Chapter 81 Leaving the Village.

The sky was just beginning to lighten, slightly vague and unclear. Even the rising sun had only revealed a small corner, making the eastern horizon float with the whiteness of a fish's belly, and the earth gradually brightened up.

At the entrance to the Uchiha clan's residence, beneath the red torii gate, three young boys and girls were gathered together. These were the three members of Team Fuyushirou, preparing to carry out a mission outside the village.

Unlike most task squads that liked to gather at the main gate of Konoha Village, the all-Uchiha Team Shigezumi had chosen to gather at the entrance of their family's residence. Although this was convenient for the team members, it also brought about some different consequences.

"Kaa-san! Don't worry! It's just a small mission, and with Teacher Shigezumi leading us, there's absolutely no problem!" Uchiha Tetsu, just over ten years old, was unexpectedly sent off by his mother and was a little bit shy. "I'm not a child anymore; I can take care of myself. You can rest assured!"

Tetsu, still a bit awkward from his encounter with a single mother he met once before with Fuyushirou, stood a distance away from the other two, explaining to his mother that this mission was just a small C-level task, completely without danger. He was trying to reassure her not to worry too much about him going out to perform the mission.

"Besides, after two weeks of special training, I'm completely different now. My current skills are much stronger. Even facing a Chunin, it would be completely fine!"

Tetsu reassured his mother while patting his chest, showing a carefree attitude and making grand promises. However, he didn't notice that when he mentioned facing a Chunin, his mother's worried face turned even grayer, with deep concern in her eyes, unable to be hidden.

"Tetsu! Promise me, when you're on the mission, listen to Teacher Shigezumi's commands and get along with your teammates. Don't act recklessly on your own…" His single mother, well aware of his rash nature and uneasy about his safety, hugged her ten-year-old son whose height already reached her shoulder and whose face resembled her late husband, repeatedly admonishing him with tears streaming down.

She was genuinely afraid, worried that her son might end up like his father, who went out on a mission after saying goodbye and never returned, leaving only his forehead protector and a death notice, with not even his body found. In this world of ninjas, where she hadn't become one, her status was relatively low. A traditionally-minded woman of a somewhat timid nature, she couldn't stop her son from becoming a ninja.

Now, she deeply regretted not firmly rejecting her son's wish to become a ninja. "Promise me, Tetsu, you must, must come back safe! Mom is all you have left!"

Hugging her son tightly, she repeated her wishes while tears uncontrollably flowed, wetting the teenager's shoulder. Facing this sudden outburst of emotion from his mother, the young Uchiha Tetsu stiffened, never having experienced such a situation, and was at a loss for what to do, standing there woodenly while his mother vented her emotions.

Feeling his mother's unease, the boy finally murmured after a long while to comfort her: "Don't worry, Kaa-san. I will definitely come back safely and not leave you alone!"

Sensing his mother's unrelenting worry, the usually carefree boy unexpectedly behaved considerately, gently patting his mother's back, saying: "This time's mission is just dealing with some regular bandits who don't even know how to use chakra. There's no danger at all!"

He knew that just a few words of comfort wouldn't ease his mother's worries, so disregarding the mission's confidentiality rules, he revealed part of the mission details to her. The danger level between facing ninja or samurai who could use chakra and regular people was as different as heaven and earth.

Seeing his mother's mood improve slightly after learning about the mission, Uchiha Tetsu let out a big sigh of relief, not caring about revealing mission info. Standing nearby, Fuyushirou and Homura, with their keen ninja senses and hearing, heard their teammate leak part of the mission details to a non-mission personal and didn't have any intention to stop or report him; this was the advantage of teaming up with family members.

Everyone in the same clan wouldn't get someone in trouble over something trivial. In other ordinary ninja squads, Uchiha Tetsu's act of leaking mission information would be extremely dangerous. Just one report from a teammate could bring plenty of trouble, from being taken for a long ideological lesson by the ANBU or Root, depending on if your instructor vouches for you.

If unfortunate, having a dark-hearted or socially awkward instructor could lead to becoming cannon fodder, dying silently in some mission. The ninja profession, focused on killing, is pretty harsh, unlike the warm sentiments portrayed on TV. This is why, when the 'White Fang Incident' burst out, Fuyushirou immediately suspected someone was behind it after hearing the news.

In the ninja profession, information confidentiality is paramount. The fact that even high-level ninja like 'Sakumo Hatake' faced mission failure with significant losses, and such info got leaked, speaks of the involved conspiracy. If there wasn't any trickery or someone stirring things behind the scenes, that would be the real oddity.