"It's time."
Seimei murmured softly. Within the next two days, he planned to launch a purge and a coup, completely sweeping into the garbage heap of history those decaying high-ranking officials in the village who were content with the status quo and clung stubbornly to outdated ways of thinking!
The supreme authority of the Takumi Village would fall completely into his hands alone!
Originally, Seimei had intended to accumulate more bargaining chips and wait for a more perfect opportunity.
But today, an inexplicable throbbing sensation surged within his heart.
Especially just now, the strange feeling had become increasingly clear and intense, as though something in the unseen world was frantically crashing against his soul, urging him to act immediately.
This made Seimei realize it was a revelation beyond common sense, a whisper from fate itself.
The moment was now, and hesitation would mean betraying this heaven-sent opportunity!
...
The next day, at Team 10's gathering point in Konoha.
"Hm, today we have a mission." Tsunade crossed her arms and swept her gaze over her three students as she spoke.
But after saying that, she did not immediately explain the mission details. Instead, she sized Shinichi up several times, her brows slightly raised as if she had suddenly remembered something.
"Oh, right, next month is this year's Chunin exams. Shinichi, are you going to participate?"
"Huh?"
The moment those words came out, not only was Shinichi stunned, but Shizune and Kurenai beside him also revealed shocked expressions.
"Me?" After a moment, Shinichi pointed at himself and said with a helpless laugh, "Tsunade-sensei, I have to take the Chunin exams too?"
Tsunade herself instantly froze, then realized just how stupid a question she had asked.
The kid in front of her was the youngest Jonin in Konoha's history, Shinichi Higashino, who had shattered the strongest shield and the legendary captain who had led his teammates deep into the Land of Lightning and slaughtered his way in and out several times.
And she wanted him to take the Chunin exams?
Just imagining the scene felt absurd.
Not to mention, some of the exam proctors were probably his former subordinates.
This awkward question stemmed from a casual conversation Tsunade had yesterday when she happened to run into Minato.
Minato had mentioned that he planned to let Kakashi participate in this year's Chunin exams as a member of Team 7, together with Obito Uchiha and Rin Nohara, treating it as a make-up opportunity for Kakashi and also allowing their team to experience a proper group promotion together.
At the time, Tsunade thought Minato had considered things quite thoroughly. But today, the moment she saw Shinichi, her brain short-circuited, and she casually blurted the question out.
Thinking about it now, Kakashi was still only a Chunin and did not have any major battle achievements, so everyone could simply turn a blind eye.
But Shinichi was a genuine Jonin whose battle achievements were each more terrifying than the last. Making him lead little girls like Shizune and Kurenai into the Chunin exams was simply bullying.
"Ahem!" Tsunade coughed lightly and stiffly changed the subject. "We'll talk about the Chunin exams later! For now, the important matter first, today's mission."
"That's the complete content of the mission. Alright, go back and prepare yourselves. Two hours later, gather at the village gates!"
After announcing the mission details, Tsunade waved her hand, signaling for the three students to leave, before disappearing first.
The three members of Team 10 also dispersed to prepare for the upcoming mission.
This mission had been officially classified as A-rank, but the mission was very simple.
Travel to the Takumi Village of the Land of Takumi and receive an important batch of standard weapons and special tools that Konoha had commissioned the Takumi Village to forge some time ago, and at the same time, represent Konoha in formally placing a new and much larger order for weapons and tools with the Takumi Village.
Although Konoha possessed its own complete tool research and manufacturing departments, along with professional ninja and artisan teams related to them, more than half a year of high-intensity warfare on two fronts had resulted in enormous consumption.
Stocks of various swords, kunai, shuriken, explosive tags, and other supplies were depleting at an astonishing rate.
Furthermore, according to the latest simulations from the strategy division, the Village Hidden in the Sand in the southwest, after several months of recuperation, would likely launch another offensive within the next one or two months, possibly on an even greater scale, intending to break the stalemate that had formed after the battle at Kikyo Pass.
Meanwhile, the Village Hidden in the Mist in the southeast had also begun showing increasingly obvious signs of movement. Its large-scale intervention in the war seemed only a matter of time.
In order to prepare for the potentially harsher and more intense situation ahead, strengthen strategic reserves in advance, and ensure that equipment supplies to frontline ninja would not be interrupted, Konoha's higher-ups, after evaluation, decided to place an enormous additional order with the Takumi Village to compensate for the short-term shortcomings in their own production capacity.
Thus, although this mission involving massive supplies, important diplomacy, and major financial transactions was classified as A-rank to emphasize its importance, in theory, there should not be many complications or combat risks.
It was mainly a procedural diplomatic handover, quality inspection, and business negotiation.
However, that was only in theory.
Because just now, when Tsunade announced that the mission destination was the Takumi Village of the Land of Takumi, a very faint but strange throbbing sensation suddenly rose in Shinichi's heart.
It was the Misfortune Sight talent!
The blue talent that allowed him to sense signs of danger and avoid calamity was silently warning him.
It was telling him that this seemingly ordinary trip to the Land of Takumi would probably not be as smooth and simple as it appeared.
"What could it be? Trouble within the Takumi Village? An accident on the road? Or are other forces also setting their sights on this important shipment of supplies? Or perhaps on the Land of Takumi itself?"
As Shinichi walked toward home, he rapidly deduced various possibilities in his mind.
The sensation was not very intense. There was no sharp feeling of life-and-death danger. It felt more like a warning of, "There's a pit ahead, watch your step."
Judging from the degree of the sensation, this mission, for the current him, was at most a minor trouble or unexpected incident that required some thought to resolve. It was far from being a life-threatening crisis.
"Heh… I'm really starting to resemble the protagonists from those stories now. Wherever I go, trouble follows."
Shinichi thought to himself. He now had a deeper understanding of the luck-related talents, Fortune Sight and Misfortune Sight.
Fortune Sight made it easier for him to encounter opportunities, good things, valuable clues, or important people.
Meanwhile, Misfortune Sight had turned him into someone with an event attraction and center of the vortex constitution, making him more likely to be dragged into sudden incidents, troublesome situations, and even potential danger.
But based on the previous situation with Ominous Omen, as long as he could overcome these troubles, corresponding rewards would follow.
At this moment, Shinichi was, to a certain extent, like those protagonists constantly pushed forward by fate, with opportunities and trouble accompanying each other.
"So then, what kind of trouble is waiting for me in the Land of Takumi this time? And after overcoming it, what benefits will it bring me?"
Shinichi's curiosity had been piqued.