The Bronze-Class Death-Seeking Mission That's the Center of Attention!

Chapter 17: Center of Attention — Bronze-class Death-Seeking Mission!

Early the next morning, Jonin Mikawa came looking for Aoba with a dark face. "You'll be living here from now on. At the start of each month, I'll bring you two thousand ryo in relief funds. Also, next year, you'll be arranged to attend school, so behave yourself during this time. If you cause any trouble, don't blame me for being harsh!"

After dropping his grim warning, he didn't even glance at the bewildered Aoba, turned around, and left without a trace of hesitation.

Aoba had no idea what he'd done to offend the man, or if it was just some midlife crisis kicking in, making his temper flare up so suddenly.

Still, he was happy enough to pocket the two thousand ryo Mikawa had left behind before leaving.

Then he did some quick mental math: two thousand ryo was roughly equivalent to twenty thousand yen, or about twelve hundred soft yuan, with similar purchasing power.

With no rent to pay, twelve hundred a month for living expenses wasn't exactly wealthy, but it shouldn't leave him starving either.

"Looks like I need to find a way to make some money. If I eat freely, this amount won't last long. And there's about a year before I enter the Ninja Academy at age six—I shouldn't waste that time either."

After a moment's thought, he put two hundred ryo into his wallet, split the rest into several portions, and hid them in different places. Then he locked the door and stepped outside.

To be honest, since arriving in Konoha, he hadn't really taken the time to explore, so he decided to wander around and get familiar with the area.

Though Konoha was the largest and most prosperous village, to someone from the modern world, it was just so-so—backward enough to feel hard to adapt to.

But public order was decent; probably no one dared to stir up trouble in the village at this critical juncture.

So he strolled along, stopping now and then to take in the scenery, without any dramatic incidents—until he spotted a crowd gathered ahead.

"Huh? Why so many people?"

Curious, Aoba squeezed his way to the front and finally learned why everyone was gathered there.

A bulletin board stood before him, displaying a shocking announcement!

"Effective today, the current Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, will resign from his position, and Minato Namikaze will succeed him as the Fourth Hokage."

Aoba read the notice aloud slowly, a flicker of surprise crossing his face.

So today was the big day when Naruto's dad became Hokage!

He thought back carefully: by the time Minato took office, Rin was already dead, and Kakashi had gone to the cemetery to share the good news with the deceased Rin and Obito...

At that thought, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. It seemed the ripples caused by his little butterfly hadn't surfaced yet; everything was still following the original plot.

"Should I go watch the excitement? Experiencing such a memorable moment firsthand sounds pretty tempting."

Just as he felt a stir of interest, the dog system that had been quiet for a few days popped back online.

Ding!

Bronze-class Death-Seeking Mission has been issued!

Mission Name: Center of Attention

Description: Voice your opposition during the Fourth Hokage's inauguration ceremony and shout the slogan, 'I want to be Hokage!'

(How could these mortals possibly understand your grand ideals? Let them tremble!)

Mission Reward: Bronze Treasure Chest X1, Beginner Skill Card X1

Mission Failure: Born gloriously, die gloriously—rest in peace.

I'll carry you all!

Motherf*cker!

After reading the mission, Aoba mentally ran through every Zu'an greeting he knew in an instant!

Dog system, if you think I'm not dying fast enough, just say it outright!

It was obvious that on such an important day, if some brat suddenly jumped out to cause trouble and opposed Minato taking over as Hokage, the chaos would be immense—nine lives wouldn't be enough to survive it!

And what was even more infuriating was that this suicidal mission was only rated Bronze-class by the system???

Just one tier above normal?

Did this dog system have some kind of misunderstanding about the difficulty of death-seeking?

If a Bronze-class death-seeking mission was this terrifying, then higher-difficulty ones would mean going head-to-head with tailed beasts or smacking Otsutsuki around?

Forget it, I'd better start thinking about how to write my last words...

Aoba lowered his head, utterly dejected, and trudged toward the Hokage Building like a walking corpse.

At this point, there was no other way. His age and the partial talents he'd deliberately shown were his biggest shields.

They say children's words are innocent; with the Fourth's personality, he probably wouldn't just kill him outright.

Damn it, this dog system is going to be the death of me sooner or later!

At noon, countless streams of people converged around the Hokage Building.

Hiruzen and the other Konoha higher-ups all stood atop the Hokage Building, waiting for the ceremony to begin. Below, in the front, stood Kakashi and the other ninjas, with the civilian spectators behind them.

Since he'd arrived early, Aoba had a decent spot, squeezed in between the two groups.

And finally, he got to see the 'idiot Kakashi' that Obito never stopped talking about, as well as the 'Azure Beast,' Emperor Kai, who had nearly kicked his way to the series finale.

The familiar attire made Aoba a little excited, but as soon as he thought about the 'stupid thing' he was about to do soon, his smile immediately vanished, and he was completely shrouded by an 'Aura of Despair'.

"Silence!"

The clamor in the crowd quickly died down.

Then an unfamiliar person began loudly reading out Minato Namikaze's brilliant achievements and contributions to the village. Aoba knew this was to build momentum for Minato, to let everyone know that the incoming Fourth Hokage was no fool, but fully qualified to sit in that position.

It was also meant to suppress the voices opposing Minato within the village, and finally, to deter external enemies!

Although Aoba had long known just how awesome the Fourth was, experiencing it firsthand, hearing the 'Yellow Flash's' numerous fierce exploits still made his blood boil, let alone for those ninjas and civilians who were already close to Minato.

After the reading was finished, Minato's prestige reached a peak in that moment.

At this time, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, solemnly and gravely removed the Hokage hat from his own head, then walked up to Minato.

"From this day forward, the new Hokage will be succeeded by Minato Namikaze..."

"Wait, I object!"

Suddenly, a childish voice rang out in the quiet environment!

Who was it?

Were they crazy?

Even Danzo didn't dare jump out to oppose at this moment, yet someone dared to stop the ceremony in front of so many people. Had they lived long enough?

Countless people, after the initial shock, immediately began frantically searching for the person who had voiced the objection.

Even the Third and Fourth, who were about to proceed with the handover ceremony, cast curious glances toward the crowd...

PS: The abilities from the previous text have been slightly modified. Hardening is just a normal ability and has nothing to do with Quirks. Also, Kohei Horikoshi, remember to buy a few more urns, because I'm afraid there won't be enough to smash!