Late at night.
Hatake Kakashi walked out of the barbecue restaurant in tears.
Watching Uchiha Mirai, who was rubbing his stomach, a toothpick in his mouth, and grinning from ear to ear, Kakashi had only one thought in his mind.
What a monster!
This guy actually led his entire squad to eat the barbecue place out of stock!
In all his years, he had never seen anyone eat this much!
Even the Akimichi clan couldn't possibly consume so much!
But what baffled him the most was that the small, delicate-looking girl named Hyūga Hinata had eaten almost as much as Uchiha Mirai.
He really wanted to know—how did so much food even fit into such a petite body?!
"Kakashi, I'm only half full today. This isn't satisfying at all. That bet you lost? Consider it only half repaid."
"You'll have to treat us again next time."
Uchiha Mirai patted Kakashi on the shoulder before leading his team away.
Kakashi was on the verge of tears.
What did he mean by "half repaid"?
Since when did treating someone to a meal require installments?!
He had already spent his entire savings on this feast. If he had to do it again...
Kakashi's face turned ashen.
He made up his mind—he couldn't afford to mess with Mirai, but he could at least avoid him, right?
For the next few months, he swore to steer clear of Uchiha Mirai.
Nothing good ever came from being around that guy!
...
Konohagakure.
Yamanaka Ino, Hyūga Hinata, and Kurotsuchi were wearing earpieces, forming a tight circle as they slowly closed in on their target.
Hinata was the first to speak. "Observation complete. The target has no idea we're here and remains in place."
Upon hearing this, Yamanaka Ino clasped her hands together in a seal.
"Mind Body Switch Technique!"
"Got it!" Ino exclaimed quickly. "Kurotsuchi!"
"On it!"
Kurotsuchi responded and sprinted forward, her long legs swiftly closing the distance to their immobilized target.
A second later, she grabbed a plump, orange-furred cat.
"Meowww!!!"
The cat, which had been peacefully basking in the sun, let out a tragic wail, completely clueless as to what it had done to deserve this repeated harassment.
"Mission accomplished!"
Upon hearing Uchiha Mirai's voice, Hinata, Ino, and Kurotsuchi simultaneously removed their earpieces, their expressions full of frustration.
"Mirai-sensei, do we really have to keep doing these boring missions?"
"We've already perfected our teamwork in the genjutsu training world, haven't we?"
Hearing their complaints, Uchiha Mirai replied calmly,
"A shinobi who can't maintain a steady mindset in all situations will never achieve their full potential."
"Even I had to go through this process."
Saying this, he gently stroked the orange cat's head. "Old friend, we meet again."
Seeing Mirai's nostalgic expression, the three girls had a sudden realization.
So that was the reason. Maybe they had been too impatient.
Noticing that his explanation had been accepted, Mirai secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Ever since the rise of the Divine Nation, the shinobi world had entered a period of rapid development.
As a result, the number of commissioned missions had drastically declined.
Forget dealing with bandits—requests to even chase away wild animals were rare.
With such limited opportunities, even he had no better options.
For an entire year, he had no choice but to lead his three students in completing endless D-rank missions.
Fortunately, he could still help them improve their skills through Tsukiyomi-no-Mikoto training and sensory control techniques, so their growth hadn't been hindered too much.
...
Another year and a half passed.
One day, Ino, Hinata, and Kurotsuchi approached Mirai together.
It had been two and a half years since they graduated from the Academy, yet they were still stuck doing D-rank missions.
Even if these were meant to temper their patience, wasn't two and a half years more than enough?
Looking at the three determined young women before him, Mirai felt a headache coming on.
Perhaps, peace in the shinobi world wasn't necessarily a good thing...
Seeing how much they had grown, Mirai wondered if it was time to take them outside the village for some real training.
As he was deep in thought, a masked Anbu appeared before him.
"Mirai-sama, the Hokage has summoned you."
"Got it."
Mirai agreed readily. This was a good opportunity—he could ask Minato if there were any worthwhile missions available.
Arriving at the Hokage's office with his students in tow, they found Namikaze Minato staring blankly at his desk. However, upon seeing Mirai, his expression immediately brightened with a warm smile.
"Mirai, hope I'm not disturbing you."
Mirai shook his head. "Minato, why did you call me here? What's the situation?"
Minato picked up a document from his desk and spoke softly. "This is a classified letter from the Land of Demons. Take a look."
"The Land of Demons?"
Mirai took the letter and skimmed through it, his expression turning slightly odd.
According to the message, he was fated to meet a violent death soon, and in the aftermath, the shinobi world would spiral into chaos and ultimately be destroyed.
"Based on our intelligence, the priestess of the Land of Demons possesses the power of prophecy."
"Mirai, what do you think about this?" Minato asked seriously.
Mirai didn't respond immediately. Instead, his gaze lingered on the signature at the bottom of the letter—"Shion"—and he recalled certain memories.
After a brief pause, he let out a quiet scoff. "Just a priestess. She has no right to foresee my fate."
"But this works out perfectly. I was planning to take my students out for some field experience anyway, so we might as well visit the Land of Demons."
Seeing Mirai's casual demeanor, Minato realized he might have been overthinking things.
He nodded. "Alright. Just be careful."
"Understood."
...
As soon as they left the Hokage's office, Hinata and the others could no longer suppress their curiosity.
They turned to Mirai with questioning gazes.
"Mirai-sensei, what exactly was in that letter from the Land of Demons?"
"What kind of mission are we taking on?"
Mirai's expression grew serious.
In a heavy tone, he said, "This mission concerns the fate of the entire shinobi world. Read it for yourselves."
Hearing this, Hinata and the others stiffened. They quickly huddled around the letter.
A moment later, their mouths hung open in shock.
Mirai-sama is going to die?
The shinobi world will be destroyed?
What kind of nonsense was this?!
Ino couldn't help but blurt out, "Mirai-sensei, that priestess must be spouting nonsense!"
"Who in this world could possibly be your match?!"
Hinata and Kurotsuchi nodded in agreement.
Mirai, however, remained calm. "According to our intel, the priestesses of the Land of Demons have always been accurate in their prophecies. Not once have they been wrong."
"That's why we're going to see for ourselves."
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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