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"Such a trivial B-Rank Mission is nothing to me!"

Tsunade was quite satisfied with Nara Kaikei's "well-behaved understanding." She turned back to the old man and said without the slightest politeness.

"Even a few more B-Rank Missions would be no problem!"

A few more B-Rank Missions?

That meant a few more B-Rank Ninja Scrolls?

Nara Kaikei rapidly did the conversion in his mind. His eyes immediately lit up as he looked expectantly at Hiruzen Sarutobi.

After the [Apprehend Spy] and [Police Force Member] missions just now, Nara Kaikei had basically determined his own level of strength. He was highly confident about completing the B-Rank Ninja Commissioned Missions issued by Konoha.

After all, the strongest enemies faced in B-Rank Ninja Commissioned Missions were no more than chunin.

Even if things went terribly wrong and the enemy somehow turned from a chunin into a jonin...

Didn't they still have Tsunade backing them up?

Nara Kaikei glanced at the Big Fat Sheep beside him and made up his mind.

This time, he would absolutely be a diligent shepherd boy!

He definitely would not let the sheep get away!

"You two really are..."

Looking at the pair's perfectly synchronized expressions, Hiruzen Sarutobi laughed helplessly.

Who said Tsunade neglected her duties?

Who said all Nara were lazybones?

You really couldn't trust written files completely!

Hiruzen Sarutobi stroked his short gray-and-white goatee.

For an Elite Ninja of Tsunade's caliber, B-Rank Missions truly amounted to nothing.

A-Rank Missions and even S-Rank Missions were where she ought to display her strength.

But Hiruzen Sarutobi understood the situation of this unusual duo, "Tsunade and Nara Kaikei," very well.

B-Rank Missions were essentially the limit of what the two of them could currently handle.

If the difficulty level rose any further, the risks of battle would soar accordingly...

Furthermore, the threat of war was drawing ever closer, and Tsunade had gone too long without taking on high-level missions.

Using some relatively simple B-Rank Missions to help Tsunade regain a bit of a ninja's professional discipline was not necessarily a bad idea.

Having thought it through, Hiruzen Sarutobi opened his desk drawer and took out a scroll.

"This is a list of most of the B-Rank Ninja Commissioned Missions the village has currently received."

Hiruzen Sarutobi handed the scroll to Tsunade, who accepted it.

"If you're interested, you can pick a few more to complete."

Tsunade had no intention of carefully picking through B-Rank Missions.

She unfurled the scroll, gave it a quick glance, and casually picked a mission name that caught her eye.

"This one!"

"Clearing out Bounty Hunters?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi took the mission scroll and looked it over, nodding slightly. He was thoroughly familiar with the content of most high-level missions in the village.

"Quite a few Bounty Hunters have indeed been active within the Land of Fire lately, and many merchant caravans headed for Konoha have been affected.

"This B-Rank Mission was jointly commissioned by several small merchant caravans. The reward has reached the B-Rank limit of 150,000 ryo."

"Looks like I really do have a good eye!"

Tsunade said cheerfully.

"I picked the mission with the highest reward on the first try!"

As she spoke, Tsunade's clear brown eyes suddenly darted about.

Today seemed... lucky... should she...

The legendary Big Fat Sheep was considering whether to go donate money to a gambling den.

Unlike Tsunade's relaxed ease, Nara Kaikei was stunned by the mission information displayed on the panel.

[B-Rank Ninja Commissioned Mission detected]

[B-Rank Mission: Bounty Hunter]

[Mission Objective: Clear out the Bounty Hunters roaming around the official road from Konoha to the Capital of the Land of Fire]

[Mission Reward: One B-Rank Ninja Scroll]

An out-of-village mission?

As a half-native Konoha Villager, the farthest Nara Kaikei had ever traveled was the forest outside Kikyo Castle.

To be honest, he was still rather curious about the world beyond the village.

If this were a time of peace, Nara Kaikei might even have tossed Hiruzen Sarutobi a resignation letter saying, "The world is so big; I want to go see it."

But first, the current situation was unstable, and war was about to break out.

Second, "wandering and traveling" and "carrying out missions" were two entirely different life experiences.

The thought of relying on his own two legs to race back and forth along the official roads of the Land of Fire made Nara Kaikei shudder.

Was this being a ninja, or being livestock?

Just as Nara Kaikei was hesitating over whether to bring Big Horn along on this mission—

Ribbit—

An ill-timed frog croak suddenly rang out in the solemn and dignified Hokage's Office.

"A toad?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi and Tsunade exchanged looks, and a trace of delight flashed through both their eyes.

"Jiraiya is back in the village?"

Ninja Technique: Toad Concealment Technique!

A dark green toad that had somehow hopped onto the windowsill of the Hokage's Office opened its mouth. A rough, broad hand then extended from within, followed by an entire human figure.

Mount Myōboku's Toad Spirit, the Immortal Wayfarer, known as the Toad Sage Jiraiya, had arrived!

"Yo, Sensei, Tsunade!"

With a brilliant smile, Jiraiya greeted the teacher and goddess he had not seen in years, while also remembering the other child.

"Hello there, little sister."

Hiruzen Sarutobi and Tsunade's expressions became extremely strange.

A vein bulged on Nara Kaikei's forehead.

"I'm not a little sister..."

Jiraiya froze and looked Nara Kaikei over from head to toe.

There was no shortage of unusual ninja in the shinobi world who remained small in stature despite having long since reached adulthood.

Not to mention anything else, the pair of "old toad spouses" on Mount Myōboku who had cultivated for more than eight hundred years were both very small.

"Fine, then how old are you?"

"Twelve."

"This Toad Sage died at the age of thirty-five."

Jiraiya's confident smile returned.

"No problem calling you little sister, right?"

"First, 'died at the age of' is an honorific used for the age someone lived to after they've died."

Nara Kaikei calmed down. There was no need to waste energy arguing with an idiot.

"Second, I'm a boy."

"What?!"

Jiraiya's eyes widened.

"A boy little sister?"

Bang!

After holding back for so long, Tsunade finally could not endure it anymore. She decisively gave her idiotic teammate a Friendship Punch.

Years had passed, but Jiraiya was still Jiraiya.

If she let him keep talking—

Tsunade felt that her heroic image in Nara Kaikei's eyes would become foolish as well.

Jiraiya's body twisted uncontrollably. He spun 720 degrees in midair, flipped backward three and a half times, and slammed into the wall of the Hokage's Office in an incredibly difficult pose.

Perhaps Tsunade had held back.

Or perhaps the walls of the Hokage's Office had been reinforced with some kind of ninjutsu.

Jiraiya was plastered against the wall in the shape of a spread-eagle, like a human-shaped wall decoration. The mysterious, fantastical air surrounding his entrance completely collapsed.

"How could this be..."

Even after sliding down from the wall, Jiraiya was still muttering to himself.

"How could someone this cute possibly be a boy..."

Tsunade moved away from him in disgust, not forgetting to pull Nara Kaikei along with her.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, seated behind his desk, could not help but rub his forehead and sigh.

What kind of judgment had he possessed back then to choose Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Tsunade—these three "eccentrics"—as his personal disciples?

"Old man, if there's nothing else, I'll be going first!"

Tsunade gripped the B-Rank Mission scroll she had just received and waved at Hiruzen Sarutobi without even looking at Jiraiya.

"I still have a mission to do."

"Go on..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi waved back at Tsunade.

At the moment, he did not quite dare look at Nara Kaikei.

Everyone in Konoha knew that the Sannin were disciples of the Third Hokage.

And having taught a "once-in-a-generation genius" like Jiraiya, who had just made such a massive fool of himself in front of Nara Kaikei...

Hiruzen Sarutobi was deeply sorry for being human.

"Wait, Tsunade. You can't leave yet. There's something important to discuss."

Finally unable to ignore everyone's disregard any longer, Jiraiya spoke up.

"I have urgent intelligence from Sunagakure.

"About a week ago, Sunagakure's Third Kazekage disappeared!"

"Stop spouting nonsense, Jiraiya!"

Tsunade had initially taken him somewhat seriously, but after hearing his so-called "intelligence," she immediately scoffed.

"The Third Kazekage possesses a special Magnet Release bloodline limit and is hailed as 'the strongest Kazekage in history.'

"How could someone like that suddenly disappear?"

This so-called "urgent intelligence" sounded so absurd that it was practically on par with White Fang's suicide three years ago.

"Jiraiya, don't fool around!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi also frowned, his knuckles rapping hard against the surface of his desk.

"The Third Kazekage is in the prime of his life. How could he possibly..."

Creak!

At that moment, the door to the Hokage's Office was pushed open from outside.

"Hiruzen, Jiraiya's intelligence is accurate."

The Leader of Root, Shimura Danzō, stepped into the room, his Line of Sight quietly passing over the Nara child.

"The same news has been circulating in Iwagakure. My subordinates had previously delivered this intelligence, and I also sent people to verify it.

"The Third Kazekage has indeed disappeared!"

Nara Kaikei glanced at Tsunade, who looked back at him at the same moment.

"Come outside with me!"

Tsunade grabbed Nara Kaikei by the arm and swiftly dragged him out of the Hokage's Office. The others turned a blind eye to it.

With the Third Kazekage missing, Konoha's upper ranks urgently needed to formulate a response strategy.

As a genin, Nara Kaikei was not merely unqualified to listen in—he was not even qualified to stand guard outside the door.

"Sorry, Nara."

Outside the Hokage's Office, Tsunade forced out a smile. She did not like war.

"I was originally planning to take you along to complete a few more B-Rank Missions, but it looks like there won't be a chance now."

Nara Kaikei shook his head and silently settled the newly triggered B-Rank Mission, [Bounty Hunter], receiving another minor C-Rank guaranteed reward.

"I was planning to give you this scroll after a while."

Tsunade somehow produced a Pitch-Black Scroll and stuffed it into Nara Kaikei's hands.

"But now...

"You're already a mature ninja. It's time you learned to study ninjutsu on your own!"