Chapter 98 - 97: The Land of Waves Mission — Konoha Invites the Sound Village to the Joint Chunin Exams

Chapter 98: Chapter 97: The Land of Waves Mission — Konoha Invites the Sound Village to the Joint Chunin Exams

After the bandit-clearing mission, Team Seven once again settled into a routine of missions in the morning and training in the afternoon.

During that period, they completed several C-Rank escort and bandit-clearing missions.

However, they never encountered another shinobi.

About a month later.

Hokage Tower — Mission Desk

As usual, Team Seven gathered at the mission desk.

Kakashi walked up to the counter.

The mission clerk handed him a scroll.

"Kakashi-senpai, the Hokage said this C-Rank escort mission is for Team Seven."

Kakashi accepted the scroll and opened it.

Escort Tazuna, the master bridge builder from the Land of Waves, back to his homeland and protect him from harassment by gangs and bandits while he constructs the bridge.

Kakashi quickly scanned the details.

Nothing seemed unusual.

During this period, the Hokage had privately arranged quite a few missions for them.

He nodded toward the mission clerk.

"Got it. You can send the client over."

"Sure. Please wait a moment."

The clerk left.

A short while later, he returned with an old man carrying a bottle of alcohol.

He wore glasses over the bridge of his nose and reeked of liquor.

The moment Tazuna entered, he hiccupped and looked over Kakashi and the three Genin.

"What the hell? They’re all just kids!"

Naruto glanced at Tazuna, his eyes narrowing slightly.

Sasuke frowned.

Hinata lowered her head somewhat awkwardly.

None of them said anything.

They had already completed several escort missions during the past month.

Being underestimated because of their age was nothing new.

Naruto and Sasuke were both a little over 160 centimeters tall, while Hinata was already over 150 centimeters.

They weren’t particularly short.

It was simply their youthful faces that made their age obvious.

Kakashi stepped forward.

"You requested a C-Rank mission, so you shouldn’t encounter any shinobi along the way.

"These three are quite capable Genin. They can easily handle more than a dozen ordinary people, so you don’t need to worry."

Tazuna frowned when he heard that.

Apparently, that explanation didn’t completely satisfy him.

He looked at Kakashi.

"What about you? Are you protecting me too?"

Kakashi nodded.

"I’m their Jonin instructor. I’m also responsible for escorting and protecting you."

Hearing that he was a Jonin, Tazuna’s expression relaxed somewhat.

"All right, then.

"I’m Tazuna, a master bridge builder.

"While I’m back home building the bridge, you’d better make sure I stay safe."

After introducing himself, he emphasized his demand.

Kakashi nodded.

"Don’t worry. We’ll protect you.

"Now that we’ve settled everything, let’s go."

Sound Village — Orochimaru’s Laboratory

At that moment, a massive shinobi was lying on an operating table inside Orochimaru’s laboratory.

He had orange hair and orange eyes, a muscular build, and stood nearly two meters tall.

Beside him, Orochimaru was operating a large computer with one hand while studying the data displayed on the screen.

Every so often, he picked up a pen and recorded his observations.

Suddenly, the laboratory door opened.

Orochimaru frowned slightly at the interruption and turned around.

Kabuto hurried inside with a scroll in his hand.

"Sorry for disturbing you, Lord Orochimaru. It’s just that the Sound Village has received a diplomatic letter from the Third Hokage, sent in Konoha’s name."

"Diplomatic?"

A strange smile appeared on Orochimaru’s face.

Konoha wants to establish diplomatic relations with a village founded by an S-Rank missing-nin like me?

Of course, a diplomatic letter didn’t necessarily mean they wanted friendly relations.

They could also be sending a formal condemnation.

But the Sound Village had deliberately kept a low profile and had never openly clashed with Konoha.

As far as the shinobi world knew, Orochimaru wasn’t even the leader of the Sound Village.

At least, Konoha shouldn’t know.

That made the letter rather intriguing.

Without thinking too much about it, Orochimaru accepted the scroll.

He immediately noticed the sophisticated sealing technique wrapped around it.

His smile deepened.

Are they trying to give me a show of force even when sending a letter?

An ordinary small village without a sealing expert would have difficulty opening this scroll.

But for Orochimaru...

"Release."

He formed a single hand seal.

The seal on the scroll immediately disappeared.

Orochimaru opened it and casually scanned the contents.

His eyes suddenly sharpened.

"Konoha is inviting us to participate in the Joint Chunin Exams two months from now?"

Orochimaru smiled.

His thoughts immediately began racing.

Hearing the words Joint Chunin Exams, Kabuto pushed up his glasses.

The corner of his mouth curled upward.

"Lord Orochimaru, the opportunity has arrived."

Kabuto might not have been the person Orochimaru trusted most, but he was certainly one of the people who understood him best.

He knew exactly why Orochimaru had established the Sound Village.

It existed to accumulate strength.

Orochimaru nodded.

"Indeed.

"The opportunity has arrived.

"Invite Naruto-kun over. We need to discuss this."

Kabuto took out a Flying Thunder God kunai and infused it with chakra.

He waited.

Ten minutes passed.

Then twenty.

More than half an hour passed.

There was still no response.

Kabuto eventually contacted one of their spies in Konoha.

Only then did he learn that Naruto had already left the village on a C-Rank mission.

Kabuto couldn’t help admiring Naruto.

His strength is already this great, yet he can patiently continue playing the role of an ordinary shinobi in Konoha.

He hasn’t exposed himself at all.

And now he’s even playing the part of a freshly graduated Genin.

After reporting the information to Orochimaru, Kabuto expected him to be annoyed.

Instead, Orochimaru merely waved his hand and continued examining the data on his computer.

He didn’t seem concerned at all.

After finishing his work, Orochimaru finally turned toward Kabuto.

"All right, Kabuto.

"Since Naruto-kun is busy, there’s no need to bother him.

"Take Jūgo to rest first.

"Then prepare another sacrifice."

"Yes, Lord Orochimaru."

Kabuto nodded.

As he helped Jūgo leave the laboratory, his eyes flickered thoughtfully.

Who does Orochimaru-sama intend to discuss this with?

Could it be Uchiha Izumi?

A short while later, Kabuto returned with another sacrifice.

Orochimaru took out a piece of preserved biological tissue and rapidly formed hand seals.

When the sequence was complete, he slammed one hand onto the ground.

Edo Tensei!

Countless black markings spread outward from Orochimaru’s palm.

The sacrifice was immediately enveloped by the technique.

Its body twisted and transformed.

Then—

A blond-haired shinobi wearing a white cloak appeared before them.

Kabuto’s eyes widened.

Minato Namikaze.

He suddenly remembered something Naruto had said back when they released the Nine-Tails.

Naruto had mentioned that Minato’s consciousness existed within him.

Could they possibly share memories across thousands of kilometers?

But even if Orochimaru wanted to discuss something with Naruto...

Was summoning his father from the Pure Land really necessary?

Kabuto’s expression became complicated.

Orochimaru, however, didn’t seem to find anything strange about his actions at all.

When he had released Minato’s soul from Edo Tensei in the past, Orochimaru had already had a feeling that one day, he would meet Minato again.

And now—

That day had arrived.

Orochimaru wasn’t actually planning to use Edo Tensei Minato as a shortcut to discuss matters with Naruto.

What he wanted was something far more interesting.

He wanted to have a proper conversation with the Fourth Hokage of Konoha.

The great hero of Konoha—

Minato Namikaze.