Before long, the water-fetching task was completed.
"Another mission!"
"Huh?"
Hamano Tachi froze for a moment. But when his eyes met Jiraiya's, he immediately issued another D-rank mission.
This time, it was chopping firewood.
However—
It didn't take long either.
"Another one."
...
Half a month later.
"Third Hokage, this really won't work! Please, have him stop—if this keeps up, there won't be any D-rank missions left!"
Hamano Tachi couldn't take it anymore and went upstairs to complain to the Third Hokage.
There was nothing he could do.
It wasn't that he was unwilling to assign missions—over the past half month, more than half of the village's D-rank missions had been cleared by Jiraiya's team.
At this rate, in just a few more days, Konoha's D-rank mission pool would be completely emptied.
Then what about the other teams and ordinary genin?
Would they be left without income?
That was a serious problem.
Hiruzen Sarutobi rubbed his temples, a headache forming, and pondered for a moment.
Jiraiya's team really was exceptionally strong.
The team leader went without saying.
Among the members were Kakashi, already a chūnin; Kurenai Yuhi, skilled in genjutsu; and Kyohiko Yoshimine…
C-rank missions wouldn't be a problem for them at all.
"Next time, let them take C-rank missions," Hiruzen said.
"Yes."
Hamano Tachi finally let out a sigh of relief.
C-rank missions…
It wasn't that he was unwilling to issue them—rather, the current situation wasn't entirely stable.
Although the great nations were in a ceasefire, true peace hadn't arrived. Small frictions still occurred from time to time.
Moreover—
After the war, large numbers of wandering samurai and bandits were roaming about.
Executing C-rank missions now was far more dangerous than during peacetime.
Hamano Tachi merely handled mission distribution; he didn't have the authority to decide mission rules for new teams.
Since the Third Hokage had nodded, there was no need for further resistance.
...
[As the Hokage, you have actively carried out practical work for the village, and your contributions have received widespread recognition.][Reward: Water Release · Water乱波 upgraded by 1 level.]
Huh?
That morning, while waiting at the Hokage Tower for everyone to gather, Kyohiko Yoshimine stood there in a daze.
What was going on?
Where did this reward come from?
He had been grinding D-rank missions nonstop lately—and now he'd suddenly received a reward from who-knew-where.
He checked his status panel.
[Name: Kyohiko Yoshimine][Age: 7][Kekkei Genkai]: None[Skills]:Transformation Technique (Proficient),Clone Technique (Proficient),Substitution Technique (Proficient),Body Flicker Technique (Master),Water Release · Water乱波 (Proficient),Water Release · Water Formation Wall (Skilled)
Over the past half month, Kyohiko had mainly trained taijutsu and the two Water Release techniques, but both had only reached the Skilled level.
Now, Water乱波 had jumped straight to Proficient.
In his mind, a large amount of knowledge about Water乱波 surfaced—some of it related to controlling Water Release chakra more efficiently and applying it better in practice.
Water乱波 was a very basic technique and didn't involve advanced nature transformation.
However—
At the Proficient level, the technique significantly reduced the amount of chakra required to cast it.
In theory, with the same amount of chakra, he could now expel roughly thirty percent more water than before.
And that wasn't all.
Many techniques within Water Release shared common principles.
Especially Water乱波 and Water Formation Wall.
The standard versions of both didn't involve complex nature transformation. As long as one understood the basics and could extract Water Release chakra, they were easy to perform.
Both techniques fit that category.
Some of the knowledge gained from Proficient Water乱波 could be directly applied to Water Formation Wall.
Kyohiko felt quietly delighted.
This was a huge improvement!
Although ninjutsu might not play a decisive role in large-scale, high-level battles later on, right now what he needed to prepare for was the Third Shinobi World War.
At the level of ordinary ninja, Water Release techniques were extremely useful.
"Kyohiko-kun."
A gentle female voice approached from behind.
Kyohiko turned around—
Kakashi and Kurenai Yuhi were running toward him one after the other.
The three gathered together.
"You're here so early?" Kurenai asked, slightly out of breath.
"Not too long. I was running past and decided to wait here," Kyohiko replied.
Kakashi hesitated, about to speak, but after a sidelong glance, he swallowed the question back down.
"Hahaha, you're all early today!"
Jiraiya arrived.
He was holding two packs of popsicles, broke them apart, and handed one to each person.
"Let's go. Today's missions start now. Once we grind enough, we can move on to higher-difficulty C-rank missions."
Jiraiya was completely sick of D-rank missions.
For ordinary ninja teams, D-ranks might help with teamwork and basic training—but for his team?
Forget it.
As a chūnin, Kakashi already understood everything he needed to. His problem was a mental knot Jiraiya hadn't yet found a good way to untangle.
As for Kyohiko—
That kid required the least worry of all.
Kurenai lacked strength, but more importantly, she was still far from ready to act as a team leader.
For them, only C-rank missions or above—actually fighting wandering samurai, bandits, or even enemy ninja—would provide real growth.
If they wouldn't give him C-ranks—
Then he'd just clear out all the D-ranks.
Jiraiya hardened his resolve.
Entering the mission hall, he headed straight for Hamano Tachi.
"Give me—"
"Lord Jiraiya, the Hokage has said you may now accept C-rank missions."
Hamano Tachi reported immediately.
Jiraiya grinned. "Oh? So no more D-rank missions?"
"No need. You've already completed more than enough D-rank missions. Please take a look at the C-rank board."
Hamano Tachi gave a wry smile and brought out a new mission board.
Kyohiko glanced at it.
So that earlier reward must have come from this.
Then he focused on the mission listings.
Most of them were escort jobs for merchant caravans.
Destinations…
Mostly places like the Land of Rivers and the Land of Waves—unstable regions. Escort missions heading toward major ninja nations like the Land of Earth probably wouldn't be classified as C-rank.
"That one."
Jiraiya pointed at a line on the board—
Travel to Tanzaku Town to protect a creditor while collecting debts.
The corners of his mouth lifted.
"We'll take this one. Where's the client?"
"This mission was posted yesterday. You just need to go to the Aohana Pavilion in Tanzaku Town and look for someone named Matsuyama Koji."
Hamano Tachi answered, then hesitated.
"The payment is nearly at B-rank levels. I suspect this debt collection won't be simple."
"It's fine. As long as the pay's good. I know the way to Tanzaku Town."
Jiraiya waved his hand casually, his face full of smiles.
Kyohiko's expression turned strange.
Tanzaku Town was not a wholesome place.
If ninja went there, it was very easy to violate one of the Three Shinobi Prohibitions.
It was hard not to suspect—
That their sensei was taking this mission under the pretense of work, when in reality he wanted to indulge himself.
Kyohiko couldn't help but complain inwardly.
Kakashi and Kurenai remained expressionless—either they didn't know much about Tanzaku Town, or they simply didn't care.
In any case, Jiraiya happily accepted the mission.
However—
Just as he stepped out of the mission hall, a figure blocked his path.
"Lord Jiraiya, the Hokage requests your presence upstairs."
An ANBU ninja.
Jiraiya sighed, nodded, exchanged a glance with Kyohiko and the others, and headed upstairs.
"Kyohiko! Kakashi!"
While they were waiting, a voice called out from inside.
Kurenai's expression grew complicated—
Another eccentric again!
Might Guy.