It was nearly noon when Kawaki finally woke up.
Instinctively reaching out and finding no warm body beside him, Kawaki sat up with a self-mocking smile.
There's truth to the old saying—oxen may die from overwork, but fields never get ruined from too much plowing.
After waking up and seeing clean clothes neatly placed on the table, a flicker of warmth stirred in Kawaki's chest.
Once he finished getting ready, he headed to the dining room. At lunchtime, it wasn't as bustling as in the morning.
Only Kawaki and Natsuki were there, cradling Kakashi in her arms.
After playing with Kakashi for a bit after the meal, Kawaki planned to head over to the academy for a visit.
"Sis, I'm heading out."
Handing Kakashi back to Natsuki, Kawaki greeted her and walked toward the door.
"What kind of principal *are* you…"
Natsuki watched Kawaki's retreating back, shaking her head.
She'd never seen such a laid-back principal before. Fortunately, this position had always been held concurrently by the Hokage previously.
There wasn't much administrative work requiring attention anyway; otherwise, the school would definitely have problems.
Leaving home, Kawaki made his way toward the academy.
Now the academy had expanded, occupying a larger area, and the four advanced classes had already started several days ago.
Arriving at the academy, Kawaki went straight to his office.
Pushing open the door, the inside was clean and tidy—someone came to clean daily.
He sat down behind the desk, where not even one document needing processing lay atop its surface.
Although Hidetada Onoda was only Vice Principal, he had practically been performing the duties of the principal.
Kawaki felt extremely satisfied with this arrangement. The position Lady Tsunade assigned really suited him perfectly.
No clocking in required during work hours, and nobody asked questions upon leaving—absolutely blissful convenience.
Kawaki remained undisturbed in his office for quite a while.
Gradually, he grew restless and couldn't sit still any longer. Standing up, he decided to go directly to the Hokage Building.
Without needing to announce himself, Kawaki strolled through unhindered, marching right into the Hokage's office.
Tsunade and Shouta were busily handling paperwork inside.
"Perfect timing."
"Take this over to Anbu."
Before Kawaki could even speak, Tsunade had already assigned him a task.
"What is it?"
Kawaki stepped forward and accepted the documents handed to him.
"This is intel about the Snow Clan from the Land of Water."
"I plan to add another Kekkei Genkai clan to our Konoha."
A proud look appeared on Tsunade's face.
"Ice Release?"
Kawaki knew this was White's family, but he hadn't expected them to have any connection with Konoha.
"Yeah, hurry up and deliver it."
"Big bro's waiting on it."
Impatiently urging Kawaki to take it immediately, Tsunade figured sending it through him would be both fast and safe.
"So now I'm your errand boy?"
Kawaki chuckled, looking at Tsunade—he had barely just arrived.
"Errand boy? What's that?"
Tsunade seemed slightly confused by the unfamiliar term.
"Forget it, I'll go deliver it."
Kawaki shook his head. Actually explaining might get complicated.
Still, if he used the Flying Thunder God… imagine how rich he'd be delivering packages in modern times?
Lost in these unrelated thoughts, Kawaki instantly vanished from the Hokage's office.
"Don't get caught doing that,"
muttered Tsunade, then lowered her head again to continue dealing with paperwork.
Throughout the whole process, Shouta didn't even raise his head once. He was still angry.
Every time he saw Kawaki, those bitter memories came flooding back.
He had initially intended to hire an assistant, but none of his clansmen were willing to help.
They all thought it would be too much hassle!
Even a few good friends from the Akimichi clan offered to help, but they weren't exactly the sharpest tools in the shed.
If they joined, they'd likely end up being more of a liability than help.
Lately, he had been making a special effort to convince a friend from the Yamanaka clan.
Initial progress was promising—good news was likely coming soon.
"Da～"
[Flying Thunder God] – Kawaki appeared suddenly in Sakumo's office. Before Kawaki could finish shouting "Brother—",
Sakumo's tanto sliced toward his neck.
After all, Sakumo hadn't gotten used to this yet, and Anbu was a critical department.
Suddenly appearing out of nowhere—who knew what his intentions were?
"It's me! It's me!"
Kawaki nimbly dodged Sakumo's attack and quickly called out.
Inside the office, two Anbu squads had already fully surrounded him.
"Next time, use the door. This is Anbu headquarters—not your living room."
Sakumo irritably sheathed his short sword and returned to his desk.
"Teacher."
"Brother-in-law."
"Lord Kawaki."
Each of the eight addressed him with a different title. Kawaki nodded and placed the documents on Sakumo's desk.
"These are documents Tsunade asked me to drop off."
"You've got a mission headed for the Land of Water?"
Kawaki asked casually without holding back.
Konoha had no secrets from him.
"Mm, a top-secret mission."
Sakumo deliberately teased, slowly opening the file to read its contents.
It contained detailed intelligence about The Snow Clan—their contact method, current location, and survival status.
All remaining survivors were ninja; any civilians had long since been eliminated.
This was actually good news for Konoha—ninja meant most possessed Kekkei Genkai.
Besides, escaping with fellow ninja was far easier than dragging civilians along.
But the downside was that they'd be facing Kiri's full Anbu force.
Their situation had grown critical—nobody knew how much longer they could hold on.
"Talk as you like. I'm listening."
Kawaki didn't ask further questions.
He walked over and sat on the couch, casually grabbing Sakumo's tea along the way.
After a while, Sakumo finished scanning the intelligence report and finally spoke.
The eight Anbu had been standing there motionless for quite some time.
"I summoned you here because we have an important task."
"I need you to go to the Land of Water and rescue The Snow Clan."
[To be continued...]
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"Ensure their safety and bring them back to Konoha."
"Think you can handle it?"
Sakumo set down the documents and stared intensely at the eight before him.
"We can."
A unified response came from the group.
"Good."
"This isn't a mission you have to complete at all costs."
"Try to save who you can if things go south."
"If things fall apart and rescue becomes impossible, focus on getting yourselves out alive."
"Understood?"
Following Tsunade's suggestion, Sakumo prioritized the safety of Konoha's ninja above all else.
"Understood."
Another synchronized reply followed.
Only now did Kawaki realize—this was Minato and Nawaki's team.
"Such an important mission, and you're only sending a few of them?"
He was just worried and wasn't thinking clearly.
"How could they sneak in with too many people?"
"The Land of Water has little contact with the outside world. Fewer people mean more safety."
Sakumo had thought this through carefully.
Minato and Nawaki had experience leading missions deep behind enemy lines. Their strong abilities made them ideal candidates for this mission.
"That's true. My bad."
Kawaki paused for a moment. What Sakumo said made sense—too many people would draw attention.
"Teacher, you have to believe in us."
Minato thought Kawaki doubted him.
"Yeah, Brother-in-law."
"You trained us yourself."
Nawaki chimed in as well.
"Don't give me that."
"Come back safely."
"Got it?"
Kawaki shot them both a glare. Still, deep down, he couldn't shake his unease.
"We got it."
Minato and Nawaki replied together. They were actually excited about the mission.
The Land of Water was practically half Nawaki's home ground. There, his Water Release techniques would be far more effective.
"Alright, go get whatever you need from the store."
"I'm off."
Kawaki stood up, waved his hand, and vanished before everyone's eyes.
"What are you waiting for? Go get what you need."
After sending them off, Sakumo turned and locked the completed mission documents in the cabinet.
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