Rank B Mission

Mingxi's body is so petite, but her 'stomach' is like a bottomless pit...

After paying the bill, Sakumo stared blankly at the receipt in his hand. He even wondered if he was under a genjutsu because just one barbecue meal had directly emptied his bulging wallet. That was his hard-earned savings...

"Maple, you're not from the Akimichi Clan, are you?"

On the way back, Sakumo couldn't help but ask Kageka Maple curiously.

"Sakumo-sensei, you can tell I'm not from the Akimichi Clan from my figure and Kekkei Genkai!"

Kageka Maple said, touching her slightly bulging stomach with a comfortable expression on her face.

"..."

Sakumo was silent after hearing this. It was precisely because she wasn't from the Akimichi Clan that he found it unbelievable! What kind of constitution allows someone to eat five or six adult barbecue sets?

"Sakumo-sensei, this big eater always eats this much, so you don't need to be so surprised or feel so bad about the money. I'll reimburse you later; consider it my payment for your guidance."

Mingxi, who comes from a wealthy family, doesn't have much concept of money, so she spoke directly.

"..."

Sakumo was silent again. Was he being looked down upon by his own student?

"Ahem, I can still afford a barbecue meal..."

Sakumo coughed and then said, "It's about time, everyone should go home. We'll meet at the training grounds tomorrow, and I'll take on some missions for you to practice."

"Yes, Sakumo-sensei."

Kageka Maple and Mingxi replied. Yuzuru simply nodded to the side.

Seeing this, Sakumo didn't say much and directly shunshined away.

Afterward, Mingxi didn't linger either. Her time was precious, and if she didn't use her time efficiently to train, she wouldn't be able to catch up with Yuzuru in the future.

"Yuzuru-kun, I don't know why my appetite has increased so much lately; it's really a headache."

Kageka Maple said to Yuzuru, complaining a bit. She was only six years old, yet she was already being called a 'big eater.' This was simply ruining her image.

"Do you want me to take back the Shadow Release?"

Yuzuru glanced at her and said coldly.

"This is a 'gift' from Yuzuru-kun; how can I ask for it back?"

Kageka Maple said, a hint of infatuation in the depths of her eyes as she looked at Yuzuru.

"It's getting late; you should go home."

Yuzuru took a deep look at Kageka Maple, didn't say much, and walked toward the Hyuga Clan Estate.

Seeing this, Kageka Maple didn't leave immediately but watched Yuzuru's figure slowly disappear...

Konoha, Year 32, February.

Hokage's office.

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at the information from the Anbu, his brows furrowing involuntarily.

"Summon Sakumo's team."

"Yes!"

With Hiruzen Sarutobi's order, an Anbu member hidden in the shadows immediately left to notify the members of Sakumo's team.

Soon, the four members of Sakumo's team arrived in the Hokage's office.

"Sakumo, here's a B-rank mission for you."

Hiruzen Sarutobi said, gesturing for Sakumo to take the mission scroll and information on the table.

Sakumo nodded, took the mission scroll and information, and immediately began to read it.

Before long, Sakumo asked, "Hokage-sama, when do we depart?"

"Preferably now!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi said.

"Alright, we'll go prepare now."

After speaking, Sakumo directly led Yuzuru and the other two out of the Hokage's office. Outside, he explained to them that this was an urgent mission to leave the village and asked them to gather at the village gate within half an hour.

In less than half an hour, Sakumo's team gathered at the village gate. After obtaining a departure permit, they officially passed through the guards and left the village.

"Sakumo-sensei, what exactly is our mission this time?"

On the way, Kageka Maple took the lead in asking. In the past three months, they had been completing low-level missions that couldn't be any lower, such as 'finding stray cats,' 'picking up river trash,' and 'weeding farmland,' which were starting to numb her.

"This is a B-rank mission jointly issued by the Land of Fire nobles to eliminate a bounty hunter group that suddenly appeared."

Sakumo said and continued to explain the relevant information about the mission.

"This bounty hunter group suddenly appeared in the Land of Fire three months ago and is very active. In particular, they frequently accept bounty missions to hunt down Land of Fire nobles, so many nobles have been hunted down..."

"Bounty hunter group? Are they ninja?"

Mingxi asked, her eyes lighting up upon hearing this.

"That's right, they are a bounty group composed of rogue ninja, and according to intelligence, their strength is probably between Genin and Jonin."

Sakumo nodded.

"This is great news! These last three months of doing low-level missions have been suffocating me!"

Mingxi said excitedly. Fighting with ninja was the kind of mission she wanted.

"Sakumo-sensei, kill or drive them away?"

At this moment, Yuzuru suddenly asked. There were many ways to solve the problem, but there was only one simplest way…

"...Kill!"

Sakumo was silent for a moment, then said indifferently. This was not only the meaning of the nobles who issued the mission, but also the default of the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi. After all, rogue ninja who dared to act recklessly in the Land of Fire were undoubtedly provoking the Hidden Leaf Village's authority!

"Understood."

Yuzuru nodded, indicating understanding.

On a remote road in the Land of Fire, more than a dozen corpses lay scattered on the ground in tragic shapes. Some were burned to charcoal, some were gnawed by strange insects, some had swollen skin as if they had been soaked in water for days, some were withered and their blood had disappeared for no reason, and some...

Not far from these corpses, six people stood separately. They were all wearing black cloaks, and their faces were covered with uniform beast masks, but the patterns on them were different.

"Do these nobles want to kill us that much?"

"And the guys they sent out are too weak. Can't they give us some pressure?"

A young man wearing a mask with a fire finch pattern suddenly said, looking like he was 'disappointed in them'.

"We have already attracted the attention of Konoha's higher-ups, and recently, Konoha ninja should be coming to deal with us."

A crisp female voice sounded. It was a girl wearing a mask with a flying serpent pattern.

"What's there to be afraid of? Wasn't the mission given by the higher-ups for us to make a big fuss?"

"That's right, my 'pets' love these ninja's chakra the most!"

"And me, their blood 'tastes' very 'sweet'!"

The other three masked companions also spoke one after another, looking eager to try.

"But before that, we should deal with the 'tail' that has been following us for months..."

The last companion suddenly spoke, then his gaze passed through the mask and looked to one side of the road. There, a strong middle-aged man was slowly walking towards them. He wore a Hidden Waterfall Village renegade forehead protector on his forehead, and his dark green eyes seemed to contain no human emotion