Chapter 116: A Death Mission! Not Even the Shinigami Could Stop Me!
The night was dark as water,
the sky studded with stars, and the Milky Way hung like a luminous ribbon.
Tsukasa lay sprawled on the bed in his guest room at the hot spring inn,
a pile of papers stacked high before him.
Under the bed lay a mess of crumpled paper covered with analytical diagrams that only Tsukasa could understand.
Just now, after some tedious labor,
he'd finally obtained the information he sought from Aburame Ryoma.
Tsukasa now had a general understanding of the current situation on the Land of Rain battlefield.
Although the process was unpleasant, the information Aburame Ryoma provided was quite detailed.
First, Sunagakure.
After the long-term friction and small-scale conflicts with Kirigakure that had lasted since the eve of the Third Shinobi World War,
two young warriors who had performed outstandingly in that conflict became candidates for the Fourth Kazekage.
They were Rasa and Pakura.
At this point, Sunagakure had declared war on Konoha and was gathering forces to invade the Land of Fire.
To prepare for this war, they were eager to immediately end the conflict with Kirigakure to avoid fighting on two fronts.
As a hero of Sunagakure, Pakura was supposed to be betrayed to Kirigakure by Rasa and the village elders as a condition for ceasefire negotiations.
However, Orochimaru and Danzo intervened, selling intelligence about the Iwagakure forces who were about to attack Kirigakure.
The Kirigakure elders, upon receiving this information, called a halt to negotiations with Sunagakure.
That same day,
having failed to sacrifice his comrade, Rasa—driven by ambition to seize power—took on the dangerous task of acting as envoy to Iwagakure to secure an alliance against Konoha.
This move secured his position as the Fourth Kazekage.
Simultaneously, word came from Sunagakure that in two weeks, the Fourth Kazekage himself would serve as envoy—demonstrating Sunagakure's sincerity—traveling to the Land of Earth to negotiate an alliance with the Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki.
These were the prerequisites for this assassination operation.
Shinobi wars are like chess matches, won with superior intelligence.
This was true for Sunagakure, for Konoha,
and for Uchiha Tsukasa!
After learning this news, Tsukasa finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Although it seemed his actions had greatly impacted the war's direction,
after borrowing paper and pen from the inn owner overnight to sketch out his analysis,
Tsukasa concluded that,
at least for now, the impact on the future main storyline wasn't that significant.
Tsukasa had only allowed a few people destined to die to survive, and the war's direction wouldn't differ much from the original timeline.
The future would still proceed as scheduled, but Kirigakure had retained more forces by avoiding a sneak attack from Iwagakure.
But it didn't matter.
Even if Kirigakure preserved more strength, they couldn't defeat the true mastermind behind everything—
Madara Uchiha.
"Orochimaru joined the war because he hadn't obtained the forbidden technique Physical Regeneration, and he did so precisely to obtain it."
Tsukasa pondered for a moment, then tapped the words "Land of Rain Assassination Operation" with his pen tip.
He then drew lines connecting his own name and Orochimaru's to the mission.
"Assassinating the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, may seem crucial."
"But in reality, this mission has absolutely no genuine strategic value!"
"It's a suicide mission,"
Tsukasa frowned, muttering a series of curses, completely dismissing the mission's legitimacy.
Assassinating Rasa had no real significance.
Even if they truly killed him and framed another village, it wouldn't change the overall situation.
Orochimaru and Danzo's actual goal had already been achieved by revealing the intelligence to Kirigakure.
Regardless of whether Iwagakure agreed to the alliance, they were bound to be dragged into the Land of Water battlefield.
Orochimaru had bought Konoha precious time to adjust to the war's intensity.
Even if Iwagakure escaped that conflict, they'd still launch attacks on Konoha from the Land of Rain and Land of Grass.
This war was unavoidable.
The Third Shinobi World War was essentially the Four Great Nations tacitly invading the Land of Fire.
And what about this current mission?
Tsukasa saw it as a pure gamble.
His beloved master, Orochimaru, coveted his body and its secrets.
That's why he was orchestrating this mission,
sending him into the most dangerous battlefield!
He was hoping for Tsukasa's swift demise so Orochimaru could retrieve his body for dissection and research.
And Danzo, the master schemer, was just looking for a lucky shot.
As for the outcome—
if it succeeded, excellent; it would damage Sunagakure's morale and force them to scramble for a new Kazekage.
If it failed, no problem; it was just a gamble anyway, even if it meant sacrificing an Uchiha who had nothing to do with Shimura Danzo.
This was a completely suicidal mission!
In front of him stood Rasa, a genuine Kage-level powerhouse.
Behind him stood his master, Orochimaru, eyeing his Uchiha bloodline,
ready to backstab him at any moment.
To his left stood Shimura Danzo, his mortal enemy,
and to his right stood the Land of Rain battlefield—a full-scale war, a meat grinder.
In the middle, caught between them all, stood Uchiha Tsukasa, a man actively seeking death!
Thinking of this, Tsukasa couldn't help but grin wickedly.
"This situation!"
"This wave! I'm already halfway into the coffin! Not even the Shinigami himself could stop me!"
A flicker of excitement flashed in Tsukasa's eyes.
He jumped out of bed, gathered all the papers he'd been analyzing through the night, and then, forming hand seals, unleashed a Fire Release technique, incinerating them all.
Time for bed!
Tsukasa couldn't wait for tomorrow!
Good night, world!
A silent night passed.
The next morning,
at 7:00 sharp, Tsukasa rose promptly.
Opening his eyes, he saw the sky outside looking gloomy, threatening rain.
A howling wind rattled the windows, rushing through the halls and sending a chill down his spine.
To prepare for this new day filled with the promise of death and challenge,
Tsukasa pulled out the scroll Seiichiro had tossed him from his bag.
He unrolled it horizontally, formed hand seals, and
summoned a set of combat gear hastily prepared by the Uchiha clan.
He casually tossed the standard-issue Konoha forehead protector into the trash, then
donned a shirt lined with chainmail armor underneath and matching leggings.
He buckled on a jet-black vest bearing the Uchiha clan crest,
then put on the clan's distinctive high-collared navy blue robe with a white sash, and attached six ninja tool pouches and a scroll holster.
He then strapped a wrist-mounted sword summoning seal to his right wrist, and a wire launcher mechanism capable of deploying countless threads to his left.
Fully armed!
He jumped from the windowsill. On the roadside, Aburame Ryoma had been waiting for some time.
Seeing Tsukasa leap from the building,
Aburame Ryoma raised his eyebrows slightly.
Looking at the fully armed, tall, and striking young man before him, he couldn't help but nod in approval.
He had to admit—while the Uchiha's judgment might be questionable, their aesthetic sense was always impeccable.
This kid looked sharp!
"Not bad, seems you're ready."
"But don't forget—you're a Root shinobi now."
"Put these on, and take your sword!"
Aburame Ryoma pulled out a pair of black tactical gloves from his pocket and tossed them over along with the Kusanagi Sword.
Then he stepped forward with a cold expression:
"Target: the Land of Rain!"
"Let's move out!"
End of Chapter 116
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