Chapter 182: Increasing the Difficulty
Inside the Senju clan grounds, Masahiko looked somewhat disappointed; he hadn't received the news he wanted.
Nawaki and Mikoto had been married for nearly a year, but Mikoto still showed no signs of pregnancy. The "monster" Masahiko was looking forward to was nowhere in sight.
"In the original story, Mikoto was able to give birth to Itachi and Sasuke, proving that she should be fine. Could it be that Nawaki is incapable..." Masahiko speculated with a hint of malice in his heart.
"Great-Great-Grandpa, please have some tea." The speaker was Mikoto. After marrying Nawaki, her address for Masahiko had also changed to Great-Great-Grandpa.
Masahiko nodded and glanced at Nawaki, who was playing with Nagato-kun and Konan, feeling the scene was somewhat familiar.
"Back then, Hashirama and I were like this too." Mito's voice came from the side, making Masahiko suddenly realize.
"Nawaki and Hashirama are really alike, in both appearance and personality..." Masahiko sighed with emotion, and Mito nodded with a smile.
Peaceful days continued for a few more days. Masahiko spent another New Year in Konoha, and time arrived at Year 39 of Konoha.
As soon as the New Year passed, Masahiko took the three children to see Hiruzen, but the result was not very satisfactory.
"No A-rank missions?" Masahiko had a "you've got to be kidding me" expression on his face.
Hiruzen smiled bitterly. "Elder Masahiko, the New Year just passed. Not many people have come to issue missions, so there isn't a single A-rank mission."
"Aren't there any accumulated missions from last year?"
Hiruzen shook his head. "Currently, the number of missions in Konoha is less than the number of ninjas."
Masahiko was stunned, then nodded thoughtfully. The current Konoha was much more prosperous than in the original story.
"Why don't you wait another two months with them?" Hiruzen suggested.
Masahiko hesitated, then shook his head. In a little over two months, it would be time for Kakashi's enrollment, and he was afraid of missing it. Although he could use a Shadow Clone, he always felt that his Shadow Clone was even more troublesome than his main body, so he didn't want to use it lightly.
"If you don't have regular missions here, surely the Anbu has some? Like scouting other ninja villages or something?"
Hiruzen was stunned. "There are some, but those missions aren't very suitable..."
"It's fine. Are you worried with me leading the team?"
Hiruzen smiled bitterly. He was just short of saying: It's precisely because you are leading the team that I'm worried.
In the end, Masahiko accepted a mission for the three children to investigate intelligence on the Hidden Grass Village. Rumor had it they had been in frequent contact with the Hidden Sand Village recently.
"I don't think I've taught you how to conduct reconnaissance and counter-reconnaissance, right?" On the way to the Hidden Grass Village with the three children, Masahiko suddenly realized.
"Seemingly not, Sensei," Nagato-kun replied.
"It's not too late to teach now. You..." Masahiko was about to say something when he realized he didn't know how to conduct reconnaissance and counter-reconnaissance either.
"I never needed that kind of stuff..."
Masahiko glanced at the three children waiting for instruction and sighed helplessly. He couldn't tell them he didn't know either, could he?
"First, find a Hidden Grass patrol team, then ambush them. After that, use the Transformation Jutsu to take their appearances and infiltrate to scout. That's all." Masahiko started teaching nonsense. Anyway, with him protecting them from a distance, nothing would go wrong.
Nagato-kun and Konan nodded repeatedly, but the fifteen-year-old Kushina-kun wasn't so easily fooled. She secretly rolled her eyes and muttered softly, "Still have to rely on ourselves."
Masahiko heard it too, but it was too awkward, so he pretended not to hear.
The journey passed amidst Masahiko's random teachings, and they arrived at a spot about five kilometers away from the Hidden Grass Village.
Masahiko looked at the surrounding environment and instructed the three children, "The rest of the journey depends on you. I'm withdrawing first." Saying this, he sank into the ground.
The three exchanged glances. Kushina-kun's "big sister" side emerged. She waved her hand. "Be careful, follow me."
The three moved forward while concealing their presence. About three kilometers later, Kushina-kun signaled them to hide; she had spotted a Hidden Grass patrol team.
"Sister Kushina, do we attack?" Nagato-kun asked very innocently.
Konan tugged at his sleeve. "Don't. I feel Sensei's method is a bit wrong."
Underground, the corners of Masahiko's mouth twitched slightly.
Kushina-kun glanced at Konan with a look that said "you have a future," then carefully observed the Hidden Grass patrol ninjas.
"They seem to be carrying something?"
Hearing this, Masahiko's two disciples also observed carefully. Nagato-kun spoke hesitantly, "It looks like the boxes we shipped out by sea last time."
Kushina-kun was stunned at first, then delighted.
"So, the frequent contact between the Hidden Grass and Hidden Sand is just the Hidden Sand reselling our explosive tags? Mission accomplished, we can go back!"
Nagato-kun and Konan hesitated for a moment, looked at each other, nodded, and prepared to leave.
Underground, Masahiko sighed. He didn't expect such a coincidence. How was this an A-rank mission? Even a D-rank mission would be harder than this.
"No, this won't train the children at all. It would be a wasted trip. I have to add some difficulty for them."
Masahiko focused his mind. A pebble floated up and rapidly struck a Hidden Grass ninja on the forehead.
"Who's there!"
A loud shout rang out. The three children got nervous and immediately exposed their positions.
"Sister Kushina, how did they find us?"
"Never mind that, run!"
Masahiko smiled, doing a good deed without leaving a name. He looked at the pursuing Hidden Grass ninjas: one Jonin, three Chunin, and six Genin.
"This lineup..." Masahiko pondered for a moment and nodded. "It should be evenly matched. I'll just watch from the side."
Sure enough, the three children were caught up to. After all, they were still young. Although their ninjutsu abilities were very good, their physical stamina couldn't compare to adult ninjas.
Then came a fierce battle. Just as Masahiko expected, the two sides were similar in strength.
The Hidden Grass ninjas weren't in a hurry to attack. After all, the village was very close, and reinforcements would arrive soon. They even used words to stall for time.
"Three brats, looking like you're from the Land of Whirlpools. What are you sneaking around for?"
To Masahiko's relief, the three children saw through the opponent's intention to stall for time at a glance and didn't waste words with them.
"Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!" Nagato-kun used his large-scale Fire Release attack very proficiently.
Kushina-kun fully displayed her "big sister" demeanor, single-handedly holding off the Hidden Grass Jonin.
Although Nagato-kun didn't have much combat experience, he was still much stronger than the group of Hidden Grass Chunin and Genin. With Konan's support, they quickly gained the upper hand.
The battle lasted for ten minutes. The Hidden Grass Genin were completely wiped out, and the three children suffered minor injuries. Masahiko held back and didn't intervene.
The Hidden Grass Village had discovered the battle here, and some ninjas were rushing over rapidly.
Masahiko frowned underground and thought to himself, "That's about enough."
Focusing his mind, the remaining four Hidden Grass ninjas sprained their ankles simultaneously and were successfully killed by the three children.
The three children were stunned at first, then quickly recovered and fled towards Konoha. Masahiko took charge of causing some trouble for the pursuing Hidden Grass ninjas, adding some "roadblocks."
Finally, this mission, which had its difficulty forcefully increased by Masahiko, was successfully completed.
☆☆☆
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