Bang!
The door to the Hokage’s office once again ended its short life.
“Second Uncle, the great Shanks has arrived!”
Shanks strode into the office first, full of confidence.
Behind him, Hiruzen Sarutobi looked up at the ceiling, completely speechless.
Aside from Senju Tobirama, there was one other person in the office.
A white-haired boy.
The moment that white-haired boy saw Shanks enter, he immediately put on an expression that said, I don’t know him.
“Next time you come in, knock first, you bastard!”
A huge vein appeared on Tobirama’s forehead.
“Ah, I know, I know.”
Shanks answered perfunctorily.
“What is with that outfit?” Tobirama asked, staring at Shanks’s bizarre cloak.
“Style.
Presence.” Shanks lifted his chin.
“As a super genius, how could I dress the same as ordinary people?
Sakumo, don’t you agree?”
“I don’t know.”
Hatake Sakumo did not want to deal with him.
“Ugh.”
Tobirama felt exhausted.
Not one person in Big Brother’s family was normal.
“All right.
Since everyone is here, I’ll get to the point.”
Tobirama’s expression became serious.
“Recently, the friction between us and Sunagakure along the Land of Fire border has become increasingly intense.
I called the three of you here because from today onward, you will form a team with Hiruzen.
Hiruzen will serve as captain.”
He gestured toward the desk.
“I have already arranged for the two of you to graduate from the ninja academy.
These are your forehead protectors.
Because of the situation at the border, everything will be handled simply.”
Shanks took the forehead protector and curled his lip.
This reason really was Tobirama-like.
Direct and efficient.
Shanks was about to speak, but Tobirama signaled for them to leave.
During this period, Hashirama’s body was worsening day by day, and the borders of the various countries were beginning to clash.
The Land of Fire had the fiercest conflicts of all.
After all, its land was the most fertile.
Today, Konoha might be fighting Sunagakure.
Tomorrow, it might be Iwagakure.
The calmest country was actually the Land of Water.
It was surrounded by ocean, and the other countries could not easily attack it.
Before full-scale war broke out, Tobirama wanted the village’s next generation to experience the reality of battle in advance.
Among that next generation, the true geniuses were Shanks and Hatake Sakumo.
The three of them arrived at an open space.
There were no self-introductions.
No bell test.
Nothing like that.
After all, this was not a normal academy graduation team assignment.
“You two go back and prepare,” Hiruzen said seriously.
“Tomorrow morning at nine, gather at the village gate.”
Tobirama had told him last night that he would be captain of a team with Hatake Sakumo and Shanks.
In other words, Tobirama was helping him build his own future core faction.
But Hiruzen felt enormous pressure.
These were the village’s only two real young geniuses.
Once they grew up, they would definitely become top combat forces of Konoha.
Hiruzen had experienced war.
He knew how terrifying it was.
So many geniuses died in war.
In front of war, talent received no special treatment.
Hiruzen had lost quite a bit of hair overnight.
After returning to the Senju compound, Shanks did not plan to tell Mito that he was going to the border.
There was no point worrying her.
In truth, Tobirama had already spoken to Hashirama and Mito about this last night.
Neither of them had said much.
They were both people who had lived through war.
If their own child did not go, someone else’s child would.
Hashirama would rather let his family stand at the front.
Shanks prepared some shuriken, soldier pills, a large pile of explosive tags, and a sword.
Alcohol could not be brought.
To be honest, Shanks never felt shuriken and kunai were very useful.
He had never seen many shinobi actually killed by plain shuriken or kunai.
Unless someone used shuriken with the same ridiculous style as Uchiha Itachi, or learned Flying Thunder God and carried several specially marked kunai, they were mostly decoration.
Shanks could do neither.
“I’ll bring a few shuriken for appearances.
Everything else can be explosive tags.
At least explosive tags can demolish a house.”
That was Shanks’s conclusion.
“Shanks, Grandma said you’re going to the battlefield tomorrow.
Is that true?”
Tsunade stood in the doorway and asked worriedly.
“Ah, not war.
I’m just going to the border for training.”
Shanks crouched down and pinched Tsunade’s tiny cheek.
“When you grow up, you’ll have to go too.”
“When will you come back?”
“Probably not too long.”
Then Shanks suddenly thought of Hashirama’s body.
“Probably.”
He sighed inwardly.
“It should be soon.”
“When I’m not here, Tsunade, you have to properly keep Grandpa and Grandma company.
Understand?”
“I know.
Don’t worry.
You can go on your way.
I’ll take care of them.”
Tsunade spoke like a tiny adult.
“…”
Shanks’s face darkened.
“Can’t you say something a little luckier?”
The next morning, at ten o’clock, Shanks arrived at the village gate with dazed eyes, yawning as he walked.
“Shanks, you’re late!”
Hiruzen had already been so worried last night that he had lost several strands of hair.
When he arrived at the village gate that morning, only Hatake Sakumo was there.
The two of them had waited an entire hour before Shanks finally appeared, looking as if he had not fully woken up.
Hatake Sakumo was already used to Shanks’s usual behavior.
“Ah.
I met a black cat on the road, and it blocked my path.
Then I lost my way on the road of life.”
Shanks spoke lazily.
Damn it.
That old fool Hashirama talked at me all night.
It’s already impressive I managed to get up at all.
Last night, Shanks had almost fallen asleep when Hashirama came over, claiming he wanted to share experience.
In reality, he just spent the whole night bragging about the old days.
“Everyone is here,” Hiruzen said.
“Before we leave, you two have one mission to complete first.
This is also your assessment as shinobi.
If you pass, you can continue to the border with me.
If you fail, no matter how talented you are, you cannot become shinobi.”
After speaking, Hiruzen threw a mission scroll to the two of them.
Shanks and Sakumo exchanged a glance, then opened it.
C-rank mission: eliminate all bandits on Mount Akina north of Konoha.
Bandit leader is suspected to be a Takigakure missing-nin.
Strength unknown.
“This mission is yours to handle,” Hiruzen explained.
“I’ll wait here.
Once you complete the mission, come back and gather with me.
Then we’ll leave for the border.”
“If you still haven’t returned by the morning after tomorrow, I’ll consider the mission failed.”
He paused.
“And I’ll consider you dead.”
After explaining, Hiruzen sat down nearby and took out a smoking pipe.
“Do you have a plan?” Hatake Sakumo asked Shanks.
“Let’s head out first and think while we walk.”
Shanks did not have any plan at the moment.
He was not good at that kind of thing.
Three hours later, the two reached the foot of the mountain.
Not far away, they saw two guards standing at the path leading uphill.
“Bandits are this impressive now?” Shanks muttered.
“They’ve contracted an entire mountain?”
Every road up the mountain was guarded.
This was completely different from the bandit stronghold on a mountain that he had imagined.
“What do we do?” Sakumo asked.
The current Hatake Sakumo was not yet the man who would later force Sunagakure back and terrify every village.
Shanks was also not yet the man whose words would make others give him face.
The two typical rookies looked at each other.
“What’s the point of thinking so much?” Shanks said.
“One word.
Charge.”
The moment he finished speaking, he used Body Flicker and appeared beside the two guards, cutting them down.
Then he rushed toward the next path.
Hatake Sakumo also moved.
The guards were ordinary people who had become bandits.
Shanks and Sakumo killed their way to the entrance of the stronghold.
By the time they arrived, both boys’ faces were pale.
Sakumo saw Shanks’s throat move.
“Hold it in until the mission is done.”
In truth, Sakumo himself was barely holding back too.
It was the first time either of them had killed.
And they had already killed so many.
Their stomachs churned violently.
“I’ll attack from the front,” Shanks said.
“You go around and collect heads from behind.”
Sakumo nodded, then vanished into hiding.
Shanks stood at the gate of the stronghold and rested his sword on his shoulder, looking arrogant.
“People inside, listen up!
You are already surrounded.
Come out and surrender obediently.
I promise we won’t abuse or humiliate prisoners.”
“Who’s yelling outside?
Tired of living?”
A rough voice came from inside.
“Your young master.”
As Shanks answered, he began forming seals.
“Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique!”
A massive surge of water crashed into the stronghold.
After releasing the ninjutsu, Shanks drew his sword and charged in.
The Great Waterfall Technique swept through the stronghold, and screams rang out one after another.
By the time Shanks rushed inside, Hatake Sakumo was already fighting the bandit leader.
After Shanks’s Great Waterfall Technique, anyone still alive inside the stronghold was clearly at least shinobi-level.
However, most were only around chūnin level.
Shanks gave them no time to react.
“One-Sword Style: Twenty-Four Head-Collecting Moves of the Immortal Descending from the Heavens!”
After shouting that absurdly impressive name, Shanks began harvesting the surviving chūnin bandits.
Against Shanks, who now possessed two types of Haki, these chūnin had no chance.
Even if they had not been injured, they would still have been killed quickly.
“I didn’t expect Konoha to send two genius brats.”
The leader, who was fighting Hatake Sakumo, glanced around and saw the stronghold being slaughtered clean by the two boys.
His expression darkened.
“Unfortunately, your road ends here.”
The red-haired brat’s Water Release just now had been powerful enough that only a special jōnin should have been able to produce it.
The white-haired brat fighting him was not weak either.
His speed was extremely fast, and his attacks were strange.
The leader had already been cut several times because of carelessness.
“Damn it.
A missing-nin talking this arrogantly?”
Shanks was too lazy to waste words.
“Get him.”
He drew his sword and rushed in.
“One-Sword Style: A Sword from the West, Random Slashing Edition!”
Hearing Shanks shout such a long name, the missing-nin assumed he was about to use some flashy sword technique.
His attention immediately shifted toward Shanks.
Who would have thought Shanks would only perform an ordinary horizontal slash?
At that exact moment, Hatake Sakumo seized the opening.
“Lightning Thrust!”
The short blade pierced the leader’s heart from behind.
Even at the moment of death, the missing-nin could not understand it.
How could Konoha’s geniuses be this shameless?
They had used such a cheap trick just to distract him and kill him.
“Can someone with intelligence that low really become a jōnin?” Shanks asked curiously.
“I didn’t expect the intelligence requirement for jōnin to be so low.”
Hatake Sakumo did not want to speak to him.
Then he turned around.
“Ugh!”
A wave of nausea surged up, and Sakumo leaned against the wall and vomited.
The moment Shanks heard Sakumo throwing up, it was like a chain reaction.
His own stomach lurched.
He leaned against the same wall and vomited with him.