Return to the Village

After safely escorting the merchant caravan to its destination in the Grass Country, the Kaminari Kaede Squad headed straight back to Konoha.

The Grass Country also had its own ninja village. Although it was allied with Konoha, it was best not to stay for long unless they had mission authorization issued by the Hokage.

Other than killing a group of bandits, they encountered nothing else during this C-rank escort mission.

Kaminari Kaede had been surprised that the two girls, Yuhi Kurenai and Hyuga Kiyomi, had been able to kill so decisively. He was not surprised by Hyuga Mirai, however; Kaminari Kaede had heard of his reputation at Konoha Hospital.

With the skills of a medical Chunin, he had definitely seen corpses before.

Though Yuhi Kurenai and Hyuga Kiyomi had turned pale after killing the bandits with shuriken, they quickly adjusted their mindsets. In that regard alone, Yuhi Kurenai and Hyuga Kiyomi already qualified as competent ninjas.

They still needed more tempering, though. On their first mission involving combat, they still had a bit of a "Ninja Game" mentality. Hyuga Mirai was much better in that respect. He always put the mission first and remained cautious and careful.

After returning to the village and turning in the mission, Kaminari Kaede said to the three of them with his usual expressionless face, "Gather at Training Ground 3 tomorrow. Rest for a day the day after, then continue taking missions."

Mindlessly taking missions would not promote growth. Kaminari Kaede was accustomed to training for a day and resting for a day after every mission. At that pace, they would aim to complete fifteen C-rank Missions within two months, after which the squad could try taking B-rank Missions.

During the following day's training, Kaminari Kaede did not treat them as students who had just graduated from the Ninja Academy, but as real ninjas.

He would not strike to kill, but with the strength of a Jonin, a single hit was enough to injure any of the three. If they were hit by a ninjutsu, they could go straight to Konoha Hospital.

Still, Kaminari Kaede knew his limits. He generally used ninjutsu to force them back or for defense, rarely for offense.

Even so, Hyuga Mirai, Hyuga Kiyomi, and Yuhi Kurenai remained in constant danger during their sparring match.

Even if Taijutsu was the weak point of a ninjutsu-type Jonin, he was still far stronger than a Chunin. Especially since Kaminari Kaede occasionally used ninjutsu, Hyuga Mirai was beaten terribly without revealing his full strength.

Still, this helped Hyuga Mirai improve somewhat. At the very least, his exchanges with Kaminari Kaede allowed him to find his own shortcomings. Kaminari Kaede truly was a good Captain as well. Every time he sent the three of them flying, he pointed out their mistakes.

"It hurts so much. Kaminari-sensei is way too strict!"

Yuhi Kurenai muttered. Several patches on her body had turned blue, and there were two swollen bruises. No wonder he had given them a day off—was this so they could go find a medical-nin?

Hyuga Kiyomi said nothing. She had the advantage in Taijutsu and was in slightly better shape than Yuhi Kurenai, but a huge bump had risen on her head, giving her an almost horned appearance. Hyuga Mirai glanced at it twice and nearly burst out laughing.

"Ahem, Kiyomi-sama, Kurenai, let me treat you two."

Hyuga Mirai beckoned to them.

"Hehe, then I'll be counting on you, Mirai-kun."

When Yuhi Kurenai heard Hyuga Mirai's words, a smile immediately appeared on her face, and her ruby-red eyes curved into crescents.

This was when the benefit of having a medical-nin on the team became apparent. Otherwise, another trip to Konoha Hospital would cost them a considerable sum. Besides, she had heard that Hyuga Mirai's medical skills were excellent, already on par with an official physician at Konoha Hospital.

Hyuga Kiyomi also moved closer. Perhaps because of the bump on her forehead, she felt that she looked terribly embarrassing. The shame and anger on her face were obvious, and she did not say a word, only hoping that the bump would be healed quickly.

Mystical Palm Technique!

Hyuga Mirai rapidly formed hand seals, gathering green Chakra in his palms before placing both hands on Yuhi Kurenai and Hyuga Kiyomi.

Under the healing of Yang Release Chakra, the more obvious swollen injuries on the two girls nearly returned to normal. For the rest, they only needed to apply some ointment and rest for a day to fully recover.

"Whew... all done. Apply some ointment to the rest, and it'll be fine in half a day."

Hyuga Mirai withdrew his Chakra and sat cross-legged on the ground, breathing faintly.

The Mystical Palm Technique was A-rank Medical Ninjutsu. Even in Konoha Hospital, only a few physicians could master it. Not only did it consume a great deal of Chakra, but it also required an extremely high degree of Chakra control.

The reason Hyuga Mirai used the Mystical Palm Technique on such minor injuries, aside from maintaining his persona, was that he wanted to use his excessive exhaustion as an excuse to ask Hyuga Kiyomi for a day off.

"Kiyomi-sama, I want to rest at home tomorrow."

When Hyuga Kiyomi heard Hyuga Mirai's words, the suggestion that he come train at the Main Family training grounds caught in her throat. Moreover, Hyuga Mirai was injured too, and he had just immediately used the Mystical Palm Technique to heal the swelling on her body.

Yuhi Kurenai was also standing nearby. If she refused, she would seem cold and unreasonable.

Mirai-kun is obviously exhausted, so why does Kiyomi still want him to train?

She would definitely think that!

Thinking of this, Hyuga Kiyomi immediately nodded and said to Hyuga Mirai, "Fine. Get a good rest tomorrow."

After saying that, she shot Yuhi Kurenai a sideways glance with her pale eyes, then left the training ground directly.

"What did that look Kiyomi gave me just now mean?"

Only after Hyuga Kiyomi had gone far away did Yuhi Kurenai turn to Hyuga Mirai and ask in confusion.

"I'm not sure either. Maybe she thinks your eyes are beautiful."

Hyuga Mirai casually brushed it off. Then he stood, patted the dust from his clothes, and bid Yuhi Kurenai farewell.

"Kurenai, I'm heading back first. See you the day after tomorrow."

At that age, besides improving their strength, boys and girls spent the rest of their time thinking about the opposite sex.

Uchiha Obito was a prime example. At only six or seven years old, he already had feelings for Nohara Rin.

Yuhi Kurenai did not have such thoughts for now, but praise from the opposite sex could still put her in a good mood.

Especially when the praise came from a highly dependable teammate, someone with perfect looks, considerable strength, and medical talent renowned far and wide.

Hearing Hyuga Mirai's compliment, Yuhi Kurenai's mood instantly improved. Humming lightly, she skipped away from the training ground.

After returning home, Hyuga Mirai treated his own injuries, then recalled the time he had spent with the squad.

He should not have revealed anything suspicious. It had only been an ordinary C-rank Mission, and during the squad's exercises, he had acted just as he normally did at the Main Family training grounds.

"Next, with the doors and windows tightly locked, ordinary people won't come to disturb me. Since I've already asked Hyuga Kiyomi for leave, Hyuga Sosuke won't come either. A whole day should be enough."

Hyuga Mirai considered it again in his mind and felt that even if he used the system's simulation function, nothing unexpected should happen.

"System, activate the Extraction Function!"

Getting a contract is so hard. Writing novels is a dead end!