"I absolutely can't ignore this kind of provocation!" Hōzuki Kirisame was livid. He was here in Haibo Town to pad his record—and now this mess had landed in his lap just days after his appointment. He was itching to personally end the culprit.
Back at their temporary base in Haibo Town, Kirisame immediately assembled an elite recon squad to investigate the murder thoroughly.
Their first move was a detailed sweep of Shijibonke's residence. All they uncovered was confirmation that he'd been a monster who completely deserved his fate—but no useful clues beyond that.
They did, however, uncover some hidden valuables.
"These assets..." Kirisame frowned. The stash was worth a fortune. But the murderer hadn't taken them—which suggested the killer had either fled in a hurry, or hadn't even bothered to loot.
That didn't add up.
"Looks like this guy had secrets..." Kirisame muttered to himself.
He'd had time to spend five days dismembering the body but not enough to collect treasure? Nonsense. That pointed to deeper motives.
Meanwhile, other squad members canvassed the town, interrogating locals. But the townspeople were thrilled by Shijibonke's death. Many seemed ready to throw a festival. If not for the intimidating presence of the Kirigakure shinobi, there might have been dancing in the streets.
As the investigation progressed, Kirisame's team narrowed their list to a few suspects—those with grudges, or powerful enough to carry out the deed. But every one of them had alibis. None matched the profile.
"We need to look at this from another angle," Kirisame decided. He revisited the killer's dismemberment method and likely escape route, trying to detect a pattern.
Just the way the body was butchered showed the killer hated Shijibonke. And now, there was no trace of the perp—likely fled by ship.
"The killer must have escaped by boat," one scout suggested. But in a busy port like Haibo, with thousands coming and going, the odds of catching someone were slim. The killer was long gone.
"Damn bastard..." Kirisame stood at the prow of a ship, eyes fixed on the endless sea. He knew it. The murderer was already gone. This failure would stain his record—maybe not ruin him, but give enemies ammunition to use someday.
Nara Kazuki, the target of Kirisame's fury, was blissfully unaware. He was back in the Hokage's office, reporting on his mission.
"Mm. Very impressive. And you even managed to detect the distribution of chakra inside Kirigakure? That's outstanding," Namikaze Minato praised.
Kazuki chuckled awkwardly. Honestly, it was pure luck. His Wind Pulse Sensory Technique breaching a village's barrier was absurd to begin with.
"Kazuki, what's your view of the current shinobi world?" Minato asked, massaging his temples. Kazuki blinked.
Big bro, have you been possessed? Asking me that? I'm just a junior shinobi barely scraping for jōnin promotion.
"Which of the Five Great Villages is the strongest now? And which is the weakest?" Minato seemed serious. Kazuki scratched his head. Since the Hokage had asked, may as well answer.
"Strongest? Kumogakure. Weakest? Sunagakure." Kazuki didn't hesitate. Minato perked up with interest.
"Oh? I thought you'd say Konoha was the strongest."
Kazuki grinned.
"Lord Fourth, before the Third Great Ninja War, sure. Konoha was top dog. But now, after the war? We're worn thin. We signed that unfair truce because we had to, didn't we?"
Minato nodded. At first, he hadn't understood why Hiruzen signed such a treaty. After becoming Hokage himself, he realized: behind the glorious façade, Konoha was a gasping old man on the brink of collapse.
The treaty bought time to breathe—nothing more. Public outrage had forced Hiruzen to step down, paving the way for Minato's rise.
"So, right now, Kumo's got the edge. If we unleashed a Tailed Beast, that'd change things. As for the weakest? Definitely Suna. Their Kazekage isn't the same one as before—his strength's lacking. I even heard the Wind Daimyō mocks them behind closed doors."
Kazuki chuckled. He'd heard it during a past mission to the Land of Wind. The previous Kazekage had been powerful—possibly even cracked how to pass on Magnet Release. But he'd died at the hands of Sasori.
That one ambush had collapsed Suna's strength. The village later agreed to join Orochimaru's attack on Konoha, maybe to prove they still had teeth—but that only boosted Konoha's fame.
The Kazekage had died at Orochimaru's hands. Sure, Orochimaru was a rogue, but he came from Konoha. And if Orochimaru was that strong, how powerful were his peers—Jiraiya and Tsunade?
Kazuki got into it, debating the shinobi world's future balance with Minato.
[Speechcraft: 6/10]
A progress bar popped up. Kazuki blinked. Speechcraft? He was leveling that now? Absurd. He'd only convinced Jiraiya once. So this time must've been...
"Well done." Minato clapped with a broad smile. Kazuki glanced at him thoughtfully.
"You've passed. Nara Kazuki—congratulations. You're now a jōnin." Minato beamed.
A group entered. At the front: Nara Shikaku, the clan head—grinning ear to ear.
Where there was Shikaku, there was also Ino-Shika-Chō. And smiling in the back—Sarutobi Hiruzen.
No wonder the progress bar jumped by five. This counted?
Kazuki suddenly felt giddy. If that worked, could he just go to a bar and start debating...
Speechcraft was hard to level. He was very curious what the max rank would grant.
"That whole discussion was a test—to evaluate your strategic vision. As a jōnin, you need to see the bigger picture. Especially you Nara types," Minato explained cheerfully.
Kazuki's lips twitched—but hey, whatever. He was finally a jōnin.
Call me Jōnin Nara Kazuki from now on!
Post-promotion, his life didn't change drastically—except for the perks. He even got a 10% discount at the Akimichi BBQ place. A godsend for a glutton like him.
Other shops gave minor discounts too. He could now take on higher-level missions—though those were mostly team-based. Solo jobs were rare.
"I didn't expect my hand seal mastery to level up again..." Kazuki muttered in surprise, sitting in his room.
It had been a month since his promotion. He hadn't taken any missions. Minato said it was a "new jōnin grace period." Kazuki suspected it had more to do with the ongoing railway project.
Still, he'd used the time to train diligently. Now, his hand seals had reached the upgrade threshold again. What kind of ability would he unlock?
[Randomness Is a Blessing]: Perform one hand seal to release a random jutsu. Any jutsu is within range. Chakra cost varies based on the jutsu's power.
"Whew... any jutsu? That's kind of insane. But the randomness... too chaotic. One moment it's Planetary Devastation, the next it's a weak-ass Wind Blade. Pure luck."
Still—it only required one seal. Super fast. And since Kazuki's seal speed already crushed others, he'd be lightning quick.
Tempting... but that randomness could screw him.
[Hand of Sound]: Your hand speed becomes legendary. Simply watching your seals makes others swoon. 'So elegant. Too elegant.'
"...What even is this effect?" Kazuki's eye twitched. Sure, insane hand speed was useful—but the elegance thing? What, did it charm people mid-fight?
Maybe it had a hidden effect. Still, weird.
[100% Hand]: Raise your hand once per day to block any flying object. You'll still take the damage.
Looking at the three choices, he was conflicted.
The second seemed most practical—faster hands, possible control buff.
The third was a concept-level power, but taking the full hit made it less appealing. Blocking isn't useful if the attack still nukes you.
Could it block Chidori? Ash-Killing Bones? Other ranged jutsu?
Could it block time? If so... then it was broken. If not... meh.
"First one... or second?" Kazuki couldn't decide. The first seemed lame—but imagine randomly pulling out a Full Susanoo. Or a Six Paths–tier technique.
Low chance, but game-changing if it happened.
One random Planetary Devastation, and he could seal Madara Uchiha himself. Even in Six Paths mode.
After all, even Kaguya Ōtsutsuki couldn't fully resist it.
Kazuki was tempted.