Lin Ke's Troubles

Lin Ke's Troubles

Eight days later, morning, Death Forest.

"Pssh~"

Lin Ke drove a kunai through the skull of a black bear standing on its hind legs, then narrowly brushed past the bear paw swiping at him.

Thud! The black bear, more than three meters tall, collapsed to the ground, its body twitching from time to time.

He pulled out the kunai, wiped it on the fur, and slipped it back into its holster. The thing was sharp and durable; piercing a skull had barely damaged it at all. He could rinse and wash it later, then keep using it. Throwing it away would be such a waste.

No wonder combat-related missions paid so much more. Over the past few days, both Yuan Wei and Xia had used up quite a few ninja tools. He was the only one frugal enough to refuse to throw a single shuriken, relying entirely on stabbing with kunai, then washing, collecting, and reusing them afterward.

If they were fighting ninjas instead, he probably would not be able to save so much. Sigh, it was a shame ordinary combat losses could not be reimbursed.

"With this one, it should be about enough, right?" Lin Ke looked up at his two teammates.

Clearing out beast packs was not a mission with a fixed quota. As long as they did roughly enough, they could turn it in. The Mission Assignment Office would not specifically demand proof of completion or anything like that. However, if the ninjas responsible for maintaining the Training Grounds later came by and found beast packs still running rampant, the squad that had carried out the mission would be in trouble.

It was essentially collecting the reward on credit. This system worked well within Konoha's relatively closed ninja structure. Would anyone really defect for a few tens of thousands of ryō? And with a Guidance Jonin, there was even less reason to worry about that.

The village's estimate of the excess animal population was surprisingly scientific. By analyzing the traces and droppings left behind by the beasts, as well as the movements of certain herbivores, they could arrive at an approximate figure. Fifth Squad's beast-clearing missions were based on that as well.

As long as they normally killed off some of the beasts, it did not really matter whether they killed too many or too few. The village would not investigate it at all. If there were too few beasts left, they could just catch some from outside or from other Training Grounds and toss them in.

Though Lin Ke had phrased his words like a question, his tone was certain. After a month and a half of carrying out missions together day and night, his superior strength in every respect, calm command, and arrangements had long since made his two teammates accustomed to being controlled.

Uh, or rather, being led?

The three of them went to a nearby river to rest briefly, then set off from Death Forest.

Nara Yan Shui appeared at just the right moment, stuffed his little notebook into his bag, and smiled. "You three did well."

He was not the sort of superior who tried to build closer relationships with his subordinates when there was nothing to do. He took responsibility seriously, but his personality was rather formal. He did not want to turn a simple superior-subordinate relationship, along with his temporary babysitting duties, into something more intimate. So he was unwilling to mention exactly what he had done for them.

In his interactions with Fifth Squad, he was more like a silent father figure. Though he was only in his twenties, his subordinates were just nine and eleven years old.

For their first C-Rank Mission, even ordinary beasts could still injure them if they were even slightly careless. Finishing the mission without a single injury and with such ease showed that Fifth Squad already possessed the qualities of a mature genin squad.

Yuan Wei wanted to say something to express his happiness, but he held it back in the end. His rash, lively nature had gradually grown steadier under the influence of his two poker-faced teammates and their distant instructor.

Xia let out a breath of relief. From the very first day she became a genin, she had been holding her breath and working hard. It did not matter that the gap between her and Lin Ke was growing larger and larger, but she could not bear becoming someone who held the team back.

Being praised now truly made her feel much lighter.

Lin Ke listened calmly, showing no reaction.

"Then, see you at the Hokage Building the morning after tomorrow." Nara Yan Shui locked the gate, clapped his hands, and said, "You've worked hard these past few days. Rest well tomorrow."

With that, he vanished from the spot with a poof.

Yuan Wei instinctively glanced at Lin Ke, wanting to signal with his eyes that he was leaving after saying goodbye to the boss, only to hear the boss say, "Do you two have time this afternoon?"

"Yes." Xia was unexpectedly the first to answer.

"Me too." Yuan Wei raised his hand.

Lin Ke paused, then said, "Come to the Seventh Training Ground this afternoon. We'll begin special training."

"Special training?" Yuan Wei's voice immediately rose several pitches. Seeing both teammates looking at him, he gave an awkward laugh. "Is that really necessary, boss? It's not like this is our first day as genin."

He was a little afraid that it would be like the first day again—going there only to get beaten senselessly. As a ninja, he had long developed his pain tolerance through mental training, but still...

Who liked getting beaten up? "We've already completed our first C-Rank Mission." Lin Ke glanced at him and explained, "We'll probably be leaving the village for missions soon. You and Xia still have shortcomings in many areas. Once we leave the village, we may encounter ninjas, so I hope I can help you improve a little."

During the nine days of hunting beasts, his two teammates had performed fairly well by genin standards, but they still had far too many problems.

There were differences in how they gathered chakra to enhance their bodies, their control when casting ninjutsu, unnecessary movements in battle, poor concealment of their presence, and more.

Lin Ke genuinely wanted to help his two teammates improve, because even if he was promoted to chunin and Fifth Squad disbanded, he would probably still form a temporary "Lin Ke Squad" with them. When they went out on missions then, he could not play nanny for the entire journey like Nara Yan Shui.

Helping his teammates make up for their shortcomings in advance was the same as investing in his own future.

Only when everyone became chunin, or when he became a chunin and his two teammates found other jobs—at the hospital, Anbu, Interrogation Department, Barrier Team, Medical Team, or somewhere similar—would they truly go their separate ways.

Lin Ke did not intend to find new teammates after becoming a chunin. Where was he supposed to find so many reliable teammates? It was better to train them himself and forge two qualified meat shields.

If he ran into someone like Mizuki, it would be too late for tears.

At least his current two classmates each had issues with their personalities, but neither was a terrible person. They were willing to improve, and they were already showing results. He might as well invest a little more in training them. At worst, he would only waste some time.

Yuan Wei froze for a moment, then said happily, "Thank you, boss." His personality was simple. Being rash meant he did not have many hidden schemes in his heart. With a powerful, uh, genin like the boss willing to guide him, there was no way it could be anything but beneficial, right?

"..." Xia hesitated slightly. "Thank you, boss." What she mainly hesitated over was that last form of address.

"Then, see you at two this afternoon." Lin Ke bid the two of them farewell and left without any hesitation.

With the mission over, he would first get something to eat, then go home and wash his clothes and kunai holster. He spent every day burrowing through the woods and killing beasts, and his clothes were full of all kinds of foul smells. Not washing them simply would not do. The bloodstained kunai holster was even more troublesome to clean...

Sigh, other transmigrators worried about ninja wars, humanity's survival, and the Ōtsutsuki family's affairs. Why was I worrying every day about rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and tea?