Naruto: Talent Entry Perks

Time flew by quickly, and a month passed in the blink of an eye.

During this month, Team 8 completed three missions—two C-rank and one A-rank.

To be precise, all three started as C-rank missions, but one was upgraded mid-way to an A-rank mission.

Whenever a mission involves fighting ninjas—no matter if those ninjas are just wandering ruffians or not, and even if their strength is weaker than ninja academy students—it is considered at least a B-rank mission.

Wealthy patrons and nobles generally don't care about the cost and usually commission B-rank or higher missions, arranging for strong ninjas from the village to escort them.

But not everyone is willing to spend money so freely.

Many cunning people harbor a wishful thinking, believing they won't encounter any ninjas, so they try to get B-rank mission results while only paying for a C-rank.

The first two C-rank missions went very smoothly for Team 8, without any accidents.

In fact, it's almost impossible for Team 8 to run into trouble.

Not counting the Reincarnation Eye, Izayoi also has the Kagura Mind Eye with a detection range of dozens of kilometers. Hinata's Byakugan has almost a 30-kilometer range of long-distance vision, and for sensing smells, they have Shino's bugs.

Their survival ability is ridiculously strong.

Unless the enemy possesses space-time ninjutsu, even if they can fly, they won't be able to catch Team 8, because their position will be revealed dozens of kilometers away.

Therefore, Team 8 is destined not to suffer the kinds of accidents Team 7 faced, where nine out of ten missions ended in trouble.

If the client is cooperative, even if there are ninja ambushes on the road, Team 8 will suggest taking a detour and only charge the C-rank mission fee.

However, during the third mission, Team 8 encountered a stubborn client from Konoha.

He had a little money, but not much. Yet he was arrogant and acted like a noble or a wealthy person, high and mighty, and refused to listen to Izayoi's advice.

Although he was told in advance that about twenty kilometers ahead, a band of ruffian ninjas were lying in ambush and was advised to take a detour, he scolded Izayoi, accusing him of lying, wanting to waste his time.

Without an adult supervising them, the young and prideful Team 8 immediately decided to teach him a lesson.

When the team met the bandits, Team 8 promptly decided to abandon the mission, scaring the client so badly he wet his pants. He hurriedly raised the mission rank to B-level, but Izayoi refused, stating the team might not be able to handle it.

In the end, this arrogant client upgraded the C-rank mission to an A-rank—actually the highest A-rank mission—with a reward of a full one million ryō.

After Hinata and Shino crushed the enemy completely, the client became extremely obedient and didn't dare to back out on payment.

Obviously, he realized if he tried to skip paying, the people who could take his life were these three teenagers.

Thus, Team 8's mission record confusingly added an A-rank mission.

After completing the three missions, except for Shino's bugs which were numb, Izayoi and Hinata didn't feel tired at all.

Because all three missions were led by Izayoi.

Apart from periodically using the Kagura Mind Eye and Byakugan to scout the surroundings, their mission felt like a walking tour just like when they went to catch the fireflies.

They stuck together when walking, sat together when eating, leaned on each other when keeping watch, and even took turns lying on each other's legs when sleeping.

It was the same during missions and after returning.

Not just Shino's bugs, even Shino himself lost appetite during this time, feeling full despite eating nothing.

After three consecutive missions, Shino finally couldn't take it anymore and voluntarily asked for some rest, thus regaining relief.

Hinata's eyes were filled with regret.

Because back in the village, she had Hanabi and Kōri, even Uchiha Sasuke competing for her attention.

Only when out on missions did Izayoi belong solely to her, and only then would he spoil her alone.

Two months passed, and Izayoi's new house construction reached 50% completion.

At this pace, it should be finished by mid or late December.

Unfortunately, his Wood Release scope was too large, and he could not help with delicate details; instead, he sometimes caused trouble and slowed progress.

If it were just a normal house, Izayoi could have finished it in one Wood Release: Three Rooms and One Hall technique.

...

Morning time, Land of Rice.

Inside an underground base.

"Hah…hah…damn Third Hokage!"

In a dimly lit room, a hoarse voice cursed repeatedly.

Orochimaru was standing in a bathroom, washing the blood constantly flowing from his hands.

Though his hands were in excruciating pain, he could not move.

That pain was spiritual agony.

Outside the bathroom, Kabuto was preparing medicine, looking worried.

"Orochimaru-sama, you have lost the souls of your arms. Because this body never belonged to you, it is now rejecting your soul and accelerating its collapse."

"At this rate, you must complete the reincarnation within one week, or the body will completely fall apart."

"I know, no need to remind me!"

Orochimaru grit his teeth fiercely, his bad mood ruining even his usual image.

Watching the seemingly endless blood being washed away, he said coldly:

"I will hasten the reincarnation and go to Konoha to bring Sasuke-kun to me."

"Time is too tight."

Kabuto adjusted his glasses and said:

"The curse seal has not yet been implanted. Given his current strength, he might not be able to evolve to Curse Seal Level 2 in a short time. Even if Orochimaru-sama completes reincarnation, you won't be able to obtain Jūgo's power."

"Hehe…Kabuto, don't underestimate that man's younger brother."

Orochimaru sneered:

"To kill that man, even if he dies, he will crawl out from hell! Such willpower will help him overcome any hardship. I believe once he 'dies' once, he will be reborn."

"I see."

Kabuto nodded knowingly, understanding Orochimaru's plan to help Uchiha Sasuke evolve faster.

"Go. Have the Sound Four bring Sasuke-kun to me within three days."

"Yes."

Kabuto nodded and left the room.

But when passing a corridor door, Kabuto suddenly stopped.

Hearing weak and painful sounds from inside, he adjusted his glasses, thought for a moment, then pushed open the door and entered.

...

"Ha! —Boom!"

At dusk, Minakawa River.

A girl's spirited shout echoed, followed by the loud explosion of a torpedo in water.

Lightning flashed around Uchiha Sasuke's body, surrounded by blue electric arcs.

His three-tomoe Sharingan eyes were wide open as he stared at a towering water column, his gaze trembling with fear.

The water pillar collapsed into pouring rain, drenching Sasuke.

Through the rain, the red-haired girl's red eyes—matching her hair color—shone with a scarlet light even more vivid than his Sharingan, resembling a demon.

"You woman, were you trying to kill me just now?" Sasuke roared, his fighting spirit utterly crushed by a single punch.

"Eh—"

Kōri was slightly stunned, scratching her head.

"But… didn't you tell me to give it my all?"

"I told you to have a taijutsu duel with me on the river to train chakra control. Didn't you already master the lightning nature transformation?"

Sasuke was mentally exhausted, feeling like he was looking at a female version of Naruto Uzumaki.

"Oh, oh…"

Kōri blinked and smiled sheepishly:

"Sorry, recently I've been training the 'Super Strength Fist,' it's just a reflex."

"Please, stop with the reflexes!"

Sasuke's heart jumped again, his mouth twitching.

If Kōri had used lightning-natured chakra to stimulate her cells and then instantly appeared in front of him to punch like that, Sasuke felt he would have met his ancestors already.

Realizing this girl might be like Naruto—a little slow mentally—Sasuke immediately dropped his Chidori stance and coldly said:

"Forget it, we'll train next time."

But inwardly, he thought, there won't be a next time.

Hinata, his sister-in-law, was better—always quietly sparring with him until he was exhausted, then ending the fight without losing face.

From now on, he would rather train with Hanabi than Kōri.

She was the type he had to restrain himself around!

The joy of recently awakening the three-tomoe Sharingan was crushed by Kōri's punch.

Sasuke disappeared with a lonely back and a flash step.

Looking at Sasuke's disappearing spot, Kōri tilted her head, confused.

His emotions had changed so many times in such a short time?

Unable to understand, she didn't think too much about it.

Instantly moving beside Izayoi, who was fishing, Kōri smiled and asked:

"Izayoi-kun, it's almost dark, do you want to keep fishing? Should I go back and cook dinner to bring you?"

"No need, let's go back together."

Izayoi looked at the bucket full of fish, satisfied, and put away the fishing rod.

"Izayoi-kun, let me help you carry the bucket."

"No, you're soaking wet now. Go change clothes first."

"It's okay, my constitution is strong now, I won't catch a cold."

"Alright then, you've been training hard recently. Let's have fish soup tonight."

"Mm…"

The smiling girl carried the bucket with one hand, sometimes walking shoulder to shoulder with Izayoi, sometimes skipping ahead energetically, looking very lively—completely different from a few months ago.

Since joining Konoha, Kōri seems to have become more cheerful and outgoing.

She thought life on Sakura Street was already like paradise.

But unexpectedly, she became even happier.

During the day, she cooks for Izayoi-kun and that cool young man, then goes to work at the Hokage's office. Both the teacher and senior sister care for her deeply.

Those wearing green vests used to be high-ranking Chunin and Jonin, and their attitude toward her was full of friendliness, even a trace of respect—completely lacking the malice from those in Kusagakure Village.

In her circle of friends, she also had Hinata, a wealthy young lady, as a close friend, and Hanabi, a mischievous little sister.

Such a happy life made Kaorin often wake up from sleep in tears, her pillow soaked many times, afraid it was only a dream.

Kaorin knew all this was brought by Izayoi.

Therefore, Kaorin trained even harder.

She wanted to become as strong as her teacher and gain a very high status in the village so she could help Izayoi.

During breaks, Kaorin took meticulous care of Izayoi.

She handled all the cooking, laundry, and chores by herself.

If Izayoi wanted, he could live a carefree life like during the Reincarnation Eye Awakening period, eating without lifting a finger, dressed without effort.

Even Uchiha Sasuke had gotten used to life with Kaorin taking care of him.

Behold, back at the Uchiha clan leader's residence, Uchiha Sasuke was already changed and reading by the veranda, waiting for the meal.

Usually, he would go hunt and cook by himself.

Otherwise, if waiting for Izayoi to cook, he'd probably starve to death.

While Kaorin went to change clothes, Izayoi put away the fishing rod, suddenly returned to his room, and threw two scrolls in front of Uchiha Sasuke.

Picking up the scrolls, Sasuke looked at Izayoi puzzled: "What are these?"

"Congratulations on your eye evolution gift," Izayoi smiled.

Sasuke was slightly stunned, a warm feeling rising in his heart.

But he still arrogantly scoffed, "You're too early. You should wait until I evolve my Mangekyou Sharingan to give this."

Though saying that, Sasuke was already grinning and eagerly opened the scrolls.

"This is... an illusion technique scroll and a fire release scroll?"

Sasuke looked shocked at Izayoi and asked three times: "Where did you get so many illusion training methods? And Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation, Fire Release: Great Fire Extinguishing, and Fire Release: Dragon Flame Song — aren't these Uchiha clan's fire styles? How do you have them?"

"I stole them, so you can't say I gave them to you," Izayoi answered truthfully.

Seeing Izayoi was not lying, Sasuke seemed to realize something and widened his eyes: "You weren't your original body during the Chunin Exam?"

"Correct, no prize," Izayoi pointed at Sasuke and laughed. "Now you're my ally. If I get caught, I'll expose you."

"Tch… childish," Sasuke snorted, but fondly toyed with the scrolls in his hands, no longer eager to seal his shadow.

Each stage of the Sharingan had different names.

One tomoe is called the Insight Eye, enhancing dynamic vision, able to see through all ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu.

Two tomoe is the Copy Eye, able to copy all techniques seen.

Three tomoe is the Illusion Eye, the stage where the Sharingan is truly invincible one-on-one.

Without hand signs, a single glance could trap the enemy in an illusion world; by the time they realize it, their head is already separated from their body.

To fight Uchiha clan members, one must first damage one eye worse than losing an arm.

To fully unleash the power of the three-tomoe Sharingan, mastering a large number of genjutsu is essential.

Izayoi's two scrolls arrived just in time.

Once Sasuke learned the techniques on these scrolls, his strength would soar again.

"Hm?"

Suddenly, Sasuke's expression changed as if noticing something, astonished: "Darkness Execution Technique? Isn't that a forbidden technique? You even have this?"

"I can casually develop S-rank secret arts, I wouldn't just steal some trash ninjutsu," Izayoi rolled his eyes.

Sasuke said nothing, but his eyes sparkled gold as he looked at Izayoi: "So, you have many good things in your hands?"

"Of course."

Izayoi smirked arrogantly and teased: "Call me 'adoptive father,' and I'll give you another good thing."

"Adoptive father!"

"…"

This time Izayoi was stunned looking at Sasuke.

Seeing Sasuke reaching out like a chimpanzee, Izayoi said dryly: "You really have no shame."

"Do I have any shame left in front of you?" Sasuke's face flushed red as he shouted, "You bastard have taken advantage of me so many times! Anyway, I already called you, hurry and give it to me!"

Izayoi was speechless and could only give a thumbs up: "Alright, flexible and heroic."

"Don't change the subject, or I'll complain to Hinata and ruin your reputation at the Hyuga clan's gate."

Sasuke seemed to find Izayoi's weak spot and hit the snake's seven inches.

"...You win!"

Izayoi's mouth twitched, finally conceding.

After constantly chasing eagles all day, today he got pecked by Sasuke, this little eaglet.

Just as Izayoi was about to get up and take out that gift early, his expression suddenly changed slightly, leaving Sasuke puzzled.

Knock knock knock…

The sound of footsteps running on wooden boards came.

Kaorin, wearing home clothes, ran from inside to the veranda, serious expression ready to remind: "Izayoi-kun…"

"Mm, I know."

Izayoi nodded and smiled: "You go change clothes first. Sasuke and I will meet the guests."

"Yes."

Kaorin nodded hard, then quickly ran back inside.

Sasuke also understood, face serious: "Enemies?"

"Orochimaru sent people to pick you up," Izayoi teased.

Sasuke's expression instantly turned grave, coldly: "That persistent guy again."

"Don't worry, not him personally, just some of his subordinates," Izayoi comforted and said, "But one guy is quite strong. If he fights nearby, your house might be destroyed. I'll go meet him first."

Saying that, Izayoi floated up.

Sasuke instantly followed closely.

Soon, Kaorin also put on battle clothes and flew out.

At the same time, while the Sound ninja four-person squad infiltrated Konoha during the sensory shift, the illusion specialist Doyu suddenly changed expression:

"What's going on? I was told there was only one Uchiha Sasuke in the Uchiha clan territory. Why are there two such huge chakra signatures?"

"Have we been discovered?"

Kido Maru's expression was serious, looking at their former captain, the white-haired youth in front, and asked:

"Kimimaro, should we keep advancing?"

"Keep going. I'll deal with those two. Your task is to take Sasuke."

Kaguya Kimimaro said calmly, his pale white face without a trace of blood, but his eyes were resolute.

"If you catch Sasuke, leave Konoha immediately. I will delay for you... Orochimaru-sama, since I can't be your reincarnation vessel, let me give you one last dance."

His voice became so soft only he could hear.

His expression full of nostalgia, as if back to that year, that person, that flower.

Because of meeting, there was meaning in living... Orochimaru-sama, you are my meaning to live!