Chapter 45

The killing of Chiyo, the high-ranking advisor of the Sand Hidden Village, and her son and daughter-in-law by the members of the Sokumori Squad caused quite a stir among the high-ranking officials of the Leaf Village.

Since the Sand Hidden Village declared war on the Leaf Village more than two years ago, this has been the only significant victory the Leaf Village has achieved on the battlefield.

One could say that this victory is no less significant than winning a large-scale war.

As the son and daughter-in-law of a high-ranking advisor, and being among the top experts of the Sand Hidden Village's puppet corps, the intelligence and secret techniques stored in their minds are extremely important and must be taken seriously by the Leaf Village.

Thus, when the ANBU received this news, the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, immediately notified the four members of the Sokumori Squad to return to the village and reorganize.

The most important thing was to obtain some crucial secret intelligence and puppet techniques from the two puppeteer corpses, in order to find a way to counter the puppet corps.

This is very important for the current Leaf Village.

Thus, after receiving the Hokage's order from the ANBU, Sokumori led the three others back to the Leaf Village, which they had been away from for several months.

"I will submit the mission report; you three can go and do as you please."

"Yes."

At the entrance of the Leaf Village, the four of them parted ways. Sokumori went to the Hokage Tower to submit the mission report, while the three others, having nothing to do, went to find a place to fill their stomachs.

They had been traveling at full speed since morning, too busy to even have breakfast, and their stomachs were already rumbling. At such a time, they naturally wanted to indulge in a hearty meal in the village.

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"Hokage-sama."

After knocking on the door, Sokumori entered and bowed slightly to the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, who was sitting at his desk.

He then noticed that the two advisors, Tōno Koharu and Mizuki Homura, were also present, and nodded politely to them.

The two advisors had recently gone to the Daimyo's residence to request war supplies and had returned safely with the supplies the day before.

However, since the mission completed by the Sokumori Squad was extraordinary, the two advisors were present as observers.

"You have worked hard, Sokumori. You did well this time. With this, the security within the Fire Country should not be a major issue. The rest can be handled by the ANBU."

"Yes."

Considering the heavy losses the Sand Hidden Village suffered, it would not be wise to continue sending elite forces to infiltrate the Fire Country for secret sabotage.

Therefore, the security work within the Fire Country would be handled by the ANBU and the other Leaf Village ninja stationed at various outposts.

The long mission of the Sokumori Squad, which lasted several months, came to an end here.

"Have the bodies been handed over to the Interrogation Department?"

"They have been handed over, and none of the enemies survived."

On that day, although Shiraishi and Ruri took the lead, the other Sand Hidden Village ninja who fled in different directions, as well as the suspected Earth Hidden Village earth-nin, were all pursued and eliminated by Sokumori and Ayane, with the help of the chunin Tenshoku.

Thus, the Sand Hidden Village squad that had caused the Leaf Village so much trouble was completely wiped out.

The difficulty and importance of this mission can be rated as S-rank.

Hiruzen nodded and said to the advisors Koharu and Homura, "Next, let the Yamanaka clan's ninja conduct a thorough investigation to obtain the enemy's secrets."

"Let's do that. We must find the weaknesses of the puppet corps as soon as possible and show the Sand Hidden Village our strength."

Koharu and Homura were also very satisfied with the performance of the Sokumori Squad. They were indeed the most outstanding jōnin in the Leaf Village, even surpassing the Three Sannin.

"This time, your Sokumori Squad did an excellent job. The rewards for the mission over these few months will be calculated as one S-rank and five A-rank missions."

Hiruzen said with a relieved smile.

Sokumori had no objections.

One S-rank mission and five A-rank missions, when divided, would ensure that even Shiraishi and the others would each receive at least a million ryō in rewards.

Of course, the monetary reward was secondary.

This time, the Sokumori Squad had accomplished a great feat, and the monetary reward was just the basic compensation. There would definitely be more substantial rewards to follow.

However, the Hokage himself had not yet decided what to reward them with, so it might take a few days for the rewards to be distributed to each member of the Sokumori Squad.

"Hokage-sama, regarding my share of the reward, please distribute it to the other three. They need it more than I do."

Sokumori said.

"You're still the same, Sokumori."

Hiruzen looked at him helplessly.

"After all, those two puppeteers were not eliminated by me, right?"

Sokumori smiled.

Hiruzen was already aware of the mission details. Although the two puppeteer jōnin were not eliminated by Sokumori, if he had not severely injured them first, no one else would have been able to claim the credit.

However, since Sokumori said this, Hiruzen could only let it be.

Because he indeed had nothing left to reward Sokumori with.

Even when he offered to let Sokumori view the Sealing Book in the past, Sokumori had politely declined.

He was the White Fang of the Leaf Village, and swordsmanship was his everything.

Ninjutsu and genjutsu would only affect the speed and power of his sword strikes.

But this did not mean that Sokumori was not skilled in ninjutsu. On the contrary, his talent in ninjutsu was also outstanding. He was a pragmatist.

To him, as long as he could eliminate the enemy with his White Fang swordsmanship before they could use their ninjutsu, it was enough.

The White Fang short sword in his hand was his strongest 'ninjutsu'!

After reporting the mission, Sokumori left.

"Seeing so many excellent young ninja emerging in the village, I really feel much older."

Koharu suddenly sighed.

"We are only in our forties; it's not time to feel old yet." Homura said, unwilling to admit his age.

"Exactly, I can still serve in this position for about ten more years."

Hiruzen also joined the conversation.

"Hiruzen, have you decided who will be the next Hokage?"

Koharu asked casually.

Hiruzen fell silent for a moment. He had not yet decided on this matter.

The Hokage is chosen from among the many jōnin, selecting the one with the highest reputation, the greatest strength, and the best character.

Currently, Sokumori is the jōnin closest to the position of Hokage. His reputation is higher than the Three Sannin, his strength is greater, and his character is beyond reproach.

He is ruthless to enemies but caring to comrades, though he is not very good at expressing it. He treats everyone equally.

He can be considered a qualified candidate for Hokage.

Most importantly, Sokumori's strength is still rapidly improving, and he is far from reaching the peak age of a ninja.

Even now, he is an outstanding jōnin in the village.

In ten years, he will be even more formidable, a nightmare for enemies that will never fade.

"He is not suitable to be Hokage."

Hiruzen said.

Koharu and Homura looked at him in surprise.

"As long as you have a plan. After all, there is an Uchiha ninja in his squad. Although young, he has already reached the jōnin level and is a member of the Uchiha's radical faction. We must always be cautious."

Hearing Koharu and Homura talk about the Uchiha clan again, Hiruzen sighed and took another puff of his pipe.

"Alright, I have a plan. You two can go back now."

He did not want to argue with them over this. He still had work to do today.

Moreover, how to further reward the Sokumori Squad was also an important issue.

The significance of eliminating the Sand Hidden Village squad was great. Through the Yamanaka clan's techniques, not only could they obtain various secret intelligence from the enemies' minds, but also many secret techniques of the Sand Hidden Village, including information about the puppet corps.

Even without these, just stabilizing the internal situation of the Fire Country was worth a significant reward for the Sokumori Squad.

However, thinking about the two girls in the Sokumori Squad, one from the Uchiha clan and one from the Hyūga clan, made Hiruzen a bit hesitant.

The girl from the Hyūga clan was from a branch family, so he had some vague ideas. The key was Ruri, who was favored by most of the Uchiha clan's influential elders and certainly did not lack resources.

If he were to reward her, he could only allow her to choose one technique from the Sealing Book.

But allowing a Uchiha clan ninja to access the Sealing Book, Hiruzen could imagine that Koharu and Homura would definitely come to lecture him with long faces.

Then, Hiruzen picked up Shiraishi's personal file. Hmm, this one is easy to handle. High-level ninjutsu, more advanced medical books, and so on, could all serve as rewards this time.