"Yōichi-san, you're back."
"Yes, thank you for guarding the gate, Naoki-kun."
"It's no trouble, Yōichi-san."
Due to frequently entering and leaving the village over the past year, Yōichi and the ninja guarding Konoha's gate had become acquainted. After greeting each other, he, along with Mina, headed into the village.
It is now the 46th year of Konoha, a year since Yōichi copied the Sealing Technique scroll from the Hokage Building.
Over this year, aside from a brief period of training, Yōichi spent most of his time on high-difficulty missions, earning a significant reputation in the ninja world.
His two-person squad with Mina has become well-known throughout the ninja world.
Konoha's Lightning Fang!
Swift as a flash of lightning, his blade's edge faster than a bolt of lightning!
This is the moniker Yōichi made for himself in the ninja world, and it wasn't self-proclaimed but given by other ninja villages.
With another Konoha's White Fang and now a Konoha's Lightning Fang, earning a title similar to Sakumo, it's clear the impression Yōichi has left on other villages, closely mirroring that of Sakumo.
Both are mission-oriented ninjas. Even when Yōichi's teammates were wiped out during his Chūnin days, he didn't consider the mission a failure. To this day, his mission success rate is 100%.
Lightning Fang was originally one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, but over this year, others in the ninja world have grown accustomed to referring to Yōichi as Lightning Fang.
After all, the Mist's Lightning Fang rarely appeared in the ninja world, while Yōichi, for the sake of missions, frequented various major and minor countries; A-rank missions already involved inter-country affairs, and the lowest level of missions he took were A-rank.
Within a year, he completed eighty-four A-rank missions and forty-one S-rank missions. Such efficiency in completing missions is among the highest in Konoha.
Unless Konoha's White Fang worked year-round without rest, it would be hard to surpass Yōichi in the number of missions.
His renown also stems from a super S-rank mission that no one in Konoha had ever taken before.
Collecting intelligence on the perfect Jinchūriki of the Cloud Village!
This mission was nearly untouchable, as even Orochimaru, who once wreaked havoc in the Cloud Village and released the Eight Tails, didn't want to venture there again.
Following an attempt by the Cloud Village to capture Kushina, nearly taking away Konoha's Jinchūriki candidate, Konoha used all its spies in the Cloud Village to aid Orochimaru's infiltration. It took a long time to find an opportunity to release the Eight Tails.
However, after that incident, the Cloud Village purged its spies, leaving Konoha without any in the Cloud. Gathering intelligence became difficult.
Moreover, not many years after that, a Jinchūriki capable of controlling the Tailed Beast's power appeared in the Cloud Village.
There must be a secret behind this. Konoha was eager to learn it, hoping to utilize the Nine Tails' power.
As the strongest Tailed Beast, controlling the Nine Tails' power would definitely become Konoha's top combat force, especially since Konoha's previous generation witnessed the immense strength of controlling the Nine Tails' power.
Unfortunately, Kushina couldn't achieve this, not only failing to control the Nine Tails' power but also risking its influence at all times.
Thus, knowing the Cloud Village had a method to control Tailed Beasts, Konoha's high command immediately issued this nearly super S-rank difficult mission, even sending Anbu and Root to obtain this method.
But ultimately, all efforts failed.
Controlling Tailed Beast power is as crucial to the Cloud Village as Konoha's Sealing Techniques, making it incredibly difficult to acquire. Thus, the mission remained untouched by most.
However, once Yōichi learned of it, he casually took on this mission.
And he actually completed it!
Relying on his growing sensory abilities and the [Demon Passport], Yōichi not only stole the perfect Jinchūriki training method but also copied all of the Cloud Village's ninjutsu secrets and took a copy with him.
The originals were destroyed with an explosive tag!
Had he not attempted to kill the Third Raikage influenced by the [Demon Passport], Yōichi could have left the Cloud Village without any trouble.
Even without killing the Third Raikage, Yōichi's actions were enough to make a name for himself in the ninja world; following this, the Cloud Village issued a kill order against him.
And they severely demanded Konoha hand him over, threatening war otherwise.
Naturally, Konoha did not comply. Konoha remains the victor of the Second Great Ninja War, with Konoha's White Fang still alive, and the Uchiha being the village's foremost clan, Yōichi a hero who completed missions.
Handing him over would demoralize the village.
Even Danzō, who despised Yōichi the most, didn't suggest this. Proposing such a trade to avoid war would lead to backlash, with many storming the Shimura household to root out any Cloud spies.
Being marked for death by the Cloud Village actually raised Yōichi's standing in the village.
An enemy's foe is our hero. Since the Cloud despises him, he is a hero to Konoha.
The bad reputation from his Chūnin days diminished significantly, and those former teammates who slandered Yōichi kept a low profile.
Walking through the village, Yōichi received admiring glances from women.
But Mina, following behind, could accurately identify 'enemies' and fiercely returned their glares.
Soon after completing the mission, Yōichi and Mina headed to the Uchiha district.
Since drawing the [Divine Tongue] a year ago, Yōichi hadn't drawn any significant abilities.
Out of twelve abilities, eleven were of little use, the only useful one being related to the tongue.
[Divine Alchemist]: After tasting, one can quickly and accurately analyze the composition and preparation process of any poison and medicine.]
Yōichi used this ability to help Mina control the composition of dozens of poisons, at the cost of numbing his tongue for a long time. Even a quick taste followed by spitting and rinsing sometimes resulted in poison burns.
The poisons of the ninja world are unusual, some specifically targeting chakra. But this skill was not useless, at least enhancing Mina's detoxification ability significantly.
Knowing the poison's composition clarifies its effects, allowing for targeted treatment and rapid extraction of the poison.
Frankly, Mina's healing ability now surpasses even Tsunade's, capable of healing internal organ damage.
However, after that one, Yōichi's luck dwindled.
His current ability is [God of Cooking], allowing him to perfectly bring out the flavor of ingredients, even turning wilted vegetables into the freshest dishes through his hands.
He also mastered top-level culinary skills instinctively, making delicious dishes even when pouring a bottle of soy sauce into the pan by accident.
Unfortunately, the ability only lasts a month, and during this time, Yōichi has been cooking, pleased even with his own creations.
Regarding forbidden jutsu, although there's some progress with the Flying Thunder God Technique, Yōichi can only manage large-scale teleportation. With multiple Flying Thunder God marks within a hundred square meters, sensing might not be precise.
Sensing point A might result in teleporting to point B. With such a small range and numerous marks, it's easy to make mistakes.
However, Yōichi's training time hasn't been long, focusing on completing missions over the past year, with little time for training, also splitting his attention to research the Reanimation Jutsu.
"Mina, you go ahead. I need to discuss something with the Second Elder."
"Understood, Yōichi-sama."
Mina nodded, then, as Yōichi prepared to leave, she hesitantly grabbed his sleeve and asked, "Yōichi-sama, will you cook tonight?"
"Sure, buy whatever you like, and I'll handle it tonight!"
Yōichi casually replied, with only two days left of his ability and little effort needed to create a delicious meal.
"Thank you, Yōichi-sama."
Mina smiled and then headed towards the village shops.
Yōichi then went to the Second Elder's home, presented a gift, and entered.
"Yōichi, I expected you'd be back soon. Take a seat."
Kenji looked at the young man before him, increasingly satisfied. This was the hope for the Uchiha clan's resurgence, surpassing any Uchiha he had seen, and understanding how to develop the clan even more than the former clan leader, Madara.
"How long do you plan to stay in the clan this time?"
Yōichi sat down and said, "I'm not taking those high-level missions for now. After running around for a year, it's time to improve my own strength.
However, the Third has asked me to lead a team, and Mina to join the medical team. I've agreed, so the appointment will likely come in a few days."
"Leading a team? Hopefully, he assigns you some promising youngsters. Otherwise, no amount of effort will make up for lack of talent."
Kenji shook his head, "But leading a team can cultivate ninjas friendly towards the Uchiha. By the way, didn't a clan member also graduate this year? Did the Third mention having you lead them?"
"I'm not sure. If their talent is mediocre, I'll just use a Shadow Clone to lead the team."
Yōichi mentioned, as leading a team in the early stages is relatively easy, requiring only to accumulate mission experience for the Genin.
"By the way, Elder Kenji, how's the clan doing?"
(End of chapter)