Time passed quickly, and it was time to depart for the mission.
In the interim, Byakuya returned the scrolls for Water Style: Water Severing Wave and the Flying Thunder God Jutsu. He analyzed the intel on Pakura's movements and personality, and developed new Storm Style jutsu.
He was so busy his head spun, but thanks to his vastly improved spiritual energy, he managed to maintain a good mental state despite the hectic schedule.
With money in his pocket, Byakuya also bought specially made soldier pills that could restore chakra. Cream-flavored.
Dead of Night.
Wearing his Shuten-doji mask and a new black trench coat, Byakuya traveled alongside Kakashi Hatake.
It was just a coincidence.
Kakashi had his own mission.
Running against the night wind, Byakuya asked, "Why don't I see your teammates, Obito Uchiha and Rin Nohara?"
"Sensei doesn't have time to lead the squad right now, so he told Obito and Rin to wait at home. You know their names, senior?"
"And you?"
"I'm already a Chunin, senior. I accepted a village mission."
Remembering that Byakuya had saved his life, Kakashi opened up a bit. "Most village missions now are related to the war. I picked one that isn't too difficult to try and complete on my own. Are you going on a mission too, senior?"
"Have you ever thought about joining the ANBU?" Byakuya asked suddenly.
"Me? I don't have the strength to be an ANBU member right now."
"With your talent, it won't be long."
Kakashi pondered. "I still prioritize training with Sensei Minato."
"Good. You're pragmatic."
The two sprinted at high speed. Byakuya spoke without any difficulty, but Kakashi was slightly out of breath.
"Kakashi, what is your dream?"
"Dream? I want to be an outstanding ninja like my father."
"Is that all?"
"What is your dream, senior?"
"To live."
"..."
Byakuya whispered, planting a seed in his mind. "You owe me. There will come a day when you need to repay that debt."
"Yes. I have kept it in mind. Thank you for saving me from Orochimaru, senior."
In hindsight, there were many suspicious points about that incident, but the fact remained that Byakuya had saved him.
Kakashi paused, then asked, "When will you decide how I should repay you, senior?"
"Maybe after you join the ANBU."
"Yes."
Honestly, Kakashi didn't know if he could even become an ANBU member.
The two suddenly stopped talking.
A group of ninja was rushing back toward the Hidden Leaf from the front.
Byakuya and Kakashi stepped aside. They saw Kurenai Yuhi in the group—alone. The Hyuga girl and the Inuzuka boy from her squad were nowhere to be seen.
Kurenai turned her head and glanced at the Shuten-doji mask in the moonlight. She seemed to want to say something but ultimately passed by in silence.
"The sadness on her face is thick enough to scab over," Byakuya remarked.
"I heard about it. Squad Kurenai was ambushed by Cloud ninja... Senior?"
Kakashi turned his head, but the senior who had been beside him just a moment ago had vanished.
"Gone already?"
It was indeed time to part ways.
When Kakashi saw the senior's iconic Shuten-doji mask outside the Leaf gate, he had felt a mix of complex emotions and didn't know what to say. It was the senior who broke the ice and dissolved the awkwardness.
Carrying the White Light Chakra Sabre, Kakashi turned toward the eastern coast of the Land of Fire.
His mission was to investigate a small village in the east that had been abruptly slaughtered, to determine if it was the work of Mist ninja.
"I recall Might Guy is training there with his team captain."
Might Guy's father, Might Duy, was famously known in the Leaf as the "Eternal Genin."
---
Byakuya used Storm Style Body Flicker to leave Kakashi, changing course toward the Land of Rivers.
With chakra aiding his movement and the abundance of forests in the Land of Fire, he leaped from tree to tree like an ape.
Practice makes perfect.
Since he had been to the Land of Rivers before, Byakuya didn't rest tonight. He kept moving.
His strength had improved again since last time; his chakra capacity, stamina, and speed had all increased.
The upgrades weren't isolated. They fed into each other.
Byakuya was becoming addicted to completing the system's timed missions.
Getting stronger just by finishing tasks felt incredible.
Especially after the last boost to Chakra Control—Byakuya felt he could even master the high-difficulty Chakra Scalpel technique now.
While traveling through the forest, Byakuya recalled the intel on Pakura.
She was still in the Land of Rivers. Or rather, she had returned to the Sand Village and then deployed back to the Land of Rivers.
With his "god's eye view," he knew the Sand would definitely declare war on the Leaf.
But he didn't know the specific details of how the war would unfold.
On the third day of travel.
He stopped for half a day to knock out a system mission for a minor Vitality boost in one go.
Only then did he decide to set up his tent and rest.
Perhaps due to the psychological shadow left by the giant blue-black snake in the Land of Rivers cave, Byakuya skipped every cave he saw and camped in a dry clearing instead.
After passing the Leaf border checkpoint and entering the Land of Rivers...
He avoided the easy main roads. Utilizing the mobility of Storm Style Body Flicker, he moved through hidden, difficult terrain.
Present Day.
Byakuya leaped onto a rock, looking ahead.
A vast, lush green forest stretched out before him.
He could faintly hear the rushing waters of a great river.
Complex terrain that defied common sense—that was the Land of Rivers.
He spread out his map.
Based on the intel, he marked a red circle on his location.
The red circle indicated an area where Pakura had stayed for a significant amount of time. There were likely Sand ninja stationed here.
"Danzo, oh Danzo. You have all this intel, yet you still sent me to the Land of Rivers? The Sand has already made up their mind to attack the Leaf. Alliance or no alliance, it would be better to strike first and constantly harass the Land of Wind to pin them down."
He paused.
Something he hadn't considered before suddenly became clear.
Byakuya sat down on the rock.
The content of the proposed alliance was to jointly deal with the Rock Village. But the Rock was already at war with the Cloud. From the Sand's perspective, was an alliance even necessary?
"I blamed myself for having a 'god's eye view' but missed what was right under my nose because it was too obvious."
"How could that old goat Danzo not know? Whether my mission succeeds or fails, it's a sign of weakness to the Sand."
"Maybe what he wants is for the Sand to use this alliance proposal to confirm that the Leaf is hollowed out by war and unable to open a new front."
"There is only one outcome."
"The Sand high command will quickly reach a consensus and decide to declare war on the Leaf."
He exhaled a long breath.
The Land of Fire had the richest resources and the most fertile soil. The Land of Wind was a desert, barren and hard to survive in. This was a structural contradiction. As long as the Sand Village wanted to change their living conditions, they wouldn't attack the Land of Earth—they would try to tear a chunk of "fat meat" from the Land of Fire.
"If I were Danzo, I would use the Sand's rash military incursion deep into the Land of Fire to set up an ambush and catch them off guard.
Since the battle would be within the Land of Fire and not far from the Hidden Leaf, winning this war would make Danzo's fame surpass Minato Namikaze's, perhaps even the Third Hokage's."
Byakuya knew the name of this battle.
The Battle of Kikyo Pass.
The Leaf chose Kikyo Pass to intercept the Sand.
The original story had very little data on this battle; it was barely mentioned.
The result was a Leaf victory and a Sand defeat.
Perhaps due to the fallout of this battle, the Sand showed signs of weakness, prompting the Mist Village to attack the Land of Wind by sea.
Pakura, possessing the Scorch Style Kekkei Genkai, became a hero of the Sand for successfully repelling the Mist—much like Rasa did against the Cloud. But she was also hated by the Mist and eventually betrayed by her own village's high command.
Byakuya formed a new plan in his mind.
For this Root mission, he was going to secure some "benefits" for himself.