Konoha Year 42, winter.
Hyuga Bin had graduated from the Ninja Academy half a year ago. He was a Genin who had completed one D-rank mission, ten C-rank missions, and four B-rank missions.
Because Hyuga Bin had spent a month tagging along with Tsunade, Nohara Rin and Uchiha Obito each had eleven more D-rank missions on their ninja records than Hyuga Bin.
Over the past half year, Hyuga Bin had not slacked off at all. Aside from carrying out missions, he had stayed home and trained hard.
Hyuga Bin could not become someone who grew stronger just by sleeping, so he could only become a hardworking genius, a hardworking powerhouse.
With hard work and talent, Hyuga Bin had mastered the Mystical Palm Technique in just three months through self-study.
With the Mystical Palm Technique alone, Hyuga Bin could have taken the assessment to become a Special Jonin.
As for the more difficult Ninja Art—Creation Rebirth, he had not yet mastered it and needed more time to learn it.
If Tsunade had taught him personally, he believed he would most likely have mastered it already.
Unfortunately, Tsunade had run away from home five months ago.
He kind of missed her.
A week after their last mission, Team 22 set out once more and left the village.
This time, they were not carrying out a mission. They were heading to the front lines for patrol duty.
"Once I get to the front lines, I'll definitely let those Sand Ninja know how awesome I am!"
Although Uchiha Obito had yet to awaken his eyes, he possessed an inexplicable confidence. He was not worried in the slightest about the three months he was about to spend on the front lines. If anything, he was looking forward to it.
Hyuga Bin was somewhat worried, but he could still keep himself steady.
Though he had never gone all out, he felt that he should not be instantly defeated by a Jonin.
Besides, the Third Kazekage had not yet been assassinated by Sasori of the Red Sands. Sunagakure and Konoha were merely experiencing ordinary friction, and battles rarely broke out. The front lines were not overly dangerous.
It would not be until Konoha Year 43, after the Third Kazekage was assassinated by Sasori of the Red Sands, that Sunagakure would actively launch a war against Konoha in order to shift its internal conflicts outward.
By then, even Genin who had just graduated would rush one after another to the battlefield to fight.
Only when the Battle of Kannabi Bridge ended in Konoha Year 47 would the Third Shinobi World War finally come to a close.
Without question, the five years from Konoha Year 43 to Konoha Year 47 would be the most dangerous.
Considering that Hyuga Bin, Uchiha Obito, and Nohara Rin were newly graduated Genin, the front-line commander, Nara Shikayama, waited until Team 22 had spent a day resting after arriving at the front lines before assigning them to patrol the first sector to the northwest.
This direction was the farthest from the Sand Ninja encampment and was relatively safe.
They split the patrol duty into two groups: Hyuga Bin and Uchiha Obito formed one group, while Hyuga Masayuki and Nohara Rin formed the other.
Then, in the blink of an eye, half a month of dull, tedious patrol duty passed.
During those two weeks, aside from patrolling their area every day and activating his Byakugan now and then, Hyuga Bin spent his time sleeping and training.
Sometimes he slept against a tree, sometimes in a makeshift tent. His meals were equally makeshift, nowhere near comparable to Konoha's food.
Until one deeply enchanting night, Hyuga Bin and Uchiha Obito were patrolling the surrounding area. After finishing their patrol, Hyuga Bin activated his Byakugan as usual to scan 359 degrees around him, only to unexpectedly discover a ninja squad 3.5 kilometers ahead.
At the same time, four options appeared in Hyuga Bin's mind.
[Option A: Use going to the bathroom as an excuse, then wipe out the enemy ninja squad with lightning speed. Completion reward: Fire Release—Great Fire Destruction (A-rank reward).]
[Option B: If they won't submit, fight them. Bring Uchiha Obito and charge over together, catching the enemy off guard. Completion reward: Yin Seal (S-rank reward).]
[Option C: Have Uchiha Obito report to Hyuga Masayuki while you launch the first attack and catch them off guard. Completion reward: Random Attribute Points +0.1.]
[Option D: Go report to Hyuga Masayuki together with Uchiha Obito. Completion reward: Wind Release—Gale Palm (C-rank reward).]
"Hm? Why is this round of options causing trouble again?"
After reading the option mission, Hyuga Bin felt rather helpless.
Whenever he had faced similar option missions before, he had always chosen the random Attribute Points +1.
But this was the front lines, and the enemy was a complete ninja squad. The option with random Attribute Points +1 required him to charge over alone.
Hyuga Bin felt that it was simply too dangerous.
Faced with the system refusing to play by the usual rules, Hyuga Bin ultimately chose Option D, which he considered more reliable.
At the same time, new information appeared in Hyuga Bin's mind.
[Option mission completed!]
[Follow-up mission activated: This is a hunting squad from Kumogakure's Anbu. They roam through the weak points in Konoha and the Sand Ninja defenses, hunting Konoha ninja and Sand Ninja in an attempt to provoke a war between Konoha and the Sand Ninja. Gather the ninja squads on patrol and eliminate this Kumogakure assassination squad. Rewards will be issued upon mission completion.]
[Mission completion criteria: Eliminate this Kumogakure assassination squad without casualties.]
"Eliminate them without casualties?"
After reading the mission completion criteria, Hyuga Bin knew that this mission was definitely impossible to complete again.
Moreover, these options made him feel as though the system was deliberately stirring up trouble.
Based on his years of "system usage experience," the lower the difficulty and the easier an option was to complete, the more mediocre its reward would be.
The option with random Attribute Points +0.1 basically gave its reward immediately, and even if he did it later, he could still complete it with a one hundred percent success rate and no difficulty at all.
Following that logic, this Option System meant that charging in alone would be less difficult than gathering several squads to eliminate this hunting squad.
"I'm only a mere Genin! What kind of joke is the system playing?!"
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