"There's still a bit of time before the mission starts. Seems like the Lord God wants us to work as a team for this task. We've got five minutes—let's get to know each other first."

It was Law, the youngest among the three, who broke the silence.

Right now, he was the one with the strongest desire—to revive Corazon, the man who had brought him salvation, and his sister and parents who died in the Flevance War.

He spoke seriously.

"My name is Trafalgar Law. I've undergone some combat training and eaten a Devil Fruit… I'm a Paramecia-type, with the Op-Op Fruit."

"You're the one who stole the Op-Op Fruit?!"

Drake, who stood nearby, looked at him in shock.

His father had once been a Rear Admiral in the Navy, but later defected to form a pirate crew. They had planned to sell the Op-Op Fruit to the Navy through a broker—Donquixote Doflamingo—but the secret had leaked…

In the end, an enraged Doflamingo killed his father. Drake was the only survivor of that crew.

Law had expected such a reaction. His expression was calm—far more mature than his age would suggest—and he simply nodded.

"Yes. That was me."

Since they would be entering combat together, it would be impossible to hide his fruit abilities. It was better to be upfront now than risk suspicion in the heat of battle.

He didn't mention Corazon at all and instead took full responsibility for the theft himself.

Seeing how composed Law was, Drake fell silent, then gave a small nod.

"Got it… I'm X Drake, and I'm a Zoan-type Devil Fruit user."

"You don't hate me?" Law was genuinely surprised this time.

Drake shook his head, offering no explanation.

Sensing it wasn't the time to press, Law tactfully dropped the subject and turned to the final member of their trio—the silent, black-haired girl.

Noticing their attention, the girl hesitated for a moment before finally speaking.

"My name is Robin. I'm also a Devil Fruit user."

"All three of us use Devil Fruits? Could it be that the Lord God's selection criteria are linked to Devil Fruits?"

Although Robin didn't specify which ability she had, both Law and Drake understood and didn't press her further. They each fell into thoughtful silence.

Robin's eyes briefly flashed with something unreadable.

They really haven't heard of me? Looks like these two aren't from the West Blue…

If they had been, they'd definitely know her name—Nico Robin, the so-called Devil of Ohara, with an 80 million bounty placed on her when she was only eight years old.

Five minutes quickly passed.

The Lord God's emotionless voice echoed in their minds once more.

[Preparation complete. Mission commencing. Protective barrier deactivated.]

A transparent shield vanished in an instant, exposing the three to the blade-like winds sweeping over the rocky cliffs.

Despite their young age, all three had endured more than most—each mentally resilient far beyond their years. They barely flinched in the face of the howling wind.

What caught them off guard was the sudden appearance of forehead protectors on each of their brows, matching single-sleeve red uniforms, and brown leather flak vests on their bodies.

This was the Lord God's doing?

"This must be what it meant by 'identity adjustment'… So, where's the Iwagakure captain we're supposed to follow?" Robin murmured.

Just then, a figure suddenly landed atop a rock pillar nearby, clad in the same uniform as them.

"The mission's about to begin! What are you three standing around for? Move it!"

"O-Okay!"

The three snapped to attention and quickly followed after him.

They ran across the barren land dotted with stone columns. Slowly, hints of green came into view.

Crossing a sparse grassland, they entered a forest. Suddenly, their squad leader came to a halt and spoke in a hushed tone:

"We're here. Spread out and stay hidden. No sound."

Robin and the others nodded. They didn't fully understand the plan, but following instructions seemed like the best course for now.

They climbed the nearby trees with both hands and feet, hiding themselves among the foliage.

Law glanced around—and noticed someone above him, dressed identically, feet somehow stuck to a narrow branch, staring at him with an odd expression.

If not for the prior warning, that person might've already questioned him aloud.

So they weren't the only ones assigned to ambush the supply team?

Law nodded subtly, maintaining a calm, aloof demeanor.

Robin and Drake had also found hiding spots in the trees.

For now, only the whispering rustle of wind through the leaves filled the quiet forest.

From within the system screen, Nawaki watched the scene unfold, a satisfied smile tugging at his lips.

Looks like my newly exchanged ability is working well.

Just days ago, when his points had climbed back up to nearly 50,000, Nawaki had spent a large sum to unlock a new feature for the system:

[Disguise]

This ability allowed reincarnators to masquerade as native inhabitants of the target world. Based on user-defined parameters, it would assign them a plausible identity and even subtly influence surrounding individuals' perceptions, reducing suspicion.

It wasn't large-scale memory alteration—just enough to nudge cognition and create plausibility.

For example, in this mission, Robin and the others had been assigned the identities of Iwagakure chunin, participating in a special task force operation.

Too young to be chunin?

Unfamiliar in the village?

Only using taijutsu and no ninjutsu?

After Disguise activation, others would subconsciously overlook these inconsistencies—unless something extremely out-of-place occurred.

However, the stronger the person, the less effective the disguise.

At its current level, the Disguise function could only affect targets below S-rank. Any stronger and the illusion would likely break unless Nawaki upgraded the feature further with more points.

Now that he had this tool, Nawaki could assign more flexible missions going forward.

"…Still, I can't just hand this function out for free," Nawaki muttered to himself.

"It cost me a full 20,000 points…"

He decided: like healing, Disguise would be free during the rookie phase, but beyond that, it would require point expenditure for use.

His gaze returned to Robin's group.

They were surprisingly patient—lying motionless in the trees for a full half-hour.

Suddenly, the Iwa squad leader twitched a finger, triggering a hidden mechanism nearby. A startled rabbit shot out from the bushes.

That was the signal.

In an instant, the other Iwagakure shinobi who had been silently waiting like Robin's group began rapidly weaving hand seals.

Transformation Jutsu!

With a puff of white smoke, Robin and the others stared, stunned, as the shinobi morphed into logs, branches, and other natural elements—camouflaging perfectly against the trees.

~~~

If You Wish To Support Me And Read Advance Chapters, Consider Joining Me On This Journey!

p(a)treon(.)com/HudaLin

Remove the parentheses btw