Inside the Hokage's office, the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, sat behind his desk, his gaze sweeping across the five elite young Konoha shinobi standing before him.
Sarutobi Hiruzen could not help sighing. The new generation of Konoha was already about to become young adults.
"The core objective of this mission is to reinforce Uzushiogakure, which is under siege. In addition, if conditions allow, you must safely bring back a group of Uzumaki infants to Konoha."
Sarutobi Hiruzen slowly said with a pipe in his mouth.
Bringing back infants was absolutely not done purely out of sympathy. More than that, it was for Konoha's long-term future.
Uzumaki Mito's condition was getting worse day by day, and Konoha urgently needed to decide on the next Nine-Tails jinchuriki.
Even though the Uzumaki Clan possessed a naturally long-lived bloodline.
Konoha's future still could not be gambled on the lifespan of one person alone.
They had to make complete preparations in advance.
The Senju Clan had already fully integrated into Konoha. It was difficult to find a suitable candidate within the clan now, so they could only turn their attention toward the Land of Whirlpools, which shared the same bloodline.
Hearing this, all five immediately nodded.
Sarutobi Hiruzen's gaze slowly swept across everyone before he finally announced in a deep voice, "Arisu will serve as the captain of this squad. All actions on site will be decided entirely by him."
"Do any of you object?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at Arisu, his tone carrying a bit of a smile and complete trust.
"I agree!"
Tsunade was the first to respond. She then looked at Arisu with a smile, her eyes full of approval for him.
She clearly supported Arisu becoming captain.
"I agree as well."
Orochimaru slightly nodded, his expression calm.
In his view, among the five of them, only Arisu possessed both the charisma to win everyone's trust and intelligence no weaker than his own. There was no one more suitable to lead the team.
"Agreed.", Hatake Sakumo spoke briefly and directly.
Among the five, Arisu's strength was unquestionably the greatest. Having the strongest person lead the squad was already an iron rule in the ninja world.
Only Jiraiya showed hesitation.
Even now, he still had not recovered any memories related to Arisu, so he naturally had some concerns. But seeing the other three trust Arisu without question, he could only nod along.
"I have no objections."
"Alright then."
Seeing this, Arisu felt a bit helpless inside.
Looks like he had made his character setting too perfect before, which was why everyone trusted and admired him so much.
"In that case, let's depart."
After taking over as captain, the five immediately prepared and set out.
———
[Land Of Whirlpools]
After traveling through the night and enduring the rough sea journey, the five-man squad finally landed on the island and arrived at the war-torn Land of Whirlpools.
At this moment, Uzushiogakure had already been completely blockaded by the Hidden Mist Village and various ninja clans working together.
Guard posts were everywhere, and danger filled the air. The five could not approach recklessly and could only first look for a place nearby to stay.
However, because of the war, the towns along the way were already nearly deserted, and most inns had closed down.
After searching around, the five finally could only temporarily stay in a Six Paths Temple on the outskirts of town.
———
[Inside The Six Paths Temple]
Arisu held several incense sticks and respectfully offered incense to the portrait of the Sage of Six Paths.
"Sage of Six Paths, please bless us as we temporarily stay in your temple."
"Please bless us so we can successfully complete this mission.", Arisu respectfully said.
Then Arisu looked at the portrait of himself. While keeping a respectful appearance, he bowed slightly while internally finding it hard to hold back.
Behind him, Hatake Sakumo, Orochimaru, Tsunade, and Jiraiya also respectfully offered incense and worshipped the Sage of Six Paths one after another.
Even Orochimaru wore a respectful and devout expression.
Seeing this scene, Arisu rubbed his forehead.
Just as everyone finished offering incense and started chatting around the campfire.
Arisu suddenly noticed several fresh oranges placed on the offering table in the Six Paths Temple.
"Nice, nice, nice. Which mortal placed these oranges here? They actually knew I like oranges. Reward worthy."
Arisu immediately walked over. While no one was paying attention, he directly grabbed a few oranges, peeled them, and swallowed them one by one.
There was no problem with eating his own offerings.
Soon, several oranges were gone, leaving only one.
Arisu thought for a moment and glanced outside.
———
"Here, everyone, eat some oranges."
Arisu lightly split the orange peel with his fingertips, and the golden slices spread open with a sweet scent.
Arisu casually handed the orange slices to everyone, then stuffed the largest remaining slice into his own mouth and chewed heavily.
Everyone subconsciously reached out to take them, their fingertips still carrying the faint fragrance of orange peel.
Tsunade took a bite and suddenly raised her brows strangely. "Huh? Arisu, you specially brought oranges on a mission?"
Arisu shook his head, his tone so straightforward it was ridiculous as he honestly replied, "Didn't bring any. I just took them from the offering table."
"Pfft!"
Orochimaru nearly spat out the orange slice he had just put into his mouth. His throat bobbed twice before he barely swallowed it.
The orange slice in Jiraiya's hand froze in midair, his eyes wide as bells.
Hatake Sakumo's hand holding the orange slice also paused, disbelief appearing on his face.
"Arisu!"
Tsunade put her hands on her hips, both annoyed and amused as she poked his arm. "Those are offerings for the Sage of Six Paths! How can you casually take them? Did the Sage of Six Paths say he agreed?"
Arisu shrugged indifferently and stuffed another orange slice into his mouth, speaking unclearly while chewing, "He didn't say he disagreed either."
Arisu: 'Kids, I have no objections.'
Everyone froze for a moment, then burst into laughter.
The solemn atmosphere of the small temple was instantly washed away by the laughter. Everyone stopped holding back and happily peeled oranges to eat.
Everyone chatted while warming themselves by the campfire.
Laughter and cheerful voices drifted through the hall, and the atmosphere was especially harmonious.
Jiraiya sat to the side, holding an untouched orange slice in his hand, with a somewhat stiff smile on his face.
Just now, everyone had been chatting enthusiastically. He could not join in on any of the jokes or unspoken understanding between them.
The people and events they talked about were completely unfamiliar to him.
Throughout the journey together, Arisu had always treated others openly and warmly, and he had been very polite to Jiraiya as well.
But no matter how hard Jiraiya searched through his memories, turning his mind upside down, he could not remember ever meeting such a person, nor could he recall any interaction between them.
A faint unease rose in his heart. After thinking it over, he could only blame it on something going wrong during his Sage training at Mount Myoboku last time, causing him to lose this important part of his memory.
Looks like after this mission ends, he absolutely had to return to Mount Myoboku immediately and ask Sage Fukasaku clearly about it.
What if he forgot Orochimaru? Forgot his adoptive father? Forgot Grandpa Kakuzu? What then?
That would not do!
Everyone spent the night inside the Six Paths Temple.
The next day, Arisu immediately made a plan.
Spreading open the map.
"To be safe, we won't split up. We'll move together. First, we'll cooperate with the Uzumaki Clan and attack the shinobi besieging Uzushiogakure from both inside and outside. After that, we'll try rescuing the Uzumaki infants.", Arisu explained in detail.
Everyone nodded, showing no objections.