"Ugh... There are so many weeds in this place! How long is this gonna take?!"
A month had passed since the ninja school graduation exams. On this scorching afternoon, a newly minted genin with a head of yellow hair stared at a large patch of empty land, complaining bitterly.
"Less chatter! Instead of whining, hurry up and pull all these weeds!"
Seeing Naruto's reluctant expression, the big-foreheaded girl from Team 7, Haruno Sakura, couldn't help but shout at him—though she didn't look too happy either.
Damn it... Why do we have to do all these miscellaneous chores even after becoming official genin? How am I supposed to kill that man at this rate?
Meanwhile, Uchiha Sasuke, silently pulling weeds on the other side, remained expressionless on the surface, but inwardly he was equally frustrated—and came off as somewhat chuunibyou.
For these genin who had just graduated from the Ninja Academy, their imagined ninja world was supposed to be dark, thrilling, and full of danger—protecting important people, assassinating targets, or at least gathering intelligence...
But in reality, these genin were either helping aunties find lost dogs or cats, pulling weeds and harvesting vegetables, running errands to buy things somewhere, or at most chasing wild dogs around the village. What kind of missions were these? Part-time jobs?
"Damn it... I'm gonna be Hokage! How can I... Huh? Isn't that Yuki? Hey! Over here!"
Just as Naruto reluctantly began pulling weeds, a familiar figure approached from the road not far away. He looked closely—wasn't that his good buddy?
"Yo, Naruto. Finally got fired by Kakashi and decided to become the world's first 'Field Shadow' instead?"
Though Yuki had spotted the yellow-haired fox from afar, he still waved with a smile and teased him.
"'Field Shadow'? There's such a position?"
"Yep. The man with the fastest weed-pulling speed in the world. Wanna give it a try?"
"Ooooh! My blood's boiling now!"
Is this guy really that dumb, or just pretending? Watching Naruto get tricked into pulling weeds at top speed with just a couple of sentences, Yuki couldn't help but chuckle quietly, then continued stealthily along the road toward his destination.
When Yuki arrived at today's meeting spot—"Apa Tea Shop"—his two teammates, Inuzuka Kiba and Aburame Shino, were already waiting there.
Seeing Yuki, Kiba raised a hand in greeting first. "Hey, you're kinda late. The Apa Tea here's pretty good. Want some?"
"Nah, the name alone makes me not wanna drink it... Got everything ready?"
"Ready. Right here."
Hearing Yuki, Shino pulled out a stack of uniformly sized papers from his backpack, and Yuki produced an identical stack.
A closer look revealed densely written lines on these papers, all stamped with the seal of Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen. In other words, these were completed mission forms.
"All D-rank mission completion forms, one hundred in total... Seems your efficiency is still just average."
After quickly counting all the forms, Yuki's face broke into a pleased smile.
That's right—these were all D-rank mission completion proofs. In other words, Team 8 had completed a full one hundred D-rank missions in just one short month—an utterly staggering speed.
Since Yuki spent most of his time operating separately from Shino and Kiba, he alone completed over sixty missions, while Shino and Kiba together tackled more than thirty.
But honestly, there wasn't much to boast about. For someone like Yuki, who had even fought Jōnin, tasks like catching cats or finding dogs could be finished by the dozens per day if there were no limits.
Of course, since Teacher Kurenai had to lead the team to accept and complete missions, and D-rank mission allocations were limited, Yuki couldn't possibly take on that many alone...
"So now we've finished one hundred D-rank missions. We can finally ask Teacher Kurenai for higher-ranked missions, right?"
Watching Yuki tally the mission forms, Kiba, drinking his Apa Tea nearby, shouted excitedly. After all, his impatience rivaled Naruto's—he wasn't cut out for enduring these low-level tasks.
"Complete one hundred D-rank missions, and you won't have to do these low-level missions anymore. You can start taking C-rank and above." That was the deal Yūhi Kurenai made with her three students.
Note: Kurenai said, "won't have to do D-rank missions anymore." In other words, once they finished these one hundred D-rank missions, Yuki and the others could say goodbye to weed-pulling and dog-chasing. That's why the trio had been especially diligent lately.
"Of course—"
"A promise is a promise. In that case, I'll take you on a C-rank mission."
Just as Yuki and the others were talking, a clear, magnetic female voice suddenly spoke up. Kiba and Shino turned to see Yūhi Kurenai, Team 8's instructor, had somehow arrived without them noticing.
"Teacher Kurenai, here are one hundred mission completion forms. Need to check them?"
Seeing Teacher Kurenai, Yuki smiled and handed over the thick stack of forms, seemingly completely unfazed by the Jōnin's stealthy appearance.
These kids... They actually completed one hundred D-rank missions in one month. Honestly, this past month sometimes felt like a dream to Yūhi Kurenai.
Leading the team to accept missions, leading the team to complete missions, leading the team to accept missions, leading the team to complete missions... This cycle basically repeated three to five times daily, sometimes making Kurenai feel a bit neurotic.
Generally, because D-rank missions might involve leaving Konoha for nearby villages or towns, genin took an average of one to three days to complete one. Factoring in training, teamwork practice, and rest time, a team finishing ten D-rank missions per month was considered pretty good speed.
But Team 8... Kurenai could still remember the Third Hokage's expression: "Huh? You again? Why do you bring your team here so many times a day? That strapped for cash?" Even in her dreams, she kept going back and forth to the Hokage's office.
"Ahem, Kurenai, you again? Is your team planning to monopolize all the D-rank missions?"
Sure enough, when Kurenai brought Team 8 before the Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen for the umpteenth time shortly after, the latter's mouth twitched slightly.
"No... I believe they've gained enough experience to start attempting C-rank missions. What do you think, Lord Third?"
Whew, finally giving up on D-rank missions? Hearing Kurenai's words, Hiruzen couldn't help but sigh in relief. Lately, he'd genuinely started dreading Team 8—their mission-completion speed was like a machine... If this continued, other teams might as well just drink the northwest wind.
"Speaking of C-rank missions—the qualitative difference from D-rank is the possibility of encountering real combat. Though you won't face ninja, you might run into vicious thugs or bandit groups, which could still mean a fierce battle. Are you confident you can handle it?"
After clearing his throat, Hiruzen very professionally explained the differences between D-rank and C-rank missions to the three genin of Team 8. After all, this was no small matter. Even with a Jōnin instructor along, C-rank missions could involve bloodshed.
"Of course we're confident. Right, Kiba? Shino?"
"Yeah!"
"Yes."
Seeing the three young members of Team 8—completely unhesitant and brimming with confidence—Hiruzen couldn't help but smile warmly. "In that case, I happen to have a C-rank protection mission here. I'll entrust it to your team."
But the moment the Third finished speaking, Yuki's expression abruptly changed.
Huh? Protection mission? C-rank? Wait... It can't be... That's not possible, right? This is too much of a coincidence...?
"The client may enter now."
Under Yuki's astonished gaze, a disheveled old man with glasses and a liquor bottle in hand slowly pushed the door open and walked in...
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