Danzo suddenly had a different idea.
He pulled a sealed scroll from his drawer, unfurled it, and located intelligence gathered on the Third Raikage's various abilities. He sealed the relevant data inside and tossed it to Falcon, who was caught off guard.
"This is another mission for Shuten-doji. Order him to analyze the Third Raikage's weaknesses. The reward is..."
Danzo paused.
Byakuya Senkaku possessed both Lightning and Water affinities, as well as the Storm Style Kekkei Genkai. Although he had requested Tobirama Senju's Water Formation Wall, his defensive capabilities remained frail.
No one knew the specifics of Tobirama's version better than Danzo. It was indeed a powerful jutsu, but it consumed a massive amount of chakra.
This meant that if the user cast it while facing multiple opponents, they would become constrained, forced to constantly calculate their remaining chakra reserves.
Teacher Tobirama was a Senju, close kin to the Uzumaki clan, and born with immense chakra reserves.
Because of this, all the jutsu he developed required abundant chakra to unleash their full power.
Byakuya Senkaku was just the son of civilian ninja. Even if he learned the Water Formation Wall, he wouldn't be able to use it as effortlessly as Tobirama Senju.
Not everyone had Minato Namikaze's talent.
Minato mastering the Flying Thunder God Jutsu had exceeded both Danzo's and Hiruzen Sarutobi's expectations.
"Root has gathered intelligence on the 'Lightning Style Armor' passed down through generations in the Cloud Village. The reward for him will be this intel."
Falcon immediately knelt on one knee. "Received. Should I have Principal Hiroya deliver it?"
"Yes."
"If Lord Danzo has no further orders, I will take my leave."
"Go."
"Wait!"
Falcon stopped abruptly, awaiting further instructions. "You will personally deliver this mission to Shuten-doji. Tell him that if he identifies the Third Raikage's weakness, he may also choose a different reward."
"Yes, sir."
The door closed.
Danzo remained alone in the room.
Assigning Byakuya the task of finding the Third Raikage's weakness was a test of his ability to synthesize and analyze intelligence.
Falcon quietly returned to the Ninja Academy, removed her mask, changed her clothes, and, seemingly in a good mood, hummed a tune as she headed to the warehouse.
However, when she arrived, she saw Byakuya Senkaku standing in front of the warehouse. He had created a puddle using Water Style and was mopping the floor.
"Byakuya, what are you doing?" she asked coquettishly, hands behind her back.
"Cleaning. I'm getting sick again."
"Oh, right. Whenever Byakuya gets sick, he takes time off."
"I can't infect the students. They are the future of the Hidden Leaf."
"Byakuya is so kind-hearted. I really like that about you."
Byakuya grabbed a stool and handed it to Izumi. "What do you need?"
"I recall you have both Lightning and Water chakra affinities, right?"
"My training is insufficient. I still need to work hard."
Izumi nodded in agreement. "Indeed. Do you know about the Cloud Village in the Land of Lightning?"
"How could I not?"
"The Cloud Village has a secret technique called the Lightning Style Armor. They've developed various Nintaijutsu based on it. It's very powerful."
Lightning Style Armor?
Byakuya preferred to call it Lightning Style Chakra Mode.
"Spit it out. I don't like beating around the bush," Byakuya said.
Izumi tossed him the sealed scroll. "Inside is intelligence on the Third Raikage's various abilities. Find his weakness."
Byakuya certainly knew the Third Raikage's weakness. His eventual death at the hands of ten thousand Rock ninja proved exactly what his weakness was.
Seeing Byakuya holding the scroll unmoved, she added, "I almost forgot to mention. The reward is intelligence on the Lightning Style Armor. Perhaps one day, you too could learn this powerful Cloud secret technique."
"Teacher Izumi, I don't know sealing jutsu."
"..."
She thought he was holding out for better terms, but it turned out he just couldn't open the scroll.
"Give it here."
"Oh."
Izumi performed the unsealing jutsu. "You can also choose a different reward. Perhaps a sealing jutsu?"
Byakuya sifted through the intel carefully.
As expected of Root. They even had data on the Third Raikage's Hell Stab.
Most of it concerned the Lightning Style Armor.
However, Root's intel was incomplete, partially inaccurate, and contained incorrect deductions.
It was less than what he knew from his "god's eye view."
"It's simple. The Raikage is strong in single combat. So, gang up on him. Wear him down until he dies. He lacks large-scale area-of-effect attacks anyway."
"Huh?"
Izumi looked genuinely confused, even a bit dizzy.
What did he mean by "gang up"?
He was a Raikage! Could he be easily surrounded?!
And what did "wear him down" mean? Did Byakuya mean piling bodies on him until he collapsed?
"Byakuya, uh, could you be more specific?"
"We're talking here... what if a teacher comes to requisition tools?"
"It's fine. I can sense them in advance."
"So Teacher Izumi has excellent sensory abilities."
"Please enlighten me, Byakuya."
She was incredibly excited about anything involving the Raikage. If she could find a weakness to kill him, it would be magnificent!
At this moment, Byakuya had already decided what reward to ask Root for.
Lightning Style Armor? That was the Cloud's secret technique. Would it be that easy to obtain?
Even if he lucked out and got it, and learned it, the day he used it would be the day the Cloud hunted him down at all costs.
That was a hot potato Byakuya would only consider in his dreams.
However, if the Lightning Style Chakra Mode were placed right in front of him, he wouldn't mind "using it for reference."
But what he really wanted was intel on the Three Great Sage Regions.
Because he truly had the talent to learn Senjutsu!!
"First, the more powerful a jutsu, the more chakra it consumes, right?" Byakuya asked.
Izumi nodded like a chicken pecking rice. "Yes, yes, yes."
"Are the Third Raikage's Hell Stab and Lightning Style Armor powerful?"
"You mean both jutsu consume massive amounts of chakra? Yes, yes, yes. Byakuya is right."
Izumi played along with an "Ah, so that's it" expression, though this was common knowledge.
"Then find an opportunity to force the Raikage into a situation where he has to fight alone. Use superior numbers to drag him down and exhaust him to death."
"May I ask, Byakuya, how do we force the mighty Third Raikage of the Cloud into fighting alone?"
She emphasized the word "Raikage" heavily.
Byakuya smiled. "I heard the Cloud and Rock are at war? That's a problem for the Tsuchikage to solve, not us."
Izumi stood up abruptly, staring dumbfounded at the smiling Byakuya.
"What? Does Teacher Izumi think so too?"
She couldn't help but sigh with emotion. "Byakuya, you have the potential to be a politician."
"Not really. I don't want the intel on the Lightning Style Armor. Tell him I want intel on the Three Great Sage Regions."
"The Three Great Sage Regions?"
"Just report that. He'll understand."
"Alright. Byakuya, I'll treat you to barbecue tonight as thanks."
Although he didn't understand why Izumi wanted to thank him, Byakuya smoothly rejected her. "I'm getting sick. I need to stock up on medicine."
"I won't disturb you then."
She hurried back to report.
The two tacitly agreed not to expose each other's identities.
"Teacher Izumi... that old goat Danzo wasn't asking me about the Raikage's weakness. He was testing my ability to synthesize intelligence.
Heh. To be honest, even if it weren't the Raikage, anyone facing an army of ten thousand ninja would die. Excluding Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha, of course."
Byakuya pulled up the status interface.
> [System: Hard Work Pays Off]
> Limited Time Mission (6 Days): Release chakra from the tip of the index finger to create 100 non-dispersing water droplets on the water's surface, maintaining them for 30 seconds (61/100).
> Reward: Increase in Chakra Control.
He continued training with the puddle he created using Water Style: Wild Water Wave in front of the warehouse.
He needed to finish the mission quickly and develop a new Storm Style jutsu. He needed another trump card for when he faced Pakura.