Mixed-gender hot springs weren't half bad.
At least, that's what Yuki Seisui thought, especially after seeing Uchiha Haru so embarrassed that she hid herself almost entirely beneath the water, leaving only her little head peeking out.
Still, this kind of place wasn't somewhere to frequent too often.
There were certain old geezers who loved peeping into hot springs…
And even a certain cheap sensei who had a thing for sneaking peeks.
==========
The next morning.
At the personal training ground shared by Yuki and Minato.
Jiraiya stood before the three of them, arms crossed, looking full of energy.
Yuki glanced curiously at the exhausted-looking Minato and couldn't help but ask,
"Minato, what happened to you?"
Minato gave him a resentful look.
Ever since returning home last night, his mind had been filled with images of the hostesses at the hot spring inn.
He hadn't gotten a wink of sleep.
Jiraiya ignored their quiet exchange and stood tall, hands on his hips, announcing with pride,
"Alright! Today, your teacher is going to lead you on a very difficult mission!"
"This mission will also be great for building your fundamentals and strength!"
Haru's eyes lit up at the mention of a difficult mission, it had to be at least a B-rank task.
Minato perked up too, shaking off his grogginess as he looked at Jiraiya with excitement.
To grow stronger while on a mission, Jiraiya-sensei really was incredible!
Minato had done his homework: for most ninja, missions meant staying sharp and on edge. A small mistake could lead to failure. Yet Jiraiya somehow turned even that into training.
"Tch," Yuki inwardly scoffed.
A difficult mission? A chance to grow stronger?
They had just graduated. What more could they do beyond catching stray cats and dogs, or cleaning sewers?
Still, he kept his thoughts to himself, putting on an exaggeratedly admiring face and said with a mocking tone,
"Amazing, Jiraiya-sensei! Truly impressive!"
"Of course!" Jiraiya laughed, striking a pose. "I am the great Toad Sage, Jiraiya the Mighty!"
"Then this must be a very high-ranking mission," Yuki continued, playing along. "I heard that fresh grads usually start with grunt work, chasing animals, unclogging drains, that kind of stuff."
"But surely a ninja as powerful as Jiraiya-sensei wouldn't waste his precious time on such trivialities…"
"Right, sensei?"
"Ahem." Jiraiya coughed, his over-the-top confidence quickly vanishing as his expression turned a bit more serious.
"Let's move out," he said. "From this moment on, you're officially on a mission."
"You must stay alert at all times during this assignment."
"I'll guide you through it."
With that, a formidable aura radiated from Jiraiya as he took the lead, striding toward the village outskirts.
"Whoa…" Minato shivered. "Jiraiya-sensei looks terrifying like this…"
"Mhm," Haru nodded quickly, then tilted her head. "But… he's probably just acting."
"My grandfather used to say, 'A person can't wear two faces forever, you'll always glimpse their true self in everyday life.'"
Yuki nodded sagely.
"Exactly. That old man's trying way too hard."
"He can't even keep up the act properly."
"The moment he turned away just now, he nearly burst out laughing."
"I saw it."
Jiraiya stumbled, nearly tripping over his own feet. Face red with embarrassment, he turned and smacked Yuki on the back of the head.
"You brat!"
"Show some respect to your elders, got it?!"
Yuki rubbed his head, grumbling,
"Fine, fine. I'll respect you just like Lord Orochimaru respects Grandpa Third."
Jiraiya smiled, satisfied.
"Now that's more like it."
If only he'd known Orochimaru would one day personally send Sarutobi Hiruzen to the afterlife… he might've given Yuki another whack.
Having given up on keeping up appearances, Jiraiya dropped the act and led the three of them in his usual laid-back way, heading toward the village farmlands.
==========
"This is your mission site," he said, gesturing at a wide field of golden wheat.
"This… is the difficult mission that'll build our strength?" Minato asked uncertainly.
Jiraiya nodded without hesitation.
"I've done the math. If the three of you work non-stop, it'll take three whole days to finish. Isn't that difficult enough?"
"And as for building strength, if you can endure this kind of hard labor, it'll toughen your willpower. Strong willpower leads to a strong ninja. Makes sense, doesn't it?"
Minato fell silent.
It… actually kind of did. He had no rebuttal.
Haru looked equally stunned, staring at Jiraiya in disbelief.
Only Yuki remained unfazed. He had mentally prepared for something like this.
He was even relieved it wasn't sewer-cleaning or gutter-dredging.
He'd lived in Konoha long enough to spot fresh graduates reeking of sewage trudging through the streets from time to time.
That stench was enough to make both people and dogs avoid you.
No one dared come within five meters.
Jiraiya clapped his hands, smiling brightly.
"I'll be back in three days. Hopefully you'll have completed your mission by then."
"If not, your very first mission will end in failure!"
He grinned as he said it.
He still remembered the days when he had nearly coughed up blood doing these missions, now it was finally someone else's turn to suffer.
As Jiraiya disappeared into the distance, Yuki shook his head.
"That's a lot of wheat. No telling how long this'll take."
"Well… let's get to it."
With that, he formed a quick hand seal and created a shadow clone.
For this kind of manual labor, two clones would be too draining to maintain long-term.
After all, they had to stick around and actually work.
"I, the great Yuki Seisui, am about to lose my dignity here today…" the shadow clone declared dramatically.
Falling to its knees in front of the wheat, it cried out in anguish,
"I, model student of the new generation, future strongest ninja in the world, master of head pats, am I reduced to this?!"
"This is a tragedy!"
The clone stood up again, turned to Haru and Minato, then faced Yuki and raised a fist toward the sky.
"Heaven is dead! The Yellow Heaven shall rise! The year of Jiazi shall bring great fortune to the realm!"
"Are kings and nobles born of different blood?!"
"JUST GET TO WORK ALREADY!!" Yuki snapped, smacking the clone on the back of the head.
"You're not some revolutionary general, we're nobodies right now!"
Grumbling, the clone reluctantly picked up a sickle from the ground and started harvesting.
Minato blinked, bewildered.
"Your shadow clone… always gives me the creeps."
He trailed off, and Haru added thoughtfully,
"This one's really different from you."
"My grandfather said that a shadow clone is a reflection of a person's inner self. Its personality and behavior say a lot about who you really are."
She looked over at Yuki, squinting.
"So this… is the real you, huh?"
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