70 Chapter – 70: 'First' time going out of Konoha

[Rei POV]

"Another failure…" he sighs.

On the other hand, I am completely lost in my own world; busy finding answers.

'A.I chip, display all objectives that might threaten the lives of innocent people…'

[Beep! Please define the search parameter 'Innocent'…]

'Mmmm, anyone who is not a shinobi and hasn't involved in anything illegal yet or in the future according to my canon knowledge…'

[Beep! Searching… please wait…]

[Found 2 objectives that match the criteria… ]

[1. Create chakra fruit 2. Trials to turn a civilian into Otsutsuki descendent]

'Delete objective #1, and modify objective #2 to civilian shinobi,' I say.

[Beep! 1… 2… 3… Done!]

"Hmph… I have always been careful it seems…" I exhale with relief. It feels as if a huge burden's been lifted off of me. Coincidentally, Orochimaru's experiment fails, making it seem as if I am sighing with him.

"So, you are here to work with me I presume?" he asks.

"Actually, No!" I shake my head. If it were a few minutes before, I would have definitely said yes, but now I have changed my mind as staying here might lead to me crossing my own bottom line, "I thought about it for a long time, I think I am better researching them on my own. So, how about you give me some Hashirama cells, and I will keep my mouth shut. Anyway, from what I see, you don't seem to lack those…"

"Hiss…" he thinks for some time, "I can give you the cells, but I want you to promise me that you will sell your research data to me if it succeeds… you don't have to worry about the price…"

'An empty promise, ha? why not? let me try to fish for some benefits…' I think.

After a few seconds, "If you can give me something substantial right away, then I don't mind!"

"Oh, do you have anything specific in mind?" he asks.

"Along with Hashirama's cell, do you happen to have some of Uchiha Madara's as well?" I ask with a smile.

"No… hiss…" to my surprise, he gives me a direct answer, "I did try to look for it… but Tobirama seems to have been very good at cleaning them up…"

"How did you come by Hashirama's cells by the way?" I ask curiously.

"Someone I know was present when Hashirama fought and he had witnessed the great power of wood release. After that day, he started looking for ways to acquire that power for himself… and when one starts to look for answers, he is bound to get his hands on some related stuff…"

"Anyway, I don't have Madara's cells, so I cannot help you there… hiss…" he says.

'Danzo, ha? no surprise there… but that guy sure has a crap ton of luck to come by these cells…' I guess, 'what should I do? both the Valley of the End and Orochimaru's didn't have Madara's cells… guess I don't have any other option but to try after Madara's death?'

"Mmmm, okay then, how about this? you give me your trial results so that I won't have to repeat them again… and in return, I will hand you mine if I succeed…"

This time he doesn't give his response right away because Hashirama cells, although worth a lot, he has them and he can continuously grow them clinically. Therefore, it isn't much of a hard decision to hand it over to me in return for a promise to provide him more research data; even with an empty one, he is not suffering much of a loss. His tests however have to be kept confidential. What if he has already found the answer but hasn't realized it yet? wouldn't that just be him handing out his secrets to someone else for nothing?

"No… that is not possible as well…"

I look at him pensively for a few seconds and start to think, 'For now, his technique isn't perfect, only after he brings in Shin and creates that right hand for Danzo will it be of any use to me… what else do I need? well, I don't have to ask him for something right away… so…'

"Okay, let me take a step back, how about you give me the cells and I will contact you if I am successful? we can decide the price then…"

"Deal!" he smiles creepily.

'With this, I have a clear path to Rinnegan! The only thing left for me to do is find Madara's cells…'

…

Days pass, Two weeks later, 8 AM Training ground #11.

In the last two weeks, I have been coming here every day at 6 to practice with my genin team. Usually, we practice till 9 or 10 and after getting something to eat, we do some odd missions like delivering mail, looking after Inuzuka ninken, etc. One thing is common in all of the missions we did in the last couple of weeks, that is all of them were inside the boundaries of Konoha.

Some days ago, when I asked why, Inoichi had said that outside the village is getting more and more dangerous and it is not safe for new teams to venture out very far; especially for newbie teams like theirs, and according to him, it isn't just Konoha, all hidden villages are being very careful with their genins! Today it should be different. Because yesterday, Inoichi canceled today's practice session and instead told us to gather here by 8 and said that he had something to announce.

So here I am, waiting for my team to arrive. A few minutes later, all of my teammates, including Inoichi, arrive one after the other. After a short hello, Inoichi comes directly to the reason he called use here, "In the last two weeks, we have completed fifteen D Rank missions with a hundred percent completion rate! Even Hokage-sama is impressed by our record and he thinks we are ready for a more challenging mission; a C Rank mission! I haven't accepted it yet as I want to hear your opinions…" before Kazuma could shout his answer, Inoichi continues, "Before agreeing, think about it for a minute… a C Rank mission will definitely be outside the village and it might get very dangerous while we are out there…"