Are You Some Kind of Nepotism Hire?

"Heh, since you little-brother-loving fool came knocking on my door, I'll definitely take you in!"

That was what he said, but whether he could actually take down Uchiha Setsuna was another matter. After all, Uchiha Setsuna did have some skill.

As for his own strength, he was roughly at the level of a Special Jonin. He was still some distance away from becoming a Jonin.

His Chakra reserves were only enough for one card's worth. If he used a few high-level ninjutsu in battle, he would be completely drained.

The fastest way to increase Chakra was through the system shop, but he had yet to find a stable way to gain Tranquility Points, so he did not dare spend them recklessly.

Otherwise, if he failed to save up sixty thousand Tranquility Points to exchange for that item when Madara Uchiha attacked Konoha, he would be in serious danger.

"Seriously! Why do all the Uchiha Clan people love causing trouble so much?"

He somewhat understood now why Tobirama paid such special attention to the Uchiha Clan. They truly loved stirring up trouble.

Still, there were plenty of Uchiha whom Torikaze did not dislike, such as Kagami and Chisato.

No matter how much he thought about it, he could not figure out how to deal with Uchiha Setsuna. So he simply stopped thinking about it and went to bed!

That was Torikaze's usual style. At worst, he could just move into his Shishou's house. He refused to believe Uchiha Setsuna was so brazen that he would dare assassinate him within the Senju Clan Grounds!

The instant he climbed into bed, Torikaze fell fast asleep. Everything that had happened today had left him exhausted.

Fortunately, Torikaze was not the sort to obsess over things. There was nothing that could not be fixed by a good night's sleep.

The night passed just like that. The next morning, Torikaze and Chisato strolled through the streets, looking relaxed and smiling brightly.

Torikaze stretched and smiled at Chisato beside him. "Today's a lucky day. Shishou was busy, so he let us leave without much training."

Chisato pouted, not looking very happy. "I wanted to train a little longer. Lord Hokage dismissed us so early. At this rate, when will I ever beat you?"

Torikaze spread his hands and said casually, "Then next time, I won't try so hard. Why are you so determined to beat me?"

"Even though my brother has some prestige within the clan, he still can't stand against those old fossils. I want to grow stronger quickly so I can help him."

Chisato was a little dejected. Though she was considered strong among children, that amount of strength was nowhere near enough.

Seeing her like this, Torikaze stopped teasing her and began to comfort her instead.

"Don't put too much pressure on yourself. Do what suits your age. Could your brother rally a group of clansmen when he was six? The answer is no."

"As long as you improve every day, that's enough."

Though Chisato was touched by his words, she was still worried about her brother.

"Don't worry. Your brother is Lord Tobirama's disciple. He has someone backing him."

"All right..."

She reluctantly accepted that explanation, but Chisato knew Lord Tobirama did not think highly of the Uchiha Clan. She had no idea why he had taken her brother as his disciple.

"What should we do now?" As her mood gradually improved, Chisato returned to her lively self.

Once one got to know Chisato, they would realize that her young-lady demeanor and mannerisms only appeared in front of people she did not know well. The real her was a very lively little girl.

"I don't know. It's still early. How about we go see what your brother and the others are doing?"

"Them? They should be picking up missions or something, right? We have nothing else to do anyway, so let's go."

With that settled, the two headed toward the place in the village where ninja accepted missions, hoping they might run into them—or simply wait for them there.

The closer they got to the mission hall, the more people there were. Most were adults, and even the youngest were fifteen, sixteen, or seventeen.

Naturally, two little children like Torikaze and Chisato drew plenty of attention here. Some people even asked whether they had gotten lost.

Torikaze could only helplessly explain that they were looking for someone.

Many people also recognized Torikaze. After all, it was impossible to hide the identity of the Hokage's disciple.

Even so, there was no large-scale crowd gathering around him. Everyone was busy, after all.

The Hokage's disciple did not hold any real authority. Who would waste their time surrounding a little kid?

Torikaze was quite pleased with this situation. Just imagining being surrounded and stared at made him feel suffocated.

"Torikaze, look! It's my brother and the others!"

Following the direction Chisato pointed, Torikaze indeed saw Kagami Uchiha and the others.

"Let's go over."

With that, Torikaze and Chisato walked over.

"Hey, hey, hey, Mister! Don't you have any harder missions?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi asked the middle-aged ninja issuing missions, seemingly quite dissatisfied with the mission he had assigned.

The middle-aged ninja did not care about Hiruzen Sarutobi's complaint at all and replied calmly.

"With your qualifications, this is the hardest mission you can accept."

He had seen plenty of newcomers like them. When he had first taken up the position, he had once given a higher-level mission because of the same sort of complaints.

The result was that he never saw that ninja again.

Seeing that the middle-aged ninja seemed to be looking down on his strength, Hiruzen Sarutobi rolled up his sleeves, preparing to show him what he could do!

But Danzo grabbed Hiruzen Sarutobi from the side, stopping him from making a fool of himself.

"It's like this, Senior. We are Lord Tobirama's disciples. Our Shishou instructed us to accept missions more difficult than usual as a test. This is his letter."

Danzo clearly explained the reason, then took a letter from his robes and handed it to the middle-aged ninja.

He opened the letter and glanced over it, confirming that it was indeed written by Lord Tobirama.

Since that was the case, he had no way to stop them.

"Sigh, then take this one."

The middle-aged ninja pointed to a mission marked with an A on the Mission Scroll. This was already a mission that only First-Rate Ninja within the village could accept.

Hiruzen Sarutobi immediately darted forward to inspect the mission they were about to take.

"Wiping out Mountain Bandits? Seriously? This is an A-rank mission?"

It was not just Hiruzen Sarutobi; even his companions were confused. Generally speaking, Mountain Bandits were merely stronger Ordinary People.

They were no match for ninja at all, so missions to eliminate Mountain Bandits were usually taken by rookies who had just become ninja.

The main purpose was to train them to kill. A ninja could only be considered qualified once they had grown accustomed to slaughter.

Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others had long passed that stage, so they were naturally surprised by a mission to wipe out Mountain Bandits.

"Hey, Mister, you didn't deliberately label a C-rank mission as A-rank, did you?"

The middle-aged ninja raised his eyes and glanced at Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"Kid, don't tell me you got to become Lord Tobirama's disciple through connections? Why are you so rash and impatient?"

The moment Hiruzen Sarutobi heard him mock him, his temper flared! Just as he was about to lash out, Danzo stopped him again.

Kagami stepped forward and carefully examined the Mission Scroll. Only then did he understand why a mission to wipe out Mountain Bandits was actually A-rank!