaede stood up and opened the door.
Tsunade was standing there.
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