The deserts of the Land of Wind stretched endlessly. Though its territory appeared vast on maps, the number of truly habitable oasis regions was pitifully small.
Along a long, narrow valley corridor, Shiraishi trudged forward at an unhurried pace, a headscarf wrapped tightly around him. This passage was one of the key defensive corridors protecting Sunagakure. Throughout multiple shinobi wars in history, the village had survived more than once precisely because this canyon was easy to defend and difficult to attack.
"Senior, I'm here to receive a special transport mission."
For Shiraishi, the time left before the graduation ceremony—now postponed to three days later—felt increasingly tight. Although there was no chance he and Maki would be sent directly to the battlefield, the pressure of the times was steadily closing in.
At present, the entire village was discussing the selection of the Fourth Kazekage. Among all candidates, Rasa of the Gold Dust had overwhelming support. His Magnet Release: Gold Dust was not only considered the rightful inheritance of the Third Kazekage's legacy, but also an extremely effective means of generating revenue.
Rasa's use of Magnet Release focused on the unique properties of gold dust—controlling it freely, collecting it through Magnet Release techniques, and converting it directly into village funds. As a result, his popularity was unmatched, and there were no serious competitors.
That said, the formal procedures and ceremonies still required time.
Shiraishi did not have a deep impression of Yashamaru's brother-in-law, Rasa. In contrast, he was quite close to Rasa's wife, Karura. Every time Yashamaru returned from a mission, he would find excuses to take Shiraishi along for food—often to Karura's home. The few times Shiraishi had met Rasa himself were also during such meals.
As the situation grew more tense, Shiraishi chose a special way to temporarily leave the village: taking on transport-type special D-rank missions.
These so-called "special" D-rank missions were essentially large-scale requisition and transport operations organized under the Land of Wind's daimyo, meant to stockpile supplies before war. Normally, such tasks were assigned to ordinary genin, but with manpower stretched thin, even soon-to-graduate academy students like Shiraishi could assist—though the pay was minimal.
Back in the academy days, Shiraishi and Maki had carried out similar transport missions under teacher supervision. This time, Shiraishi deliberately chose a low-paying mission whose route passed extremely close to several card-marked locations. His plan was simple: complete the fabric transport, then quietly collect the three marked cards along the way.
After opening the mission scroll, Shiraishi adjusted his glasses and memorized the required time and destination. If a transporter failed to return within a set period, Sunagakure would dispatch a special patrol team to investigate.
The desert region assigned was only about three kilometers from the village—a simple, poorly paid task. Clan-born ninja had no interest in it; such work naturally fell to civilian shinobi like Shiraishi.
Shiraishi was not fast. He had yet to truly master High-Speed Movement, and while he continued weighted training, his pace remained steady rather than swift. Even so, after passing through the narrow village gate corridor, he reached his destination in about an hour.
He collected the fabrics from the local workshop, sealed them into a special storage scroll, and began his return journey.
The three marked locations were close together. They showed no movement, lay outside populated areas, and were far from known bandit or ninja activity zones. Shiraishi was confident they had not been discovered.
As for other moving points, dangerous regions, or markers in unknown territories beyond conventional maps—those were far beyond his current ability.
Following the card indicators, Shiraishi soon arrived at a designated desert area. After surveying the surroundings and confirming the location, he formed seals and used the only C-rank Wind Release technique he currently knew.
Shiraishi's chakra nature was Wind—the most common attribute in Sunagakure. This particular technique was one of the village's standard offensive jutsu, taught to a select few at the academy.
In the past, due to the glasses constantly draining his chakra, he rarely used it.
Now, chakra condensed into his palm, erupting outward in a violent blast.
"Wind Release · Beast Wave Palm!"
Compressed wind detonated across the sand, scattering dunes in a burst of force. But as the dust settled, no card appeared.
Shiraishi's expression stiffened.
The affected area was simply too small. Against the vast deserts of the Land of Wind, this level of destruction barely scratched the surface.
His chakra output was limited, and he couldn't repeatedly cast Beast Wave Palm.
That left only one option.
Manual excavation.
Opening his storage scroll, Shiraishi pulled out a shovel and began digging methodically. His waist and arms worked in unison, doubling as weighted strength training.
Sand lashed against his face, uncomfortable but tolerable. As he dug, Shiraishi silently questioned whether the glasses' card indicators were truly accurate.
After more than ten minutes, his shovel struck something solid.
At an unremarkable spot beneath the sand lay a strangely shaped card. Its patterns were bizarre and intricate, unlike anything from this world.
Cross-referencing fragmented memories, Shiraishi could only associate it with vague game-like designs.
The moment he picked it up, his chakra resonated sharply with the card.
A progress bar appeared in his glasses, reading the card's data. As the process continued, the chakra fluctuations within the card faded away. When the bar completed, the card lost all luster.
Its once-indestructible form turned dull and lifeless—worthless scrap metal.
But within the glasses, a second card slot lit up.
A new skill name appeared.
Spark.
Like High-Speed Movement, it came with a skill demonstration and hand seals. It resembled a basic Fire Release attack jutsu.
Although it was also a C-rank technique, its immediate value to Shiraishi was low.
Because he was not a Fire Release user.
In the interface, the skill slot remained gray—unmastered. Unlike High-Speed Movement, which had already gained color and a five-percent proficiency bar.
Spark was unlocked but unusable.
Nevertheless, this confirmed his approach was correct. The cards could indeed be collected and read.
Without hesitation, Shiraishi moved on to the second location.
This excavation went smoothly. He quickly unearthed another card. Once read by the glasses, a new skill name appeared:
Flame Jet.
Its position lay several slots beyond Spark.
From the interface layout, it was clear: Flame Jet was a higher-tier Fire Release skill, unlocked only after mastering multiple prerequisite skills—starting with Spark.
Without Spark mastery, Flame Jet remained sealed. It didn't even display a demonstration.
First-tier skills had to be mastered before second-tier skills could be unlocked.
Two consecutive cards, both unusable.
Shiraishi felt a flicker of disappointment but pressed on toward the final location—the last card he could reasonably obtain for now.
This time, his nerves tightened.
A corpse lay half-buried in the sand.
The body had been blown apart, mangled beyond recognition. Yet the card clutched to its chest was perfectly intact.
Shiraishi did not relax. Carefully surveying the surroundings, he retrieved the card with extreme caution.
Judging by the climate and condition, the man hadn't been dead long. He had likely triggered an explosive trap—killed instantly by a paper bomb.
But traps this lethal, so close to Sunagakure, were highly unusual.
From the clothing, the corpse was clearly not a local shinobi.
An outsider. A missing-nin. Or someone pretending to be one.
Ordinary missing-nin would never wander so close to a Great Village without reason.
Shiraishi's vigilance spiked.
A trap implied the presence of a nearby base—or a hidden facility tied to some Sunagakure secret.
After confirming the body carried nothing of value beyond the card, Shiraishi picked it up.
As the glasses completed their third reading, a very different skill appeared.
Psychic Power.
According to the system's interpretation, it was classified as a modified genjutsu-type technique—though the name remained Psychic Power.
Genjutsu, one of the three core shinobi disciplines, attacked the mind—distorting perception, manipulating the five senses, and trapping opponents in illusions.
Shiraishi had learned the basics of genjutsu theory and simple dispelling techniques at the academy. His resistance was decent.
Unlike Spark, Psychic Power activated immediately.
A faint glow lit the interface.
Proficiency: 1%.
Compared to standard genjutsu, Psychic Power provided short-range sensing. Against mentally weak targets, it could also inflict mild illusory interference.
Sensing was an invaluable support ability—especially with war approaching.
Gaining Psychic Power just before graduation granted Shiraishi a rudimentary detection skill, compensating for the frustration of the previous two cards.
At the same time, he noticed vast, empty branches extending beyond Psychic Power in the interface.
Someone was nearby.
The moment the skill unlocked, Shiraishi felt a sudden fluctuation in chakra—a sharp rise in danger. Psychic Power was still crude, but even so, he sensed an approaching presence brimming with explosive, aggressive chakra.
"Hey, brat. What are you doing out here?"
A wild, sharp female voice sounded behind him.
In that instant, Shiraishi felt a chill crawl up his spine.