From D-Rank Missions to B-Rank Missions

From D-Rank Missions to B-Rank Missions

The next day.

This time, Asuka wasn't awakened by being crushed. He covered his head with a pillow, squeezed his eyes shut, and planned to rest a little longer.

Last night had exhausted him.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Scrape! Scrape! Scrape! The kitchen rang continuously with the sounds of chopping vegetables and a spatula banging against a wok. Crash! There was even the sound of a bowl shattering.

Asuka removed the pillow and staggered groggily into the kitchen. Looking at Yugao bustling around inside, he mumbled, "Actually... you could've just made me a cup of instant noodles after getting up."

"No!"

Uzuki Yugao wiped the sweat from her forehead and decisively refused Asuka.

Asuka leaned against the wall and yawned. After twitching his nose and catching the fragrance in the air, he said contentedly, "You've worked hard. What's for breakfast today? I think I smell tomatoes and eggs. Stir-fried tomatoes and eggs?"

She looked at the tomatoes in the wok, which could no longer maintain even a vaguely solid shape and had turned into tiny mushy bits. She instantly fell silent.

She had intended to make stir-fried tomatoes and eggs, but for some reason, she had fried the tomatoes into paste.

After a while, she gave the spatula two flips and said somewhat uncertainly, "Tomato-flavored egg soup."

"Nice. I haven't had soup for breakfast in a long time. I'll go wash up first. After we eat, I'll take you all to do a mission."

With that, Asuka turned and left the kitchen.

Was there really any difference between tomato egg soup and stir-fried tomatoes and eggs?

One was thick soup, and the other was thin soup.

Well... after Asuka finished washing up and saw that bowl of tomato egg soup on the table, he instantly fell silent.

Why couldn't he see any tomatoes in this soup? After fishing around with his spoon a few times, he took a sip without hesitation and immediately praised her. "Yugao, you really are meticulous.

"You even put the tomatoes through a juicer. Whenever I made this before, I just cut the tomatoes into chunks and stir-fried them casually."

"Is it really good??"

"Mhm! Mhm!"

Asuka nodded.

As long as someone else cooked for him, whether it tasted good or bad, he always said it was good.

It never hurt to give more compliments.

It was just a little sweet.

Konoha, in a park.

Asuka strolled along the path to digest his food while explaining today's mission to the three students behind him.

"Today's mission isn't difficult. It's a D-Rank character investigation mission.

"One villager is about to marry his girlfriend, but he recently felt that her behavior had become strange. He wants us to investigate her character and see whether she's suitable for marriage."

"Character investigation missions test your tracking ability, intelligence-gathering ability, and interrogation ability."

Before he had even finished speaking, Iruka suddenly raised his hand and asked in confusion, "Sensei, what do you mean by interrogation ability?"

"This?"

Asuka pondered for a moment, then gestured with his chin toward the Police Force prison and explained, "Interrogation ability means getting the answer you want from the person being interrogated.

"The Great Memory Restoration Technique is a Ninjutsu often used during interrogations, and it's also a relatively simple Ninjutsu."

Uzuki Yugao searched through all her memories, yet she still couldn't figure out what rank the Great Memory Restoration Technique was. Just from the name, it sounded extremely advanced.

A-Rank?

Then she voiced the question in her heart.

"Sensei, what is the Great Memory Restoration Technique?"

"The Great Memory Restoration Technique..."

Asuka stopped walking and turned to face the three of them. After organizing his wording in his mind, he explained, "Its advanced form is the Secret Mind Body Switch Technique, the secret Ninjutsu of the Yamanaka Clan.

"Its basic form is Taijutsu. That's right, the Taijutsu you train in every day."

"So..."

At that moment, several black lines appeared on Hyuga Hanahana's forehead. She looked at her teacher with her Byakugan and asked coolly, "This so-called interrogation literally means beating the other person up??"

"You could put it that way."

Asuka nodded, then pulled a scroll from his clothes. After opening it, he read aloud, "Assaulting a villager without cause: twenty days of detention, a fine of one hundred thousand ryo, personal responsibility for the villager's medical expenses, and a three-month ban on accepting missions in any form.

"You can't just beat villagers up whenever you want. If you beat a false confession out of someone and they report you to Hokage-sama afterward, you'll be in trouble.

"When Sensei encountered certain irritating bastards back then, I always went to beat them up with the answers already in hand. Even if they really complained to Hokage-sama afterward, Third Hokage-sama couldn't say a single bad word about me."

"Alright, I've told you the trick to doing this mission."

Asuka handed the mission document to the three of them, clapped his hands, and ordered, "Dismissed!"

Whoosh! The moment his words fell, the three exchanged looks, instantly leaped onto the trees beside them, and headed deeper into the village.

Watching their retreating figures, Asuka clasped his hands behind his back and gazed nostalgically at the white clouds in the sky.

When he used to do missions like this, if he encountered men or women who had betrayed their families, he would first gather evidence. Then, with that evidence tucked in his pocket, he would go question them.

And people like that usually harbored quite a few delusions of luck.

Then came the time to use the Great Memory Restoration Technique.

With his superb Medical Ninjutsu in one hand and the Great Memory Restoration Technique in the other, doing this kind of mission felt like eating chilled watermelon in a sweltering summer.

Refreshing!

Thinking of that, he lay down on a park bench, pulled out a medical book from his bag, and slowly flipped through it.

As his Medical Ninjutsu came ever closer to the pinnacle of this world, Asuka became increasingly curious about Tsunade's secret.

In her childhood photos, she had been flatter than a coffin lid. Yet in a very short time, such enormous changes had happened.

Although his Medical Ninjutsu was somewhat inferior to Tsunade's, the gap wasn't so vast as to be unreachable.

There had to be some huge secret behind it.

If he found that secret, it would be like picking up money by the sackful.

Meanwhile.

Uzuki Yugao, Hyuga Hanahana, and Iruka had already arrived at the mission location.

The mission in their hands wasn't difficult.

The client had already provided his girlfriend's usual schedule. All they had to do was follow her, record what she did, and question her.

This mission was so easy they could do it with their eyes closed.

"Hanahana, don't lose her."

"Got it!"

Seeing Hyuga Hanahana's cool expression and the bulging veins around her eyes, Uzuki Yugao knew she had already activated her Byakugan. She then turned to Iruka and said softly, "Iruka, go ahead to the bathhouse the target often visits. If she goes there today, rent the bathing room next to hers and wait for us."

"Understood!"

With that, Iruka left the group and arrived at the bathhouse ahead of them.

As time passed, he soon saw the mission target arrive at the bathhouse carrying bathing supplies.

Hmm? She was alone?

Seeing her enter the women's bath alone, Iruka instantly furrowed his brow.

The mission document said that the man's girlfriend had seemingly developed an obsession with cleanliness recently. Every morning, she came to the bathhouse and stayed for hours, and she had also grown very close to a stranger.

That was why he had issued this mission: to investigate her character.

"Hey!"

At that moment, Hyuga Hanahana and Uzuki Yugao ran in from outside as well. Seeing Iruka standing there in a daze, they approached and asked quietly, "Is she in one of the mixed-gender baths?"

"No!"

Iruka shook his head blankly. Pointing inside, he said softly, "She went into the women's bath."

"The women's...?"

The two blinked and looked at their companion in confusion, asking in unison, "You didn't see wrong?"

Iruka shook his head.

He had indeed seen her lift the curtain to the women's bath and walk in. That was why he had been pacing around the lobby.

At that moment, Hyuga Hanahana suddenly raised a finger and started calculating. "The reward for this mission is five thousand ryo total. After the village takes its fee, we earn four thousand. Sensei takes one thousand, leaving one thousand each for the three of us.

"Admission to the women's bath is one hundred fifty per person, so that's three hundred for two people. Since you can't go in, Iruka, you need to give Yugao and me fifty ryo each.

"You've contributed far too little this time.

"Even between teammates, accounts must be clear to avoid disputes."

"Huh??"

Iruka scratched his head. Then realization appeared on his face. He took out one hundred ryo from his bag, handed it to the two of them, and bowed. "Thank you for your hard work."

After the two entered the bathhouse, Uzuki Yugao looked at the thick white mist inside, then lowered her head to look at the basket of bathing supplies in her hands. She hesitated. "Is this really okay?"

"Eh, eh!"

Hyuga Hanahana waved a hand dismissively. "We can soak in the hot springs while doing the mission.

"Besides, I don't think we'll be able to complete today's mission. His girlfriend came to the women's bath, but the mission document clearly says she has an ambiguous relationship with a stranger.

"That person is very likely a man."

"Alright!"

After thinking about it briefly, Yugao felt that made sense. She put down her basket and placed both hands on her pants, just about to undress when a sound of playful scuffling came from next door.

"You're so naughty. Let's go to your place later."

"Isn't here fine?"

After hearing one particularly deep voice among them, Hyuga Hanahana's arm froze in midair as she removed her top. Then, expressionless, she put her clothes back on, her entire body radiating an aura that warned strangers to stay away.

Seeing Hyuga Hanahana pick up a kunai and head next door, Uzuki Yugao frowned. "Do you really need a kunai??"

"Yes."

Hyuga Hanahana gripped the kunai tightly in her right hand and said coldly, "We absolutely cannot show mercy to a pervert who sneaks into the women's bath."

With that, she lifted the curtain and entered the private bath next door.

"Ahh~"

A piercing scream rang out. Hyuga Hanahana expressionlessly glanced at the mission target, who had grabbed a towel to cover herself, before shifting her gaze to the other person.

Hmm? A woman?

No, a Transformation Technique.

A member of the Hyuga Clan who had activated the Byakugan could observe the Chakra within a target's body.

Looking at the Chakra flowing inside the other person, Hyuga Hanahana's expression darkened.

This person was actually a ninja.

"Who are you?"

Hearing the mission target question her, Hyuga Hanahana stared warily at the ninja and gripped her kunai tightly. "I'm the ninja your boyfriend hired to investigate your recent strange behavior."

"You actually have a boyfriend??"

At that moment, the ninja in the bath stood up and looked at the other woman with a shocked expression.

"No, don't listen to that woman's nonsense. It's just a boyfriend, right? I'll break up with him right now."

As she spoke, she got up and walked to Hyuga Hanahana. With a sneer, she said, "Go back and tell your client that he no longer has a girlfriend from this moment on. Your mission is over too."

Hyuga Hanahana's eyelid twitched. Her gaze fell upon the mission target, then she looked back at the ninja behind her. After silently offering the client a moment of sympathy, she shook her head. "This is no longer about the client. It's about the person behind you who entered the women's bath without permission."

Then she looked at the ninja behind her, who had gotten dressed but had yet to dispel the Transformation Technique, and continued, "Show me your identification."

"Identification?"

She turned to look at her male companion in surprise. "Do you have that thing? Didn't you still not get it done?"

???

Hyuga Hanahana was full of question marks. "No identification? An undocumented resident?"

"No, Ninja-sama, listen to me—"

Before he could finish, the woman instantly lost her temper. She pointed at Hyuga Hanahana's nose and shouted, "What do you mean, undocumented resident? Why are you speaking so harshly? He wanted to get identification, but weren't you people the ones who refused? You said he came from another country and that his information was incomplete, so you wouldn't issue it."

"No, no."

The ninja hurriedly waved at Hyuga Hanahana, his face covered in sweat. "What undocumented resident? Ninja-sama, listen—"

"You're an undocumented resident from another country."

Hyuga Hanahana nodded in sudden understanding. She took another kunai from her backpack and said seriously.

"You're probably going to be detained by Konoha's Police Force for investigation for a while."

"Don't detain me. I'm a merchant—I came to Konoha this time to do business."

"Why are you wasting time talking to her?!"

The woman pointed at the Byakugan woman in front of her, then turned to her male companion and said unhappily.

"Let her detain you. Didn't you sell all the gold you secretly brought this time?

You've cleaned all the money off yourself. What are you afraid of the Police Force for? Let them investigate."

Money laundering? This guy wasn't a good person?

"You laundered money too? Come on, come with me to the Police Force."

Seeing Hyuga Hanahana's expression turn increasingly ugly, the man hurriedly wiped the sweat from his forehead and began explaining.

"No, no, Lady Ninja, listen to my explanation. Let's not take this to the Police Force."

"Why are you so annoying? What are you explaining to her for? What are you afraid of her for? We're not going anywhere, and we're not going to the Police Force either."

After cutting off her male companion, she still felt a stifled anger in her chest. She then pointed at Hyuga Hanahana's nose and shouted at him.

"Didn't you say you were a ninja?

She's a ninja too. What are you afraid of her for? Your Sand Country and Konoha are both among the Five Great Ninja Villages, so what are you afraid of?"

???? Hyuga Hanahana stared at the two of them in confusion. She rubbed her face, which had stiffened slightly from shock, and asked doubtfully.

"Hey, do you work at Sunagakure?"

"No, no. I don't work at Sunagakure."

There was even more sweat on the man's face. He had known this woman for years after meeting her by chance. This time, he had originally come to Konoha intending to get a new identity, but he had never expected her to be here too.

The moment he saw her, an idea came to him.

If he registered a marriage with her and entered Konoha openly, that would make the safest cover identity possible.

To be safe, he had even revealed his true identity to her, forcibly dragging her onto his boat.

After all, she couldn't bear the charge of colluding with a ninja from another village.

And after his hypnosis, this woman had suddenly become love-struck.

That was careless. I hypnotized her too hard and drove this love-struck fool crazy. "What job? He's a Sunagakure ninja. Isn't the ninja world at peace now?

This time, he came to Konoha—"

"Shut up!"

The man roared and slapped the blabbermouth away.

Fuck!

It was originally just sneaking into the women's bathhouse.

Now I've fucking exposed everything.

Uzuki Yugao also drew a kunai and walked to Hyuga Hanahana's side, watching the Sand Ninja warily.

This mission had gone somewhat beyond their control.

It involved a ninja from outside the village. And a Sand Ninja who had sneaked into the village at that.

No matter how she looked at it, this didn't seem like a D-Rank Mission.

Could it be B-Rank?

P.S. I wrote seven thousand characters and still wanted to keep going. Forget it, I'll stop for now. It's almost ten o'clock.

See you tomorrow.