Konoha: The thirty-year-old Uchiha is not motivated.

After Hiruko took Hakimi and Bruce away, Danzo, with a menacing expression, threatened Jiraiya and the others.
"See that? This is the brutal discipline of Root. Are you really ready to join?"

"."

The group, who were worried about the cats and dogs just a moment ago, exchanged complicated glances.
You call this cruel?

Is this department reliable or not?
"Please let us join!"

But for the sake of the welfare and Hiruko, the group did not hesitate and bowed deeply to Danzo in unison.
"I don't know whether to say you are courageous or ignorant."

Sensing the determination of the group, Danzo shook his head with a puzzled expression.

Leaving aside the three disciples who take the wind, even Jiraiya and his two companions are the apple of the monkey's eye and treasures. They will definitely be the backbone of Konoha in the future, and their achievements will not be much less than his.

And yet, instead of pursuing their promising futures, they chose to join Root, a organization burdened with the darkness of Konoha.

From then on, walking outside the bottom line means that a slight misstep could lead to a plunge into an abyss.

"Does Hiruzen know you've come?"

Out of a sense of responsibility, Danzo asked Jiraiya and the others in a deep voice; he didn't want to ruin the monkey's hard work.

"The teacher said it's fine!"

Having anticipated Danzo's question, Tsunade immediately smiled and gave him an "OK" sign.
He said, "Elder Danzo, you will definitely take good care of us!"

"Hmph! Don't think that just because you are disciples of Hiruzen and Torifu, you will receive special treatment. Once you enter the Root, all members are treated equally."

Danzo snorted coldly, his sinister gaze sweeping over the group. Since the monkey had already nodded, it would be impolite for him to be coy any further.

"Logically speaking, adding roots should be subject to comprehensive evaluation."

Upon hearing the word "assessment," the group tensed up instantly, but Danzo's next words brought a smile to their faces.
"But with your level, those unnecessary assessments are meaningless."

But before they could rejoice, Danzo's eyes narrowed, and his tone turned serious.
"I will test your skills in real combat."

"what?"

Seeing the nervous expressions on their faces, Danzo nodded in satisfaction, casually opened a drawer, and took out a hidden mission document.

"This is an extremely dangerous infiltration mission, with a difficulty level comparable to S-rank. If you fail, you won't be coming back."

Jiraiya and the others were shocked upon hearing this, their faces filled with astonishment.

S level!
That's a mission that only the elite Jonin are qualified to take on.

Of these people, apart from Tsunade, who had just been promoted to Jonin, the others were all just rookie Chunin.

Of course, Jiraiya and Orochimaru haven't had time to advance in rank because they were training in the Holy Land, so they still only hold the title of Chunin.
"Are you scared? If you are, go back the way you came, and I can pretend nothing happened."

Danzo was quite satisfied with the reactions of the group. Did these brats really think that his Root organization was some kind of ninja house-playing playground?
The very next second, a brave person stepped forward.
"I accept!"

Kato Dan was still hesitant. He knew his team's level very well; they'd struggle even with an A-rank mission, let alone the legendary S-rank.

"Jiraiya, you..."

But upon hearing Jiraiya's resolute voice, the hesitation in his eyes quickly turned into deep resentment.

Despite being the oldest among the six, she lacked even the courage to face difficulties head-on.
"Idiot, that's an S-rank mission, people can die."

Orochimaru shook his head helplessly, and calmly raised his hand under Jiraiya's indignant gaze.
"I accept that too."

"S-rank? I've never done that before, it must be really interesting!"

Tsunade clapped her fists together, her face full of eager anticipation.

"If we can't even complete an S-rank mission, what right do we have to build a beautiful Konoha!"

After a long silence, Hatake Sakumo raised his hand. The aftereffects of Uchiha Gin's poisonous chicken soup were too strong; the Will of Fire still burned in his eyes.

"A D-rank mission costs 10,000 taels, a C-rank mission costs 50,000 taels, and a B-rank mission... Holy crap, the reward for an S-rank mission must be huge!"

Might Guy, standing to the side, counted on his fingers for a long time, his expression growing more and more excited.

"An S-level mission guarantees a minimum of one million taels of silver."

Kato nodded and stated the reward amount for the S-rank mission.

“I accept!!!”

A dazzling golden light immediately flashed in Matt Day's large eyes beneath his thick eyebrows. How much garbage would he have to sweep to earn that much money?
"you."

Looking at his friends, whose expressions varied but whose goals were aligned, Kato Dan felt a mix of emotions.

"I accept that too."

If he hesitated any longer, he might drift further and further away from his friends, including Tsunade.
"Very good, very energetic!"

Danzo had anticipated their choice. Besides strength, the most important quality for a ninja is the courage to take on challenges.

Like him, even now, he still hasn't forgotten his ambition to become Hokage.

"Don't die, or I won't be able to explain to Hiruzen and Torifu."

After tossing the sealed mission file to them, Danzo stood up and left, leaving behind a towering figure.

Jiraiya and the others couldn't help but feel a deep sense of respect.

"Elder Danzo's buttocks are indeed as large as the legends say."

Only after Danzo's figure had completely disappeared into the darkness did Sakumo Hatake cautiously utter his complaint.
"I heard that it is Elder Danzo's exclusive secret technique, which is similar to Master Torifu's family secret technique."

Kato Dan nodded thoughtfully. They hadn't had much contact with Danzo, but they knew a little about him from Akimichi Torifu.
"We can talk about this later, getting the mission done is the priority!"

Jiraiya shook the file folder in his hand, his expression gradually turning serious.

Although he was impulsive and hot-blooded, he wasn't stupid. Since he accepted this S-rank mission, he naturally had confidence in his abilities. He just didn't know the specifics of this infiltration mission.
If it's a mission to infiltrate another country to steal intelligence, or to assassinate a prominent political figure, he can bring these teammates along.
The real fear is that if they were sent to infiltrate some powerful ninja clan, even all of them combined wouldn't be enough to defeat them.

hiss-

Amidst the anxious gazes of the others, Jiraiya slowly tore open the sealed strip and retrieved a thick stack of mission details.

"This is!?"

The moment they saw the three large characters for "mission objective," their expressions became incredibly interesting.
"Could it be that Elder Danzo gave it to the wrong person?"

After a brief silence, Orochimaru spoke with a strange expression.
"This can be considered an S-rank mission?"

"That should be correct; there's a mission rating section later."

Jiraiya scratched his head, looking troubled, his previous serious expression completely gone.

"Forget about all that, just do it!"

Tsunade, on the other hand, seemed completely unconcerned. She was just here for a summer job; she'd quit and run away once she was done having fun.
"What do you think?"

Turning to look at the three-person team led by Kato Dan, Jiraiya asked.

"Perhaps Elder Danzo had ulterior motives?"

Kato Dan was also somewhat unsure of the significance of this mission, and could only proceed cautiously, taking it one step at a time.

"I happen to have some experience in this area, so infiltrating here shouldn't be a big problem."

While the others were still debating the mission details, Hatake Sakumo had already begun preparing for infiltration.
"Experience? Sakumo, have you done similar missions before?"

Might Guy, who was worrying about the mission, immediately looked at Sakumo Hatake with admiration upon hearing this.

"Yes, I've castrated more pigs than you've ever seen." Hatake Sakumo nodded, then used his hand as a knife to demonstrate the pig castration process to the puzzled men. Watching this, the men felt a sudden urge to tighten.
"Jiraiya! What happened? Was Elder Danzo easy to talk to after all?"

A few minutes later, a group of people with varying expressions emerged from the door. Hiruko, who had been waiting outside for a long time, immediately went to greet them, asking with concern,
"We haven't passed yet. Elder Danzo has assigned us an assessment task."

Looking at Hiruko cradling the cat and dog, Jiraiya shook his head with a complicated expression.

"An assessment task? No problem, I believe Jiraiya and the others can definitely complete it!"

Hiruko blinked, showing no surprise upon hearing the word "assessment." Instead, she raised her little fist to encourage the others.
"You've also experienced assessment tasks?"

Seeing this, Jiraiya couldn't help but ask, "Could it be that my childhood friend has secretly developed into a Kage-level shikigami, capable of independently completing S-rank missions?"
"That's right, everyone who joins the Root must complete their own assessment tasks."

"So what is your mission?"

Upon hearing this, the others tensed up and cast curious glances at Beiruhu.
"I am a long-term mission, and it's not easy!"

When asked about his mission, Hiruko narrowed his eyes, proudly puffed out his chest, and, amidst the puzzled looks of the others, displayed the two cats and dogs curled up on his chest.
"Yes, sir! My task is to take good care of them for Lord Danzo!"

"Huh?"*6
The difference in the tasks is too big, isn't it?
"Don't underestimate this task. I have to scoop Hakimi's poop every day, take Bruce for walks, do fur grooming every three days, and trim his nails every five days."

Hiruko continued to grumble, but the others were no longer listening. After a brief farewell, Jiraiya and the others walked out of the Root's gates in a daze.

Jiraiya glanced back at the Root sign, took a deep breath, and gave instructions to the others.
"Tell everyone to go back and prepare; we'll begin the mission tomorrow."

"Ok."

Since Jiraiya was the first to accept the mission, the others tacitly agreed to take him as the leader, nodding in agreement before turning around and going their separate ways.

As soon as Jiraiya turned around, a figure who had been waiting for him blocked his way.

"Young man, don't leave yet! Come on, Auntie will give you a discount!"

"Ni Zuokai!"

ヽ(#`Д)┌┛〃

Uchiha clan territory
Inside the Nanka River Shrine, the weekly clan meeting is being held.

Uchiha Setsuna, the head elder in charge, sat to the left of the empty clan head's seat, holding a thick stack of manuscripts and speaking fluently.
On the other side, Uchiha Ryōzashi looked drowsy, and even the kneeling Mikoto beside him was dozing off.

"In conclusion, if the Uchiha clan wants to regain its former glory, it needs to focus on three aspects."

"Huhu. Huh."

"Okay, I've covered most of what I needed to say. Everyone should go back and study it carefully. But finally, I'd like to mention one more thing."

"Huhu. Huh."

"Let's leave the main business here and have something to say on a different topic."

"Huhu. Huh."

"Elder Lü Cha!"

"Hoo hoo. Uh! Is the meeting over? Mikoto, wake up!"

Startled awake by an angry voice, Uchiha Ryōzashi groggily wiped the drool from his mouth, popped a snot bubble from his granddaughter's nose, and prepared to go home for dinner.

"Grandpa, can we have red bean dumplings tonight?"

"can."

"Could you also bring one for Young Master Fugaku? He trains very hard!"

"No problem, Misaka is in charge."

Seeing the grandfather and granddaughter acting as if no one else was around, Uchiha Setsuna grimaceed and gritted his teeth, reminding them word by word.
"Elder Silucha, the clan gathering isn't over yet!"

"Huh? Why did you wake me up if it's not over yet?"

Uchiha Lucha frowned slightly, looking at his clansmen below the stage who, like him, had been daydreaming and dozing off. His aged face was filled with displeasure.

Everyone's sleeping soundly, why are you barking like a dog here?
"I've said enough. Elder Lü, you can give a summary."

"I wasn't prepared."

He's just a lazy elder; it's already a big favor that he even attended the clan meeting, let alone gave a speech?
Suppressing his anger, Uchiha Setsuna took a stack of pre-prepared clan meeting summaries from Uchiha Shu, who was secretly sleeping behind sunglasses, and handed them over.

"I've prepared everything for you."

"Too much."

After a quick glance, Uchiha Lucha curled his lip. It was all just rambling, redundancies, devoid of any substance. Reading it would only be a waste of everyone's time.

"My eyesight is bad, and I get dizzy if I look at words for too long."

He immediately made an excuse and threw the summary back.

"Then I'll do it for you."

"No, I see you're tired of talking. It's getting late, how about we summarize it next time?"

Upon hearing that Uchiha Setsuna was about to speak again, Uchiha Ryōshi's face turned green. By the time this guy finished speaking, the Red Bean Dumplings would be ready to pack up and leave.

"OK then"

Turning his head to glance at his clansmen, who were listless after his long-winded speech, Uchiha Setsuna nodded with a hint of reluctance.
"call"

Everyone present breathed a collective sigh of relief upon hearing this, their expressions of pain replaced by joy.

If this continues, those clansmen who haven't yet gained insight will probably soon do so.

"However, before I conclude, I'd like to take one more minute of your time to announce something."

boom!
The moment these words were spoken, the relaxed atmosphere in the room instantly froze, and countless chilling auras surged into the sky.

"My eyes have been opened! I've actually opened my eyes!"

A Uchiha clansman, half-buried in the ground, shakily took out a mirror, pried open his drooping eyelids with his hands, and shouted excitedly.

He was severely injured during a mission when he was young, all the meridians in his body were severed, ending his ninja career. Unexpectedly, he has now experienced a second spring in his life.

"Is this the world of the Sharingan?"

"Mommy, did you see that? I've opened my eyes!"

Several clansmen who were deemed unworthy of awakening their Sharingan, or even having the potential to awaken it, one by one, awakened their first tomoe in their twilight years, becoming a new force within the Uchiha clan.

"Elder Setsuna, I admit defeat, you are the one!"

Seeing the commotion erupting one after another in the arena, Uchiha Ryōshi wore a strange expression and gave Uchiha Setsuna a thumbs-up.

Uchiha Setsuna naturally took Uchiha Ryuzaki's words as sarcasm, and with a livid face, he gave the credit to his bewildered ancestor.
"Ancestors' blessing."

Madara Uchiha is trying to shake off a blue stalker.
"Ah sneeze!!!"

These clansmen who had awakened their Sharingan were all quite old, and Uchiha Lucha was worried that they wouldn't be able to withstand the stimulation of awakening their Sharingan, so he spoke up and suggested...

"Shall we adjourn the meeting and let these older brothers go home and celebrate?"

"Yes, but before that, I want to say one last thing."

boom!
Upon hearing this, the number of people with presbyopia and glaucoma in the room instantly decreased by several pairs.

Sensing the few remaining, feeble bursts of lifeless pupil energy, Uchiha Setsuna's expression remained unchanged. He pulled out a document he had hastily prepared before the meeting and began to speak to himself.
"I'd like to discuss with everyone here the issue of labor shortages at the Uchiha Meat Processing Plant during the holiday." (End of Chapter)