"Lady Tsunade, we've confirmed it. There was a wild boar that went berserk in the Forest of Death. Early this morning, it broke through the protective fence at the northwest corner and rushed out, damaging farmland in a nearby village outside Konoha, as well as the village chief's home."
"After that, the village chief came to Konoha and issued a commission to eliminate the boar. After investigation, the Mission Office classified it as a C-rank mission. At 9:30 this morning, it was accepted by Uchiha Yoichi of the Uchiha clan."
"Uchiha Yoichi has already completed the mission. The boar's corpse was taken away by the client, and they have just arrived in Konoha to submit the mission completion report."
"This is the information the ANBU have gathered on Uchiha Yoichi, Lady Tsunade."
The ANBU reported everything Tsunade had ordered them to investigate, step by step and in detail. While he was explaining how the boar had "gone berserk," he completely failed to notice the fury written across Tsunade's face as she bit down on her knuckle.
Gone berserk?That was her desperately trying to escape!
"Oh? Tsunade, not drinking first thing in the morning for once? Turns out you're here researching wild boars!"
A familiar, punchable voice rang out, instantly giving Tsunade somewhere to vent her anger.
She reached out, grabbed the nearly two-meter-tall Jiraiya, and hurled him straight into the wall.
BANG!
The wall cracked outward from the point of impact, spiderwebbing around the outline of Jiraiya's body.
"Jiraiya," Tsunade snapped,"other than you, what jutsu exists that can turn people into animals? And where were you last night?"
"Ts–Tsunade! What's wrong with you? I was just joking—!"
Seeing Tsunade clench her fist, the sharp cracking sound sending chills down his spine, Jiraiya immediately recalled a near-death experience from the past. He hurriedly raised his hands and answered honestly.
"I was with Minato last night. He created a new jutsu—really impressive stuff. He plans to teach it to me."
"As for transformation jutsu like turning people into animals… the Toad Transformation Technique should only be known by me. It's a Mount Myōboku technique. No one else knows it."
Hearing this, Tsunade knew Jiraiya wouldn't dare lie to her. She clicked her tongue in frustration.
Being toyed with like that—and nearly killed—there was no way Tsunade could just pretend nothing had happened.
But the whole situation defied common sense in the ninja world.
While Tsunade wouldn't claim to be among Konoha's top three strongest, she was certainly among the top-tier. Who could silently shove her consciousness into the body of a wild boar?
Even the forbidden Spirit Transformation Technique couldn't do something like that.
"Tsunade, what's going on with you?" Jiraiya asked.
"None of your business!"
Tsunade snorted coldly and turned away, preparing to go question the Third Hokage.
If there truly existed a jutsu capable of placing a human's consciousness into an animal's body, her teacher—the so-called Professor of Ninjutsu—might know something about it.
And there was another thing gnawing at her mind.
That Uchiha brat.
While she couldn't really blame him for attacking her while completing his mission, the anger in Tsunade's chest simply wouldn't go away. She also remembered vaguely hearing something about superpowers, and that unmistakable Lightning Release Chakra Mode.
The ANBU had just handed her Uchiha Yoichi's file. Tsunade planned to bring it along when she questioned the Third Hokage.
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After completing the C-rank mission, Uchiha Yoichi headed south toward Aokawa Town in the Land of Fire.
The distance was considerable—at his normal travel speed, it would take about half a day.
Among ninjas, many couldn't endure the monotony and constant bloodshed of village life. Quite a few chose to leave their villages or defect altogether. However, these ninjas usually had no skills beyond killing.
Once they left their villages, they could only rely on violence to seize wealth and indulge themselves.
This B-rank mission had been issued by a merchant guild in Aokawa Town. A violent organization backed by a ninja had robbed him and threatened his business.
His retainers and samurai were useless, so he had no choice but to seek help from Konoha.
Not long after leaving Konoha, Uchiha Yoichi removed his forehead protector and changed clothes.
A Konoha forehead protector was both deterrent and danger. At his age, revealing himself as a Konoha ninja—especially an Uchiha—could easily attract even greater threats.
After arriving in Aokawa Town, Uchiha Yoichi met with the employer to learn more about the mission. He used the Transformation Technique to take on a fierce-looking appearance, immediately dispelling the employer's worries about him working alone. The man then told Yoichi everything he knew.
After listening, Yoichi simply said, "Wait for news," and left.
Afterward, he gathered additional information on his own. He even found an opportunity to use genjutsu to control two of the ninja's subordinates, interrogating them for details.
Although Uchiha Yoichi didn't specialize in genjutsu, once an Uchiha awakened the Sharingan, the clan would teach them two Sharingan genjutsu—one offensive, and one defensive: Mirror Heaven and Earth Change.
His genjutsu skills were average at best, but they were more than enough against ordinary people. He quickly obtained sufficient information.
The target was a Grass Village rogue ninja named Akutagawa Jirō.
Uchiha Yoichi never underestimated the ninja world. Those who grew careless here ended up dead.
After confirming that Akutagawa Jirō's strength was mediocre, Yoichi quietly infiltrated his base. Once he found the right opportunity, he used shuriken to seal off all possible escape routes, then unleashed a Great Fireball, incinerating Akutagawa Jirō and his two subordinates.
"This feels right. It was that wild boar that was abnormal—my shuriken throwing isn't trash."
Yoichi nodded in satisfaction. His shuriken just now could genuinely be described as a net of death.
Dealing with a Grass Village rogue ninja posed no difficulty. After abandoning his village and indulging in pleasure for so long, it was questionable how much strength he even had left. The mission being labeled as "suspected B-rank" was probably due to some flashy intimidation jutsu the rogue had used in the past.
Uchiha Yoichi searched Akutagawa Jirō's base and found a chest filled with money. Inside were several hundred thousand ryō, along with a well-preserved ninjutsu scroll.
"As expected—Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique. I've heard Grass Village ninjas are good at copying other villages' techniques. This is just a cheap knockoff of the Uchiha's Great Fireball."
The technique had no training value whatsoever. When it came to Fire Release, no clan—or even village—in the ninja world could compare to the Uchiha.
So Uchiha Yoichi spat out a burst of fire and burned the scroll to ashes. Turning it in wouldn't earn him any reward anyway.
After dealing with Akutagawa Jirō and cleaning up the scene, Yoichi returned to the employer and informed him that the mission was complete. However, Yoichi advised the man to wait half a month before submitting the mission completion report to Konoha.
That way, Yoichi could remain outside the village for another two weeks—more than enough time to travel around freely.
He had been in the ninja world for over a year now.
The first six months were spent desperately training ninjutsu, terrified that he'd die the moment he stepped onto a battlefield.
The latter six months were spent adjusting to ninja life—but his career path had been anything but smooth. Now, he was even saddled with the accusation of deliberately exploiting his teammates.
Konoha Village wasn't nearly as wonderful as Senju Hashirama once claimed.
A "big family"?
The village had existed for only a few decades, and it was already rotting from the inside.