Konoha's Mission Master

White Fang is blocking Danzo's way.

As the most popular candidate for the Fourth Hokage, White Fang has clearly become a thorn in Danzo's side... so it's easy to guess that Shimizu Keisuke's identity is...

…Root members!

The Root member who carries out this scheme against the two powerful figures in Konoha must be an absolutely loyal Root member, and he cannot have a powerful backer who can easily silence him at any time.

"Yakumo...it's your turn."

Masako Mori's voice interrupted Yakumo's reverie. It was clear that Keisuke Shimizu had called his name several times and was now staring at Yakumo with a frosty expression.

"exist."

Yakumo immediately stood up, his face full of bewilderment and worry, just like when he was caught sleeping in class and suddenly called on by the teacher.

"It's your turn to go on stage," Shimizu Keisuke said coldly.

"Here I am, here I am."

Yakumo rushed onto the field in a flurry of activity, where Kenta Komoto had been waiting for quite some time.

"Don't worry, Yakumo-kun, I'll hold back a bit to avoid hurting you," Kenta Omoto said, scratching his head with a somewhat naive expression.

What a good person...

But this time he's not going to lose.

"Then I'll try to be as gentle as possible..."

"I won't hurt you."

"The seal of opposition."

After the two completed their hand seals, they stared at each other for a few seconds before Kenta Kogen couldn't hold back any longer and launched an attack, throwing a straight punch at Yakumo's abdomen.

Before being taught how to fight, first-year students fight like street thugs, especially since weapons are prohibited for first-year students, which makes their fighting style even simpler and more brutal.

Punch to punch, foot to foot.

Yakumo slightly turned his body to dodge Kenta Komoto's fist, and immediately used seven-tenths of his strength to lift his leg, targeting the most vulnerable part of his abdomen. As long as he controlled the force well, he could defeat his opponent in one blow. He then left three-tenths of his strength to deal with attacks and maintain his body's balance.

The enemy stepped half a step back, dodging Yakumo's surprise attack. He noticed Yakumo's change, from a completely chaotic attack to an attack with a clear strategy.

His agility, strength, and physique are now fundamentally different from what they were ten days ago, and his five senses are also becoming more acute. At this moment, he clenched his fists.

It's as if he's drawing a circle in place; he can accurately detect attacks from any angle and is confident in countering them.

Kenta Komoto launched a series of punches in an attempt to break through Yakumo's defense with a dense barrage of attacks. This was a simple yet effective tactic taught in class, but his weakness was that it consumed too much of his energy.

Yakumo struck a pose and tried his best to dodge the incoming punches. If he couldn't dodge in time, he would block with his arms.

Waiting for the enemy to tire themselves out is a foolish way to passively take a beating, and he didn't want to reveal too much to Shimizu Keisuke, who might be a member of Root.

Finally, after a minute, Kenta Komoto's attacks began to slow down, and gaps appeared in the dense barrage of punches.

He then took the opportunity to launch an attack, and the two were entangled for another half minute before Yakumo finally managed to trip his opponent and win the test.

"Excuse me, Kenta... I've made some progress by training with Kakashi recently."

But he was also in bad shape, with several bruises on his arms. To outsiders, it was definitely a narrow victory, or rather, bad luck.

"Iori Yakumo wins!"

"The Seal of Reconciliation and Liberation".

The two formed hand seals and separated, and throughout the entire process, Shimizu Keisuke's gaze did not linger on Yakumo for long.

This is good.

"Ouch... but it hurts a little."

In an academy that trains ninjas, battles are commonplace, and getting injured is quite normal. After returning to his seat, Yakumo began to massage the bruises to clear them up.

The sense of security he had built up these past few days vanished the moment he discovered that Keisuke Shimizu might be a member of Root. Of course, the best outcome would be that it was all just his overinterpretation, and that Keisuke Shimizu... was not a member of Root.

After everyone finished the test, they returned to the classroom one after another to face the final judgment. Keisuke Shimizu stood on the podium and coldly surveyed everyone, and the temperature in the room seemed to keep dropping.

"Kakashi's performance was excellent as always, and I won't comment too much on it here. However, Sarutobi Asuma really disappointed me this time. Kakashi controlled the rhythm from the beginning, and you need to put in twice the effort."

Sarutobi Asuma lowered his head, whether out of shame or anger, it was unclear, but in any case, Kakashi and Sarutobi Asuma would be rivals for the next six years.

As expected, Keisuke Shimizu is deliberately creating an atmosphere of antagonism between Kakashi and Asuma Sarutobi.

"I hope you won't disappoint me like this next week."

Keisuke Shimizu began to analyze the test in general, focusing most on the students who ranked at the top. As for Yakumo, he only received a simple comment that he should try harder next time, and he was happy to be a nobody in Keisuke Shimizu's eyes.

After school, Kakashi, Obito, Rin Haruno, Yakumo, and Masako Mori headed to Training Ground 14 for training. Today, Obito was once again thrashed in the test and planned to ask Kakashi for advice on how to fight that evening. The others chatted and laughed as they made their way there.

Only Yakumo's eyes were dark and unfathomable. At this moment, he had already labeled Shimizu Kei as a member of Root in his mind, so he had to recalculate what he originally planned to expose on campus.

In the second year, he will be taught how to throw and use kunai and shuriken, and at that time he will be allowed to use unsharpened weapons in combat. Perhaps then he can reveal some of his talent in swordsmanship...

Chapter 11 Breakthrough to Genin, Water Bullet Perfection

After finishing training, Yakumo immediately returned home and began writing his last day's diary entry, his final weekly task.

"Sunday, sunny."

"I took a pop quiz this afternoon. Although I defeated Kenta Kogen, I'm not entirely satisfied with the result. Fortunately, Kakashi is here to guide my training. I hope I can win more easily next time... (450 words omitted here)."

This is the method Yakumo came up with: using Kakashi as a shield to justify his improved close-combat skills, and then gradually revealing his true strength until he reaches the level of a mid-level student in the class... just mid-level is enough.

Although this might seem like he was using Kakashi, he couldn't care less about that for the time being. The fact that his homeroom teacher might be a Root member completely robbed him of any sense of security.

It's incredibly easy for an orphan who isn't even a genin to disappear from this world...

Especially since this orphan is involved with Kakashi...

For the next few years, Sakumo Hatake will be at the center of all sorts of conspiracies and schemes in Konoha, until the moment the White Fang falls.

After closing the diary, the last task on the weekly task panel was already ready to be submitted.

Submit Task

A warm, nourishing sensation spread through his body, and his arms, which had been aching from the injury, recovered at an extremely fast pace. Yakumo closed his eyes comfortably.

At the same time, the number of gold coins... has increased dramatically to 650.

After a moment's thought, Yakumo added 0.5 free attribute points to his physique, since a healthy body is the foundation for creating a good life.

Looking at the remaining 650 gold coins on the panel and the 6.3 units of chakra on the chakra interface, Yakumo made a decision: a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

Speed ​​up! Charge!

Gold coins remaining: 550; Chakra remaining: 7.0.

The amount of chakra gained from a single acceleration increased from 0.6 to 0.7. Yakumo pondered for a moment... It might be related to the improvement in physical constitution and intelligence, since the increased strength of both would naturally improve the efficiency of chakra refining.

This is a good thing...

Gold coins remaining: 350; Chakra remaining: 8.4.

Gold coins remaining: 150; Chakra remaining: 9.8.

Gold coins remaining: 50; Chakra remaining: 10.5.

Yakumo opened his eyes with some disappointment. Breaking through ten points in chakra did not increase his physical attributes, meaning that adding more chakra would at most improve his endurance.

Unless you mobilize chakra to flow through your limbs, a magical power will surge out instantly. At that time, your body will become light, and your physical strength, constitution, and agility will be increased by about two points by chakra. However, this increase is achieved by exchanging 1 unit of chakra every ten seconds.

This principle is similar to... Naruto's Tailed Beast Cloak, but there is no comparison in terms of chakra quality and quantity, or even power. The corresponding enhancements are also worlds apart.

In other words, a genin-level chakra can only sustain a burst of power for 100 seconds, and that's without even taking into account the use of ninjutsu... At this moment, Yakumo truly understood Kakashi... Chakra really is not enough.

Chakra: 10.5 (30 units to advance to Chunin)

Yakumo stared at the panel with satisfaction, planning to take a day off and stop practicing swordsmanship. But less than ten minutes later, he suddenly remembered the notebook that Masako Mori had given him after school.

He quickly took it out of his bag and began to read. It contained a technique for concealment that, once mastered, could continuously alter one's appearance, chakra fluctuations, and aura.

However, it was incredibly complex. The theoretical knowledge and formulas alone filled fifteen pages, making it the most complex ninjutsu Yakumo had ever encountered. But if he wanted to hide himself well in Konoha, he had to learn it.

Nothing happened that night. Yakumo, with dark circles under his eyes, started his morning run. This week's missions were refreshed, and there weren't many changes except that he and Mori Masako had to train three times... very serious training.

His swordsmanship improves gradually with daily practice, and once he has mastered the moves, he can increase his proficiency by 3 to 4 points each night. This means it will take him about 100 days to improve his Hatake Secret Manual.

Fortunately, he has plenty of time now. At least for the six years before he becomes a genin, as long as he survives, it will be a safe period for development.

In the weekend's pop quiz, he once again defeated Kenta Komoto, much more easily than last time, but he only received the comment from Keisuke Shimizu: "Keep trying."

Sarutobi Asuma challenged Uchiha Ken'en but lost... As a result, he was severely reprimanded by Shimizu Keisuke before school ended, while Shimizu Keisuke praised Kakashi highly. Sarutobi Asuma's face was very ugly when school ended that night.

June 20th, a weekend evening.

After submitting the last task, Yakumo smiled as he looked at the 2050 gold coins remaining on the panel. Although he still hadn't mastered the Concealment Technique last week, it didn't dampen his excitement.

Personal Skills

Passive: Chakra Refining Technique 'Acceleration'

Active: Water Bullet Proficiency 15/200 『Speed ​​Up』

Basic swordsmanship proficiency 40/200 [Speed ​​Up]

Hatake Secret Manual Beginner's Guide 25/400 'Speed ​​Up'

"Proficiency: Increases water bullet power by 30%."

Adhering to the philosophy that "a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush," Yakumo has decided to give the water bullet a complete transformation tonight.

On the other hand, before mastering the art of concealment, he cannot add any more of the Hatake Secret Manual, as that would drastically change his own temperament and inevitably attract the attention of certain people.

He actually only had one option: to add more water bullets...

As Yakumo clicked with his divine sense, the number of gold coins dropped rapidly. Various ideas about the Water Bullet Ninjutsu flooded into Yakumo's mind, including countless images of practicing Water Bullets.

When everything stopped, Yakumo opened his eyes.

Active: Water Bullet Full Set 5/600 『Acceleration』

A red button appeared again next to him, flashing as if reminding Yakumo to click it.

"Perfect: Water bullet power increased by 60%"

'Activation time reduced by 50%'