ALL NOVEL Chapter 24: ch22
John felt that his consciousness had not been lost for long. It might have been just a moment. When he opened his eyes again, the surrounding commercial streets had disappeared, and the modern buildings were gone. Instead, he found himself in a rainy forest.
At this time, besides Principal Stone, Ethan, and Ashley, there were six other men and women wearing the same clothes as them.
When he saw one of them clearly—a brown-haired boy of thirteen or fourteen years old with a slightly chubby face—his eyes suddenly widened.
"Senior, what's wrong with you?" The brown-haired boy seemed to notice something strange about John and showed him a bright and contagious smile, making him unconsciously feel at ease.
"Uchiha John!" Principal Stone shouted, glaring at John, "Keep quiet."
"Yes, Senior Sarutobi." John understood what he meant and called Principal Stone by his name in the Hokage world. This is the basic quality of every ninja who enters here, so as to avoid making the indigenous people suspicious.
After that, he smiled slightly at the young man and said, "It's nothing, the rain got in my eyes."
"Oh, that's right. This damn weather keeps raining, and I don't know when the sun will come out."
"What are you dreaming about, Nawaki? Want to see the sun in the Land of Rain?"
"Haha, I was just talking casually. Why is Senior Oyama so serious?"
The brown-haired boy laughed loudly at a Konoha ninja who was about twenty years old. His carefree demeanor was exactly the same as in John's memory.
"I actually met him... It seems that this is the Second Ninja World War. This is the Land of Rain."
John sighed in his heart. The brown-haired boy was none other than Nawaki Senju, one of the few characters from the Senju clan in the original work.
The younger brother of Tsunade Hime, the grandson of Hashirama Senju and Mito Uzumaki, and the grandnephew of the Second Hokage Tobirama Senju, the proper crown prince of Konoha.
It's just that he is destined to die in this war, of course, provided that he does not intervene.
John thought about the fate of Nawaki Senju.
During a mission with his teacher Orochimaru in the Land of Rain, he unfortunately stepped on a detonating tag, which led to his death.
It also caused Tsunade to suffer from hemophobia until she was cured many years later by Naruto Uzumaki.
Thinking of the real Konoha Prince Naruto, John discovered that Nawaki was somewhat similar to him.
He looked at Ashley, Ethan, and Principal Stone and found that their appearance had been transformed into two dimensions by the Sacred Tree.
They were no different from the Hokage indigenous people.
He assumed it was the same for him.
He lowered his head and looked at a small puddle on the ground. His appearance was reflected inside.
The black pupils, the Konoha forehead protector, the green vest... etc., had all been slightly two-dimensionalized.
"You look a little more handsome like this," Ashley murmured in a low voice, looking at John with stars in her eyes. He was already handsome, and even more so after he came to the world of Hokage and "blended in." It was the icing on the cake.
"There is no such thing as the bloodline of an ugly Uchiha," John shook his head and smiled. There are not many unattractive people in the Uchiha clan.
At this time, the ninja who was called Oyama looked at Principal Stone and said, "Senior, everyone is gathered here, please give the order."
"Yamanaka, wait a moment," Principal Stone said. At this time, the personal panels of him and John changed, and new information appeared in the mission introduction.
[Mission requirements: Pass through the Rain Shinobi scout blockade and safely deliver supplies to Konoha's frontline troops]
"Yamanaka, you are the only Chūnin here besides me. It is up to you to plan the route and open the way. I am responsible for defending against any enemies behind us."
The four people who had just come in had almost no information and did not know which direction the frontline troops were. Principal Stone could only use the existing conditions to complete the task.
After hearing this, Oyama immediately carried out his order. Principal Stone was everyone's captain, and the four of them were certain of this.
And that's the only good thing about Konoha's ninjas: they never doubt their superiors' orders.
Oyama took out a map of the Land of Rain from his arms. The paper was obviously specially processed and was very waterproof. He placed it on the ground and began to outline his plan.
"Since Senior Sarutobi trusts me, I will start."
His hand drew a line from south to north on the map, stopping at a low-lying terrain.
"Senior, the current first brigade led by Orochimaru-sama has just fought against Chiyo from the Land of Wind. They are resting here. We can go straight through. There should not be many Rain Shinobi on the road, so there is a high possibility of safe passage."
"Okay, just do as you say and let's go." Principal Stone didn't want to communicate too much with Oyama and the others. He just wanted to complete the task quickly and exit the sub-world.
This is also the common thought of most ninjas who have been assigned world tasks. It may only be once that they meet people from the past, and they will never meet again in their lives. Completing the task is the key, and life or death has nothing to do with themselves.
This is also one of the reasons why Principal Stone let the six Oyama people go in front, so that he can sacrifice them to save himself at critical moments.
"Senior, I haven't finished speaking yet..." Seeing Principal Stone's urgency, Oyama quickly spoke again.
"Do you have any other plans?"
"No, they are your people." Oyama glanced at John and the others, hesitated, and whispered: "They are too weak. The boy from the Uchiha family is not even a Genin. He may not be able to keep up with our speed."
"I propose to keep them here to attract the attention of the Rain Shinobi and give us some time to complete the task better."
"No, they have to follow me." Principal Stone refused directly. The most important purpose of his trip was to let the three people gain experience quickly. How could he let Oyama do this?
Oyama couldn't help but frown when he saw Principal Stone's resolute attitude, "Senior, you are hiding secrets and ignoring the mission for your people. If you insist on waiting until you get to the base camp, I will expose it to Lord Orochimaru!"
"As you wish, let's start the mission now." Principal Stone waved his hand nonchalantly, "My people can't have any accidents, otherwise I would rather not complete the mission."
"You..." As soon as these words came out, the five Konoha Genin, except for Oyama and Nawaki, were shocked at the same time. It seemed that they had never thought that there were such selfish people in the village.
In their cognition and surrounding environment, no one dares to put the mission second, even their own lives must be ranked after the mission. They have never seen anyone like Principal Stone.
However, at this moment, a voice came out that agreed with Principal Stone. It was not the words spoken by John and the others, but by Nawaki.
Nawaki's innocent face showed a look of approval, "Senior Sarutobi is right, I also think that the lives of my companions are more important than the mission."
"Nawaki, you're crazy!" Oyama trembled, "Many of our frontline troops and seniors have died. How can you delay the mission just because of a few Genin? Don't forget that your sister, Lady Tsunade, is also there. If they don't get supplies, we'll be in big trouble!"
"Hey, hey, Senior Oyama, don't get excited. I'm just talking, I won't actually do it." Nawaki still showed a carefree smile, which gave Oyama a headache.
"Forget it, let's complete the task first and talk about the rest later." Oyama suppressed his dissatisfaction with Principal Stone in his heart and led the people to run forward.
"Let's go and keep our distance from them." Principal Stone waved his hand, and the three of them immediately followed. At the same time, he explained again, "Your mission is to stay alive. When you encounter danger, don't let these people block you. Do you understand?"
"Clear."