Chương 45: Reflections During the Break

When the brothers Yuta and Yuto saw their captain again, they did not charge forward with angry accusations. Instead, they fell into a state of profound bewilderment, their spirits utterly crushed. In their unsuccessful shinobi careers, this was yet another heavy blow. Not only that, but because their captain was a spy, they would be implicated; a trip to the ANBU for "tea" was unavoidable, and they might not even be allowed to continue as ninja in the future.

Dongye Zhen, on the other hand, felt that this might be a blessing in disguise for them. In his view, the brothers truly weren't suited to be shinobi; whatever they did in the future would be better than this. The shinobi world was extremely demanding regarding mental and physical talent. The role of powerful bloodlines was to push these talents to their absolute limit, and the brothers clearly possessed neither.

They were nearly of age, yet their chakra reserves were pitifully small; they could only use the Basic Three Jutsus and throw shuriken. Even a nine-year-old like Yugao Uzuki could take on ten of such "seniors" at once. The brothers had realized by now that perhaps it was time to face a choice. The dreams they had shouted back in the Academy—of growing up to become Hokage—had ultimately succumbed to ruthless reality.

From their perspective, Captain Ritsu, who possessed decent strength, had been bound like a roadside stray by a junior who had just graduated. Furthermore, when the explosive tags detonated in the cave, Zhen had easily led them out using a ninjutsu they couldn't even comprehend. It was much like Kiba Inuzuka of the future "Konoha 11"; no matter how much he refused to accept Uzumaki Naruto's strength, he eventually had to face the gap between them.

He didn't have the Uzumaki constitution, the Nine-Tails "cheat," a Sannin for a master, the status of an Asura reincarnation, or the Sage of Six Paths granting him permissions. He started the game with one dog, and by the end, he still just had one dog. A moment later, Yunmi Gekko finally appeared. Not only that, but two ninja wearing animal masks followed behind him. These were the ANBU.

They nodded to Zhen's trio, acknowledging the contribution of this rookie squad, and then took Ritsu away, along with Yuta and Yuto, back to Konoha. When involved with a spy, regardless of whether one was aware of it, going through the ANBU's procedures was mandatory.

"Excellent. Your response made me very satisfied!" Yunmi Gekko gave his students a thumbs-up. Zhen merely gave a slight smile, while Hayate Gekko was somewhat excited; he had finally received a mark of approval from his father. Yugao Uzuki intentionally put on an angry face.

"Sensei, was this your goal all along? Was accompanying us on D-rank missions just a side task?"

"Oh, it seems Yugao is unhappy. But sorry, you have it backward. Your growth is what's truly important. As for today's matter—an accident. Just an accident."

"Then what exactly happened?" Yunmi Gekko thought for a moment before explaining, "Well, some time ago, the ANBU caught a high-level Hidden Stone spy in the village. But that guy committed suicide ahead of time, destroying his brain so no intelligence could be extracted, which cut off the clues to his spy network. Many people had contact with him, and Ritsu's squad was one of them. But it's wartime; the ANBU doesn't have enough manpower for exhaustive screening, and it wasn't suitable to cause a massive stir.

The ANBU knew I was leading a Genin squad, so they requested that if I encountered certain suspects, I investigate them in passing. You saw the result—that fellow Ritsu indeed had problems."

"Weren't you afraid we would be in danger?"

"If a guy like that could take you out, it would mean your journey ends here." Yunmi Gekko looked seriously at Yugao Uzuki.

"What do you think a ninja is? A ninja must maintain sharp intuition at all times and be able to detect and guard against anything irrational."

"Fine. Does this count as an achievement for us?"

"Of course. This is a standard B-rank mission."

"Fantastic!" Yugao waved her small fist excitedly. Now, her Genin record would have a mid-to-high-level mission entry she could show off. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

"Alright, Yugao. Sensei was actually protecting us from the shadows the whole time."

"I knew I couldn't hide it from you, Zhen. Sensory abilities are quite useful. But don't get cocky. I can't be by your side forever. Grow up quickly so you can become someone your comrades can rely on—and more importantly, so you can rely on yourself." Hayate Gekko asked, "Sensei, do we continue today's mission?"

"Of course. One must finish what they start. Cherish your time doing D-rank missions; this is the last day of our agreement. The next time you want to do a D-rank mission, you'll likely have to wait until you grow up and become a leading Jonin yourself." After the mission ended, Squad 3 was granted two days of rest. In two days, they would officially leave the village to execute missions and face new challenges.

This was Konoha's final bit of tenderness; even if manpower was short and children had to be thrown onto the battlefield, a period of adaptation, however long or short, had to be given. In this regard, every village had its own way of doing things, mostly similar—except for the Hidden Mist. Their ninja, before even leaving home, had already gained sufficient slaughter experience from their own comrades.

Since those without talent were just "experience packs" anyway, it was deemed better for their own people to farm them first. Consequently, the Hidden Mist was known as the village of "Three Mores": more madmen, more deviants, and more rogue ninja. During the two-day holiday, Dongye Zhen enjoyed a rare period of leisure. Aside from his fixed daily cultivation, he spent his daylight hours either looking at the scenery of Konoha from the Hokage Rock or basking in the warm spring sun by the river.

Life required the tranquility of enjoying time in addition to cultivation; only then could one truly feel the joy of being alive. For someone who had died once, this was especially important. Cultivating was to ensure he could stay alive; being a ninja was to live a more exciting and brilliant life. These were not contradictory.

After all, he wasn't like those transmigrator predecessors who were either born into the Uchiha clan, constantly worrying about being stabbed to death by Itachi on the night of the massacre due to lack of strength, or born into the Hyuga branch family, struggling against the Caged Bird curse on their foreheads every day. Nor was he an orphan, fearing that if he performed too well, he would end up on Danzo's little notebook and have to play out a classic "You'll regret this" dialogue in the Hokage's office.

He certainly wasn't going to look for trouble by trying to change the so-called shinobi world or anyone's fate. In his nine years in the shinobi world, the only ones he had likely changed were the three he grew up with. Shisui Uchiha had awakened his Sharingan because of him; as for the future, he would deal with it when it came. Hayate Gekko? He certainly wouldn't let him die young. Finally, Zhen had once obscurely asked his parents and confirmed he had no Senju blood.

He was a pure commoner through and through, meaning he didn't have to be forced to strive to restore the "glory of the Senju." Without his natural energy "cheat," the limit of his life would have been an ordinary Jonin, just like Jiro Dongye. Facing the "gods" of the Fourth War, he would have been nothing but fodder. If that were the case, he would likely be on the life-burning path of the Eight Inner Gates by now, or risking contact with Orochimaru to see if scientific research could change his fate.

To be honest, neither path was friendly to him. The ceiling of the Eight Inner Gates was high, but there was only one chance to bloom. As for scientific research, he was self-aware enough to know he wasn't cut out for it; research required a profound theoretical foundation and, most importantly, a spark of creative genius. As the saying goes: Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. He had the 99% perspiration, but that 1% inspiration was a bit much to ask.

Therefore, his current progress was entirely dependent on his "cheat." There was nothing to be embarrassed about; in this world, only those with cheats had a future. In terms of current strength, the development of his offensive and defensive means had temporarily reached a plateau. This was the same for his medical ninjutsu and the second stage of his chakra cultivation; both had hit the limit of his current body. The push of his chakra toward the Yin and Yang poles had almost completely stalled.

This was no longer a matter of effort; his instincts told him that continuing by force might be dangerous. Yakumo Kurama and Itachi Uchiha possessed world-class genjutsu, so why did their bodies deteriorate so quickly? Kimimaro Kaguya's physical regeneration was powerful, yet he couldn't cure his bloodline disease. The most absurd was Hashirama Senju, who possessed the ultimate vitality of a shinobi, yet died before he was sixty.

Thus, Zhen guessed that pushing Yin and Yang attributes too high without a supernatural constitution was not a good thing. Everything would have to wait until his white natural energy cultivation reached the third stage and his body entered a permanent Sage Mode before things might change. As for his current strength? Zhen truly didn't know; such things could only be determined by fighting. Regardless, a Jonin like Yunmi Gekko posed absolutely no threat to him. As for Kage-level ninja?

Maybe one day he should try putting a sack over Hiruzen Sarutobi's head to see what happened.