Naruto: Reborn as Yagura Karatachi

An S-rank mission—because the enemy is at least Jōnin-level.

Yagura took his three young subordinates and left the village, heading toward their target: the Land of Waves.

The place where the wheel of fate had first begun to turn.

They departed from the coastal port and boarded a ship.

Yagura didn't bother with suspense. He told the trio straight out why this mission qualified as S-rank—it was because their opponent was none other than the Copy Ninja of Konoha, Sharingan Kakashi.

Menma blinked. "Sharingan?"

Sasuke instantly became the center of attention.

"Kagura-sensei, I've heard of that Konoha Jōnin," Sasuke said, already calling him "Kagura-sensei" with practiced ease. "Is he strong?"

This Sasuke from Kirigakure was not the same.

He had grown up in the Mist, surrounded by people like Shisui and other Uchiha who had defected from Konoha and settled in Kirigakure for years.

He wasn't one of those Leaf Uchiha whose minds had been clouded by power and resentment, hellbent on rebellion.

Even Shisui—the once-proud war hound of Konoha—had lost his eyes to Danzō and seen his clan destroyed. Whatever love he had for the village had long turned cold.

Raised in that environment, Sasuke didn't care much about Kakashi's Sharingan.

Instead, driven by a thirst for strength, he stared intently at Yagura, eager to challenge a powerful opponent.

"Hm… yeah, I'd say he's strong—for someone like you," Yagura said casually.

He observed Sasuke for a moment and felt genuinely relieved. The Sasuke raised in the Mist hadn't turned into that hate-consumed ninja from another path.

Mission: Raising kids—successfully completed.

And since Sasuke had brought it up, Yagura smoothly continued,

"For this mission, I'll mostly stay in the background. The main task is up to the three of you."

Sasuke and Menma immediately straightened up in their seats.

Twelve years old, fresh Genin… and their first enemy would be an elite Jōnin.

Shinobu Kiriha, their teammate, didn't have the same intense drive as the two boys. Instead, she leaned against the edge of the boat under the protective barrier Yagura had formed, wide-eyed with excitement as she gazed at the vast expanse of the sea.

"Waaah~!"

She'd been scouted into the ANBU at just seven, and over the next two years, had displayed overwhelming talent.

She stood out so much that her file was sent to Yagura. Yagura took notice right away.

A white-haired, green-eyed little cat girl—her looks resembled a certain Assassin.

Her name was Shinobu, and after passing political vetting and assessments, Yagura personally transferred her to the ninja academy. That's how she ended up as Menma and Sasuke's teammate.

"Waku waku!"

Yagura had a soft spot for this girl he'd been keeping tabs on for years—almost like a daughter.

"Be careful not to fall overboard."

"Hai~!"

Noticing that Yagura had seen her little stunt, Shinobu reined herself in. Though Yagura didn't scold her, she wasn't the type to grow bold just because the boss turned a blind eye.

She quickly shrank back, returning to sit properly beside Menma and Sasuke.

Yagura redirected his attention away from her. He knew Shinobu had a quirky and willful nature—and he wasn't the kind of leader who needed to constantly assert his authority just because he was the Mizukage.

No matter how puzzled the two boys were by his leniency, Yagura didn't say a word to reprimand Shinobu. Instead, he turned to them with a stern look and said,

"Listen up carefully. What I'm about to tell you is the key to this mission."

Menma and Sasuke muttered inwardly: "Listen up"? What kind of phrasing is that?

Shinobu chirped, "Hai~!"

The two boys lowered their heads. Alright, fine. In front of the Mizukage, they'd behave.

The client behind this mission? An old acquaintance who had a thing for the Hokage—Gato.

And the opposing client? Also someone familiar...

A certain bridge builder whose name escaped Yagura at the moment—he had so much on his plate that he couldn't quite recall.

Still, even with all the butterfly effects set in motion, Kakashi's Team 7 had still been assigned this mission.

When Yagura received the intel marked for special attention, he didn't hesitate. He decided on the spot to personally take his three juniors on this trip to the Land of Waves.

Not only could he experience what it felt like to raise kids, but he also got to check off a mission while doing it.

More importantly—he finally had a reason to get out of the Land of Water for a bit!

Even if it was just a clone.

Menma, Sasuke, and Shinobu's Team One was this year's batch of rising stars from Kirigakure.

Haku, Suigetsu, and Kimimaro had graduated three years earlier. They were already jōnin now.

It would've been overkill to send Zabuza and Haku back here just to revisit old stomping grounds and beat up Kakashi. So Yagura had to settle for something more modest—bringing three fresh-out-of-the-Academy brats instead.

Let's see how sharp our blades are... by testing them on the legendary Kakashi.

The small passenger boat, which had been privately hired at a steep cost, arrived at what barely passed as a harbor in the Land of Waves.

The three Genin, all born and raised in Kirigakure's bustling coastal metropolis, were in for a shock.

The moment they stepped into the Land of Waves, it felt like they'd been thrown a decade into the past—to some forgotten rural backwater.

The sun hadn't even come up yet. The island was covered in thick fog, and the land was crisscrossed with narrow rivers and misty waterways.

"Not bad," Yagura said, brushing his hand through a clump of reeds by the riverbank.

"At least it's better than the Land of Wind's crappy yellow desert."

He still couldn't resist throwing shade at that godforsaken place.

Once off the boat, as protocol dictated, Yagura went to meet the client—wealthy merchant Gato.

But unlike the original tale, Gato couldn't dare show the same arrogant attitude he'd once thrown at Zabuza.

In this no-man's-land of a country, with no real power players vying for dominance, Gato had free rein to act like a tyrant.

But compared to the sheer scale of Kirigakure, Gato's little syndicate was laughably small. Crushing it wouldn't take much.

He wouldn't dare piss off a ninja from the Hidden Mist.

The moment Gato saw them, he nearly collapsed in relief, snot streaming from his nose as he practically groveled at Yagura's feet.

"Thank heavens! Kirigakure's grace is boundless! You're saviors—true godsends!"

But being worshipped by a short, squat, goblin-faced man with mirrored sunglasses and pointy ears didn't exactly bring Yagura joy.

"Just tell us where the bridge builder is. And the Leaf ninja he hired," Yagura said, cutting to the chase with barely concealed impatience.

Damn Sasori and his bad habits—he must be rubbing off on him.

If Gato were willing to donate his entire fortune to Kirigakure after this mission, maybe—just maybe—Yagura would consider wasting a few extra words on him.

"M-Mm! Of course!"

The bridge the locals wanted to build posed a serious threat to Gato's monopoly. He'd been exploiting his wealth and private army to strangle the country's economy.

Unacceptable. Completely intolerable.

The samurai he'd hired earlier had been thoroughly trounced by the Konoha ninja and sent fleeing.

Most of the money he'd spent had gone up in smoke.

At least they'd come back with one useful piece of intel—the direction from which the Leaf shinobi had entered the Land of Waves, and the route they'd taken.

"They're here now."

Gato, being the big boss, didn't know the details himself. But his assistant stepped in, pointing out the location on a map: "This is the home of the bridge builder, Tazuna. The Leaf ninja are staying there now. And this—this is the construction site for the bridge."

Yagura gave a small nod. "Got it. Alright then."

Now that they had intel on the Leaf shinobi's whereabouts, Kirigakure's Team One—teacher and three students—set off directly for Tazuna's village.

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Pls Drop some Power Stones

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