Revitalizing the Uchiha clan starts with becoming a Kage.

286. On-the-spot analysis and attitude issues

Jiang Si chuckled and shook his head.

In the ninja world, acquiring a headband from a ninja village is not an easy task, but it's not particularly difficult either. Not to mention that this thing can be forged, there are a large number of corpses of ninjas who died in the Third Shinobi World War that are difficult for their respective villages to recover. The 'legacy' on these people will be discovered and divided up.

A few headbands from the Grass Ninjas really don't mean anything.

Therefore, this can only be described as a suspicion, not a certainty. While the five great ninja villages are not particularly interested in the meteorite from outer space known as the 'Star Stone' that Hoshigakure possesses, the smaller ninja villages are quite covetous of it. This special energy body, which can be used to quickly train ninjas and enhance their personal strength, will inevitably arouse the greed of others to some extent. Kusagakure is geographically not too far from Hoshigakure, so it has both the motive and the ability to commit the crime.

Despite Hoshigakure's constant boasting that it is a powerful force comparable to the Five Great Shinobi Villages, and its leader even daring to call himself the 'Star Shadow,' some of the village's higher-ups, especially the so-called Third Hoshigakure, are well aware that, let alone the Five Great Shinobi Villages, even the most well-known small and medium-sized Shinobi Villages in the ninja world could easily defeat them. At its peak, Hoshigakure's ninja population was only approaching four figures, and its number of Jonin was extremely limited. Kusagakure, on the other hand, was once a powerful force in the ninja world, second only to the Five Great Nations.

If the Hidden Grass Village really wanted to seize the Star Stone from their own village, they would have a hard time resisting. That's why, the moment the Hidden Star Village headband was discovered, the leader of the Hidden Star Village, who called himself the Third Hokage, immediately came to the Hidden Stone Village to issue a special protection mission!

Not only are the rewards for B-level tasks published, but it is also specifically noted that if the difficulty increases, the rewards can be paid according to the standards for A-level tasks, depending on the specific circumstances.

Even though it's a small ninja village, Hoshigakure can still afford the reward for just an A-rank mission!

As for whether the Third Hoshigakure had considered whether the ninja sent by Iwagakure could successfully complete the mission, there was no need to worry at all. No matter how strong Kusagakure was, it was only relative to Hoshigakure. The number of Jonin in Kusagakure was just as high. As long as Iwagakure sent a team led by a Jonin to carry out the mission according to the requirements, there was no need to worry about the difficulty at all.

Moreover, what this Third Hokage valued was the identity of the Iwagakure ninja, not anything else. Otherwise, in terms of reward, the Sunagakure in the south would have been the most suitable. This was thanks to the great success that Shoji led the Iwagakure in the 'Iwagakure War' half a year ago. As for Konoha and Kumogakure, they were too far away, and this Third Hokage did not even consider them.

Besides, it might not actually be Kusagakure Village.

These are all just speculations at the moment, otherwise the mission difficulty wouldn't have been rated as a mere B-level. After all, if it were confirmed that a large-scale Grass Ninja organization would be involved, the mission difficulty would start at A-level!

"Oh, just two headbands? Then it seems most likely to be an ordinary enemy? Or even some wandering group? That's definitely a regular B-rank mission."

Heitu nodded, speaking in a very relaxed tone.

Although B-rank missions involve ninjas, as mentioned before, orthodox ninjas from ninja villages are far superior to wandering ninjas. The latter have never undergone formal ninja training. From the initial chakra sensing and refining to the later self-training, they have to figure everything out on their own!

Such a ninja is at best an ordinary genin, and could not possibly be that strong, so Kurotsuchi naturally wouldn't take him seriously.

"Hmph! Watch my wording, it's 'suspected,' meaning the probability is about 50/50. If it were that easy, why would Hoshigakure issue a mission? Besides, even if it really is just an ordinary wandering ninja, Kurotsuchi, have you forgotten what you learned at the Ninja Academy? Ninjas must always be vigilant and rational, no matter when or where. Any carelessness or slackness will cost you your life. Even a lion needs to go all out to hunt a rabbit! Do I need to repeat this principle?"

However, just as Heitu finished speaking...

The leading officer also suddenly turned his gaze, looking at Hei Tu in the left rear position with a slightly serious expression, and said in a low voice.

Hearing Jiang Si's obviously angry criticism, especially when he met Jiang Si's extremely solemn gaze, Kurotsuchi subconsciously felt a jolt in her heart and couldn't help but shrink her little head back.

"Yes, General Sisang!"

This made Heitu speak more cautiously, after all, this was the first time he had seen his captain get angry in the past month or so.

She's completely different from before.

This also made Kurotsuchi, Deidara, and Itachi realize that their captain still had a temper. He didn't care at all about things that weren't matters of principle, but if it involved matters of principle, even the slightest mistake would likely not be tolerated by Shoji.

"Good to know. Remember, caution is the way of a ninja's survival!"

Seeing that Kurotsuchi had indeed realized his mistake, Jiang Si's expression softened considerably. It was precisely because he valued them so much that he didn't want these three to make any basic mistakes. No matter how talented a person is, even if they grow very quickly, they still have a growth period. If they are not careful, even a genius can die young!

The commander must constantly remind these three little ones in his team.

Itachi is a little better off, but Kurotsuchi and Deidara are the main targets of our surveillance.

A slightly stricter approach is actually the most appropriate. Children at this age are easily swayed by small achievements and need to be disciplined at set intervals.

"There are two key points to this mission. One is to identify who the enemy is, and the other is to determine the enemy's intentions. As for the 'Star Stone,' it's only a high probability, not a 100% certainty. Just like before, you'll be responsible for these tasks. I won't intervene unless absolutely necessary. You must always maintain the most rational and calm mindset to face this situation. Do you understand?"

With a serious expression, Jiang Si looked at the three little ones and said...

"Yes, General Sisang!"

Itachi, Kurotsuchi, and Deidara responded at the same time.

Especially Heitu, judging from his expression, he has indeed become much more respectful.

This made Jiang Si nod in satisfaction.

We are not afraid of difficult tasks, nor are we afraid of strong opponents.

What we often fear is not being able to see ourselves clearly, and then making a basic mistake. This is the most fatal mistake a ninja cannot afford to make!

287. The Land of Bears, Hidden Star Village (Third Update)

P.S.: I recommend a book by an author friend. Unlike me, this author is a true Naruto fanfic writer. He has written fanfics about Minato, Itachi, and Hashirama Senju. His new book is about the young Jiraiya, titled "The New Tale of Konoha's Heroes." If you're interested, check it out! It's already over 100,000 words long, so get ready to devour it!

They sped along, heading slightly southwest.

As one of the small countries in the ninja world, the Land of Bears is actually in a very bad geographical position. It is sandwiched between two large countries, the Land of Earth to the north and the Land of Wind to the south. To the east and west are small and medium-sized countries such as the Land of Demons, the Land of Birds, and the Land of Rain. Once a war starts, the Land of Bears will be in a very difficult position, like a sandwich filling.

However, this is the norm for small countries to survive in the ninja world. At least the Land of Bears is a country with its own ninja village, and in a general international environment, it can be considered to have a certain degree of self-protection ability.

In the past few years, the high-ranking officials of the Land of Bears have tried every means to support their own Hoshigakure village. They don't aspire to reach the level of the Five Great Ninja Villages, but if it can become stronger and rival Amegakure and Takigakure at their peak, the daimyo, nobles and dignitaries of the Land of Bears will be very satisfied.

But even this is something they can't do. Amegakure only became a little stronger after producing Hanzo the Salamander, while Takigakure had a prosperous past for a period of time. Otherwise, the First Hokage wouldn't have assigned a Tailed Beast to Takigakure.

That's because in that era, Takigakure's overall strength was the strongest among the Five Great Ninja Villages. At its peak, the number of ninjas reached four or five thousand. Although it was only a little over a quarter of the peak average strength of the Five Great Ninja Villages, it was really impressive and powerful compared to other ninja villages!

Combined with the seven tails that were assigned to them.

To put it bluntly, Takigakure at its peak could rival Sunagakure during its decline. Don't think, "That's all?" You should know that in the vast ninja world, Takigakure is the only village besides the Five Great Nations that has the qualifications to do so. Even Amegakure, led by Hanzo of the Salamander, would have a hard time.

Then you'll know how profound the heritage of Takigakure Village is.

If it weren't for the massive internal turmoil that Takigakure experienced thirty or forty years ago, which resulted in the deaths of a large portion of its core forces, during the period of Sunagakure's decline, they would have been qualified to threaten Sunagakure's status as one of the Five Great Ninja Villages. Of course, they were only qualified to threaten it.

Therefore, it's not fair to say that the nobles and politicians of the Land of Bears hope that Hoshigakure can become like Amegakure or Takigakure. It's more like wishful thinking. Geography, culture, environment, and most importantly, the supply of resources greatly limit the development of Hoshigakure!

Even at its peak, Hoshigakure's ninja population never exceeded a thousand, and its number of Jonin was extremely limited. What right did Hoshigakure have to claim to have developed to the level of Amegakure or Takigakure? Let alone be on par with the Five Great Ninja Villages. This is why, in this mission, when there was a high probability that it would involve the entire Kusagakure village, the so-called Third Hoshikage directly ordered a special envoy to be dispatched to Iwagakure to issue the corresponding escort mission.

He himself was well aware that with the current strength of Hoshigakure, it would be difficult to resist the invasion of Kusagakure. If the other side was really determined to go all out, that was impossible, but sending three or four Jonin and leading dozens of elite troops was still possible.

Such a force is enough to threaten the very survival of Hoshigakure. Even though Hoshigakure still has two or three hundred ninjas, almost all of them are genin, and the number of chunin is very small. As for jonin, including the Third Hoshikage himself, there are only a handful. And the Third Hoshikage himself knows best whether there are any exaggerations in this number.

Seeking assistance from outside is also our duty.

The reason Jiang Si chose this mission was firstly because he felt he could handle the situation perfectly well and didn't need to worry about any unexpected situations that he couldn't manage. Secondly, it was because of that 'star stone'. If possible, Jiang Si wanted to observe and study it up close to see what kind of existence this extraterrestrial meteorite with mysterious power was.

After crossing the border directly into the Land of Bears, it took Shoji less than two days to lead his three little ones to the vicinity of Hoshigakure, a village nestled in a deep valley in the northern region of the Land of Bears.

Having been notified in advance, Hoshigakure dispatched a Hoshigakure ninja named Akahoshi to greet them. This was because the area where Hoshigakure was located contained a special canyon where strangers could easily perish if they fell in.

Generally speaking, you'll definitely need someone familiar with the area to guide you.

"Are you from Iwagakure (Hidden Stone Village)?"

Although they had already seen the four members of the group dressed as Iwa ninja, the visitor still asked a question out of courtesy.

"Yes, I am the Jonin leading the team, and these three are my subordinates. This mission issued by your village will be carried out by our team."

Jiang Si nodded slightly and looked at the young star ninja named Akahoshi in front of him, replying softly.

"Please come this way."

Although this young Star Ninja did not recognize Shoji, his ability to maintain a humble and composed attitude in the face of the currently powerful Iwagakure village is enough to show that this Star Ninja named Akahoshi has a very good mentality. Of course, it is also possible that it is just pure arrogance, after all, they call their leader Star Shadow.

As Shoji walked behind Akahoshi with Itachi, Deidara, and Kurotsuchi, a sudden flash of inspiration struck him as he looked at the star ninja's long, light purple hair and recalled some scenes from the original story.

'Oh, so it's this person?'

This wasn't part of the main storyline, and he was just a minor character, so it's normal that I didn't remember him before. But now that I'm seeing the 'main character', I naturally recall this part of the original story.

If I remember correctly, this Star Ninja named Akahoshi will join forces with some people in the Hidden Star Village to murder the incumbent Third Hoshikage and become the acting leader of the village. However, according to the original story, that will happen several years later.

'Could it be that in this life, the Hidden Grass Village? The Hidden Star Village? The Red Hoshi Village? Perhaps there really is some connection?'

As Jiang Si watched Akahoshi's retreating figure, his gaze became profound.

After traversing the deep valley, the group entered the flat land where Xingyin Village was located, and the main features of Xingyin Village came into view.

have to say.

Although the Five Great Ninja Villages are called 'villages', each one is more like a 'giant city' than the last!

The sheer number of people each village can accommodate—almost hundreds of thousands—is enough to illustrate just how magnificent the five great ninja villages are.

But the Hidden Star Village in front of us truly lived up to its name as a 'small village'!

288. Who do you think you are?!

Not only are there no magnificent buildings, but there are also none.

Even the size of the village seemed to be so small that you could see the end of it at a glance. Itachi and Deidara hadn't shown anything special yet, but Kurotsuchi's previous excitement had vanished completely when she stepped into Hoshigakure. This was Kurotsuchi's first time visiting another ninja village, but she really didn't expect there to be such a dilapidated ninja village.

This scale is probably less than one percent of our own ninja village's, right? If we include our own ninja village's training grounds, the gap might widen even further.

A ninja village with a population of only one or two thousand and a number of only two or three hundred ninjas can't be expected to be big. Let's not even talk about quality. Just in terms of quantity, there are many ninja clans in the ninja world that would crush Hoshigakure.

That's all? Some Star Ninja even boast of being comparable to the Five Great Ninja Villages, and their leader is called the 'Star Shadow'.

can only say.

Ignorance and arrogance are the greatest original sins.

As Jiang Si calmly strode forward, he secretly pondered to himself.

It didn't take long; it was only a minute or two's walk from the main entrance, and Akahoshi led Shoji and his group to the flat-bottomed building that was called 'Star Shadow Tower'.

"My apologies! The lords of Iwagakure have arrived, Lord Hoshikage!"

Akahisa stood outside the door, bowing slightly, and spoke with a hint of respect.

'? '

This immediately attracted the attention of Deidara, Kurotsuchi, and Itachi, who were standing nearby.

'Star Shadow?'

The subtle mockery that Deidara and Kurotsuchi subconsciously revealed caused even Itachi to furrow his brow slightly at that moment.

You should know that the title of "Kage" is a title that is generally recognized in the ninja world as being reserved only for the leaders of the five great ninja villages!

Now, a mere Hidden Star Village dares to call its leader 'Kage'?

If it weren't for the fact that Shoji was still standing calmly to the side, not saying much, Kurotsuchi and Deidara would have already spoken up and mocked him. Now they could only hold back for the time being, after all, they had to put the captain first and the mission first.

"Please come in!"

Jiang Si didn't really care. If people wanted to play house behind closed doors and have some fun, that was their freedom. As long as it didn't interfere with them, Jiang Si didn't bother to say anything. There were too many people in this world who weren't thinking straight, and Jiang Si didn't have the time to teach them a lesson one by one.