-Chapter 1-

-Chapter 1-

-POV MC-

I entered my master’s office after being summoned and said as I pushed the door open:

“It’s me.”

I walked in without knocking, as usual, and met my master’s gaze.

His brows were furrowed, a sign of deep anxiety. For a man like him, who always wore a cold and authoritative expression, this deeply shocked me.

“The war is about to start, all the major villages are already on high alert,” he said, looking at me as if he expected me to offer some advice that would get us all out of this situation.

‘I’m still nothing in the vast pyramid of power in this world,’ I thought, recalling all the monsters from Naruto, while trying to block out the world of Boruto.

“I know,” I replied to my teacher, already aware of the tense atmosphere in the village and in the rest of the world, thanks to my frequent contacts with merchants from all over, stopping in our village seeking some security before heading to the great nations.

He stared at me for a few moments before finally speaking in a determined tone that left no room for argument:

“Tomorrow, you will leave the village with your men.”

“I don’t understand,” I said, furrowing my brows, as he had never before allowed me to take on missions outside the village.

“I have a mission of the utmost importance for you. You will be sent to the most difficult of all battlefields.”

“Which one?” I asked, steeling my heart and preparing for my first real challenge.

“The one in Konoha.”

“What are you talking about?” I said, too shocked to use the proper polite form, a language he allowed me to use when we were alone.

‘I advised him to strengthen ties with Konoha as much as possible.’

He sighed and then said, “I promised Konoha the support of the entire village and the deployment of our troops, as you advised me, but I added several conditions, and you will be the ambassador of Kusagakure in Konoha to negotiate on behalf of all of us.”

“This is nonsense, I’m one of the strongest in this village, you can’t just push me aside like that.”

“That’s enough! I am the leader of this village, not you, and I am also your master. You are the future of this village, and I have great expectations for you. Since your parents died, I have practically raised you. It’s been almost 8 years, and I see you as my son. I’m only asking one thing of you: do everything you can to ensure that my daughter-in-law and my grandchildren live a good life. Train them and educate them as if they were your own.”

“You’re crazy, old man,” I said, rolling my eyes, understanding what he was trying to do, but I didn’t agree.

“I’m serious, promise me,” he said, this time grabbing me by the shoulders and staring into my eyes.

I could see the determination in his eyes, the kind of determination only a man ready to die has.

‘He doesn’t think he’ll survive this war,’ I thought.

I observed him for a few moments, feeling my eyes sting and my throat tighten, preventing me from speaking, so I simply nodded seriously and said:

“I promise.”

He let out a small sigh of relief before finally resuming the dignified, indifferent, and unshakable expression he always wore, and he said:

“You have ten minutes to gather your team. Go as quickly as possible and don’t come back until the war is over. Learn every jutsu you can, and only after you’ve become strong enough, take on the mantle that is mine.”

I didn’t reply, but I nodded. In both my lives, I’ve never been good at expressing what I feel, so I left and did as he said.

‘I hope you’ll be proud of me.’

I left the village and went into the woods near the village.

I launched a green signal flare into the sky and waited there, thinking back to the conversation I had just had with my substitute father in this world.

A few moments later, 10 ninjas appeared in various positions and from different spots within a 10-meter radius around me.

‘My personal squad and future guard when I go into battle.’

I hadn’t done things halfway. I had “adopted” 10 orphaned children and trained them since they were young.

I didn’t skimp on teaching, food, and equipment, which had cost me all the money I earned from my master after completing missions in the village.

Given that the village didn’t have a sufficient number of ninjas, I hoped to compensate for this numerical weakness with the strength of its ninjas, tipping the balance by prioritizing quality over quantity.

I had trained them all to be as versatile as I was.

I had particularly emphasized training in shape transformation and chakra control so that they could more easily learn and understand various ninjutsu based on their affinities and talents, and even create their own once their understanding reached the necessary level.

“We have a mission,” I said, looking at all my brothers and sisters.

“Where will we be deployed?” asked Tajima, clearly eager to face ninjas from the superior villages.

‘I hope he shows the same enthusiasm on the battlefield,’ I thought, slightly disdainful of my brother’s excitement.

“We’re being deployed to Konoha. We’re being sent as Ambassadors of Kusagakure.”

“What!!!” he said, with surprise and clear resentment, as it seemed like a way to keep us off the battlefield.

“Damn, what the hell is this? We’ve trained for this moment our whole lives!” said Kuzan, who had picked up some of my language habits.

I calmly said to Kuzan: “Calm down, Kuzan. Those are the orders, and we can’t do anything but follow them and successfully complete our mission. We all know that without Konoha, our land will be swallowed up and redistributed, and we’ll all be killed. So see this as an S-rank diplomatic mission directly tied to the future of our people.”

“Yes, Captain,” they all said in unison.

“You have 10 minutes to get ready, and then we’re heading out. Not a minute more,” I said, concluding the pre-mission briefing.