CH_131

"Can't do anything right, hitting a wall everywhere I go—what was the point of reincarnating me here!" After leaving the hospital, Tōji muttered to himself, staring at the distant Hokage Rock.

Minato's face had only begun to be carved two days ago—it didn't even have any shape yet.

"Let's see what kind of notice I get tomorrow." Tōji knew that newly promoted chūnin without specific assignments would receive their postings the next day.

At eleven years old, they weren't qualified to lead newly graduated genin yet—even if those missions were just menial tasks like picking up trash, harvesting fruit, pulling weeds, or finding lost pets.

Tōji and the others had clearly been promoted under special circumstances. Even with a proper process, they couldn't truly be treated as full-fledged chūnin in many cases.

Besides, squad leaders needed to have substantial shinobi experience—which Tōji and his peers clearly lacked.

Nothing really fit them well.

Right now, the most suitable assignment for Tōji and the others—and the area most in need of manpower—was obviously long-term border patrol missions…

Which also happened to be a prime opportunity for minor-clan shinobi to "win merits."

If Tōji couldn't secure a spot at Konoha Hospital today, then tomorrow when the village came calling, someone would take him to collect a new assignment.

"This is still a little better than going straight to the Land of Water." Tōji could only console himself with that thought.

Mentioning the Land of Water made him think of Kenji…

Thinking of Kenji reminded him of the 【Healing Palms Technique】 that Haruka had just taught him at the hospital.

All he needed now was practice and repetition to master it.

He hadn't even had time to work on the jutsu Kenji had given him, or the ones from the old clan head!

"They're pushing me to become a battlefield medic!" Tōji came to this ridiculous conclusion.

Seeing that there was still some daylight left, Tōji headed to his usual river for swimming training… and to catch a fish, half-alive, to practice the 【Healing Palms Technique】 on.

……

"Kazamatsuri Tōji?"

The next morning, just as Tōji woke up and before he could even get out of bed, a masked figure appeared outside his window.

"That's me. Are you an Anbu?" Judging by the attire, Tōji guessed this was an Anbu operative.

"I'm from the Anbu. The Hokage instructed me to deliver this to you." The Anbu pulled out a scroll and tossed it to Tōji.

"Thank you, sir." The moment Tōji caught the scroll, the Anbu had already vanished with Body Flicker.

"What?" Tōji couldn't believe his eyes. "Am I still dreaming?!"

The scroll read that Tōji was to depart for the Land of Seas in three days on a long-term espionage mission…

At this time, the Land of Seas was actually under Konoha's control. Meanwhile, the Land of Waves was effectively occupied by Kirigakure…

In other words, the Land of Seas—at Kirigakure's doorstep—was held by Konoha shinobi, while the Land of Waves—at Konoha's doorstep—was occupied by Kiri-nin!

But Minato planned to negotiate with Kirigakure soon to have both sides withdraw simultaneously—Konoha from the Land of Seas and Kiri from the Land of Waves.

Before that, Minato intended to plant long-term spies in the Land of Seas, disguised as local civilians, to gather intelligence on the Land of Water.

Someone like Tōji—low-profile, fast on his feet, young, nondescript, and capable of Water Release—was actually a perfect fit.

"I turned down the Land of Water mission, and now I get a Land of Seas mission instead…" Tōji wondered if he was still dreaming. Why did he keep ending up tangled with Kiri-nin?!

And if that was the case—how was he supposed to save his family during the Nine-Tails Incident next autumn? How was he supposed to protect Kokubō Genta?

Tōji started to think that he and Minato were simply incompatible. Why else would good opportunities never come his way, while trouble seemed to find him no matter what?