Chapter 25 – An S-Rank Mission That Was Too Easy
At the frontline training camp of Konohagakure.
Everyone watched in stunned silence as Kurama Kaeha—who had been standing in front of Hatake Kyūjō for no more than a few seconds—suddenly turned around and calmly stepped back behind Sarutobi Chikawa. She bowed her head and spoke softly, almost reverently,
"Hatake Kyūjō is truly exceptional. His resistance to Genjutsu is beyond anything I've ever seen. Unless you're a Jōnin-level specialist in illusions, you won't even scratch him. I've finished testing him. If anyone else still doubts his Ninjutsu capabilities... feel free to test him yourself."
With that, she said no more.
None of the other elite team members—who were all seasoned Jōnin—uttered a word. They didn't need to. As far as they were concerned, Hatake Kyūjō had passed every test.
As long as his sensory perception stayed sharp, there was no reason to reject him.
Seeing the situation settle, Captain Araki didn't waste any more time. He led Kyūjō and the rest of the team deeper into the dense forest to officially test the young shinobi's Perception Ability.
And unsurprisingly, the results of the field test confirmed what they'd already witnessed—though Kurama Kaeha still kept her head bowed, silent.
The rest of the team—Akimichi Chikū, Sarutobi Chikawa, Katō Dan, and Captain Araki himself—couldn't stop praising Kyūjō's talent. His detection skills, famously known as "Thunder Eyes", were in a league of their own.
Sarutobi Chikawa, in particular, pounded his chest and swore on his name that he'd personally protect Kyūjō on the battlefield—"our team's most valuable sensor ninja."
Kyūjō chuckled at that and nodded politely in appreciation.
To celebrate the addition of their new member, Captain Araki led the team to the camp mess hall for their first-ever team-building meal together.
From that day forward, this squad—soon to be known throughout Sunagakure as the "Phantom Shadow Unit"—was officially born.
— — —
The next morning, Hatake Sakumo himself handed down a combat mission for Araki's elite team.
Coincidentally, the mission was similar to the previous one—targeting a logistics force. Only this time, the roles were reversed.
Now, Konoha would play the role of the aggressor.
Their target: a Sunagakure logistics convoy.
Without hesitation, Captain Araki assembled his team—including Kyūjō—geared them up, prepared supply scrolls, and led them into the border zone between the two great nations.
This was a mission classified as S-Rank—the kind of assignment most teams would consider suicide. If not for Kyūjō's presence, Hatake Sakumo would never have greenlit this op.
To be fair, the target unit wasn't particularly powerful. After all, it was a rear logistics convoy, not a frontline assault team. Normally, it would have minimal defenses.
But!
The real difficulty lay elsewhere.
The team had to cross vast enemy territory without alerting Sunagakure's patrols, locate a mobile logistics force using only vague coordinate data, and eliminate them—cleanly and without being discovered.
Konoha didn't have someone like Shimura Danzō, the "Shadow of the Hokage," who could supply detailed intelligence on enemy routes and security patterns.
To make matters worse, Konoha was already on the back foot in terms of manpower. Entire sectors of their defenses had been thinned out, and they had to respond to Sunagakure's surprise raids from just days earlier.
In short, the mission was a logistical nightmare.
Which is exactly why they had assembled this elite squad.
And why Hatake Kyūjō was the linchpin of the entire operation.
Without his advanced Long-Range Sensory Perception—which acted like a moving radar—Sakumo would have had no viable plan to execute this mission.
This was also why he had no choice but to send his son into danger.
— — —
One week later, early in the morning.
As Kyūjō led the team out of a dense mountain forest, everyone in Araki's elite squad shared the same thought:
They were in awe.
This mission… had gone way too smoothly.
That's right. Their assault on the Sunagakure logistics force—the centerpiece of this S-Rank operation—had ended in absolute success.
They had completely wiped out the enemy supply team: six Jōnin, fifteen Chūnin, and thirty-four Genin—annihilated.
All the supply scrolls carried by the enemy had been torched by Sarutobi Chikawa's Fire Release jutsu.
Since there were simply too many scrolls to carry back, the team chose only the most valuable ones to bring home. The rest were burned—much to Chikawa's dismay.
Watching the flames devour potential treasure made the noble-born Sarutobi wince in spiritual agony, as though a part of his soul was being set alight with every crackle of fire.
And now, with their backpacks loaded with spoils, the team was already making their way back to base.
— — —
All in all, this S-Rank mission had turned out to be one of the smoothest and easiest operations in Araki's career.
Throughout the mission, there had been no unexpected ambushes. Every battle had occurred exactly where Kyūjō said it would. And each one ended in a clean, one-sided victory.
Thanks to Kyūjō's sensory abilities, they had near-complete intel several kilometers in advance.
Enemy ambush points? Detected.
Trap placements along roads? Identified.
Estimated chakra levels, elemental affinities, even minor internal injuries and weak points?
All revealed by Kyūjō.
With that kind of information, it was almost unfair. The Jōnin on his team joked that even if they wanted to lose, they wouldn't know how.
Initially, there had been doubt.
But by the end of the mission, even Sarutobi Chikawa—usually the most cautious—was so fired up that he suggested pushing further into enemy territory to assassinate that "annoying old hag Chiyo."
To be honest, Kyūjō had been a little tempted by the idea.
But the rest of the team shot it down immediately.
Well… all except for Kurama Kaeha.
She too had quietly considered it.
After all, with a "monster" like Kyūjō on their side, assassinating Chiyo wasn't far-fetched.
If they really wanted to, they could march straight into the center of Sunagakure and take down the Third Kazekage himself.
It wasn't entirely impossible.
Not with him leading the way.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
Join my Patreon here:
🔗 patreon.com/FaaanzKun
✅ Enjoy 100+ chapters ahead of WebNovel
✅ 2 new chapters every day (Monday–Saturday), exclusive on Patreon
✅ Be the first to experience Arc 5 and the new season before anyone else!
📖 The first chapter of Arc 5 is now live!
You can read it right now on Patreon~
🌙 Note: Sunday is a rest day, so there will be no updates tomorrow. Regular uploads resume as usual on Monday.
Let's keep this adventure alive, together chapter by chapter! 💖
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —