A Genin's Daily Life Is Picking Up Trash

When Duke woke up, Asuma grabbed him and dragged him over to Zixiao. The four of them sat on the ground. Zixiao said with a smile, "You've all become ninjas capable of standing on your own. It's my honor to be your instructor. How about I treat you to dinner as a welcome gift?"

"That's awesome! Long live Teacher Zixiao!" Asuma jumped up excitedly.

The four of them headed to Konoha Main Street together. Zixiao brought the three of them to a ramen shop—it was none other than Ichiraku Ramen, famed throughout the Hokage World. The owner, Teuchi, looked like an ordinary middle-aged man, but he was actually deeply hidden. He was the greatest BOSS in the Hokage World, Ōtsutsuki Kaguya's husband and the Sage of Six Paths' father. Having retired to Konoha, he concealed himself as a ramen shop owner and had reached the terrifying age of one hundred thousand years. To hide his Rinne Sharingan, he always faced people with narrowed eyes.

But that was all complete nonsense! In truth, he was just an ordinary man who happened to make delicious ramen.

"What? It's only roadside ramen? Shouldn't it be top-quality sashimi?" Asuma complained. "I was looking forward to this so much."

A long line stretched outside the shop, so Duke and the others had no choice but to chat as they waited. Half an hour passed before seats finally opened up. The indignant Asuma wolfed down three huge bowls in one go and burped contentedly. Zixiao and Kurenai had normal appetites and were full after one bowl each. Only Duke could not eat another bite after just a few mouthfuls.

"Full already? I thought you'd eat more today," Zixiao asked. Ichiraku Ramen was famous throughout the Land of Fire. It had moved to Konoha some time ago and quickly won over a huge crowd of food lovers, its popularity remaining sky-high.

"It's delicious, but I really can't eat anymore!" Duke said miserably. He prided himself on being a foodie, yet with such good food before him, his stomach could not hold any more. It was truly tragic.

Kurenai said nothing, only casting him an envious look. Girls were afraid of gaining weight and ate very little. For the sake of a good figure, they could only make their mouths suffer. If she had a smaller stomach, that would be perfect.

"Customer!" Teuchi stood before Duke with a grave expression. "Was my ramen not prepared well enough?"

"No, the ramen is delicious. It's just that my appetite..."

"Since inheriting Ichiraku Ramen, I have never had a customer stop after only a few bites. Please allow me to make another bowl of the ramen from earlier." To a chef, a customer's clean bowl was the highest praise. Teuchi could not tolerate a customer stopping after only a few bites.

"I really... can't eat anymore."

Duke tried to stop Teuchi, but the man ignored him and focused entirely on preparing the ingredients. Moments later, a steaming bowl of ramen was placed before Duke.

"Please enjoy this most exquisite delicacy," Teuchi said proudly.

"The ramen... is glowing!" Kurenai said in surprise.

"It smells so good!" Asuma clutched his round belly, drooling.

Is this the Hokage World's ramen version of Cooking Master Boy? Duke grumbled inwardly. The fragrance filling the air made his appetite surge. He picked up his chopsticks and began devouring the ramen. What was true deliciousness? It was when your stomach was already full, but your mouth simply could not stop. In no time, he had cleaned out the entire bowl, leaving not even a drop of broth.

"This is the fullest I've ever been in my life. Master Teuchi, your cooking is incredible!" Duke praised, giving him a thumbs-up.

"Haha! Thank you for the compliment, customer. Also, the price of this daily limited special..." Teuchi smiled with narrowed eyes and rubbed his fingers together. "It isn't cheap!"

"..." Zixiao!

At the edge of Konoha, in a river near the village outskirts, three small figures were working atop the water. The river's surface was covered in household trash. The three of them picked it up and tossed it into the baskets on their backs. On the riverbank, Mitarashi Shixiao was reading a novel, occasionally letting out strange laughs. Whenever someone stopped to slack off, the little stones in his hand would accurately strike the back of that person's knee, sending both them and their trash basket into the river.

"When will this kind of mission ever end?" Soaked from head to toe, Asuma smelled like a sewer. After falling into the river three times for slacking off, he had learned to pick up trash while grumbling nonstop.

"This is also a form of training. At first, you could barely even stand on the water, but now you can walk freely across it. You've improved very quickly. This counts as training too, so there's nothing to complain about." Kurenai carefully searched for trash they had missed. Though there were water stains on her clothes, she was especially motivated.

"I know that too. D-Class missions are meant to temper us, to keep Genin like us from becoming too impatient." Asuma bent over, his hands never stopping as he continued to complain. "But we've already taken more than a dozen D-Class missions: catching stray dogs, helping ninjas going out of town look after their children, sorting lumber at construction sites, clearing weeds... Ordinary people can do all of these things. I'm a man destined to become Hokage. Doing missions like this is far too beneath me."

"A ninja is someone who can endure anything. Even the Hokage starts with D-Class missions. Asuma, you're too proud. You should learn from Kurenai. Rather than complaining, learn to enjoy life." Duke channeled Water Attribute chakra into the water beneath his feet and stomped hard, kicking up a massive wave. He rushed into the falling water, gathering up the trash as his body shifted left and right to dodge the splashes. By the time all the water had fallen, an entire stretch of river had been cleared, and he was still perfectly clean, without a single drop of water on him.

"That's amazing!" Kurenai praised. After several weeks together, the three of them had gradually built a deep friendship. They were teammates who would entrust their backs to one another, so in their daily lives, they always helped each other out.

"I can do that too." Hearing the admiration in Kurenai's voice, Asuma refused to be outdone. He attached Wind Attribute chakra to the river water and kicked hard.

Splash, splash, splash—

Sheets of river water were blown into the sky by the Wind Attribute chakra, then came raining down like raindrops. Duke pulled Kurenai aside to avoid it, leaving only Asuma to be drenched like a drowned rat.

"Why did that happen? What terrible luck!" Asuma fell into the river again. With his strength and his family's deep-rooted teachings, D-Class missions should have been effortless for him. Unfortunately, he was too impatient and too ambitious, so he often made mistakes.

"It's because of the attributes. I was training my Water Attribute chakra just now. You're Wind Attribute, Asuma. My training method doesn't suit you," Duke explained.

"Why didn't you say so earlier?" Asuma said with a bitter face. The filthy water had poured over him from head to toe, making his strange stench even stronger.

"That's common sense, okay? If you acted like this during a high-level mission..." Duke got halfway through his sentence before he vanished into smoke with a bang.

"What happened?" Asuma and Kurenai asked in surprise. Where had he gone?

"It was a Shadow Clone. That kid ran out of chakra." Mitarashi Shixiao called the two of them ashore. Seeing that they were both envious and astonished, he began explaining, "This is a ninjutsu created by the Second Hokage. The clones it creates are physical bodies. They can attack and be used for all kinds of ninjutsu. Because it's so practical, even ninjas from other villages have secretly learned it."

"What? So that means that sly guy has been using a clone to do missions from morning until now!" Asuma said indignantly. "The real him must be hiding somewhere and slacking off!"

"Though it may sound like favoritism coming from me, Duke isn't the sort of person who slacks off." Mitarashi Shixiao spoke seriously, then fell into thought. He knew Duke's chakra was enormous. If even a clone could not be maintained, then Duke had to be training some extremely chakra-consuming ninjutsu.

This kind of high-intensity training was no joke. He should be allowed to relax a little. Training blindly would damage the body, and even Medical Ninjutsu could not heal exhausted nerves. This could not continue. The three of them had built a solid foundation. It was time to take them out and let them see the world!

After thinking for a moment, Mitarashi Shixiao said to the two of them, "Finish cleaning the rest of the river today. Tomorrow, gather at the Hokage's Office. Your teacher will take on a C-Class mission and bring you out of the village for some experience."

"Really?" Asuma was overjoyed, and even Kurenai smiled. No matter how mature they were, they were still children under ten. Leaving the village was extremely tempting to them.

"Would your teacher make empty promises?" Zixiao punched Asuma on the head, raising a huge bump. Only when he saw Asuma's mournful face did he feel satisfied. I'm disciplining a subordinate, not beating him up because he's the Third Hokage's son. How dare he question his superior? If this were the Anbu, I'd have him lying on the ground in minutes.

"Ha... ha..." Kurenai gave a dry laugh. Every time Asuma talked back, Teacher Zixiao made him remember with his body that ninjas had to obey orders. Yet the perceptive Kurenai always felt that something was off.

"As for Duke, that brat dared to use a Shadow Clone while carrying out a mission. He clearly has no respect for me, his superior. All of his mission pay will be deducted. To be fair, it will all go to the team leader." Zixiao stroked his chin, raised an eyebrow, and asked, "You have no objections to that, right? If you do, say so. Your teacher is very open-minded."

"No objections, no objections!" Asuma and Kurenai shook their heads furiously. With that fist the size of a casserole pot right before their eyes, they had no choice but to agree. Still, they cursed him endlessly in their hearts. You're a Jonin. How could you possibly fail to see through a Genin's Clone Technique? Do you really think we're children? Besides, what's the difference between Duke's mission pay going to you and going to him? Either way, it ends up in the Mitarashi Clan's pocket. Adults who abuse their authority are too disgusting!

The two of them had no idea of Zixiao's suffering. Earlier, Zixiao's private stash had been robbed, and all his drinking money had vanished without a trace. In that moment, he had felt as though the sky itself had fallen. What difference was there between a man without secret savings and a salted fish? If not for that, he would never have cared about the meager pay Genin earned. But now... no matter how small a mosquito was, it was still meat.

"Good. Since there are no objections, it's settled!" Zixiao looked up at the sky. There was still some time before clocking out. "As a reward for your recent hard work, I'll teach you this B-Class Shadow Clone Jutsu."

"Great!"

"This ninjutsu is very simple. The key lies in distributing chakra. As long as you form the Ram seal..."