Chapter 83
After a day of training, Haneda and Obito headed home together.
As they walked, Haneda couldn't help but glance at the cats and dogs along the street, pondering whether he should get a summoning beast to handle special situations, like delivering messages.
The ninja cats seemed like a good fit—they could talk, had a decent level of intelligence, and were quite similar to Kakashi's eight ninja dogs. Moreover, the ninja cats had a direct connection with the Uchiha Clan. Whether for village missions or personal matters, they could rely on these cats to facilitate communication with the clan.
But he wondered whether his cat might fight with Kakashi's dogs…
Shaking his head, Haneda pushed the unnecessary thoughts aside.
"Forget it, I'll just ask Brother Fugaku to help me find a good ninja cat."
...
At the Uchiha Clan compound, inside the clan leader's house:
"You're saying you want a ninja cat as your summoning beast? I thought you would choose a crow," Fugaku said, a bit surprised.
"A ninja cat isn't a bad choice either. Some of them are quite large and can even use genjutsu and ninjutsu."
"The ninja cats are one of our intelligence sources. They live in the ruins of the abandoned district under the contract of Granny Cat. You'll need a guide to take you there if you want to meet them."
"Are you in a hurry, Haneda? If so, I can contact them for you right now."
"Tomorrow's fine, it's already late today. Thank you, Uncle Fugaku," Haneda replied with a slight bow of gratitude.
"I'll send a letter to Granny Cat tonight. By tomorrow morning, a ninja cat will likely come to take you there."
"That's not necessary, brother Fugaku. Just help me find one that's skilled in intelligence work. That'll be enough."
Haneda waved his hand dismissively.
He wasn't too concerned about the cat's combat abilities; as long as it could handle information gathering and transmission, it would be sufficient.
"Alright… That can be arranged. In a few days, a ninja cat will be sent to you, Haneda."
Given the close relationship between the Uchiha and the ninja cats, Fugaku figured that Granny Cat wouldn't refuse to send one to Haneda, a promising young talent.
...
In the days that followed, Haneda immersed himself in intense training.
Since his swordsmanship, genjutsu, and lightning techniques had all reached a bottleneck, it became difficult to make further progress. So, Haneda shifted his focus to mastering the Flying Thunder God technique and improving his sealing techniques.
Thanks to the use of the Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu, he had already made initial progress in learning the Flying Thunder God technique. While he hadn't fully mastered spatial teleportation yet, he had learned the technique's formula and could sense the markers.
The area where he showed the most improvement was in sealing techniques. With guidance from Minato and Kushina, Haneda's understanding of sealing arts advanced rapidly. After half a month, he was already capable of barely performing the Four Symbols Seal.
One morning, at the Third Training Ground, Haneda sat on a large rock, with Kakashi beside him, also practicing sealing techniques.
Below them, a ginger cat was being teased by eight ninja dogs. After half an hour of playing around, the cat had enough, leaping onto Haneda's side, curling its head and tail into a ball, and falling asleep.
This ginger cat was the summoning beast Haneda had contracted. He usually called it "Kiku," although its real name was "Shunko."
Not long after, an ANBU operative wearing a bird mask arrived, breaking the peaceful atmosphere.
"Uchiha Haneda, the Hokage has summoned you to the office."
After speaking, the ANBU ninja handed Haneda a mission scroll and left.
"Looks like I'm heading out of the village for a mission again, Kakashi," Haneda said, unrolling the mission scroll and glancing at the personnel and destination.
It was a mission for all of Team 9, and the location was the Land of Rain.
"What's the mission?" Kakashi paused his writing.
"Apparently, Sunagakure has been frantically searching for something within the borders of the Land of Wind."
"The higher-ups in Sunagakure, including Chiyo, have personally gone to the Land of Rain, seemingly to form an alliance with Hanzo, the leader of Amegakure."
"My uncle Sakumo and I are heading to the Land of Rain to gather intelligence," Haneda explained, putting the scroll away into his pouch.
Standing up, he released the summoning jutsu for Kiku.
"I guess we won't be seeing each other for another half month, Kakashi."
Kakashi also stood up at this point, extending his left fist toward Haneda.
Understanding the gesture, Haneda bumped it with his right fist.
"Take care, Kakashi," Haneda said, walking a few steps before turning back.
"You too," Kakashi replied.
...
On the streets of Konoha, shops lined both sides, and the large crowd made the area feel both crowded and lively, with a sense of prosperity.
'War is coming…'
Walking down the busy street, Haneda silently reflected.
He touched the scroll in his pouch, thinking about the news of Sunagakure's large-scale activity in the Land of Wind.
As a time traveler, Haneda naturally knew the reason behind this.
The Third Kazekage had been killed, assassinated by Chiyo's grandson, Sasori, who had turned him into a human puppet.
With Sunagakure having lost its Third Kazekage, they were now desperately searching for him. After some time, when they realized they wouldn't find any leads, they would eventually select a Fourth Kazekage.
To become a Kage, one needs accomplishments.
And war is the best way to erase the influence of the previous Kage and establish one's own reputation.
No matter who became the next Kazekage, they would undoubtedly launch a war.
This contact between Sunagakure and Amegakure was likely related to the disappearance of the Third Kazekage.
But if enough time passed, it would shift towards an invasion of the Land of Fire.
However, Hanzo of Amegakure no longer had the ambitions he held during the Second Great Ninja War; he only wanted to maintain his position. Sunagakure's plans were doomed to fail.
'Chiyo… She's at the Kage level. If we get discovered, we might have to fight her…'
'There's no way Uncle Sakumo can hold off everyone by himself, and with my current strength… System, open the panel.'
As he pondered the situation, Haneda silently issued the command, and a pale blue screen appeared before him.
**[Uchiha Haneda]**
**[Rank: Jonin (70/100)]**
**[Chakra: 13.1 units; Elements: Water, Earth, Wind, Fire, Lightning, Yin, Yang]**
**[Kekkei Genkai: Three-Tomoe Sharingan (Mangekyo 69%), Primary Sage Body (Intermediate Sage Body 18%), Wood Release]**
**[Special Abilities: Eight Gates - Rest Gate (73/100), Mastery of Hatake Swordsmanship (77/100), Flying Thunder God (3/100)]**
'My strength is still too lacking. If I don't reach Kage-level, not only will I fail to change Obito's fate, I won't even be able to protect myself.'
Haneda thought quietly, and soon he arrived at the Hokage's office.
Inside the Third Hokage's office, the members of Team 9 were all gathered.
Aside from Team 9, the entire Team 3 was also present, led by Orochimaru.
"Haneda, you're here!" Asuma and Guy greeted him.
"Sorry for being a bit late and holding everyone up," Haneda apologized with a laugh.
Orochimaru glanced at the clock on the wall. Since Haneda had arrived three minutes early, he said:
"Haneda-kun arrived ahead of time. Now that everyone's here, Sensei, you can assign the specific tasks."
***
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