Nara Shikaku had no doubts about Yamanaka Shinno's political acumen.

After a brief exchange, Shikaku pulled out a D-rank mission scroll he had prepared in advance.

"Cleaning up debris in the river basin?"

Shinno looked over the mission details and, after a moment of consideration, did not refuse. Compared to D-rank missions like hunting wild boars or driving away beasts, river cleanup was time-consuming and physically demanding. However, the reward was correspondingly higher.

Right now, he needed more time to sort through the valuable information in his mind and maximize the advantage of his knowledge about future events.

A task where his subordinates did all the work while he could slack off? It was perfect.

...

Leaving the mission center, Shinno headed to the meeting place where he had arranged to meet his three genin teammates the day before. After distributing the previous mission's rewards, he led the trio—who were all grinning with excitement—toward the lower reaches of the Naka River to begin their new task.

Konoha's mission assignment system wasn't particularly fair to ordinary shinobi.

From genin to chūnin, the promotion process required not only a jōnin's recommendation but also just eight completed missions. This alone spoke volumes.

In reality, most genin had a very low mission frequency.

While one reason for this was the limited number of commissions available to support Konoha's vast shinobi population, the bigger issue lay in the imbalance of resource distribution.

The Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, tightly controlled mission approvals, distribution, and assignments in order to consolidate his power and authority.

He framed it as ensuring that shinobi received missions suited to their abilities, thereby improving success rates and minimizing casualties.

Those loyal to the Hokage's faction naturally received frequent, high-quality missions.

Meanwhile, those who weren't aligned with him were lucky if they simply didn't get assigned any work. The truly unlucky ones would be forced into high-risk, life-threatening tasks.

Some genin who failed to advance to chūnin and those from minor, overlooked families often went an entire month without a single mission, barely scraping by to survive.

For someone like Shinno—who could take on missions whenever he wanted and even had some degree of choice in which ones to accept—this was a privilege reserved only for the Hokage's inner circle.

Kurenai Yūhi, having spent most of her ninja career in support and logistics, had little personal experience with these issues. But Might Guy and Shiranui Genma understood all too well how miserable it was to have no missions to complete.

So, while Kurenai frowned at the sight of trash floating everywhere on the river's surface, Guy and Genma had already rolled up their sleeves, ready to get to work.

"Before we start, I've got a little gift for you all."

Shinno swiftly formed a series of hand seals before slamming his palm against each of their stomachs in rapid succession.

Sealing Jutsu!

A black, whirlpool-like curse mark appeared on their abdomens, extending chains of sealing script to their arms and legs.

An invisible weight pressed down on all three of them.

The strongest among them, Guy, staggered and quickly braced himself with his hands on his knees.

Genma and Kurenai, on the other hand, collapsed straight onto the ground.

"The Heavy Seal, as the name suggests, restricts movement by increasing pressure on the body. You'll need to synchronize your chakra and physical strength to resist it.

"Once you fully adapt, your physical endurance, mental fortitude, and chakra reserves will all improve significantly.

"So, good luck, my dear students."

Shinno's face held an unmistakable look of amusement as he explained the 'gift' he had given them.

"A new kind of weighted training? My youthful spirit is already burning! Wooohhh!"

Guy, feeling the pressure on his entire body, showed no signs of frustration. Instead, he roared with enthusiasm and immediately began throwing punches and kicks to adjust to the seal.

Genma glanced at the energetic Guy before forcing himself up from the ground, silently stretching his limbs to get used to the new constraints.

"Who the hell gives gifts like this?!"

Kurenai, who had nearly face-planted into the dirt, was mentally screaming at her sadistic jōnin instructor.

She had been this close—seriously, just an inch away—from taking a mouthful of soil mixed with god-knows-how-much garbage!

This was just too cruel!

Her dignified image as a young kunoichi had almost been completely ruined!

"The cleaning tools are inside that wooden shed over there. Now then—let's begin the mission! Just a little heads-up, though: with the seal active, walking on water will require even greater chakra control."

Satisfied that the three had somewhat adjusted to the weight, Shinno casually announced the start of the mission before using the Body Flicker Technique to leap into a tree upwind of the river.

Half-reclining on the tree trunk, he resumed sorting through his intel.

Due to the terrain, a massive amount of household waste had accumulated in this section of the river.

At an average genin's work speed, it would take four to five days to clean up the entire area.

With the additional burden of the Heavy Seal slowing them down, there was no way they'd finish in less than a week.

Plop! Plop!

Just as Shinno pulled out a scroll and a brush, the sound of two people falling into the water reached his ears.

Looking down, he saw a drenched and utterly miserable Guy and Genma crawling out of the filthy river.

His mood brightened as he turned his attention back to his notes.

...

Konoha - Root Headquarters

Danzo Shimura, his head wrapped in thick bandages and a full-metal samurai helmet covering the rest, sat in his steel-reinforced chamber, his expression grim as he faced several subordinates.

Since yesterday morning, his head had been struck three times by unexplained accidents.

A collapsed beam at the jōnin waiting area.

A fallen ceiling panel in the Root medical facility.

A dislodged stone brick in his own office!

If not for his battle-honed reflexes, his name might have already been added to Konoha's memorial stone.

"Danzo-sama, Orochimaru has replied. He confirms that your body shows no abnormalities. If these incidents aren't just a matter of probability... then it could only be some unknown jutsu."

The Root ninja's careful report did nothing to improve Danzo's darkening mood.

Orochimaru's answer was essentially useless.

After a long silence, Danzo asked, "Have you finished investigating the jinchūriki's movements from yesterday until now?"

"Here is the report, Danzo-sama."

A Root operative handed him a detailed surveillance record.

Danzo read through it carefully, contemplating his next steps.

Yesterday, he had deliberately provoked the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki by demanding Uzumaki clan secrets.

His true goal had been to gauge the attitudes of the Nara, Yamanaka, Akimichi, Kurama, Inuzuka, Aburame, and Hyūga clans toward Root.

Most had behaved appropriately, whether or not they saw through his scheme.

But the Nara, Yamanaka, and Kurama...

Just as he reached a particularly suspicious entry—

Thud!

A pigeon-egg-sized rock perfectly avoided all barriers and struck his metal helmet dead center.

Pain shot through his already aching skull.

His kneeling subordinates all silently lowered their heads.

Danzo's remaining patience snapped.

"Investigate! Track down every single person I came into contact with yesterday! I want answers!"

"Yes, sir!"

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Pls Drop some Power Stones