The meeting concluded, and Mashiro stepped outside and went toward the cave, where Taro was still exploring and examining its structure.
Mashiro went inside and saw his son looking at a wall.
"What are you doing?" Mashiro asked.
Taro turned around, flustered. "Oh, Dad! It's nothing. I was just looking at what I should use this space for…"
In truth, Taro was looking at the current reward he had gotten from completing the mission given to him by the system.
The rewards were substantial: two gold cards, three silver, and five bronze. The rewards were greater than last time, as Taro figured out that missions were random, but their rewards were based on the penalty.
If the penalty was none, then the rewards would be small. But if the quest had a severe penalty, then the rewards would match whatever the penalty was.
The five bronze cards didn't give Taro anything particularly useful—mostly junk he saw as useless. The cards were: 20k ryo, 25 bottles of spring water, Grandma's Forbidden Chicken Soup recipe, Devil Fruit Encyclopedia, and 40k ryo.
The silver cards gave mastery in shuriken jutsu, 1 million ryo, and a broken katana.
The most valuable rewards came from the gold cards, as the first one alone was useful enough for Taro.
The first gold card was called "Sharing is Caring," a card that allowed Taro to give system rewards to people other than himself. The individuals Taro gave to wouldn't know he had done anything to them, but they would feel a sudden difference in their bodies. It even allowed Taro to grant people access to freely enter and exit the Minecraft world by creating portals for themselves.
However, Taro felt skeptical and believed he should never give anyone access to the Minecraft world, as it was the lifeline of the Hosai Clan.
The second and third gold cards were duplicates, both called "Buff Me Up!" They allowed the user to significantly increase their base stats and permanently enhance their potential.
When Taro used one card on himself, his stats and potential skyrocketed:
[Name: Taro Hosai
Title: None
Rank: Genin
Chakra Affinity: Wind
Potential: Low Kage
IQ: 114
Battle IQ: 101
Strength: 29 (+16)
Speed: 34 (+19)
Durability: 43 (+21)
Chakra: 102 (+16)]
Taro was tempted to use both cards on himself, but in the end, he saved the last one. He wanted to see if the increase was percentage-based. If it was, he could train his body for a few days in the ninja world and recover in the Minecraft world to speed up healing. That way, his base stats would be higher, meaning if the boost was percentage-based, the increase would be massive.
Mashiro shrugged. "Let's go. I'll teach you taijutsu and shuriken jutsu today."
Taro asked, "So no physical training today?"
Mashiro laughed. "Of course there is. But I'll be teaching you how to fight, because you have your first mission five days from now, so be ready."
"First mission? Already?"
Mashiro nodded. "Yeah. All the ninjas are coming back, and the new batch needs experience, so we assign them elite clansmen to guide them on missions. Yours will be in five days—you'll be dealing with bandits."
"Alright."
-----------------------------------
In a forest in the Land of Rivers
"P-Please! Don't kill me—"
Before the man could continue begging, a young man around seventeen years old slit his throat, causing blood to pour out continuously.
The young man had dark brown skin and black hair, paired with a constant, easy smile. His eyes stayed narrowed to thin slits. He was calm and expressionless—the kind of gaze that revealed nothing, even under pressure.
Behind him, two peers accompanied him: one with pure red, untamed hair, and the other a burly man standing at six foot eight.
"Kise, which one was that again?" spoke the man with red hair.
Kise, the young man with slit eyes, answered, "He's the one that fled from the Land of Wind after killing a noble. A nobody—B-rank missing-nin at best."
As the three talked, they saw a familiar bird flying toward them. Kise looked up and questioned, "Hmmm? A messenger bird? Is it from the clan?"
Jiren, the burly man, worried, "Did something happen to the clan?"
Enka, the red-haired man, scoffed, "No way. The clan head's around—no one would dare attack us."
The messenger bird landed on Kise's shoulder and chirped for food. Kise smiled, fed the bird, then took the note from its leg.
After reading it, Kise smiled at the two. "It's time to head back home. The elders have asked us to return."
Enka grumbled, "It's too early." He pointed at the dead body and continued, "If we add this guy's head, we only collected around four million ryo—three million short from last year."
Kise chuckled. "It doesn't matter. Elder Doken's word is final—unless you want to deal with his wrath."
On the side, Jiren trembled. "That old man… I'd rather us lose money than be scolded by Grandpa."
Kise started walking. "Let's head to a nearby town. I need to grab my two brothers some souvenirs."
The two shivered as they looked at the man who still had blood all over his sword and boots while he hummed a soothing tune.