Hokage's Office.
The moment Uchiha Shion walked in, he paused, glancing at Kakashi and the man in a green bodysuit beside him.
"I thought I was being called in for some follow-up assignment. From the looks of it, this is a big mission?"
Behind the desk, the Fourth Hokage, Minato, smiled warmly.
"That's right. There's an important mission I must entrust to you. Because of the circumstances, the team needs to be strong enough to handle anything."
"Rest assured, Lord Hokage!" the man in green declared, spinning twice before giving a gleaming thumbs-up. "No matter how difficult the mission, I'll complete it perfectly! For I am the proud Blue Beast of Konoha—Might Guy!!"
His teeth sparkled with blinding brilliance.
Shion glanced at the man beside him and shivered, goosebumps rising on his arms.
In the anime, Guy hadn't seemed so bad, but in person he was unbearably intense. What made it worse was knowing that one day a younger man just like him would appear—and he wouldn't even be his son. Completely absurd.
Catching Shion's look, Kakashi just shrugged with a helpless gesture: you'll get used to it.
Minato wiped the sweat from his forehead, then set aside his smile, speaking seriously.
"Regarding Kumogakure in the Land of Lightning—they've sent signals to Konoha seeking an alliance. This time, the three of you will carry the treaty I've signed and personally deliver it to the Fourth Raikage."
"Once you return, Kumogakure will send their own envoys to bring the signed treaty back here to Konoha. Because this concerns peace, you must not be careless."
"This mission will be carried out by the three of you, with Kakashi as team leader. I hope you can bring back peace for Konoha. I'm counting on you."
With that, Minato handed the scroll over. Kakashi took it, scratched his head, and asked,
"Do you really need me and Shion both? Adding Guy on top of that—it feels like an overpowered lineup."
Minato shook his head gently.
"This isn't the first time Konoha has sought alliance with Kumogakure. Back when the Second Hokage was alive, he personally led a mission to their village."
"And that time… the Second Hokage was ambushed on the way back by the Gold and Silver Brothers of Kumogakure. To buy time for his team to escape, he sacrificed himself."
Kakashi's eyes darkened. "So you mean the alliance with Kumogakure can't be trusted?"
Minato only smiled, rising to gaze out the window of the Hokage's office.
"Between villages and nations, no alliance is ever truly reliable. But a treaty does represent, to some extent, the credibility of a village. Tear up enough treaties, and that village will become isolated."
"In the Five Great Nations, no village wants to be isolated. Because isolation means being carved up and devoured."
"...Hah."
With a sigh, Minato turned back, smiling again.
"Still, I want peace to last as long as possible. So I leave this mission to you three."
"No problem at all!! Leave everything to me—"
Outside the Hokage Building.
As they stepped out, Kakashi turned to the other two.
"Go prepare your gear and essentials. Meet me at the village gate in one hour. Dismissed."
"Shhh!"
In a flash, all three vanished.
Back home, Shion packed his ninja tools and threw in some soldier pills for form's sake.
An alliance with Kumogakure, huh?
By his calculation, it would take about two months—between the journey there, the negotiations, and the return. By the time Kumogakure's envoy came to Konoha, the timing would align perfectly.
For now, the Uchiha's position under the Fourth Hokage wasn't solid enough. What the clan truly needed was to stand on par with Konoha's bloodline families who held secret arts.
After briefing his mother, Shion set out.
Konoha's Main Gate.
"Shhh!"
Arriving first, Shion glanced at Kakashi. "Guy's not here yet?"
Kakashi shook his head.
"On a normal mission, I'd be the last to arrive. But on an important mission like this, Guy will definitely make sure he's last."
Checking the time, Kakashi added,
"It's only been half an hour. He should be here in about ten minutes."
Then he turned to Shion.
"Six months ago, our teacher mentioned one of your missions—you fought against the Eight-Tails jinchūriki, Killer B?"
Shion nodded.
"A short test of skills, nothing more. With peace in place, no shinobi from any village would risk starting a war by going for the kill."
"And it was just chance we met. He had two kids with him—about five or six years old—trying to promote some kind of rap competition. The kids were handing out flyers everywhere, almost ruining our mission."
Kakashi frowned in thought. "I've heard Kumogakure's jinchūriki is a perfect host. What was your impression?"
Pointing to his eyes, Shion replied,
"With these, I could see his synchronization with the Eight-Tails was excellent. Far better than most jinchūriki. The moment I laid a genjutsu on him, the Eight-Tails immediately scrambled his chakra, snapping him out of it."
"He's a master of the Eight-Sword Style, with plenty of experience. And from what I heard afterward, his teamwork with the Fourth Raikage is truly formidable."
Kakashi rubbed his forehead.
"Let's hope everything goes smoothly. Otherwise, things could get messy."
Shion chuckled.
"We're only delivering a treaty on behalf of Konoha. No need to be so tense."
"Exactly," Kakashi said, "which is why I said if everything goes smoothly."
He drew a special kunai engraved with the words Blade of Shinobi Love—Minato's Flying Thunder God formula.
Looking at it, Kakashi gave a wry smile.
"Before we left, Sensei gave me this, and he also had me contract Pakkun and Shiba back to him. Clearly, he doesn't fully trust Kumogakure's intentions."
Shion scratched his head.
"Well, since the Fourth's taken such thorough precautions, there's nothing for us to worry about. They won't be foolish enough to start something in their own village."
Just then, a figure sprinted from within the gate, kicking up a cloud of dust that made the gate guards Kotetsu and Izumo cough angrily as they glared.
"Ahhh! Burn, Youth! Boil, Youth!"
Boom!
Guy skidded to a stop in a cloud of dirt, flashing a blinding grin and a thumbs-up at Kakashi and Shion.
"Sorry to keep you waiting! Now, let us set off toward Youth together!"
"...Uh."
Shion glanced at Kakashi.
"I have a feeling… at the very least, our ears won't have any peace on this trip."
Kakashi gave an awkward smile.
"Shion… Guy is actually very reliable."
Watching Might Guy stride ahead, Shion thought of the blazing red figure from his memories.
Though Guy hadn't yet reached the stage of opening all Eight Gates, if he truly went all out, even the Fourth Raikage or the Eight-Tails wouldn't be a problem.
And with Shion's new abilities…
"Hah…"
Still, it was unlikely they'd need that kind of power on this mission.