Last night while eating ramen, Naruto finally got the news he had been waiting for: the moment to receive a mission. He was so excited he immediately dropped his chopsticks, splashing broth all over the table. That night seemed exceptionally long. Filled with excitement and fantasy, and eager to catch up to Sasuke, Naruto finally managed to fall asleep after much tossing and turning.
The next day, just as the sky was beginning to shake off its morning haze, an orange figure could be seen waiting anxiously.
"Naruto, I didn't expect you to be up so early," Kusuo greeted him with a smile. Usually, he was always the first to arrive for his sword practice. Today was the first time Naruto had beaten him to it.
"Of course! Today is the day of our first mission! I had to be well-prepared!"
"Kusuo, what do you think of my outfit? Cool, right?" Naruto twisted around showily, pointing to his clothes with his thumb.
"Er... very cool!" Kusuo's brow twitched a few times. Seeing Naruto's confident look, he just couldn't bear to tell him the truth. It would be too embarrassing for him. After all, Naruto's life was quite difficult. This brand-new set of clothes probably cost him a good portion of his savings.
"Kusuo!" From a distance, Hinata's sweet voice called out. She trotted over to him, then stood still with her head demurely bowed. Seeing the other large "light bulb" standing there, she said shyly, "Good morning, Naruto."
Naruto scratched his head and replied bashfully, "You too, Hinata."
Just then, the faint scent of smoke drifted over. Hinata wrinkled her cute nose.
"Good morning, kids!" Asuma's hearty laugh arrived before he did.
"Good morning, Asuma-sensei!"
"Good morning!"
Naruto and Hinata both greeted him respectfully, and Kusuo gave a nod as well. "Morning."
"Since we're all here, let's go get our first mission."
Led by Asuma, the group arrived at the Hokage Tower. The first mission assignment was still to be handled by the Third Hokage himself.
In the office, the Third Hokage observed Kusuo up close for the first time. His old, aged eyes were filled with satisfaction. "As expected of someone from the Hatake clan. Very good, very good."
He said "very good" twice, nodding as he looked.
Kusuo remained expressionless, his gaze neutral, his heart unstirred. He simply gave a slight nod as a sign of respect. Neither Asuma nor the Third had any issue with his behavior. He was a genius, after all. A little pride was normal.
"Hey, hey! Gramps Hokage, when are you going to assign us a mission already? We've been standing here for ages!" Naruto shouted with dissatisfaction, seeing that the Third was only paying attention to Kusuo and not them.
"Hehe, I'll assign you a mission right now."
The mission scrolls were in a large basket, classified from S-rank to F-rank. The missions assigned to newly graduated genin squads couldn't be too high-level, nor too low. And so, the Third took one from the C-rank pile.
"Hmm... this is an escort mission. To safely escort a civilian to the Land of Waves. The difficulty is moderate. Asuma, I'll leave it to you." Puffing on his pipe, the Third handed a scroll to Asuma.
An escort mission? The Land of Waves?!
Kusuo was stunned. Have my butterfly wings already had such a profound impact?
However, he quickly accepted it. Since it has come to this, I'll deal with it. His expression returned to normal, as if nothing had changed.
When the group reached the main hall, an old man was called over. Tazuna. The client for this mission.
Tazuna looked nervously at the group of ninja before him. These were the people assigned to escort him. He knew the bearded one was the Hokage's son. The shy young girl, with her pure white eyes, was clearly from Konoha's number one noble clan, the Hyugas. And the other one... with his red haori, high ponytail, and impossibly handsome face, the boy had the air of a prominent young lord and seemed even more extraordinary.
As for Naruto... well, he was automatically ignored.
The lineup looked incredibly powerful. But the stronger the team, the more nervous he became. He didn't even dare to meet Hinata's incredibly pure gaze, afraid she would see through his deception.
Kusuo, who knew Tazuna's little secret, stared at him coldly for a moment before paying him no more mind. Just an insignificant civilian.
What he was thinking about were the opponents he was about to face—Zabuza Momochi, the "Demon of the Hidden Mist," and the kind yet tragic Haku. An opponent who could hold his own against Kakashi... Zabuza's strength was beyond doubt. As a missing-nin from the Hidden Mist, with a ruthless and cruel nature, he would be an excellent training opponent. A fight with Zabuza would be on a completely different level from sparring with people in the village.
He's the perfect testing tool. He'll let me see what level I've truly reached.
Having never been in a real life-or-death battle before, Kusuo suddenly felt a heat spreading through his body. His blood flow quickened, his breathing grew heavy.
He was... looking forward to it.
"Let's go," Asuma said, not noticing anything unusual. He still thought it was just an ordinary C-rank mission that could be resolved easily.
Amidst Naruto's cheers and Tazuna's nervousness, Team 10 finally embarked on their first mission.
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