The Shinigami Masks hanging on the whole wall were basically identical, all in the shape of pale evil spirits with horns on their heads. No matter how carefully Yue Yan observed, he couldn't tell which one was the one that appeared in the original work.
Yagura, who had followed Yue Yan here, subconsciously crossed her arms when she saw these masks. Biologically, this kind of action is a sign of inner insecurity.
However, this was abnormal for Yagura, a kage - level powerhouse, and Yagura herself also noticed it.
"I just feel something's off about this place. I can't put my finger on it, but I just keep getting the creeps," she said.
"Normal. After all, there's something here that represents the Shinigami," Yue Yan shrugged. Since he couldn't tell the real one with his naked eyes, he'd try another way.
He took the masks off the wall one by one to examine, using natural energy to detect which one was the real Shinigami Mask.
After examining for quite a while, a small mountain of masks had piled up at Yue Yan's feet.
After Yue Yan picked up the next Shinigami Mask, he didn't even need to use his natural energy to sense it before he felt himself being enveloped by an inexplicable cold aura. This aura was very weak. If it weren't for Yue Yan's strong perception, he would hardly have noticed it.
Looking at the Shinigami Mask in his hand, although Yue Yan was about 80% sure that this was the one he was looking for, just to be safe, he still gave it a test.
When the natural energy entered it, Yue Yan could clearly feel that this one in his hand was fundamentally different from the other masks. The other masks were just ordinary items, while this one seemed to house some kind of indescribable will.
Yue Yan guessed that as long as he connected it with chakra, he could summon the Shinigami. Usually, it was no different from an ordinary mask.
Of course, all fun and games aside, one shouldn't make jokes about the Shinigami. Before Yue Yan had the ability to fight against death, he wouldn't be stupid enough to activate the Shinigami Mask.
After they left, Yagura eyed the Shinigami Mask hanging on Yue Yan's waist and finally couldn't hold back her curiosity.
"Is this mask what you came here for?"
"Sure. With it, no matter how strong the opponent is, I can guarantee to take them down with me."
"Is this thing really as powerful as you say?"
Yagura clearly didn't believe it. Even though Yue Yan had told her before that this mask represented the Shinigami, she still didn't buy it.
And Yue Yan didn't need to explain so much to her. After leaving the ruins of the Land of Whirlpools, Yue Yan split up with Yagura.
Yue Yan returned to Konoha, while Yagura headed to the Land of Grass.
After returning to Konoha and arriving at the Hokage Building, Yue Yan handed in his mission report to Hiruzen Sarutobi.
After reading the mission report, Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded in great satisfaction.
"You did a great job. If the Sand Ninjas and Mist Ninjas had achieved this cooperation, they'd likely keep targeting Konoha in the future."
After saying that, Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at Yue Yan and confirmed once again.
"Have you cleaned them all up?"
"All cleaned up. Whether it's the Sand Ninjas or the Mist Ninjas, as long as they were breathing, I took them out. And I've dealt with the scene. Even if the Sand Ninjas and Mist Ninjas send someone to check, they won't find any problems."
Seeing Yue Yan so confident, Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't say much more.
"Normally, after you've completed this trans - national mission, I should give you a few days off. But there's no way. It's still wartime, and there are too few capable people."
Hiruzen Sarutobi handed a Mission Scroll to Yue Yan. After receiving it, Yue Yan just took a quick glance. When he saw the words 'Land of Wind', 'Roroku', 'Dragon Vein', he knew what this mission was about.
"This time, Minato Namikaze will lead the team. Chōza Akimichi, Shibi Aburame, and you will be the team members. You need to go to Roroku, which is located in the Land of Wind, and deal with the Dragon Vein there. According to the returned intelligence, there might be a highly dangerous arms factory there."
After Yue Yan left the Hokage Building, he couldn't help but look up at the clear, deep - blue sky and murmured to himself.
"Prince. It seems quite good to meet him in advance. I'm just wondering if this prince I'm going to meet is from the future timeline or a parallel world."
If it's from a parallel world, it's okay. Since there's no Yue Yan in the future, it means Yue Yan is unique.
But if it's from the future timeline, it'll be a bit troublesome. Yue Yan knows himself well. He definitely won't die in the future. With the system, since he himself doesn't even know how long his lifespan is, it's inevitable that he'll unlock the Time-traveling Pokémon Template that allows him to travel through time at will in the future.
And if he can unlock the Time-traveling Pokémon Template, with Yue Yan's character, he'll definitely cause some trouble. Not to mention giving his past self some powerful skills, but at least he'll make his past self have some tricks up his sleeve.
As for the way to verify these, it's to see if the future prince knows of his existence.
There's also one thing that Yue Yan automatically ignores, that is, he has extremely bad luck. Even after defeating the entire Hokage world and the Otsutsuki clan, he still failed to unlock the Time-traveling Pokémon Template. This kind of bad luck is something Yue Yan will definitely never admit.
The next day, Yue Yan came to the village entrance to meet up with Minato and the others.
"Yue Yan, it seems we're going to carry out a mission together again."
Minato Namikaze had his signature sunny smile on his face and waved to Yue Yan to say hello.
Chōza Akimichi, who had also just arrived not long ago, took out a bag of chips and offered some to Yue Yan.
"I didn't expect Lord Third Hokage to arrange you as the last team member. It seems this mission should be quite easy."
After Yue Yan chatted with them with a smile for a few words, he looked around but didn't see Kakashi. According to the original story, Kakashi should be in the team.
When Minato Namikaze heard Yue Yan's question, he shrugged helplessly.
"Well, originally, Lord Third Hokage did arrange for Kakashi to join this team. But you came back at just the right time. Besides, you're more capable than Kakashi in every aspect. So Lord Third Hokage swapped you with Kakashi."
"Alright."
Yue Yan was just asking out of curiosity. After getting the answer, they set off for the Land of Wind.
Along the way, Yue Yan kept thinking about the plot of the original movie, The Lost Tower.
In the original story, Centipede pretended to be submissive to deceive Chiyo into giving away the Puppet jutsu of Sasori of the Red Sand. Then, Team 7, having received the mission, chased him all the way to the Roroku ruins. After that, Centipede cracked the seal that Minato Namikaze had placed on the Dragon Vein. Then the Dragon Vein went out of control and sent both Centipede and the Prince back to the past.
As for the ending, the Prince and Minato Namikaze united to create a Parent and Child Rasengan and defeated Centipede.
Judging from the original story, Centipede in his giant scorpion Puppet form only had average attacks. But the problem was that after fusing with the Dragon Vein, Centipede's strength should have reached Super Kage level. The reason he was defeated was partly because of the Parent and Child Rasengan, and also because Queen Sara of Roroku cut off the connection of the Dragon Vein to Centipede.