Byakuya had washed himself raw with hot water in the village inn.
This Root mission had been nothing but a string of misfortunes.
Soaking in the wooden tub, he replayed the details of his battles with Pakura and the giant snake.
Against Pakura, he relied mainly on Shadow Clones, his Storm Style Kekkei Genkai, and Tobirama's Water Formation Wall.
Against the blue-black giant snake, the key had been the Storm Style Body Flicker he developed from the Body Flicker Jutsu looted from the Sand ninja. Using Lightning chakra to extend the range and Water chakra to maintain perfect balance allowed him to exert force immediately upon landing, seamlessly linking into his next move.
Of course, his enhanced stamina, vitality, and reaction speed were the fundamental "capital" that allowed him to escape danger.
Without sufficient stamina, his speed would have dropped, and both Pakura and the snake would have caught him long ago.
His powerful vitality significantly increased his body's durability. Any other ninja with his skill level would have been slowed down by injuries, turning a desperate escape into a certain death.
Not to mention depleting massive amounts of chakra twice in a short period. Without tenacious vitality, his body would have collapsed.
When the bathwater finally turned cold, Byakuya got dressed. He spread out the map of the Land of Rivers he looted from the Sand ninja and marked the forest where the giant snake resided.
If nothing else, the snake's combat power had been battle-tested and approved by Byakuya.
It was more than qualified to be a summoning beast.
"Honored guest, what would you like for lunch today?"
The host, clearly happy with his paying customer, asked Byakuya, who was staring blankly into space.
"I'll eat whatever you eat."
"Ah, well, that is... that is..." The host stammered.
"Two hundred ryo?" Byakuya offered.
"Oh my, that's too much! Since you are..."
"Two hundred is too much? Then one hundred."
"No, no, honored guest, you..."
Byakuya frowned. "One hundred is still too much?"
"Not too much, not too much!" The host waved his hands frantically.
"Sorry to trouble you."
"Ay, happy to help!"
The villagers lived by farming and hunting; they had no other source of income. A few hundred ryo was a significant windfall for them.
Byakuya wasn't rich either. The money he was spending came from looting the corpses on his first mission.
Every ryo spent was a ryo gone.
"Should I use this mission success to ask Root for a salary? I can't just be a beast of burden for free."
Lunch was mixed grain rice with a side of pickled vegetables.
He ate until he was half full.
He weighed the cloth bag he had taken from the Sand ninja. It was empty; he had eaten all the soldier pills.
He rested for another day.
He completed the system mission.
> [System: Hard Work Pays Off]
> Limited Time Mission (3 Days): Successfully sense natural energy for a cumulative total of one hour in a natural environment (Complete).
> Reward: Minor increase in Senjutsu Affinity.
With his Senjutsu talent boosted, sensing natural energy became much easier.
But Byakuya also felt the danger of natural energy. It was a cosmic force that wanted to assimilate the human body into nature. One slip-up, and he would lose control.
---
The next morning.
The village suddenly became noisy.
Wearing his black trench coat, Byakuya opened the door a crack to look.
A group of ninja wearing Leaf forehead protectors were shouting at the villagers.
He didn't intervene. Instead, he waited for the host to return and asked what happened.
"What else could it be? Ninja from the Land of Fire came demanding food."
"Didn't they pay?"
"They did."
"If they paid, why didn't you sell to them?" After asking, Byakuya guessed the answer instantly.
"They wanted too much. If we sold to them, we wouldn't have enough to eat ourselves."
"Do Leaf ninja come here often?"
"This is the Land of Rivers! Why would they come often?! Who knows. As long as they don't disturb our lives, whatever."
The civilians didn't know the war was spreading.
The Land of Rivers was a buffer zone between Fire and Wind. If the two great nations clashed, the flames of war would engulf the entire country. This was the tragedy of small nations in the ninja world.
Byakuya left an extra two hundred ryo, put on his Shuten-doji mask, vaulted over the wall, and left the village.
The newly arrived Leaf ninja had nothing to do with him. No need to make contact.
The journey back to the Leaf was peaceful.
He didn't encounter any Sand or Rock ninja, nor did he run into any monsters like the blue-black snake.
Passing through the border checkpoint into the Land of Fire, he traveled for several more days before stepping through the gates of the Hidden Leaf.
The gate guard questioned him as usual. Byakuya flashed his Root pass.
Unexpectedly, this time the guard added a comment.
"The Barrier Team has recorded your chakra signature. You won't need to show your pass in the future."
Byakuya replied in his raspy voice, "Much obliged."
"You've grown taller."
"Is that so?"
"You really don't have to use that awful fake voice. We don't care who you are."
Byakuya stopped. "Has Captain Minato returned to the village?"
"Why do you ask?"
"I passed the iron mine a while back. Choza Akimichi asked me for news about Captain Minato."
"Who? Lord Choza? Are you sure?!" The guard's tone instantly became serious.
Byakuya looked at the chubby ninja. "Are you from the Akimichi clan too?"
"Yes. Lord Choza hasn't been home since he went to the front lines against the Cloud. Oh, I forgot to mention, he's my cousin."
"I see."
"Since you asked... I'll tell you a rumor I just heard. The Cloud Village deployed a Jinchuriki on the battlefield. Captain Minato fought him."
"Win or loss?"
"A win, of course! And it wasn't just the Jinchuriki; the Third Raikage's son was there too."
The A-B Combo had entered the stage.
Byakuya couldn't help but admire it. "I really wish I could have seen Captain Minato defeat them with the Flying Thunder God Jutsu."
What he admired even more was the S-rank space-time ninjutsu itself—Flying Thunder God.
Thinking of this, his thoughts shifted.
Water Severing Wave and Flying Thunder God were both developed by Tobirama Senju. That famous Second Hokage was a damn genius.
Since the guard provided useful intel, Byakuya softened his attitude and politely bid farewell.
He took the back roads to the Academy warehouse.
He took off the trench coat and the Shuten-doji mask.
Carrying the four sealed intelligence scrolls, he went straight to that old snake Hiroya's office.
Knock, knock.
"Who is it?" Hiroya's voice sounded incredibly haggard, like he hadn't slept in days.
"Principal, it's me. I've returned from the mission."
The words barely left his mouth when a screech of a chair being shoved back echoed from the office, followed by a loud "Ouch!"
Hiroya must have been in such a rush that he tripped. Ignoring the pain, he scrambled up and rushed to the door, grabbing Byakuya's hands and looking the boy up and down in disbelief.
"You... you... you... you're not dead?"
"What kind of talk is that, Principal? I'm back safe and sound."
"The higher-ups said... never mind! The higher-ups' intel was wrong!"
Hiroya patted Byakuya's shoulder, his panda-like eyes filled with relief. "You don't know... you were gone so long, we thought you died in the Land of Rivers."
"I was lucky enough to survive. I didn't let down your expectations, Principal."
"What are you holding..." Hiroya's gaze fell on the scrolls in Byakuya's hands.
"Scrolls looted from three Sand ninja. They have seals on them, so I assume they're important. I brought them back."
"Good! Good! Good! Wait here. I'm going to report your merit right now! With this achievement, no one will dare look down on you or me again! Tell me, what reward do you want? Ask big!!"
Byakuya rolled his eyes internally. What do you mean 'look down on you or me'? What does my merit have to do with you?
He looked up and said calmly, "Water Style: Water Severing Wave or the Flying Thunder God Jutsu. Plus a large sum of money."