B-Rank Mission

Mingxi's body was so petite, yet her "capacity" seemed bottomless...

After paying the bill, Sakumo stared blankly at the receipt in his hand. He even briefly wondered whether he had fallen under a genjutsu. It had only been one barbecue meal, yet it had practically emptied his once-full wallet. Those were savings he had worked so hard to accumulate...

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

On the way back, Sakumo still could not resist asking Kageka Maple out of curiosity.

"Teacher Sakumo, just look at my build and Kekkei Genkai. There's no way I could be from the Akimichi Clan!"

As Kageka Maple spoke, she rubbed her slightly bulging stomach, her face brimming with contentment.

"..."

Sakumo fell silent at once. It was precisely because she was not from the Akimichi Clan that it was so unbelievable! What kind of constitution could eat five or six adult barbecue sets?

"Teacher Sakumo, this big eater has always eaten this much, so you don't need to be so surprised. And don't feel so bad about the money either. I'll reimburse you later—consider it payment for your guidance."

Mingxi spoke up from the side. Coming from a wealthy family, she did not have much concept of money, so she said it so directly.

"..."

Sakumo fell silent again. Had he been looked down on by his own students?

"Ahem, I can still afford to treat you to one barbecue meal..."

Sakumo coughed, then continued, "It's about time. Everyone, head home separately. Gather at the training field again tomorrow. I'll take on some missions for you to get some practice."

"Yes, Teacher Sakumo."

Kageka Maple and Mingxi answered, while Yuzuru merely nodded from the side.

Seeing that, Sakumo said no more and used the Body Flicker Technique to leave.

Mingxi did not linger either. Her time was precious now. If she did not use it efficiently for training, she would never be able to catch up to Yuzuru in the future.

"Yuzuru, I don't know why, but my appetite has increased so much lately. It's really giving me a headache."

Kageka Maple spoke to Yuzuru with a faintly aggrieved tone. She was only six years old, yet people were already calling her a "big eater." It was utterly ruining her image.

"Then do you want me to take back Shadow Release?"

Yuzuru glanced at her and replied coldly.

"This is a 'gift' from you, Yuzuru. How could I let you take it back?"

Kageka Maple said, a trace of infatuation hidden deep in her gaze as she looked at Yuzuru.

"It's already late. You should go home."

Yuzuru gave Kageka Maple a deep look but said nothing else. He turned and headed toward the Hyuga Clan Estate.

Kageka Maple did not leave right away. Instead, she watched Yuzuru's back slowly disappear from sight...

February, Year 32 of Hidden Leaf Village.

Hokage's Office.

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked over the information sent by the Anbu, and his brows involuntarily furrowed.

"Call Sakumo's team here."

"Yes!"

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

Before long, the four members of Sakumo's team arrived at the Hokage's office.

"Sakumo, I have a B-rank mission for you."

Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke, gesturing for Sakumo to take the mission form and documents from the desk.

Sakumo nodded. After taking the mission form and documents, he immediately began reading them.

Not long afterward, Sakumo asked, "Lord Hokage, when do we depart?"

"The sooner, the better. Right now, if possible."

Hiruzen Sarutobi replied.

"Understood. We'll go prepare now."

With that, Sakumo directly led Yuzuru and the other two out of the Hokage's office. Outside, he explained that this was an urgent mission outside the village, then told them to gather at the village gates within half an hour.

Before half an hour had passed, Sakumo's team gathered at the village entrance. After presenting their permits to leave the village, they officially passed the guards and departed.

"Teacher Sakumo, what exactly is our mission this time?"

While traveling, Kageka Maple was the first to ask. Over the past three months, all they had done were low-level missions like "find a stray cat," "collect trash from the river," and "weed farmland." She was nearly numb from all those missions that could not have been any more low-level.

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

Sakumo spoke, then continued to explain the mission's relevant information and details.

"This bounty group suddenly appeared in the Land of Fire three months ago and has been extremely active. In particular, they often accept bounties to hunt nobles of the Land of Fire, so quite a few nobles have been targeted and killed..."

"A bounty group? Are they ninja?"

Mingxi's eyes immediately lit up as she asked.

"That's right. They are a bounty group made up of rogue ninja. Based on the intelligence, their strength ranges roughly from Genin to Jonin."

Sakumo nodded.

"That's great news. These low-level missions over the past three months have practically suffocated me!"

Mingxi spoke excitedly. Fighting ninja—this was the kind of mission she wanted.

"Teacher Sakumo, are we killing them or driving them away?"

At that moment, Yuzuru suddenly asked. There were many ways to solve a problem, but only one simplest way...

"...Kill them."

After a moment of silence, Sakumo answered coldly. That was not only the intention of the nobles who had issued the mission, but also the tacit approval of the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi. Rogue ninja who dared to act so recklessly in the Land of Fire were undoubtedly challenging the authority of the Hidden Leaf Village!

"Understood."

Yuzuru nodded to show that he understood.

On a remote road within the Land of Fire, more than a dozen corpses lay scattered across the ground in gruesome forms. Some had been burned into charred husks; some had been gnawed apart by unknown insects; some had swollen skin as though they had been soaked in water for days; some were shriveled dry, their blood mysteriously drained from their bodies; and some...

Not far from those corpses stood six people, spaced apart from one another. They all wore black cloaks and identical beast masks, though each mask bore a different pattern.

"Do these nobles really want us dead that badly?"

"And aren't the people they sent far too weak? Can't they give us at least a little pressure?"

A young man wearing a mask painted with a firebird pattern suddenly spoke, looking like he could not bear their incompetence.

"We have already drawn the attention of Hidden Leaf Village's higher-ups. Hidden Leaf ninja should be coming to deal with us soon."

A crisp female voice rang out. It belonged to a young woman wearing a mask painted with a flying serpent pattern.

"What's there to fear? Didn't our mission from above tell us to cause a huge scene?"

"Exactly. My 'pets' love these ninja's Chakra!"

"And me—their blood tastes so 'sweet' too!"

The other three masked companions spoke in succession, each looking eager to make a move.

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

The final companion suddenly spoke, then looked through his mask toward one side of the road. A middle-aged man was slowly walking toward them, wearing the forehead protector of a rogue ninja from the Hidden Waterfall Village. His dark green eyes seemed devoid of human emotion...