Konoha 60 years, one morning.

Although it was not yet lunch time, the barbecue Q was placed on the chairs outside, and many people were already sitting scattered.

Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, and Sasuke Uchiha were among them, and the three of them each ordered a cold drink and leaned back lazily in their chairs.

"What a joke! Obviously, I was already two hours late than I had agreed, but I didn't expect Kakashi-sensei to be even later! It's unbelievable! ”

The first to speak was Sakura Haruno, who chewed the ice cubes in her drink as if they were someone's bones.

"Konoha Hospital has a limited number of cases for interns to practice diagnosing every day! I'll go back when he's done arranging the work, and then it's too late! ”

"Itachi also told me that Kakashi is a very reliable senior, which makes me a little doubtful about his ability to see people now......"

Sasuke Uchiha said casually while tinkering with his newly purchased camera, "Anyway, let's guess first, what reason did he use to deal with us today?" ”

"As of yesterday," Naruto Uzumaki said, opening the small notebook he was carrying, "Kakashi-sensei's reasons for being late were 'being blocked by a cat 15 times,' 'sending grandma across the street 12 times,' 'seeing clouds in the sky so I was stunned' 7 times, and the rest of the reasons added up to 22 times. ”

"You really remember this kind of thing, do you?"

Sakura Haruno leaned over, and then raised her eyebrows as if she had found some secret, "Wait a minute, this book in your hand ......"

She paused, "Isn't it the book of the volunteer classmate?" I saw this thing in my first class at the ninja school...... When everyone talks above, he writes down below. I thought he was practicing gathering information. ”

"That's the book." Naruto flipped to the first few pages of the notebook and printed the usual neatly arranged font into Sakura Haruno's eyes.

Naruto smiled like a beckoning cat, "Righteous and brave recorded what everyone loved to eat. He knew that I liked to invite people to my house for dinner, so he gave it to me before leaving Konoha so that everyone wouldn't be picky eaters. ”

"I see."

Sakura Haruno bowed slightly and asked, "Can you show me?" ”

"Okay." Naruto handed the notebook over.

You know, the whole of Konoha is very curious about Yoshiyu, the Uchiha who suddenly disappeared from Konoha three years ago, not to mention Sakura Haruno, who sat in front of Yoshiyo for three years when he was in school.

It's just that at that time, due to Ino's "prejudice" against Yiyong, she really didn't know much about Yiyong.

But as we all know, whether it's a teenager or an adult, everyone is always most interested in themselves in the eyes of others, so the first second Sakura Haruno got the book was to find her own name.

[Found it.] 】

Not only did she find it, but she found it easily. Because there is more about her in the notes than anyone else.

"Sakura Haruno, Konoha 48th birthday March 28th. Cherry blossom buds, sour plum bore. I once passed by the street and found that I was eating cherry blossoms, and I looked like I loved it, okay, very good. ”

[Ah, I didn't expect Yiyong to observe so carefully. Still, why is it good to like cherry blossoms? 】

Sakura Haruno temporarily put aside the doubts in her heart and continued to read, "The hair color is bright pink, and the eyes are lake green, exactly the same." You need to get along very well so that you don't seem presumptuous when the time comes. ”

[Exactly the same? Great? Need to get along well? 】

Sakura Haruno was stunned for a moment, and then a slight flush appeared on her cheeks, [Could it be that this is exactly the same meaning that I am exactly the same as the ideal type of Yiyong? 】

[Only in this way can you explain that you get along very well, right? And this time, refers to...... When it comes to confession? But when I wrote this, I was only in the first grade! 】

It's not that Sakura Haruno has any special feelings for Yiyong, who doesn't know much about her......

It's just that it seems to be the first time for her to feel the "special kindness" from her peers, and she is ashamed and a little happy at the same time.

[Oh, if you meet a volunteer classmate outside the village, how will you get along with each other at that time? 】

Sakura snuggled up in her chair like a boiled shrimp and twisted her face around, and Naruto and Sasuke looked at each other for no apparent reason, shaking their heads in unison.

[I always feel like she's thinking something rude......]

In this way, the minute hand in the barbecue Q shop turned half a circle, and the time came to 11 o'clock at noon, and the sun gradually became scorching.

The three of them complained and cursed Kakashi, who was missing, as they got up and went to find a cool place to continue waiting.

However, at this moment, Naruto's movements jerked and he looked around the corner at the end of the street.

The other two were just about to ask the reason, when they saw that a few seconds later, several figures came out from behind the corner - Inuzuka Ya, Hinata Hinata, and the one who and their leader Shinobu Sunset.

"Hinata, you're back!"

Naruto waved warmly, and without even saying hello to his teammates, he ran all the way over and chatted with the others.

"This guy...... Telepathy, huh!! ”

The corners of Sasuke's mouth were like a fugaku, and he raised his camera to take a picture by the way, and then followed Haruno Sakura slowly followed.

But before the two of them could get to the front, they heard Naruto's surprised and worried voice, "B, B-class mission?" You actually received a B-class mission, so you didn't encounter any danger this time, right? ”

Sakurasa, who had been fighting for several months and had reached the burnout period, glanced at each other, and quickened his pace behind Naruto, wanting to hear how he could receive a B-rank commission.

"This mission is in the heart of the Fire Nation."

After so many years of training Hinata Hinata didn't blush when talking to Naruto, it was just a little slow, "And...... If there was any danger, it was the night before. ”

"What does that mean?" Naruto was puzzled.

"Have you forgotten the earthquake that happened in the middle of the night the night before yesterday? Although the duration was particularly short, the tremor was very strong. ”

Inuzuka scratched Akamaru's neck and said with a big grin, "The Land of Fire is not located in the volcanic earthquake zone, so we were commissioned to investigate the cause of this earthquake. Because it's an urgent mission for the daimyo special mission, it's a B class. ”

Then he grinned and looked at the three of Naruto Sakura with a smug expression, "You guys, you guys have been nesting in the village all day looking for cats and children, and you definitely can't think of what this earthquake is all about." It scares you when you say it. ”

"......" saw Inuzuka's face, Sakura clenched her back molars and clenched her fists, and Sasuke also looked like she was going to be treated electromedically.

On the contrary, Naruto was deeply righteous and brave and did not get provoked.

He was stunned for a while, and directly skipped the tooth of Inuzuka, and said to the sunset red in the rear: "Senior, you see, I didn't torture him, he revealed all the mission objectives and clients." According to Konoha's rules and regulations, shouldn't he go back to school and retake it? ”

"Hey, Naruto, you bastard!" Inuzuka reacted suddenly, and his face turned red. The others burst out laughing.

"Okay, Ya, don't be so smug next time."

Seeing that his subordinates seemed ashamed to dig a pit and bury themselves, he gave him a step, "But this task itself is to publicize the results of the investigation, and it is not a leak in the strict sense." ”

"So, why did the earthquake happen?" Sakura asked.

"It's a bit unbelievable to say," Sunset Hong smiled slightly wryly, obviously she had finally accepted this reason, "The earthquake the night before yesterday should have been caused by a battle. ”

"Fighting?" Speaking of this, Sasuke was even more interested, "Where?" Who is and who? ”

"We can only make a simple guess about who it is...... But do you know about the Valley of the End? ”

"Of course I do." Sasuke nodded, "The year before last, the Hokage took our whole school to visit, and also introduced the original duel between Madara Uchiha and the first Hokage. ”

Sakura Haruno continued, "It is said that in addition to being very important to Konoha in the Valley of the End, it is also the most famous tourist destination in the Land of Fire, and many tourists visit the Valley every year to pay homage to those two statues. ”

"But now......" Hinata Hinata said with a slurred voice, "it's all gone." ”

"Gone?" Narusa Sakura blinked, "Nothing?" ”

"The statues of the Valley of the End, Madara Uchiha and the original Hokage, are gone." Sunset Hong shook his head and explained: "With the end valley as the center, there is a huge pit more than 800 meters wide and more than 100 meters deep, which connects the water sources above and below the ground, causing a large number of surrounding plots to collapse directly, which led to the earthquake ...... that day."

Looking at the three people who fell into a stupor, Sunset Red added: "The Valley of the End Waterfall has become history, and now it has been replaced by this 'Lake of the End' that has been filled with river water." It's as if the gods had taken the earth like jelly and stolen a piece of it with a spoon......"

"What kind of battle ......" Sakura Haruno swallowed, "to cause such a lot of damage." ”

"Hinata found seven huge white snake heads at the bottom of the lake through the white eyes, so we can only speculate that one of them should be Konoha's rebellious ninja Orochimaru."

When Sasuke heard the name, his eyes shrank suddenly: "But that guy is not ......"

[Was you killed by Righteous Bravery? 】

"You don't have to think too much. Life and death may be just a state for a ninja like him. ”

Sunset Red sighed, "It is said that Uchiha Yoshiyu has already informed the Hokage a long time ago about the possible resurrection of Orochimaru. ”

Sasuke suddenly wanted to rebel, and Yuya once said to him, "It's hard to resurrect a person after death."

"What do you mean? The person who fights Orochimaru, will it be Righteous and Brave? ”

"We don't know." Sunset Red shook her head, "We're going to the Hokage now, hoping to get some answers. ”

The three of them were silent, and after settling down again, they asked them to be careful when they went out of the village, and then led their men to the Hokage Building.

"A large pit ...... 800 meters wide and more than 100 meters deep"

Sakura Haruno searched Konoha and couldn't find a building that was more than 100 meters tall, after all, Shadow Rock was only 80 meters tall, so it was hard for her to have an idea of what that number meant.

"Can Yi Yong really do such a thing?"

However, Sasuke and Naruto didn't seem to answer her.

"Damn......" Sasuke slammed his fist on the telephone pole on the side of the road, "Yoshiyong, this guy—"

Just when Sakura Haruno thought that Sasuke, who had always been competitive, was about to say something like "I'm so strong, I must surpass him", she saw the latter reprimand loudly with an angry face: "You don't come back to see me if you're so close to home!" Is this still what it looks like to be a younger brother? ”

[......] Sakura Haruno, [Sasuke-san, must be spoiled at home......]

"The red seniors have said that they can't be sure that it is Yiyong."

Naruto was calm, but there was a bit of depression in his tone, "But speaking of which, I haven't seen Yoshiyo in over two years. Every time I meet Kyojuro's clone, I can't ask anything, so I guess Yiyong must be busy with something very important......"

"Of course!" Sasuke snorted coldly, "If Yoshito doesn't come to see me, he can't be like that bad Kakashi who deliberately hangs us, right?"

"By the way, doesn't Kakashi like to compete with that thick-eyebrow uncle? I think that if there is a chance in the future, we will deliberately stimulate Kakashi, provoke him to challenge Yoshito, and let Yoshiyo teach him a good lesson. ”

"I really can't imagine that I, an elegant and kind boss who doesn't smoke and don't drink, will be talked about by his subordinates, it's really a bad trend."

A lazy voice sounded above the trio's heads.

Naruto Sakura raised her head at the same time, squinting her eyes, all of them looking like "the sky seems to be full of crumbs".

On the roof of the house on the street front, the masked man with a diagonal forehead guard half-opened a dead fish eye, turned a blind eye to the condemnation of the three people, and turned a page of a small yellow book.

"You're still trying to provoke me against an opponent who can't win? I think Sasuke is trying to kill me. ”

Hearing Kakashi claim that he was not as good as Yoshiyu, Sasuke's mood improved slightly, and he didn't say anything after humming a few words.

Sakura suppressed her dissatisfaction in her heart, and her face was full of formulaic smiles, "Kakashi-sensei, they've all received B-rank missions, when will it be our turn?" ”

"That's it." Naruto added, "If we still stay here to do chores, then I'll be like Kyojuro at the beginning, and I will divide a lot of shadow clones to cover all the low-level tasks of Konoha, so that the lowest level of tasks left is B-rank......"

[This is already a threat! 】

Sakura turned her head to look at Naruto in surprise, [But, well done!! 】

"Ah, about your next mission, this kind of thing......" Kakashi pressed the corner of his book against his forehead, "what do you say?" It doesn't seem to have anything to do with me anymore. ”

"What did you say?"

"Have you gotten to this point?"

"Itachi really misjudged you! I'm going to report you to my dad! ”

"Hey, hey, hey, listen to me, it's okay!"

Kakashi quickly reached out to block the crusade that his men were poised to attack, "I mean, I have another particularly important mission to carry out in the coming period, so I have to entrust you to the other shinobi for the time being. ”

"I see." The three of them bowed their heads, turned around and were about to leave.

"Wait a minute," it was Kakashi's turn to be confused this time, "is that all?" Don't you even ask where I'm going and who will replace me? ”

"But," Sakura turned her head to look at the innocent little girl's favorite expression to tell the truth, "no matter who it is, there's no worse adult than Kakashi-sensei, right?" ”

"Even if we train with that thick-eyebrow uncle," Sasuke is next, "at least there will be some visible improvement, although there will be some aesthetic challenges." ”

"Besides, since it's a particularly important task, then Kakashi-sensei, you must do your best, and don't be afraid to spend more time." The last one was Naruto, "Slow work can make a small job, the reputation of the village is counting on a shinobi like you." ”

In this way, the three of them walked farther and farther away, and went directly to the Hokage Building. It looks like even if they can't find a replacement, they're going to ask the Hokage directly.

"Alas, how can the graduates of this class of Konoha poke their hearts and lungs when they speak, they always feel inexplicably familiar."

Kakashi sighed and put away the little yellow book, intending to go home and pack up before setting off for the Land of Rain.

About two months later, the Earth Council held a shinobi exam.

After that incident three years ago, Konoha formed a temporary alliance with Iwa Shinobi on the condition of releasing thirty Earth Country Shinobi to fight against Cloud Ninja, so this time in the middle ninja exam, of course, Konoha will also participate as an ally, and the Fire Country Daimyo will also be present at that time.

Since the Daimyo of the Land of Fire are going to the party, the Daimyo of the Land of Rain, who is a diner in the Land of Fire, has to show something.

Therefore, although he had no control over the rain ninja at all, he still sent an "order" to Sanshoyu Hanzo in the name of the king of a country, asking him to "send the best of the young people of the rain country" to participate in this middle ninja exam.

And Kakashi went to Yuyin Village specifically to convey this "order".

[I don't know if it will be blasted out by Sansho Fish Hanzo with a detonation charm......]

Of course, the herald is just an illusion.

The real purpose of the Hokage sending Kakashi to the Land of Rain was because the Land of Rain had purchased less than one-tenth of the grain from the Land of Fire in the past year, which had led to the hoarding of grain by some of the landlords of the Land of Fire and made a lot of money.

In addition, they hadn't found any trace of Rain Shinobi in the outside world for a long time. can not accept foreign commissions, what does Yuren rely on to make a living?

What happened to the Land of Rain to cause the above two anomalies?

That's the real purpose of Kakashi's expedition.

"Let's hope nothing surprising happens."

Just as Kakashi walked to the door, Naruto Sasuke Sakura also came to the Hokage Building.

Before the three of them entered, they noticed a strange laugh coming from the newsstand outside the building.

"Guest, your saliva is going to drip on my book......"

"Hey, I'm so sorry, I have to admire!"

A white-haired man with broad shoulders and exaggerated clogs squatted in front of a dustpan and admired a picture of a housewife in a magazine in broad daylight.

He rubbed the corners of his mouth, and commented loudly as if no one was around: "In the past, it was difficult to find the unique charm of this kind of mature woman in those little girls who had never been in the world!" Well, as a man who stands up to the sky, if you want to really grow, you have to start from such a ......"

"Elder Jiraiya."

The new garrison standard Uchiha + Hinata + Yamanaka trio stands behind Jiraiya.

"Please don't embarrass us, less than three hours after you returned, twelve villagers have already reported to us that you have behaved in a way that is at a loss and frivolous.

"If this continues, we will have to ask Elder Fuyue to apply for an arrest warrant for you."

Jiraiya, like Uchiha Fugaku and Nara Shikaku, became Konoha's current advisor elder three years ago.

Nara Shikaku is in charge of the assessment and evaluation of the Shinobi, and Uchiha Fugaku is in charge of the garrison, patrol, and diplomatic affairs inside and outside the village.

Only what is the responsibility of this Jiraiya elder, the vast majority of people in the village don't know anything, only know that this guy only appears in Konoha once every ten days, and every time he will be sued by the bathhouse owner for compensation, highlighting a "I don't know what he is for, but the maintenance cost is very high".

"Didn't you already catch me once, and you told me to run out?"

Zilai also grinned and slapped the guard on the shoulder led by him, "The food of your garrison is too poor, I still won't go this time." Come to think of it, I'm at ...... for lunch today."

His eyes circled around the crowd of onlookers, and then immediately stretched out his hand to the particularly conspicuous Naruto Uzumaki: "I'll go to his house and eat!" ”

Naruto, who was pointed out, took a step back and exchanged a look with Sasuke Sakura: "I have a bad premonition in my heart......"

Sasuke was dizzy when he remembered the scene when he and Naruto were taken to the Fire City to watch a movie last time by Jiraiya: "Our temporary boss ......"

"Is that him?" Sakura's smile froze on her face.

[An adult who is worse than Kakashi-sensei has really appeared! 】

"It's me the Toad Immortal, didn't Kakashi tell you?"

Zilai also turned into a cloud of smoke and disappeared in place, and Peng's voice appeared behind the three of them.

He held Sasuke's left shoulder with one hand and Sakura's right shoulder with the other, "Oh, young people don't judge people like this!" What do you think this is? ”

When the three people who were still in a gloomy mood just now heard this, they looked at it and took out a task description with a heroic signature underneath, which was the three big characters of Zilai.

"Is it an A-class mission?!"

Sasuke's voice jerked up, and he immediately read out the above content: "Help the people of the country of waves drive away two mysterious ninjas who obstruct fishing and shipping, and the reward ...... 500,000 taels? ”

Sakura then said, "Client, Cardo." ”

She pondered for a while, then looked up at Jiraiya and asked in a loud voice, "Is it Cardo, the big boss of that shipping company?" ”

"That's the Cardo." Jiraiya nodded.

"But I heard that this Cardo is a well-known smuggler, rare animals and even humans are within his scope of business, and I heard that this guy has been arrested several times, and he was released on bail for money."

Naruto was a little resistant, although the A-rank mission could get him out of the boring routine, but if he helped such a person...... He didn't even know how to face Yiyong.

"There's nothing wrong with people doing something and not doing something, and just because a ninja takes on a mission doesn't mean they have to complete it. However, I forgot to tell you, this mission description also has the back......"

As he spoke, Jirai flipped over the piece of paper as well, "This is the portrait of the two ninjas that Cardo asked us to drive away." ”

Noticing that the expressions on Naruto and Sasuke's faces changed from confused to solemn, Jiraiya grinned confidently, "How about it, this trip to the country of waves, are you going?" ”

"Of course I want to go!" Naruto Sasuke said in unison, and then looked at Sakura, who didn't know why, with burning eyes.

The latter didn't think much about it, and immediately nodded, but immediately asked, "However, is there anything special about these two people?" Even though they're wearing masks, they can't see anything......"

"This mask is the key."

Naruto unfolded the mission description, pointed to the fox beard on the mask, and said, "These two masks are almost exactly the same as the ones that Yoshiyu made for us!" ”

Because of the different experiences, the characters have changed a lot compared to the original, but they remain the same regardless of the core. The protagonist in the first few chapters of this volume is Narusa Sakura, and the pillars will describe it from their point of view, mind not looking.

(End of chapter)