One Last Mission

Arriving back at the camp the first thing he did was ask Junsai to teach him hand to hand combat, as he realized it will be beneficial to learn after using his bracer as a weapon.

Missions weren't that regular, sometimes there would only be one a month, and most only involve a dozen clan shinobi or so. For three months he stopped using Kenjutsu and Ninjutsu completely and just focused on Taijutsu by using the Samehada bracer and his fist.

He completely ignored all Genin besides Tokutomi, Aeko, and the last one named Hiroya. After learning Taijutsu from Junsai he would practice with them, but because of his massive stamina, he'd end up running through all three of them in a day. Due to his stamina allowing him to train longer and Medical Ninjutsu allowing him to heal faster, he progressed quite quickly.

A few weeks after the first mission, he began communicating with Mei and his mother through a falcon. To test if it was really her, he asked her to call him his official name. The next letter addressed him as husband. In the letter, she told him that the seven swords have been reported KIA and the swords MIA. Kiri blamed Konoha for the theft, but they denied it and blamed them for slaughtering their towns.

Tensions between the two nations escalated and now missions are being assigned to the land of fire for retaliation. Zitsu wasn't surprised by this as he knows Ao will meet Shisui Uchiha on one of these missions in around five years.

After getting the basics of Taijutsu down he returned to using his sword. Surprisingly after not using it for so long, he found it easier to wield.

Now that he was using the sword again he asked Ganryu to help him with Kenjutsu and Suiren to help him with his speed.

More Genin joined the team, and more Genin died. Because he was a sensory ninja, and that they found out he was a medical ninja, they never got a new Chunin. Eventually, the team stabilized at three Jonin, Four Chunin, and Five Genin.

In a letter to Mei, he asked her to tell him immediately if she hears about a delegate coming from Suna, that it was of the utmost importance. She asked why but immediately agreed.

With that out of the way he completely focused on training and missions. By the end of the year, he completed around twenty missions, increasing his levels by quite a bit. His Taijutsu increased to 30, Ninjutsu to 31, Genjutsu to 30, and total level to 20. All his points were put into health bring it to 210, allowing him to be twice as durable as a normal human. For his perk points, he saved them all for the level 30 Taijutsu perk [Increase Physical Defence By 5%]. Putting all five points into it, he brought it up to 25%.

His level didn't increase more due to the fact that once his skills hit 30 he stopped getting experience from people with Genin level chakra completely, and only some experience from Chunin. To get his Ninjitsu from 30 to 31 he had to kill around twenty. He doesn't know if its because the clan ninja are of a lower standard, but it wasn't important.

He was able to increase his chakra passed 3000 before his sixth birthday thanks to Samehada, but once it hit 3000 he noticed the rate of increase slowed down. After he turned Six the rate of increase picked up again.

During his second year Suiren, Ganryu, and Junsai left to return to Kiri. Three new Chunin joined, and it was around that time the missions became more dangerous.

They fell into a trap and were ambushed by a group of ten ninjas from a Kekkei Genkai clan. Their ability involved turning their body into mud. The battle was devastating, Captain Fumio, Settan, Nakazo, the new Chunin, Aeko, Hiroya, and the other Genin died.

The journey back to camp with Yaeko and Tokutomi was extremely bitter that day. I was only able to survive because they specialized in earth jutsu that did physical damage. With my defense perk and high health I survived. I learned that as long as my head isn't damaged and heart not pierced, other fatal wounds will not kill me as long as I have health.

As soon as we got back I asked Yaeko to help me improve my swordsmanship. Because we had to wait for new members we didn't have a mission for two months, giving me time to improve. After witnessing all the death I noticed my feelings becoming numb, without the letters from Mei and my mother I may have completely devolved into an animal.

On Earth you see how much letters from home mean to soldiers at war, they keep them for their entire life, and I was no different. Every letter went into my inventory where it would be preserved forever.

One day I received a letter from Mei stating a teenager showed up at the academy wanting to take the graduation exam. Because he never attended any classes they wanted to kick him out of the building, but then he challenged all the students. In the end, he killed them all.

Because of this, Mei was able to convince the higher-ups to end the graduation exam due to the fact that they are in the middle of a civil war and short on Genin. Unable to argue with her reasoning, they abolished the practice.

Eventually, more people joined the team and missions continued. One day he was called to Taskmaster Eishi's tent in the main camp. Because using Body Flicker was prohibited in the cap, he had to walk.

Entering the tent he wasn't sure what was going on, but he soon found out. On June 7th, Six years after his birth, for meritorious service in a time of war, he was promoted to the rank of Chunin.

Because of his sensory skills, medical jutsu, and combat skills he was removed from the raid team and began to move independently. His missions involved finding enemy ninjas moving between bases and kill them for the intel they were carrying. The mission was more dangerous than his last.

But due to operating alone, Samehada came into play. At six years old his height increased to around 3'7'', while the sword was still awkward to wield, his strength increased by a lot. Samehada was also happy to be in its original form from time to time.

Because of the nature of his missions, his leveling speed dropped even more, but there was nothing he could do about it. Every once in a while he sees groups of two or three but they mostly moved alone.

Eventually, he was able to level up to 21. After putting his points into health, he decided to use his perk point to unlock lightning release to counter his weakness to earth. He created shadow clones while he was out on missions to practice the new nature transformation and Kenjutsu.

The months passed and in the middle of October, he received a letter from Mei telling him a Delegate from Suna would arrive February 3rd of next year. Seeing this he knew It was time to leave. He wrote her back to let her know he will return in January.

Making his decision he heads toward the main area of the camp. Arriving outside the taskmaster's tent he takes a deep breath before walking in.

Eishi's face looks more haggard than usual as he sits at his desk, the years of war taking a toll on him. This is only one battlefield and the death count is already so high. Of the twelve main islands in the land of water, five of them are battlefields.

"Zitsu, what can I do for you?" Eishi frowns as he rises to his feet.

"Taskmaster I'm here to retire from the war, there are things I need to do." Deciding not to beat around the bush, he gives it to him straight.

"Haaaa" He releases a long breath "I knew this day would come." He shakes his head "You're a valuable asset, and If I'm not wrong the completion of your second year is still a few months away."

Zitsu's face begins to crumble as he hears his words. Technically he's right, he still has a few months to go, and won't be able to leave until after February.

"But I won't make things difficult for you. Complete one last mission and I will release you." A slight smile creeps on his decrepit face.

"No problem, what do I have to do?" Zitsu agrees Immediately.

"I need you to guard Yongu forest, if they're going to move, it will be through there. We believe they are sending a delegate to request aid for the eastern front." Eishi begins to pace back and forth as he stares at Zitsu.

"We've been sieging their locations for months now and have been able to stop all forms of areal messages. We will be able to wipe them out by the end of December, so before they are wiped out I feel like they will try to sneak people through to request aid." He stops in his tracks, his eyes bore into Zitsu's skull.

"If a messenger gets through, we will be attacked from the back as reinforcements arrive. If you fail hundreds will die."

Zitsu nods heavily "This mission, I will accomplish it."