After the barbecue gathering, Drake didn't go straight home.
Minato-sensei hadn't left yet, which meant one thing — there was more to say.
Sure enough.
"The Third Hokage has personally designated a B-rank mission for Team Nine," Minato said slowly.
"A B-rank?" Drake frowned.
"Correct."
Minato took out a scroll and tossed it over.
"Have a look."
Drake opened it and skimmed the contents.
His expression instantly darkened.
Infiltrate the Land of Grass and gather intelligence.
Was the Third Hokage out of his mind?
The Land of Grass wasn't a place for genin to wander into casually.
From what Drake knew, that country thrived on selling intelligence to the Three Great Ninja Nations. A place like that was guaranteed to be crawling with spies and informants from every major village.
Worse still, it sat wedged between the Lands of Fire, Wind, and Earth — a geopolitical pressure cooker.
The chaos there had reached such a level that almost everyone had been forced to become a ninja just to survive. Civilians simply couldn't exist.
He rolled the scroll back up and respectfully handed it to Minato.
"Sensei, I refuse this mission."
"…Hm?"
Minato blinked, clearly not expecting that answer.
In his eyes, a B-rank mission wasn't unreasonable. After all, Drake had already proven himself in life-or-death situations.
"You should understand, this is a mission personally assigned by the Third Hokage," Minato reminded him.
"Sensei, our squad is still in the seven-day recovery period, correct?" Drake countered.
"That's true," Minato nodded.
"And according to Village Regulation Article 75, during peacetime, the village cannot force a genin squad to undertake a specific mission."
Minato froze.
"Since when did we have that rule?"
"We do," Drake replied confidently. "It was issued by the Second Hokage."
Good grief.
A regulation from a past Hokage… and somehow you know it better than I do?
Minato almost asked, but held it back.
"Still, refusing a directive from the Hokage could be seen as disobeying ninja protocol," he said cautiously.
"Sensei," Drake looked at him seriously,
"is the one breaking protocol really me?"
Minato fell silent.
When you put it that way…
Wasn't the Third Hokage the one ignoring village law?
Seeing Minato deep in thought, Drake pressed a little further.
"Between someone who ignores regulations and someone who respects them… I think you are far more suited to be Hokage, Sensei."
"Enough!" Minato snapped, his expression turning stern.
"Don't say things like that again."
"Yes, Sensei!" Drake nodded obediently.
After a brief pause, Minato finally tucked the scroll away.
"I'll help Team Nine withdraw from this mission."
"Thank you, Sensei!" Drake beamed.
Perfect.
More time to stay in the village, more time to grow stronger.
Why risk his life outside when just existing made him more powerful every day?
The last escort mission had left psychological scars.
So the Third Hokage wanted to throw him into another dangerous job?
Fine. One day, Drake would make Sarutobi Hiruzen run missions instead.
Before leaving, Minato asked one more question.
"You're now officially Team Nine's leader. What's your plan for the squad?"
Drake didn't even hesitate.
"Our biggest weakness is lack of mission experience."
"And?"
"So I've decided that starting tomorrow, we'll grind D-rank missions to build real operational experience."
Minato nodded slowly and left.
Drake watched his back, noticing that faint trace of melancholy on his teacher's face.
"A good sensei really makes all the difference…" he sighed, then went home to sleep.
After all, the rest period was over.
The Next Morning
The sun was blazing. Cicadas buzzed noisily in the distance.
Drake rubbed his eyes — he'd overslept again.
As usual, the first thing he did was open his status panel.
Name: Drake
Age: 12
Strength: 112 (56 × 2) [Kage Level]
Vitality: 72 [Jōnin Level]
Agility: 90 [Jōnin Level]
Spirit: 80 [Mid-Level Immunity]
Chakra: 354
Skills: None
Ninjutsu: None
Overall Evaluation: Apprentice Genin
"…Strength doubled to Kage level?"
He stared in disbelief.
He'd expected something like "Elite Jōnin" or maybe "Half-Step Kage"…
but it went straight to Kage Level.
Joy surged through his chest — until his eyes drifted downward.
Overall evaluation: Apprentice Genin.
"…Still a genin?"
What kind of twisted logic was this?!
After thinking it through, he realized…
it actually made sense.
"If the evaluation is based on ninja classification… and I still don't know a single jutsu… then yeah, I am technically still a genin."
That's right.
A pure, unrefined, talentless genin.
Closing the panel, he stepped into the courtyard and flopped lazily onto the wooden chair.
"The normal person probably has around 10 points of strength…"
He'd noticed that ever since the system awakened.
"So my current strength is about eleven times that of an ordinary civilian?"
When he put it like that, it didn't feel quite as godlike as expected.
Could this punch-collapse-a-mountain level?
Obviously not.
Raw physical power alone required absurd impact force to achieve something like that.
"But if this keeps doubling ten more times… I'll be hundreds… thousands of times stronger…"
He exhaled slowly.
"Stay calm. Stay steady."
Kage-level strength was just a benchmark, not an absolute symbol of supremacy.
Power without technique was still crude power.
He suddenly felt hungry.
"…Wait."
His eyes narrowed.
"I feel like I've forgotten something important?"
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