The next morning, Sakura and the others rushed to the Third's office early. As soon as they walked in, they saw the most bizarrely prominent IV stand. The Third, with a face pale and lifeless, was giving himself an IV drip with one hand while reviewing documents with the other. Just a single day had passed, yet the Third looked like he'd aged decades overnight—his white hair had increased noticeably, as if it had grown overnight.
"Morning, Grandpa Third!"
Sakura greeted awkwardly. Judging from his condition, he must have been seriously injured.
"I'm anything but fine!" the Third gave Sakura a glare filled with bitterness. Fine? Hah! Yesterday, he'd been carried into Konoha Hospital soaked in blood. The final diagnosis? Blood depletion—yet there wasn't a single wound on his body at all. The doctors had stared at him with such strange looks, especially the young nurses who glanced at the blood under his nose with disgust, as if they were seeing an old pervert.
"Erm... don't be mad, Grandpa Third. I didn't have a choice—you wouldn't budge no matter what yesterday!" Sakura scratched her nose uncomfortably. She hadn't wanted to do it either. That intelligence-lowering tactic not only affected the Third, but her and Naruto too. Only Kakashi and Sasuke, who'd shut their eyes tightly from the start and entered "shut-out mode," managed to avoid it. It hit everyone like a blindside, and even she ended up feeling like crap.
"I was done the second you pulled out Plan Three!" The Third groaned. Thinking about it again made his kidneys ache. "But you completely misunderstood and hit me with an upgraded Plan Four!"
At this point, the Third's mind immediately replayed an image of someone with a seductive figure but Danzo's head leaning in and acting flirtatious toward him. His stomach churned violently again. His face turned ghostly pale, looking more terrifying by the second.
"Erm... to make it up to you, Grandpa Third, I'll help restore your body!"
Sakura said apologetically. She really hadn't meant for her stupid prank to wreck the old man this bad. Well, he should've said something instead of staying quiet and letting her get things wrong! Still, to express her apology, Sakura snapped her fingers and advanced the Third's body time forward by about ten years.
"Ow! My hand!"
The Third cried out in pain. The IV needle was still stuck in his hand. Suddenly being reverted ten years back in time caused his muscle strength to change rapidly. His involuntary reaction snapped the IV needle, leaving half of it lodged in his flesh. The pain nearly brought tears to the Third's eyes.
After a lot of chaos and commotion, the Third's office finally calmed down. The restored version of the Third, now appearing a decade younger, sat there with a pipe in his mouth, tapping the table idly with his fingers.
"Honorable Third, the person has arrived."
The staff member who had come in twice yesterday and scattered the Third's Eight Trigrams both times appeared in the office again, this time accompanied by an old man.
"You may leave," the Third waved dismissively. He didn't even recognize who the guy was—perhaps because he hadn't noticed him entering at all yesterday.
"That's right," the staff member said, keeping his head lowered as he tried to suppress the fear deep in his heart. If the Third found out that he was the one leaking those rumors around the village, he might end up getting sent to Ibiki's interrogation room to keep that sadomasochistic creep company.
The man named Dazuna, wearing glasses, reeked strongly of alcohol. Seeing that his mission had actually attracted the attention of the Third Hokage, a trace of panic flickered across his eyes. Could it be that his fake mission details had been discovered?
"Sakura, this Mr. Dazuna here will be your client for the upcoming mission. Your task is to protect him safely all the way to the Land of Waves!" The Third pulled out a scroll and tossed it to Kakashi as he spoke, "This is only a C-rank mission; there won't be any real danger, but it'll serve as good training experience for you. Think of it as going outside the village for a little relaxation!"
Previously, the Third hadn't wanted Sakura and the others to leave Konoha, but now he couldn't wait for them to get going. His nerves were shot already. If Sakura didn't leave soon and she got desperate enough to pull something like that on him again, he'd probably just go straight to the crematorium willingly.
As for the mission Dazuna had requested, the Third knew a few things about it too. Although this mission wasn't merely a C-rank assignment like it seemed on the surface, the Third felt no worry whatsoever about Sakura and the others encountering danger—not with those three rambunctious kids' combat abilities alone, not to mention Kakashi's Mangekyo Sharingan, which already served as the greatest assurance.
Chapter 128: Obtaining the Land of Waves Mission [Middle]
"Hmm, an escort mission? It's probably just a bunch of bandits or crooks at worst!" Kakashi opened the scroll and took a look, a sharp glint flashing momentarily in his eye, though outwardly he remained quiet.
"Phew..." Dazuna's previously tipsy mind had completely sobered up from excessive nervousness. Now seeing Kakashi hadn't detected the hidden issues within the mission, he immediately exhaled in relief.
"Tch, I thought we were escorting some important big shot or princess, turns out it's just an old drunkard smelling like liquor!" Naruto muttered discontentedly. His instincts told him he couldn't warm up to Dazuna—there was definitely something suspicious about this guy hiding something.
"What? These brats are supposed to be my escorts? Honestly, I wonder how reliable they really are!" Once the mission had officially been accepted, Dazuna began feeling a bit smug inside. "I heard your Hidden Leaf Village has a great reputation and high success rate with missions, so that's why I chose to come here and assign this mission. Are these mere children really capable? One's all cold and silent. Another's reckless and rude. And the last one? A fragile little girl who looks like a gust of wind could blow her over. It's hard for me to feel any confidence at all!"
Hearing Dazuna, still intoxicated and slurring his words, criticizing Sakura and the others, even Kakashi and the Third couldn't help themselves anymore—the Anbu operatives hiding nearby almost burst out laughing too. Particularly when hearing his description of Sakura: weak and helpless? Kakashi silently continued his inner monologue in disbelief. Weak and helpless?!
This girl, when angered, could actually pin the Nine-Tails to the ground and thrash it repeatedly. Now, whenever the Nine-Tails sees Sakura, it trembles in fear and kowtows to her completely, having dropped every ounce of its former arrogance. Kakashi himself had seen it firsthand—this frail-looking girl, someone who seemed like a single gust of wind could knock over, chatting so casually with the Sage of Six Paths without flinching even once. "Delicate and weak?" Kakashi had something like "bullshit" on the tip of his tongue, but just couldn't spit it out.
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