Another week passed after Shota rediscovered the shadow clone jutsu and paid his visit to the ninjutsu department.
Life had been quiet, almost boring. He trained, ate, slept, and pretended some the paperwork Spider kept dropping on his desk for the discovery of the shadow clone jutsu did not exist. Then the summons came.
Not from Spider. Not from Earthworm. Not even from one of the other Anbu division commanders. The message came straight from the Kazekage himself. Shota had to read it three times just to be sure his eyes were not playing tricks.
"Come to my office in full ANBU gear. Now."
Shota stared at the scroll for a long moment. The last time the Kazekage had called him personally, the mission had been to wipe out the old Explosion Corps.
He had come home missing half his blood, most of his dignity, and a lot of teammates who would never come home at all.
"Great," he muttered to the empty room. "Another vacation to the land of pain and screaming."
He put on the Anbu mask, checked his gear, and stepped into the shadows. A few seconds later, he entered Kazekage's office.
The two ANBU guards on duty flinched, hands halfway to their blades before they recognised the mask. They relaxed, but only a little. Shota gave them a lazy two-finger salute and bowed to the man behind the desk.
Rasa, Fourth Kazekage, did not look up from the scroll he was reading. He looked like a man who had already decided the day was going to be annoying and was just waiting for the world to catch up.
"Raven," Rasa said without greeting. "I have summoned you for an S-rank mission."
Shota kept his face still behind the mask. S-rank did not scare him anymore. What surprised him was the fact they were giving him one at all.
For years the council had treated him like a fragile glass kunai, too valuable to risk in a dangerous mission. If the village was suddenly willing to throw him at an S-rank, something had gone very wrong somewhere.
Or very right, depending on who was doing the bleeding.
Rasa finally looked up. "Infact, You have been requested for this mission. Personally."
Shota tilted his head. "By who, sir?"
"Iwa."
Shota felt his left eye begin to twitch. He hoped the mask hid it. "Iwa asked for me? The village that still sends me hate mail every birthday? The one who have issued a very high bounty for me?"
"The very same," Rasa said. "They want to cooperate. A joint operation against Kumo."
Shota waited. Rasa enjoyed dramatic pauses the way normal people enjoyed tea, so he knew more was coming.
"Their target is the Third Raikage. They want him dead. And they want your help to do it."
For a moment the only sound in the office was the soft hiss of gold dust moving through the air.
Shota's brain took a short holiday. When it came back it brought souvenirs in the form of panic.
The Third Raikage. The man who wrestled the Eight-Tails to a draw. The strongest Raikage. The man whose lightning cloak was so strong that people said he could stand in the middle of a desert storm and come out with perfect hair. The man who had once punched a hole through an entire mountain because someone had looked at him funny on a Tuesday.
Shota suddenly understood how a mouse felt when it realised the cat had invited it to dinner.
"Sir," he said carefully, "with all respect, are we sure Iwa isn't just trying to get rid of me in a way that looks like an accident?"
Rasa's mouth twitched. It might have been a smile. It might have been indigestion. With Rasa it was hard to tell.
"They were very clear," the Kazekage said. "They want the boy who turned their explosion corps into nothing. They think your abilities are perfect for this job."
Shota tried to imagine himself standing in front of the Third Raikage. The image that came to mind was less "epic battle" and more "bug meeting windshield."
He cleared his throat. "How exactly do they plan to kill a man who uses lightning armour so tough that kunai bounce off, so fast that you could barely catch him and no jutsu could pierce his lightning cloak?"
"That," Rasa said, "is the part you are going to like even less. The Raikage is leading a large supply convoy through the mountains near the border. Iwa has set up an ambush. They have ten thousand shinobi. Their plan is simple. Ambush Raikage with abundant forces. Raikage only has about a 1000 men with him."
Shota blinked.
"And my job is?"
"You will be with the forward team. When the other Kumo shinobi have been dealt with, the Raikage will survive. He always does. That is when you go in. You would use your Erasure to prevent him from using his lightning cloak and jutsus and the Tsuchikage would do the rest. Simple."
Shota stared. "That is the opposite of simple. That is the kind of plan drunk genin come up with right before they set themselves on fire."
Rasa leaned forward. "You will not be not alone. Three ANBU commanders are going with you. Spider, Earthworm, and Peacock1. Fifteen more elite ANBU will provide support. If everything goes wrong, their orders are to die so you can escape."
Shota felt something cold settle in his stomach. Almost twenty Shinobi of Sunagakure's best, ready to throw their lives away so he could run home and survive and become stronger. He was not sure if he should feel proud or throw up.
He chose option three: dark humour.
"So let me get this straight," he said. "Iwa finally admits I'm useful, but only because they need someone crazy enough to reduce their casuality count while dealing with the Raikage. What do we even get out of this?"
---------Author Notes--------
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