Mission Level: SSS
Mission Objective: Kill—Masked Man.
[Large Blank Space]
Mission Level: A-rank
Mission Objective: Impersonate the Fourth Mizukage and converse with Zabuza Momochi.
[Large Blank Space]
The first mission was still SSS-rank: kill the Masked Man.
And the second mission remained the same—an A-rank task to impersonate the Fourth Mizukage and converse with Zabuza Momochi.
Everyone gathered around, watching Obito Uchiha unroll the mission scroll on the ground.
"..."
"Absolutely no changes at all!"
Naruto looked at the unchanged scroll and asked, "Does this count as completed?"
Obito didn't know either and turned to look at Minato-sensei beside him.
Minato Namikaze shook his head. "I believe the mission remains uncompleted."
He asked Obito to recount the entire sequence of events.
Obito described how his mere appearance had caused several Kirigakure ninja to panic and take their own lives. He then explained how he had encountered Zabuza and the handsome youth.
He glanced at Rin, who looked like an angel, and couldn't bring himself to admit that he had mistaken the handsome youth for a girl, blurting out "Young Lady" and immediately giving away his identity.
Minato analyzed Zabuza's reaction and mused, "You must have revealed your identity the moment you appeared before him."
Obito sighed in frustration. "Maybe I did something that didn't fit the Fourth Mizukage's behavior…" Like performing a gentlemanly bow toward a boy or something.
"No," Minato shook his head. "I believe it was even earlier than that."
"Earlier? Could it be his appearance?"
Minato replied, "I can't say for certain. After all, with the fourteen years that have passed in this timeline, it's been nearly twenty years since I last saw Yagura Karatachi. It's hard to say how he might have changed."
Standing beside them, Kakashi habitually covered his face mask with the book in his hand. "Actually, Minato-sensei..." He intended to convey the current image and conduct of the Fourth Mizukage, as rumored throughout Kirigakure Village, to Minato Namikaze.
Just as he was about to continue, he realized everyone was staring at him...
The book in his hand?!
"Icha Icha..."
"…Paradise?!"
Rin's clear voice chimed with a smile. "Kakashi, you still love reading books so much!"
"Uh... no... that..."
"!!!!"
A sense of public humiliation and social death enveloped a certain silver-haired delinquent jōnin!
Through the mask, blood rushed straight to his head!
He desperately wished he could perform a toe-digging-into-the-ground act, digging up an Earth Release: Dog Head Wall!
He should have just stayed in the background!
Why did he have to speak? Why did he have to make a sound?!!!
Kakashi's heart was probably racing at 180 beats per minute right now!
His movements stiffened as he hid the book behind his back, his eyes darting nervously toward the empty space beside him...
"Th-this... is... Jiraiya-sensei's... wo-work..."
Kakashi stammered.
Watching Kakashi's flustered state, Minato Namikaze, recalling Jiraiya-sensei, sighed.
"You've really changed a lot over the years, Kakashi."
Minato-sensei's words could be taken as either praise or criticism.
Obito was also curious about the book Kakashi was holding. The cover showed a man chasing after a woman.
Naruto piped up, "It's trashy reading! Kakashi-sensei never teaches us properly! Even during D-rank missions, he doesn't do any work—he just hides off to the side reading this book! Who knows what's so great about it?!"
"Hey! Hold up!" Sasuke, uninterested in their banter, focused intently on the two missions written on the scroll, deep in thought.
Just as everyone else was busy criticizing the book Kakashi was holding, Sasuke was shocked to discover something. New text was faintly appearing on the scroll that Obito had partially opened!
He quickly pressed down on one end of the scroll and pulled it outward!
The others clearly saw the newly appeared text on the scroll:
Mission Level: D-rank
Mission Details: Please have Kakashi Hatake read aloud pages 7, 8, 15, 31, 106, and 207 of Icha Icha Paradise.
"...…"
Kakashi froze completely…
The faint blush on his mask and the sudden constriction of his dark pupils spoke volumes of his utter shock—and resistance.
"It's a D-rank mission! Getting easier than before!" Rin cheered energetically. "Go for it, Kakashi!"
Minato nodded. "Count on you, Kakashi. This should be much simpler than Obito's mission."
Kakashi, under Sakura's slightly disdainful gaze, tried to muster one last bit of stubborn resistance.
"No… I... um…"
A slender, white arm snatched the scroll from Adult Kakashi's hands.
Eager to impress Minato-sensei, teenage Kakashi straightened the scroll and glared at his adult self.
"What's with all the fuss? There's no way I'd grow up to be a whiny man like you!"
The silver-haired, sharp-tongued youth skipped ahead to page seven of the "Icha Icha Paradise" scroll, ignoring the mission requirements.
In his pre-pubescent, slightly androgynous voice, he began reading aloud:
"Natsuko shed her outer garments in the bathroom, her two tender hands—white and delicate—pressing against..."
Young Kakashi had been reading flatly, but his eyes caught the following lines, and he instantly froze.
A bead of cold sweat slid down his forehead as his mouth beneath the mask struggled to open and close.
...