Professional When It Comes to Thinking!

"Asuma, are we really taking a B-rank mission?"

That was the first thing Shisui and Kurenai Yuhi said when they arrived at the meeting point.

"I don't know. I just... I just mentioned it casually, hoping we could get a high-level mission."

Asuma was just as bewildered.

He had only brought it up with the old man, yet by the afternoon, they had received notice to assemble.

"Leave the village first. I'll explain on the way."

Kyoichi said no more. Once everyone had arrived, they registered at the village gate and then headed straight west.

After leaving Konoha, he explained the mission.

Then.

"For this mission, I'll require you to maintain wartime standards. We won't stop to cook along the way. Ration Pills will replace food for the entire journey, and you're not allowed to rest until we reach the designated distance."

"Yes!"

"Move out."

The three were pleasantly surprised, but a little more tension settled in their hearts.

Judging by their teacher's expression...

They might really encounter enemy ninjas on this mission.

As they traveled, Kyoichi mulled things over.

This was precisely the period when Akatsuki was growing stronger. Since the Land of Rivers had no ninja village, this purge was definitely connected to them.

It all matched up perfectly!

However.

If it was the Akatsuki of the present, they probably wouldn't attack Konoha ninjas. Besides, their mission was to rendezvous with Minato, not to fight, so there shouldn't be that much danger.

Even the Third Hokage believed Minato wasn't in much danger.

But.

What if something went wrong?

These were troubled times, and they couldn't afford too many losses. Sending Kyoichi and the others over would simply provide an extra safeguard. And, incidentally...

If they could gather some intelligence, that would naturally be ideal.

Kyoichi knew this very well.

"Teacher, does that mean Kakashi and the others also accepted a C-rank mission?"

After running for quite a while, Asuma suddenly blurted out a question.

Kurenai Yuhi was instantly speechless.

You're only realizing that now?

Kyoichi couldn't even be bothered to respond.

Kurenai Yuhi explained helplessly, "Kakashi is a Chunin, and his team is already stronger than an ordinary Genin squad. It's perfectly normal for them to take C-rank missions."

"Might Guy's team seems to have accepted a C-rank mission too."

"Oh."

After hearing Kurenai Yuhi and Shisui's words, Asuma scratched his head. He had thought First Squad was special, but it turned out that nearly all the elite teams had already begun taking C-rank missions.

He had been feeling a little too pleased with himself, but now he came back down to earth.

"C-rank missions are mostly escorts, with relatively little combat. Our previous mission was an exception. This time, our mission was classified as B-rank solely because we might encounter ninjas, which raised its rank."

Only then did Kyoichi explain.

Generally speaking, C-rank missions paid between twenty thousand and fifty thousand ryo and mainly involved protection. Last time, however, they had directly located the enemy and taken the initiative to eliminate them.

In simple terms, they had gone beyond the mission's requirements!

Of course.

The reward had been higher too.

The final payment was sixty thousand ryo, a full twenty thousand more than the predetermined forty thousand. That was because they had wiped out the bandits and also recovered property stolen from several villages.

They continued their pursuit.

Before long, they found traces of Team 7 having passed through.

The traces vanished as soon as they reached the Land of Fire's border—the Minato's group had begun deliberately erasing every trace of their movements.

"Head for the mission location."

Kyoichi took out the map, checked their position, and then headed toward the location of Minato's mission.

There were hardly any tracks to follow once they got there.

Asuma looked around curiously, especially when they passed through areas where people lived. But there were too few people here; they could travel a long stretch without seeing more than a few.

"Teacher, there are so few people in the Land of Rivers."

"It's too chaotic. People can't survive here, so of course they leave."

"Is it because there's no ninja village? But the Daimyo has money too. Couldn't he gather ninjas?"

Asuma was puzzled.

Kyoichi was silent for a moment before saying, "Because it's surrounded by too many great nations, and its territory is relatively large. Even if it had a ninja village, it would be nearly impossible for it to survive."

"Then what about the Land of Rain..."

Shisui thought of the country located between the three great nations.

Wasn't the Land of Rain in an even worse situation than the Land of Rivers?

And yet.

During the Second Shinobi World War, the Land of Rain had practically faced the three great nations alone, and Hanzo had enjoyed unparalleled fame for a time.

"The Land of Rain has Hanzo."

Kyoichi sighed.

Besides.

Hanzo had once been incomparably powerful, with ideals and ambitions of his own. But after the Second Shinobi World War, even Hanzo had been beaten into submission by the three great nations—

Hanzo had basked in the limelight and seemed to have won.

However.

The three great nations could recover in just a few years. What about the Land of Rain?

Apart from the three anomalies known as Yahiko and the others, its education and medical systems were on an entirely different level. Producing another Hanzo would require nothing short of a mutation.

That was the gap between great and small nations.

After hearing Kyoichi's words, the three fell silent.

For years, they had always viewed things from Konoha's perspective, believing that the ninja villages of the Land of Rain were despicable for starting wars. But putting themselves in the other side's shoes, if they were ninjas from a small village, they might have been even more desperate than Hanzo and the others.

A stretch of silence followed.

Asuma, Shisui, and Kurenai Yuhi all seemed lost in thought.

However.

A voice rang out beside Kyoichi.

[You completed 'Asuma Sarutobi's' ideological guidance. He now regards you as his mentor in life.]

[Evaluation: Excellent]

[Reward: Flying Swallow]

Hmm?

Asuma, you finally paid me back!

Kyoichi claimed the reward while running.

Flying Swallow wasn't a blade. It was Asuma's close-combat Taijutsu using his twin knuckle blades. After adding Wind Release nature transformation, its attacks became terrifyingly powerful.

It could be said that—

This was Asuma's meal ticket!

Of course, the current Asuma hadn't even finished making his knuckle blades, so Flying Swallow was naturally out of the question for now.

Kyoichi experienced the technique, and his mood improved greatly.

The technique itself was secondary.

Because Flying Swallow was designed for twin knuckle blades, it also carried some effects associated with dual-wielding weapons. Kyoichi could clearly feel that both his hands had become more nimble than before.

Especially his left hand.

That was an enhancement most ninjutsu couldn't provide.

Just that alone made it worthwhile.

What was more.

Flying Swallow wasn't exclusively a knuckle-blade technique. It could also be used in conjunction with swordsmanship; the method was simply somewhat different.

"Looks like getting a second Chakra Blade is an urgent matter."

Kyoichi couldn't help sighing happily.

One blade wasn't enough!

After reflecting for a while, he glanced at Asuma.

The boy was deep in thought, but he quickly remembered that he was on a mission. He shook his head, driving the thoughts from his mind.

Kyoichi smiled.

Asuma had indeed grown quite a lot.

The Asuma of the past couldn't compare to Naruto when he was young, but he had still been a similar sort of child king and troublemaker. Otherwise, he wouldn't have later left the village over a minor conflict.

The current him was clearly very different.

It was all thanks to me!

Of course.

While he was feeling emotional, he was also secretly using Chakra Sensing to continuously scout their surroundings and search for Minato's whereabouts.

Finally...

"Found them! This way."

Kyoichi pointed in a direction.

Asuma and Shisui froze in surprise, while Kurenai Yuhi wasn't surprised in the slightest.

She followed Kyoichi's pace, running as she complained, "You didn't seriously think our teacher would let us wander around Baiyun Town if he hadn't sensed anything, did you?"

"So that's why..."

Shisui understood instantly.

Their teacher had probably known the bandits' location long ago while they were in Baiyun Town. He had merely been testing them at the time.

No wonder he had shown up so promptly afterward.

"I remember now! I heard Father say that the Second Lord had a Sensory Jutsu that could detect someone's location from very far away, and even sense the strength of their Chakra."

"Stop rambling and keep up."

Kyoichi didn't deny it.

He hadn't planned on hiding it anyway. If they figured it out, so be it. Now that Tsunade had acknowledged his identity, he had nothing to fear from anyone in the village trying to make trouble for him. At worst, he could simply leave the village, just as Tsunade had said.

What was the big deal!