Chapter 197: A Special Mission—Who Wouldn’t Want to Go?

Just thinking about Kushina's feelings for Takuya made the Third Hokage swallow his words.

If Takuya was willing to retaliate against the Hidden Cloud Village for Kushina, it meant she hadn't chosen the wrong person.

But the problem was Takuya's background... his bloodline...

"Well, I'll leave you to it, old man. You can worry about it yourself," Orochimaru said nonchalantly, seeing right through the Third Hokage's dilemma. He turned and left without a care.

"Captain!!"

The three kids from Takuya quad had just finished a mission and returned to the village, only to see Takuya waiting for them at the gate.

Hyuga Suzune handed over the mission scroll, which Takuya took with a nod.

"I'm going to be leaving the village for a while," Takuya said to them. "I've been assigned a rather special mission. During my absence, focus on your training and improving your skills. As for when we'll regroup as a team, just wait for my notification."

A special mission?

The moment they heard those words, the eyes of all three lit up. It wasn't just the competitive Uchiha Ryoji and the approval-seeking Aida Sui—even Hyuga Suzune's usually calm eyes were filled with anticipation and longing.

There was no doubt—they all hoped Takuya would take them along on this special mission.

"Captain, can you take us with you on this mission?" Uchiha Ryoji asked eagerly.

Aida Sui nodded enthusiastically as well, while Suzune didn't speak, but her eyes gave her away. The young girl clearly wanted to join too.

Special mission? Who wouldn't want to go?

For these kids who hadn't yet stepped outside the village and hadn't seen the harshness of the world, higher-ranked missions were the most exciting thing imaginable.

Takuya looked at their eager faces and his expression turned a bit strange.

"Are you sure you want to go?" he asked.

"Of course!!" they replied.

"Even if this mission is so dangerous that even Jonin has only a one-in-ten chance of survival?" Takuya added.

"Uh..."

They froze.

Wait...

Was this still a special mission? Or was it more like a suicide mission?

What kind of mission had such a terrifying death rate, where even Jonin was unlikely to come back alive?

This was no special mission; this was practically a death sentence.

In fact, the mission truly was one where most Jonin would meet their doom. Only those with exceptional skills had any chance of survival.

Sneaking into the Hidden Cloud Village and targeting their jinchūriki? The difficulty level of this mission was off the charts.

Most shinobi wouldn't even dare think about it.

In such a mission, what good was Jonin? They'd likely be wiped out.

"Do you still want to go?" Takuya asked with a grin, looking at their stunned faces. "Come on, you were so confident just now. What happened?"

"Captain, you're joking, right? Haha..." Aida Sui laughed awkwardly.

Ryoji's face kept shifting between determination and hesitation, while Suzune stayed silent, clearly conflicted.

She was trying to figure out whether Takuya was just trying to scare them, maybe to discourage them from coming along.

Shaking his head, Takuya dropped his smile and spoke seriously: "I'm not joking, and I don't make jokes about things like this. This mission is extremely dangerous. Even Jonin can die easily on it. If you don't believe me, you're welcome to come along. Just don't expect me to guarantee how many of you will make it back."

"Uh, no thanks! We'll just wait here in the village for you, Captain," Aida Sui said, immediately backing down.

Uchiha Ryoji hung his head too.

As much as he wanted to argue back, Takuya had no reason to lie to them.

If they didn't believe him, they could go along and see for themselves. If they died, well... they'd have no one else to blame.

On a regular mission, Takuya could prioritize protecting them.

But on this kind of mission? Sorry, if you die, that's on you.

"Stay here and wait for me to come back. I can't bring you along for this mission, and I'm sorry for that. But once I return, I'll take you all out to see the world. We'll tackle some higher-ranked missions," Takuya said, patting Hyuga Suzune's head and painting a promising picture for the three of them.

And it wasn't an empty promise. Takuya genuinely planned to take them out beyond the village, to show them the harsh realities of the world.

He wanted them to stop daydreaming about becoming instant heroes and the next Hokage.

The truth was, all those thoughts were just fantasies.

Besides...

Ryoji and Aida causing a fuss was one thing, but why was Suzune joining in?

Didn't she realize her unique position?

But why did she always blush every time he touched her head?

Takuya made a mental note to be more cautious next time. Maybe it was a sensitive spot or something.

With a glance at Suzune's flushed face, Takuya waved them off. "Alright, that's it for now. Head home and rest. I'll notify you when the team regroups. In the meantime, if you can't sit still, feel free to take on some standard missions together."

"Sigh... If only Captain would take us with him..." Aida Sui lamented as Takuya walked away.

"Are you crazy? Captain said it himself—if we went, it'd be a death sentence! Do you really think Captain would joke about something like that?" Ryoji snapped.

"And how do you know he wasn't just trying to scare us?" Aida shot back.

"Ugh, I'm not wasting my breath on you. Captain's an Uchiha—he wouldn't stoop to lying." Ryoji turned his head proudly and walked off, as if continuing the conversation was beneath him.

"..."

Aida Sui was left speechless.

Even Hyuga Suzune gave him a strange look before shaking her head and walking away.

Why are they both treating me like this?

Left feeling both insulted and misunderstood, Aida's anger was reaching its boiling point. His young face twisted in frustration.

After parting ways with his team, Takuya found Kushina and reminded her, "I'm leaving the village tomorrow for a special mission. Stay alert while I'm gone and don't wander around. The village uncovered some Hidden Cloud spies, and it seems they're planning to abduct you."

"What?!"

Kushina's eyes flared with anger, her hair even lifting slightly as if on fire. "Those bastards think they can come after this old lady?!"

"..."

Seeing Kushina so fired up, Takuya couldn't help but think that maybe he should talk to Tsunade about not using the phrase "this old lady" so often.

Kushina's already picked it up!

And her temper had gotten noticeably worse too. She was starting to resemble Tsunade more and more.

"Don't worry, Takuya," Kushina assured him. "I'll stay right here. If those Hidden Cloud fools come looking for trouble, I'll make them regret it!"

Heh heh!

That big fox promised me that if anyone tried to harm me, it'd step in and help.

So if they want to die, they're welcome to try.

Although Kushina hadn't earned the Nine-Tails' full approval, the fox had begrudgingly agreed to a few terms after their last incident.

One of those terms was that if she found herself in danger, it would step in to help.

Unfortunately, she only had three chances.

No matter how much Kushina begged, the Nine-Tails refused to grant her anymore.

So if the Hidden Cloud shinobi dared to attack, they might not face Kushina alone, but the fearsome orange chakra of the Nine-Tails itself.

**********

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