"A year ago, there were rumors of a Platform Release user in the vicinity of the Land of Waves, but they quickly disappeared from public view. Although that area isn't the Land of Water, it's still within the Hidden Mist Village's sphere of influence, and it's quite far. There's too little information, making it difficult to act or even locate them."
"Among the twelve Jonin Elders of the Hidden Grass Village, there's one named Silver Ox. He possesses a Steel Release Kekkei Genkai and is quite strong, ranking among the top three core figures in the Hidden Grass Village. He'd be relatively easy to find, but killing him might cause some trouble. Still, he's a good target."
"The last option is the Chinoike Clan, located in Hell Valley on the border between the Land of Lightning and the Land of Hot Water. This clan was crippled by the Uchiha during the Warring States period. I'm not sure how many of them are left, but their Ketsuryugan has high potential. Cloud Hidden Village has also been actively pushing for this clan to join them."
"In terms of value, the Chinoike Clan is the most suitable, but Cloud Hidden Village is a difficult problem to deal with."
"As for the remaining Kekkei Genkai, they either belong to people from the Five Great Ninja Villages or the information is over a year old, rendering it useless."
Qingshui silently ran through the calculations in his mind.
The Platform Release user in the Land of Waves appeared a year ago and is in a remote location within the Hidden Mist Village's sphere of influence. The Sand Village's manpower and influence there are likely not very strong, so finding them wouldn't be easy.
Neither the Land of Grass nor the Land of Hot Water directly borders the Sand Village.
However, the former is right next to the Land of Rain, while the latter is far on the other side of the Ninja World continent.
If he wanted to go to the Land of Hot Water, there were two paths.
One was to first reach the Land of Rain, then cross the entire Land of Fire.
This route could be dismissed immediately. If he truly entered the Land of Fire and was discovered by Konoha, he'd be in for a lot of trouble.
The other path involved a long detour, also starting from the Land of Rain, then passing through several smaller countries like the Land of Grass, the Land of Waterfalls, the Land of Iron, and the Land of Rice Fields. The journey would be extensive.
"I see…"
The Third Kazekage was also deep in thought.
The Platform Release could be ruled out for now, leaving Steel Release and Ketsuryugan.
One was a top-three figure in the Hidden Grass Village, stronger than an average Jonin. The other was a ninja clan.
Even if they lost to the Uchiha in the past, the Ketsuryugan is still a powerful ocular Kekkei Genkai, superior to most Kekkei Genkai in the Ninja World. Even if not many of them remained, they wouldn't be easily dealt with by ordinary ninja.
Not to mention, that area was also within Cloud Hidden Village's sphere of influence.
Therefore, the team assigned to this mission would need to be strong enough, and the leader's strength couldn't be that of an ordinary Jonin. They would also need sufficient ability to resolve any problems encountered…
The Third Kazekage's gaze silently shifted to Qingshui.
"Qingshui, I'm entrusting this mission to you to lead. Bring back Silver Ox's corpse from the Hidden Grass Village, and while you're at it, see if there's any Steel Release inheritance in the Land of Grass. It's best to keep yourself clean and frame Stone Hidden and Konoha."
"As for the Chinoike Clan, try your best to win them over if possible. The Sand Village would be happy to accept a new Kekkei Genkai family. If not, then they absolutely cannot be allowed to join other ninja villages."
"You can choose your own team. Oh, and you can bring Baki along. Consider it his Jonin promotion exam. I think you're capable of deciding the specifics."
The Third Kazekage then signed an S-rank Mission request for Qingshui on the spot.
The meeting concluded, and the few individuals quickly left the Kazekage Building.
Rasa went to select elite Anbu members, and Ebizo went to contact the rogue ninja organizations operating outside the village as his black-ops agents.
Meanwhile, Qingshui was also choosing his team members.
Since the Third Kazekage said this mission would serve as Baki's Jonin promotion exam, Baki would certainly take one spot.
This kid had already mastered Wind Release and Earth Release Nature Transformation and had even attended Qingshui's Advanced Swordplay Class. His strength had already reached Jonin standards.
Young Baki was also doing well now. If this mission succeeded, he would become a fourteen-year-old Jonin, greatly increasing his cultivation value for the Sand Village. His future potential might even be higher than in the original timeline.
Pakura could also be brought along. Not for a honeymoon trip, but because she had just awakened Scorch Release. It would be best if she could use real combat experience of a certain level to help her build a new combat system.
Her Elite Jonin strength was enough to handle most troubles, and even if they encountered Kage-level experts, she could at least hold her own.
These two would be his absolute direct subordinates in the future, and he would definitely focus on nurturing them.
So, for a four-person squad, one spot was still open.
Ideally, it would be an experienced, strong, veteran Jonin.
Fukami Senran, Sasayama of the Sand, or Ishido would all be suitable.
These were all his people. When the Fourth Kazekage election came, they would undoubtedly choose to side with him.
However, he could also choose some other neutral Jonin to foster goodwill during this mission, preferably even forming some kind of connection.
Now was the time for him to establish his own faction within the Sand Village.
Ebizo and Chiyo had managed the intelligence division and Puppet Force for many years, which he could smoothly take over in the future. But he shouldn't just wait for that; he still had things to do.
"Jonin promotion exam?"
When Baki saw the mission request in Qingshui's hand, he was so excited he almost jumped.
Among the three of them, he was the only one who wasn't a Jonin yet.
"Hmm, I wanted to ask, is Kurokawa-senpai available right now? I'd like to invite him to assist with this mission."
Qingshui said to Baki.
Kurokawa was Baki's guiding Jonin when he was a Genin. During the previous Ninja World War, Qingshui and Kurokawa had interacted a few times, and their squad had even carried out missions with Kurokawa.
He was a fairly strong Elite Jonin, over forty years old, and very experienced.
"Teacher Kurokawa? He should be on a mission in the Land of Rivers right now. He probably won't be back anytime soon."
That was a bit of a shame.
"I do have another jonin here who I could try to invite for you."
"Oh?"
Qingshui was a little curious.
Who could Baki recommend so highly?
"I'm currently the vice-captain of the elite combat unit, Sada. His strength might be a bit less than Kurokawa-sensei's, but he's not weak among jonin. He specializes in Earth Release and Fire Release."
Then, a hint of gossip suddenly appeared on Baki's face.
"About three years ago, Sada-senpai pursued Karura and got beaten up by Rasa. There's some bad blood between them. Last year, when Rasa became the Anbu vice-captain, he gave Sada the jonin a lot of trouble."
There's that too?
He offended Rasa by pursuing Karura, so he probably wouldn't want to see Rasa become Kazekage.
Now that Qingshui has risen to prominence, he's probably been in contact with Baki, Qingshui's friend.
Then he's the one.
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