As it was a mission from Danzo, it was not listed in the normal missions. Reko would need to choose the fake mission written on the note and then proceed with completing root's mission.
…
Next morning.
"This is it?"
Reko glanced at the note he had received unanimously. The note did not specify much and only instructed him to choose that particular mission.
He had expected something more from Danzo. He thought that Danzo enjoyed sufficient authority to directly bring him for a mission, not like this.
"Would the members of root try something strange?
There is this chance that they might do so…
Let's see."
Since this was different from the normal missions, Reko would be going on a second mission after choosing the first one as a cover. He had no idea what Danzo might be upto.
Fortunately, he was aware of the dirty tricks Danzo could play, at least a few of them were known to him, making him cautious.
Thinking so, he went to the mission hall and selected the stated mission.
The objective of the mission was to guard a noble who had blood relations with Daimyo.
"You are going on a mission?"
Shizune spotted Reko and asked him with surprise on her face. She did not think that Reko would be going to a mission in the break time.
"I was bored. So, I might as well go and do something."
Turning around, Reko spotted Shizune. He shrugged as he showed that this mission was only to satisfy his boredom.
"Yeah? Good."
'He is willingly doing a mission?'
'He did not seem to want to go outside the village while training.
He also showed more interest in training on his own rather than wasting away his time.
And now he is bored??'
Shizune looked at him suspiciously but didn't say much. The previous records of Reko hinted that he did not prefer doing extra missions.
What was different this time??
…
In Hokage's office.
"Lady Tsunade, it seems that we should have told him explicitly. It is our fault."
Shizune looked downcast as she mumbled.
She had discussed with Tsunade about the mission Reko was doing. The conclusion of this talk was that it was Danzo's doing.
They did not have any proof but they didn't need it. Digging into the matter would only alert the involved parties. The only thing that Tsunade knew was that this was a familiar loophole to send a shinobi on secret missions.
And the only person who could convince and send Reko on a secret mission was that guy.
"Not our fault Shizune, an individual who can go to such lengths for power would find his way to such sources. It's not anyone's fault."
Tsunade comforted Shizune. It was not their fault that they did not explicitly warn about that man manipulating things from behind the scenes.
They had provided enough hints. The rest was up to the latter.
If Reko really desired then there was no way that they could stop this collaboration. Danzo could provide many items and resources that she could morally not.
"Let's see how the mission turns out."
However, she was not without any back up. The mission that Reko had chosen to complete had another shinobi who was already with the client, Kurenai.
With Kurenai on the mission, Tsunade was assured that she would not miss out any details from the mission.
'She is a Jonin and one of the best when it comes to Genjutsu.
I believe that she would be able to take control of the mission. Reko would very likely choose to co-operate with her.
The problem is the other guys! What are Danzo's intentions behind this?
What does he hope to acquire??'
She was not sure if Danzo had assessed Reko's strength. But with the results from their last spar, Tsunade was aware that Reko would barely get in trouble even with high level Jonins.
There was no chance of Danzo doing something to Reko then why send him on that mission?
Kurenai alone seemed enough to successfully complete the mission. Why add Reko too?
Was he aware of another village's attack and sent Reko to protect the noble? But then why send her inexperienced student?
To ruin his image with a planned mission failure?
There were too many possibilities and she did not have enough free time to consider them all.
'I will just ask him when he comes back. For now, I need to focus on Sakura.'
She could just ask Reko if she really wanted to.
She was not feeling comfortable about the circumstances. The overachiever guy was keeping secrets from her.
She could only give her all into training Sakura. Hoping, that this little girl would turn out to be different from Reko.
…
"This is going to take long hours. I can't waste my time just running in the forest."
Travelling by the route, Reko kept jumping from branches to branches, using his supernatural physique and reflex to travel fast.
He muttered to himself how this was taking a really long time. For him to participate in the mission, he needed to reach the place of departure of that noble.
And he was traveling really fast, but it still felt too slow, too long.
But this thought did not come out of boredom or exhaustion.
Instead, he wanted to keep travelling like this. It was really fun using his high jumps to skip running.
He wanted to keep travelling like this but with the curse mode enabled. Reko wanted to experience how it felt like and this was the perfect time to rest it out.
He did not have much opportunity to test it out in the village itself but right now?? He had lots of time to spare and no eyes on him.
Curse mark!!
As he tapped into the special energy, he activated the curse mode in an instant. The unique type of energy in his body spread and connected with his own chakra reserves and mixed to form a new one.
As his foot landed in the branch of the tree to jump off, the branch creaked with force.
The figure of Reko shot high and far, sending him far ahead of his normal jumps.
Crack!!
His next step landed on yet another unfortunate branch of the tree. His figure shot high in the air.
The area was devoid of the trees to step on. Reko formed a pillar of mud with his earth release and stepped on it to move forward.
Soon, he got familiar with his movements, and began running at really high speed, decreasing the travel time by more than half.
"I can feel the subtle changes. Just a few more days and I would be able to sense how the natural energy and sage energy feels like."
The natural resistance he had been feeling with the new type of energy was negligible due to his fine chakra control.
Reko believed that he should be able to soon sense the natural energy on his own. By that time, he would not be needing Curse mark.
His chakra reserves was already huge enough.
After a few hours of high speed sprinting, Reko was able to spot a small habitable area.
As he came closer, he could spot a carriage nearby a big inn.
"Kurenai?? You are here?"
Reko spotted a familiar beautiful face. She was bickering with a man who was seated inside the carriage.
'But why is she here?
I was supposed to be the only person who accepted this mission. Did Danzo do something?
But if he did then what would he even get after pairing Kurenai with me?'
Hearing his surprised voice, Kurenai turned back, reacting to his voice.
"Reko? Why are you here?"
She recognised him in an instant and left the man in carriage, and came closer to Reko instead.
Kurenai was also curious as to why there was another shinobi of the same village here.
'Is Danzo's plan to honey trap me with the help of Kurenai? If he has planned… with Kurenai it might be possible.'
Reko looked at Kurenai's red deep eyes before subtly glancing at her hot body.
"This mission…"
Reko explained how he had chosen one mission and the noble guy she was guarding was also his client.
"So that's how it is. I was aware that there could be attacks but I was unaware of the upgrade of the mission."
Kurenai understood that it was an upgrade of the mission from the client's side. Meaning, the security of the noble was enhanced further because someone was really targeting him.
Reko was sent as he was already a Jonin level in combat.
With the recent training under lady Tsunade, Kurenai was aware that Reko must have gotten even stronger.
"That means, we are together in this mission."
Reko muttered as he checked out the carriage and the noble resting inside it.
"Oh right. I hope you don't mind me being the leader here."
Kurenai made sure just in case, Reko was better in direct combat than her as she was a Genjutsu user.
So, she had to make sure that he would be comfortable with her being in command. Since she was already familiar with the petty noble, it was an easy role for her.
"Nope, I am happy to be here behind you."
...
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