Mission Assignment Office

"...Huh?!"

When Kakashi heard Feng Ye invite Might Duy to form a team, his expression immediately fell, his face clearly saying, Is that really necessary?

What kind of move was teaming up with Might Duy?!

Even if he wanted to help Might Duy, there was no need to go this far. Might Duy was clearly someone who could easily make mistakes during missions—he had already been kicked out of another team.

Wouldn't it be better to carry out missions alone, then use part of the commission money to support or lend to Might Duy, rather than team up with him?

"Eh?"

Kurenai Yuhi and Rin were also somewhat stunned.

They had not expected Feng Ye to invite Might Duy to join his team. He was clearly doing his best to help Might Duy. Was he going this far just because Might Duy was the father of a classmate?

That was just... so radiant.

Maybe Feng Ye really could become Hokage.

The same thought appeared in both Kurenai Yuhi's and Rin's minds. Neither felt it was impossible; in fact, they increasingly felt that this might happen in the future.

Might Duy was also somewhat startled by Feng Ye's words. He did not stop to consider what Feng Ye meant by "special circumstances," but hesitated before saying:

"This... wouldn't be appropriate, would it? I might cause you trouble."

If it had been another adult, he would have immediately agreed through grateful tears and promised to give it his all. But since it was Feng Ye, he hesitated.

Feng Ye was, after all, a student in the same class as Might Guy. Duy knew his own situation too well—he always ended up causing some sort of problem. If he teamed up with Feng Ye, he worried that one mistake from him would drag down this younger generation's talent.

"I believe in you, senior."

Feng Ye spoke earnestly.

If even Might Duy, who could open the Eight Gates, could not be trusted, then there were hardly any people in Konoha worth trusting. The current Might Duy, after opening the Eight Gates, could pin Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo to the ground and beat them senseless together!

Feeling that the trust in Feng Ye's voice was completely genuine, Might Duy's nose stung. His eyes brimmed with tears, and he could not help stepping forward and suddenly hugging Feng Ye.

"Thank you, thank you... My youth will definitely continue to burn!"

Quite a few nearby ninja saw the scene and could not help giving them strange looks.

Kurenai Yuhi and Rin's expressions stiffened slightly as well, and they could only put on awkward smiles.

Kakashi, meanwhile, curled his lip and spread his hands at Feng Ye, his expression saying, I knew this would happen. You brought it on yourself.

"..."

The corners of Feng Ye's mouth twitched too.

He had actually wanted to dodge, but hesitated for a moment, and this was the result.

He had previously drawn plenty of strange looks because Kakashi had performed too brilliantly. He was more or less immune to those gazes by now, but Might Duy's overly intimate behavior, his eyelid-twitching words, coupled with the strange looks from everyone nearby...

The damage was enormous!

Feng Ye quietly stepped back, slipping free of Might Duy's embrace. He showed a fairly sunny but clearly somewhat embarrassed smile and said, "Senior, let's go pick up a mission."

With Might Duy accompanying him on missions, and with safety no longer being much of a concern, it would be excellent practical training for him.

Although he had a rough idea of his own strength, actual combat and theory were two different things. Just like how, if Might Guy's final kick after opening the Eight Gates had landed on Madara Uchiha's head, the story might have ended right there.

But being off by a little had not only failed to solve the problem—it had created even more trouble.

"Sorry... sorry... I got carried away for a moment..."

Might Duy seemed to realize that he had caused Feng Ye some trouble. He apologized while quickly wiping away the emotional tears streaming down his face with his sleeve.

Feng Ye let out a breath inwardly and calmed himself down. He turned to Kurenai Yuhi and the others. "Kurenai, Rin, I'll go look for a mission with Senior Duy first... Oh, and Kakashi, I'll leave these to you to take back."

As he spoke,

Feng Ye set the two enormous shopping bags he was carrying down in front of Kakashi.

"???"

Several question marks seemed to pop up over Kakashi's head, and his face immediately fell.

Served you right for enjoying his misfortune earlier!

Feng Ye glanced at Kakashi. Since he had a younger brother, naturally, he had to make good use of him. He gestured to Might Duy and headed toward Konoha's mission assignment office.

For ninja, missions and commissions were the most important things for survival, as well as the meaning of their existence. The importance of handling mission commissions naturally went without saying.

Konoha's mission assignment office was located on the first floor of the Hokage Building.

Ninja needed to report B-rank missions and above to Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi for approval. C-rank and D-rank missions below B-rank, on the other hand, were directly assigned and received by the Jonin in charge at the office. They only needed to organize the mission results into the ninja's personal records and report them to Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"There still aren't any D-rank missions."

The moment Might Duy entered the mission assignment office, he looked toward the outermost bulletin board. That board was for D-rank missions, but it was completely empty now.

D-rank missions were usually things like finding lost cats or helping dig taro. Such missions were common during peacetime, but with the tense situation before war, people had to put effort even into maintaining their livelihoods. Naturally, few came to post such commissions.

Seeing that the D-rank mission board was empty, Might Duy walked toward the C-rank mission board.

"Eh, why are you here again?!"

A Chunin responsible for handling missions sat beside the bulletin board. Noticing Might Duy approaching, he said with some impatience, "If you're alone, there's no way I can let you take a C-rank mission. Those are the village's rules. Is that team from before unwilling to take you back?"

Those words embarrassed Might Duy somewhat. Just as he was about to say something, Feng Ye looked at the Chunin beside him and spoke calmly.

"Excuse me... this ninja is now a member of my team."

"Hm?"

The ninja at the mission office was slightly surprised.

Feng Ye had said, "my team." Genin could not form teams; they could only join them. Only Chunin could form a team and serve as its captain. In other words, Feng Ye before him was a Chunin—but he did not remember ever seeing Feng Ye come to pick up missions.

Wait.

Silver-white hair...

He stared at Feng Ye for several seconds, then suddenly remembered the Chunin Exams from a few months ago. Apparently, the only person to pass had been a silver-haired boy.

"You're that Hatake Feng Ye?"

The mission office ninja asked hesitantly.

He had never met Feng Ye, but he had seen Feng Ye's personal file. He remembered that Feng Ye should have been around ten years old, yet the boy before him looked at least twelve or thirteen.

"Yeah."

Feng Ye nodded and gave his ninja registration number.

The mission office ninja told him to wait a moment, then quickly looked up the corresponding records using the number. Soon, he confirmed Feng Ye's identity.

After confirming it, he looked at Feng Ye in surprise and asked doubtfully, "Your registered information says you're only ten, right? How do you look so..."

"I just grew faster than usual."

Feng Ye smiled casually. "Can I take a mission now?"

The mission office ninja gave Feng Ye and Might Duy an odd look, his gaze moving back and forth between them. "You can... but are you sure you want to team up with this ninja? His C-rank mission failure rate is the highest among the Genin, and he has a record of making mistakes many times."