When Hyūga Akira walked out of the intelligence room, Murakami Hana was already leaning against the wall, waiting.
"You're done reading?" Murakami asked.
"Yeah. I've got a general grasp of things," Akira replied casually.
What he didn't say was that, while reading, he had also organized and summarized everything for Hiruko and already sent the information back.
After all the trouble, this mission was finally complete.
Now all that remained was to wait for Hiruko's next instructions.
"Come on," Murakami said. "Next is task assignment. Every chūnin gets a long-term mission."
In the Hidden Rain's system, genin were disposable. They didn't choose missions—missions chose them. They simply waited to be picked by chūnin or jōnin.
Chūnin, however, were different.
They could choose their own missions, but each of them also had to shoulder at least one long-term assignment—garrison duty, surveillance, intelligence gathering, and so on.
There were chūnin without long-term assignments, but those people ended up no different from genin, passively drafted whenever manpower was needed.
"Let's go."
Today, Murakami intended to walk Akira through every important location in the base. A chūnin who didn't know the terrain was a liability.
Their final stop wasn't a room, but the central plaza.
Four massive pillars supported the underground base. Numerous sheets of paper were pinned to the pillars with shuriken.
Akira had already noticed them before.
"Pick one mission from here," Murakami said, pointing at the papers. "Once you report it to me, you can prepare to head out."
There weren't many people around. Those who came here to take missions were mostly newly promoted chūnin—and there weren't many of those these days.
Becoming a chūnin in the Hidden Rain wasn't easy. There were only two paths.
One was to earn it through battle achievements—like Akira, who had repeatedly clashed with chūnin-level opponents.
The other was to pass the Chūnin Exams.
But the exams were usually hosted by the great villages. Every session, the Hidden Rain would send some promising genin to participate.
Except for the past two years.
Relations between the Five Great Nations were tense, the great villages openly hostile. Konoha—the usual host—had made no moves.
On top of that, the internal struggle between Shōzō and Hanzō meant the Hidden Rain couldn't even participate properly.
Akira stepped forward and looked through the mission sheets.
There weren't many garrison tasks left. Those were usually easy, cushy jobs and very popular—but what remained were mostly postings to remote villages.
There were also escort missions for important figures of the Land of Rain.
Surveillance missions were nowhere to be seen—clearly already taken.
What remained weren't great options. One, in particular, caught his eye: gathering intelligence on the movements of the three great villages.
It was tempting. With the right opportunity, he could farm experience.
But it was a squad-based mission. Without a jōnin as backup, running into an enemy jōnin would be dangerous.
Just as Akira was hesitating—
A Rain ninja appeared beside Murakami, whispered a few words into his ear, then vanished.
"Wait," Murakami said, stepping forward to stop Akira.
Akira looked at him, puzzled. He hadn't even chosen yet.
"Your assignment's already been decided," Murakami said. There was a trace of jealousy in his expression—one Akira immediately picked up on.
In that case…
Was this a task personally assigned by Hanzō?
"…My mission is?" Akira asked carefully.
"Protect Lord Hanzō," Murakami said solemnly.
Akira: "???"
He was a chūnin, assigned to protect someone whose strength rivaled a Kage?
And on top of that, he was a Konoha infiltrator.
How was this even remotely reasonable?!
"Report to Lord Hanzō tomorrow," Murakami continued. "You know where."
At this point, he didn't bother hiding his envy anymore.
To follow Lord Hanzō was Murakami's lifelong aspiration.
And yet, this newcomer—Akira—had gotten there first.
Even though Murakami was the one who had been here longer.
Akira wanted to refuse.
Messing around under Murakami's nose? That was doable. The man looked clever, but in truth his judgment wasn't great, and his strength wasn't outstanding either.
But pulling tricks right under Hanzō's eyes?
That pressure was on a completely different level.
Hanzō was someone who lived in the shadows. Would Akira end up hiding alongside him every day?
Then how was he supposed to farm experience?
Murakami clearly had no interest in continuing the conversation. His body dissolved into flowing water and splashed onto the ground.
Water Body Flicker.
Akira stared helplessly at the ceiling.
A massive chandelier served as the main light source, though it couldn't illuminate every corner. Candles burned along the walls.
This mission hadn't given him any chance to refuse.
Suddenly, he sensed a gaze—different from the usual surveillance.
He turned toward the rocky wall but couldn't find its source.
From behind a window, Hanzō looked down at Akira standing in the plaza, wearing a confused expression.
The fake Hanzō stepped beside him, puzzled.
"Lord Hanzō… he's only a chūnin. Why choose him?"
If a guard was needed, shouldn't it be a powerful jōnin?
Hanzō withdrew his gaze. So he noticed me… that boy is sharp.
"Do you think," Hanzō asked calmly, "that I need a strong guard?"
There wasn't a single person in the Hidden Rain who could defeat him.
"T-this…" The fake Hanzō was at a loss. Then what was the point?
"The reason I value that boy," Hanzō said slowly, "is not his strength—but his thinking."
That kind of perspective was what he truly needed.
His standoff with Shōzō had reached a deadlock. What he lacked was a different way of thinking—someone who could see beyond the current impasse.
He had high expectations for Kiuame.
In the entire Hidden Rain Village, no one else had been able to say what that boy had said.
Akira returned to his quarters in a daze.
Tomorrow, he would be guarding Hanzō.
The thought brought him no joy whatsoever.
He wasn't sure whether, staying by Hanzō's side, he'd have any chance to farm experience—or collect Exorcist Skill Fragments.
Bang.
With a soft sound, Akira pulled Konoha's summoning scroll from his clothes.
Hiruko's reply had arrived.
He opened the message, read it quickly, then placed the paper into a candle flame, watching it slowly burn.
Hiruko first praised him, saying the mission had been executed perfectly and that he could now return—his assignment was complete.
The firelight reflected in Akira's eyes.
"…Go back?"
His status in the Hidden Rain had just risen. There were still plenty of opportunities here—plenty of places to farm.
If he left now, he'd have to wait until the war broke out to continue.
But staying meant protecting Hanzō—this absurd, cursed assignment.
For the first time in a while, Hyūga Akira found himself truly torn.
◇ I'll be dropping one bonus chapters for every 10 reviews. comment
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on P@treon if you're interested:
http://patreon.com/KuroTL