A new arrival and it's about Sasuke-kun.
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***
The sun shone brightly beneath the pristine mountain forests.
Sasuke darted between winding branches, his scarlet Sharingan constantly scanning the scene.
"When it comes to intelligence gathering, the Byakugan is definitely superior. It can collect real-time images within a one-kilometer radius instantly.
My Sharingan can memorize and analyze traces instantly, but its field of vision isn't much improved. With my current chakra, I can sustain it for just over ten minutes, even less in battle. I need to communicate more with Hinata or Neji to leverage their Byakugan. With it, I could easily gather intelligence and detect enemies," Sasuke thought silently, feeling his chakra dwindle.
He closed his Sharingan, stopped, and noted only one wild boar trace so far.
Slapping Naruto in the face for the system reward required more.
"No, I need to outsmart them. At this rate, I'll exhaust myself before finding the boars! I don't have Naruto's chakra to waste," Sasuke muttered, panting slightly, slamming the tree trunk.
"Pahā¦" A pine nut fell before him.
Sasuke glanced sideways, spotting a lush pine tree nearby, with dozens scattered throughout the forest.
"That's it! Wild boars love the smell of pine oil."
Sasuke's eyes fixed, leaping back and forming hand seals.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
Completing the seals mid-air, Sasuke spat a fireball at the pine tree.
Pine trees, rich in flammable oil, ignited with a "boom" the moment the fireball hit.
The burning pine released twice the scent of pine oil instantly.
Within seconds, Sasuke smelled it clearly in the air.
"Wild boars have a sense of smell twice as strong as dogs, so they'll pick up the scent soon. Now, I increase the scent and wait for the prey!"
Sasuke smiled confidently, stepping forward, forming seals, and rushing to other pine trees.
To avoid a forest fire, he lit trees in open areas.
Moments later, a dozen burning pines dotted the forest, pine oil scent drifting with thick smoke.
"Huh? Who's bored enough to start a fire? Whatever, I've made big talk! I can't lose to Sasuke! Shadow Clone Technique!"
Naruto, ignoring the smoke, created another clone to search for boars.
Meanwhile, Sakura frowned at the smoke but continued tracking boar footprints.
One hour later, "So that's it. Using the scent to lure the boars to us. That's your approach, Sasuke? But I asked for intelligence gathering. How does this improve that skill?"
Kakashi appeared suddenly, speaking lazily as Sasuke leaned against a tree to recover chakra.
Below, twenty to thirty wild boars of varying sizes roamed, sniffing for pine nuts.
"Didn't you say ninjas break rules? Our goal is to drive out the boars. Intelligence gathering is just a step. Besides, I didn't alert themāthey don't even know I'm here. By the way, Kakashi-sensei, why are you here?"
Sasuke stood, brushing off leaves, unfazed by rule-breaking.
"You started burning trees. I was worried you'd torch the whole forest. These trees are precious to the villagers," Kakashi said, giving Sasuke a deadpan look, pocketing "Icha Icha Paradise", and appearing helpless.
If he'd known Sasuke's fires were controlled, he wouldn't have come.
"Almost all the nearby boars are here. Now's the perfect time to drive them out! Kakashi-sensei, should we act?"
Sasuke rolled his eyes, seizing the chance to suggest action, aiming to outdo Naruto by completing the mission early.
"Well, no choice. If we don't act now, gathering them again will be harder," Kakashi nodded reluctantly.
The mission had lost its training value for Team 7, so it needed to end soon.
"Then let's begin," Sasuke smirked, drawing his shuriken and rushing at the boars.
"Ahhh!"
"Hmph!"
"Hmm!"
As Sasuke's three shuriken shot out, the boars erupted into chaos, scattering in all directions.
"So impulsiveā¦ I didn't tell you which direction to drive them," Kakashi's mouth twitched, his hands blurring into seals.
"Shadow Clone Technique!"
With a bang, two clones emerged from white smoke, blocking two directions.
"Drive them to the forest ten kilometers west. There's a wild habitat there," Kakashi said, darting to block another direction.
"Ten kilometers?"
Sasuke murmured, grabbing a nearby branch and throwing it.
At 3:30 p.m., "What the heck? Even Kakashi-sensei's missing?!"
Naruto exclaimed.
"And Sasuke-kun's gone too," Sakura added.
"Hmph, Sasuke's probably too scared to return since he didn't find any boars. Even I found two with my shadow clones," Naruto bragged.
"Naruto, don't badmouth Sasuke-kun. There's no way he didn't find any," Sakura retorted.
"But how'd you bring back those two boars?"
"Heh heh, no big boars, but so what? This proves I beat Sasuke!"
Naruto said proudly, holding up two boar cubs.
In the fields, Naruto and Sakura stood at the edge, bantering excitedly.
Beside them, the client frowned, his mood sinking.
This ninja team seemed utterly unreliable.
"Sorry, Naruto, you can't surpass me," Sasuke's voice rang out behind them.
Naruto and Sakura's expressions shifted, turning to look.
"Hmph, I found two boar cubs and a den. If you go there, you'll find those pesky boars. What'd you find, Sasuke?"
Naruto boasted, lifting the cubs proudly.
"Well done, Naruto. But sorry, the mission's over. Sasuke gathered nearly all the boars, and we drove them ten kilometers away," Kakashi said, following Sasuke, shocking Naruto and the client.
Naruto's smile froze, slapped by the harsh reality.
Holding the two cubs, his face burned with embarrassment.
"Sasuke-kun's so handsome, so awesome!"
Sakura gushed, her tone adoring and shy.
[Task completed, reward: 0.2 units chakra.]
Sasuke heard the system prompt in his ears.
.....
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