"All in all, that's the situation…"
Half an hour later.
Inside the Hokage's office.
The Third Hokage exhaled a puff of smoke and looked at Yuhi Kurenai, who had been summoned.
"This is an S-rank mission. I'll be counting on you, Kurenai."
"This is what I should do!"
Yuhi Kurenai nodded seriously.
Thinking of her best friend Anko, she asked, "However, Hokage-sama, for this mission, am I allowed to form my own team?"
For Anko, a mission like this would be something she'd be dying to do.
After all, under Akira Ren's guidance these past days, that girl's strength had improved by leaps and bounds.
She was probably itching to test her results in actual combat.
Moreover, Kurenai remembered that Akira had given Anko a very special Devil Fruit.
"Yes. The mission calls for a four-man squad. To ensure everything goes smoothly, you may recruit up to four Chunin or higher to form a pursuit team."
The Third Hokage smiled.
"Of course, I have one recommendation for you… Yugao!"
A masked figure suddenly appeared in the office.
"Eh?"
Yuhi Kurenai was surprised.
"Yugao?"
As a Jonin of Konoha, she naturally knew Uzuki Yugao, and they had a decent relationship.
According to Akira Ren, he had even saved her at the border of the Land of Fire half a year ago.
The Third Hokage said directly,
"Remove your mask. For this mission, you will act as Konoha's Special Jonin and assist Yuhi Kurenai in completing the task!"
"Yes, Hokage-sama!"
Uzuki Yugao removed her mask, revealing a flawless face.
She smiled and nodded at Kurenai beside her.
"Senior Kurenai, please guide me well from now on!"
"No need to be so polite. We're all doing this for the village…"
Kurenai smiled and said,
"Hokage-sama, I've already thought of the other members."
Recalling what Akira had told her before he left, Kurenai felt completely confident.
She wasn't afraid of revealing her cards and inviting wariness.
As her little man had domineeringly put it, whether on missions or in daily life, they should go all out and train without fear.
He would have their backs.
From the Hokage down to ordinary civilians, if anyone in Konoha dared to harm them, their corpse could be hanging on the village gate before the next day.
Furthermore, Akira had left Flying Thunder God marks on her, Anko, and the others.
As long as they poured chakra into them, he could sense it immediately and rush over to support them.
Thinking of this, Kurenai felt a surge of sweetness and an overwhelming sense of security.
She had no need to hold back or hide her strength.
She could boldly use Konoha's resources to train herself to the fullest.
"Oh?"
"Inuzuka Hana from the Inuzuka clan, and Mitarashi Anko!"
Kurenai smiled as she named them.
She naturally had to bring her best friend Anko along.
Otherwise, that girl would nag and complain to her every day.
As for Inuzuka Hana, they had worked together on several missions before.
Kurenai had absolute faith in the Inuzuka clan's tracking abilities.
They were much better than those quiet Aburame clan members who only knew how to play with bugs.
Uzuki Yugao, beside her, also smiled, clearly approving of Kurenai's choices.
Although the opponent was a Mist Village S-rank rogue ninja and former member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen—an elite Jonin-level threat—she had been monitoring the Forest of Death.
Together with Kakashi and the others, she guessed that Tsunade's disciple, Senju Akira Ren, probably had a way to share his chakra with others.
With chakra reserves comparable to a Tailed Beast, combined with his superb medical ninjutsu, he could let people train relentlessly without restraint.
He had also taught Yuhi Kurenai a wide variety of Fire Release and Earth Release techniques.
Although it was unbelievable how Akira had helped her improve so quickly, the devastated training grounds in the Forest of Death showed that Kurenai had made massive progress.
She had likely mastered Fire and Earth Release techniques to a very high level, making her an all-rounder Jonin.
As for Mitarashi Anko, who had also received special attention from Akira Ren, she had probably reached full Jonin standards as well.
She had even mastered the Peacock Mystic Technique—the flight-capable ninjutsu improved from Star Ninja Village's secret art.
One all-rounder Jonin.
One Jonin with a large summoning beast.
Plus herself, a Special Jonin skilled in Konoha-style swordsmanship, and Inuzuka Hana, an elite Chunin proficient in the clan's beast-mimicry ninjutsu.
As long as their tactics were sound, dealing with Black Hoe Thunder Fang shouldn't be a big problem.
"Those two are indeed tracking experts, and I've heard Anko's strength has improved significantly lately… I approve!"
The Third Hokage nodded.
Kurenai had thought things through well.
He didn't need to worry.
He wrote two notes and handed them over.
"These are my written orders. You can take them to find the others."
"Then we'll take our leave, Hokage-sama!"
"Yugao, assemble at the village gate in half an hour!"
"Yes, Senior Kurenai!"
...
Half an hour later.
At the Konoha main gate.
"Hehe, finally time to show what I can do?"
Anko was visibly excited.
Especially after hearing that their target was Black Hoe Thunder Fang, a former member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, she had zero intention of refusing.
After receiving personal training from Akira and experiencing a massive boost in strength, she was eager to find a strong opponent to test herself.
"Anko, be cautious…"
Kurenai said seriously.
"That guy is an S-rank rogue ninja from the Mist Village. We can't let our guard down!"
Anko patted her chest confidently.
"What's there to be afraid of? With the ninjutsu Akira taught us, if we can't win, we can just run!"
In the past, no matter how carefree she was, she would never have said something like that openly.
The shinobi code was that one must be willing to sacrifice everything—even their own life or their comrades' lives—to complete the mission.
Otherwise, the once-renowned Konoha's White Fang wouldn't have been driven to suicide by village criticism after a mission failure.
No matter what people thought inwardly, no one had dared to openly challenge that rule or question the higher-ups.
But now, with her little man backing her up, Anko was fearless.
After spending these past days with him, she had deeply realized just how powerful Akira was.
Even one of his Wood Clones could probably beat the Third Hokage—the strongest Hokage in history—into the ground.
"…"
Yuhi Kurenai had a face full of black lines.
She knew the girl was joking, but the new abilities Anko gained from the Devil Fruit still made her scalp tingle.
Uzuki Yugao: "…"
They hadn't even left the village yet, and she was already thinking about running if they failed?
"Ah? This…"
The tall, youthful, and beautiful Inuzuka Hana—the pride of the Inuzuka clan, who had just turned fifteen—had just arrived with her ninken (Gray Fang and his brothers) when she heard Anko's outrageous words.
The corner of her mouth twitched.
Senior Anko really was as eccentric as the rumors said.
"Woof! Woof!"
"What's there to fear…"
Anko grinned and casually draped an arm around Inuzuka Hana's shoulders.
"With Konoha's Four Beauties on the job, what mission can't we complete?"
"Huh?"
Inuzuka Hana's face turned bright red.
"Konoha's... Four Beauties?"
Even Uzuki Yugao blushed.
"Senior Anko, please don't say such things…"
Although they were confident in their looks and figures, they wouldn't dare call themselves that.
"Where did you get that nickname from?"
Even team leader Yuhi Kurenai was both amused and exasperated.
Hands on her hips, she scolded the female hooligan,
"Anko, you unreliable girl, don't scare little Hana!"
"I just came up with it on the spot…"
Anko dodged Kurenai's light slap and smiled.
"Don't you think it fits our team perfectly?"
"You, me, Yugao—aren't we all beauties?"
Anko puffed out her chest proudly.
She was extremely confident in her appearance.
She even reached out to pinch the blushing Inuzuka Hana's cheek.
"And little Hana, though still a bit young, is already a proper little beauty…"
"So aren't we Konoha's Four Beauties?"
Yuhi Kurenai: "…"
Uzuki Yugao: "…"
Inuzuka Hana: "…"
They were utterly speechless.
Well... they had to admit.
Although it was embarrassing, the title still made them feel secretly pleased and happy inside.
After all, they were quite confident in their looks.
"Since there are no objections, then…"
Anko declared boldly, waving her hand dramatically.
"Konoha's Four Beauties, move out!"
"…"
For a moment, the air fell silent.
It felt like several crows were cawing as they flew past.
Not only did Kurenai and Yugao distance themselves, even the somewhat shy Inuzuka Hana immediately took her ninken and moved far away from Anko.
All of them had I don't know her written on their faces!
"You guys…"
Seeing the stunned gazes from Kotetsu, Izumo, and the others nearby, Anko's face turned slightly red.
"Anko, I'm the captain!"
Kurenai facepalmed and reminded her.
Anko grumbled angrily.
"Kurenai, you'll regret this!"
"…"
Kurenai's face was full of black lines.
"It's all Akira Ren's fault for making me mess up my lines!"
Anko coughed dryly and wiped away nonexistent sweat.
She grinned and wrapped her arm around Kurenai's shoulders, rubbing against that fair, smooth, and stunningly beautiful face that even she felt a bit envious of.
"We're sisters, right? No need to be so petty!"
She had almost blurted out the story Akira had told them about the Third Hokage and Danzo—"I'll protect you, you'll regret it."
"You, stop talking nonsense…"
Kurenai knocked Anko on the head, both amused and helpless.
Akira had told them quite a few things about the Third Hokage and Danzo.
It had completely shattered their worldview and dropped their respect for the higher-ups to rock bottom.
"…"
Inuzuka Hana and Uzuki Yugao looked at each other, completely dumbfounded.
They had nothing left to say about this wild, carefree troublemaker.
"Alright, enough fooling around…"
Finally, team leader Yuhi Kurenai spoke.
"Let's go!"
Four graceful figures, accompanied by three ninken, swiftly dashed into the distance.
...
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