Tazuna

Hokage Building.

Inside the Hokage's office.

"Hokage-sama, please, I'm not a child anymore... I'm a ninja now."

"I don't want to do those low-level missions anymore~!"

"Let us take on some high-difficulty missions, finding cats and dogs... we've had enough!"

Naruto arrived at the Hokage's desk and raised his hand, intending to slam it down.

But his hand stopped in mid-air for a few seconds before slowly retracting.

He looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi's smiling face.

Whether it was an illusion or not, Naruto suddenly felt that the familiar old face looked somewhat disgusting.

He pouted and mumbled, "Teacher Cangwu said that we shouldn't treat the strongest person in the village with such a bad attitude... Hokage-sama is a great hero who protects Konoha."

Inside, however, he was full of disdain.

'I don't believe this perverted old man is the strongest!'

On the other hand, Hiruzen Sarutobi.

He was smiling so hard that his old face was contorted, as brilliant as an old chrysanthemum.

He glanced at Naruto, who was behaving relatively politely.

He took a deep breath.

He secretly nodded to himself.

He was incredibly grateful that he had let Cangwu become the Jonin Instructor for Team 7.

Look, Naruto now could even be considered polite!

As expected of a teacher who received my true teachings.

Sigh... indeed, it takes others to truly understand how much this old man has sacrificed over the years.

Naruto, you must follow Cangwu well and learn my Will of Fire.

His gaze shifted to Cangwu, and he nodded in relief.

Sasuke took in all of Hiruzen Sarutobi's subtle movements, his brow furrowing slightly.

Then, he crossed his arms and turned his head away.

Looking at Hiruzen Sarutobi's face, he felt a wave of nausea, goosebumps rising all over his skin.

Sakura, on the other hand, stood obediently beside Cangwu.

Sensing that the atmosphere was off, she cautiously glanced at Cangwu.

Seeing that Cangwu's face showed no discomfort and he maintained his gentle smile.

She felt slightly more at ease.

They had been standing there for quite a while.

Yet Hiruzen Sarutobi had not given a definitive answer.

Out of boredom, Sakura occasionally snuck glances around the Hokage's office.

"My apologies, Hokage-sama."

"Naruto, is that the correct attitude?"

Cangwu said this, but Naruto could tell there was no blame in Cangwu's tone.

"It's alright."

"It's normal for young people to be impatient."

Hiruzen Sarutobi, without waiting for Naruto to speak, immediately used Cangwu's words to gain favor with Naruto.

If it were before, Naruto, while outwardly disdainful, would have secretly rejoiced.

But now...

"So, do we have a high-level mission?!"

Looking at Naruto's demeanor, Hiruzen Sarutobi was momentarily stunned.

He seemed to see the previous generation's Team 7.

The infamous gambling and... ahem, legendary Sannin of the ninja world.

Of course, it had little to do with this Hokage.

He was referring to their strength.

"Ahem..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi coughed twice to cover his lapse in composure.

Looking at them now, this generation's Team 7 was truly similar... flat, brainless, calm... but also not.

The old man shook his head and looked at Cangwu.

Hesitation appeared in his eyes.

Cangwu was good at everything, except he was too devoted to the Will of Fire... would he be able to understand its meaning?

On this point, Hiruzen Sarutobi was still undecided.

But this mission was rather special.

If Kakashi were the Jonin Instructor, he would surely understand his intentions.

But... there were always trade-offs.

Feeling somewhat troubled, Hiruzen Sarutobi blurted out:

"Where the leaves dance, a fire shall also burn. The firelight will illuminate the village and allow new leaves to sprout."

"Great~!"

"As expected of Hokage-sama~!"

Cangwu was the first to applaud.

The corners of the eyes of the three youngsters twitched slightly, and then they followed Cangwu in applauding.

"Cough cough..." Hiruzen Sarutobi coughed lightly twice again.

Unable to hold back, he blurted it out.

He picked up the scroll on the table.

Hiruzen Sarutobi glanced at Cangwu again, and finally, picked up another scroll.

"Cangwu."

Cangwu took the scroll.

He lowered his head and glanced at it.

One was a mission scroll.

It stated a C-rank escort mission.

The other was written in Hiruzen Sarutobi's handwriting.

The corners of Cangwu's mouth curved into a cold smile, almost imperceptibly.

"What mission, what mission?!" Naruto quickly leaned over.

Bang--

A heavy fist landed on his head.

Naruto groaned in pain, clutching his forehead, and looked miserably at Sakura.

"Sakura-chan... what's wrong?"

Sakura suppressed her anger. "Idiot."

Sasuke crossed his arms. "Hmph, as expected, he's an idiot."

Hearing this, Naruto immediately felt wronged.

What did he do?

At this moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi said:

"Alright, Naruto."

"There happens to be a C-rank escort mission here."

"You should get your wish, right?"

Upon hearing about the C-rank mission, the three youngsters were secretly surprised.

It's just as Teacher Cangwu said...

Should I do as Teacher Cangwu said then...

In the end, Naruto endured the discomfort and showed a brilliant smile.

"Thank you, Grandpa Hokage~!"

"Hahaha... good, Mr. Tazuna, please come in!" Hiruzen Sarutobi chuckled and called out towards the door.

Creak--

As Hiruzen Sarutobi's voice fell.

The door was pushed open.

An old man dressed as a civilian walked into the Hokage's office.

His eyes were slightly bloodshot, his nose was slightly red, and his gaze was a little unfocused.

He was also holding a bottle of alcohol.

He staggered over, swaying unsteadily.

Before he even arrived, the smell of alcohol assaulted everyone's nostrils.

Naruto covered his nose, his face contorted in annoyance.

"Ugh..."

Tazuna let out a sound like a burp and paused for a moment.

His gaze shifted from Hiruzen Sarutobi and Cangwu to Naruto.

"Are these brats really ninja?"

"Hmph, you're not just sending random people to appease us because it's a C-rank mission, are you?!"

"How can these little brats escort me safely back to the Land of Waves?!"

Tazuna fired off three questions in a row.

Sasuke frowned and subtly stepped back a bit.

Sakura couldn't help but cover her nose as well.

He was unbearable even without speaking.

Once he started talking, the smell was simply awful.

Before anyone could answer.

Tazuna took a swig of his drink.

He glanced dismissively at Naruto. "A moron like this can be a ninja?"

"You should hurry back to school!"

Then, he glanced at Sasuke.

"This kid actually looks somewhat reliable."

Naruto and Sasuke had predictably different reactions to this.

Sasuke remained expressionless.

Naruto's face visibly flushed red.

He could tolerate being called a moron because the man was the client.

But to say he was less reliable than Sasuke?

That just hit a nerve!

"You damn drunkard, what did you say?!"

"I'm clearly much more reliable than that tsundere Sasuke!"

Sakura helplessly put her hand to her forehead. Here we go again.

Tazuna completely ignored Naruto and looked at Cangwu.

"If this man is on the mission, that's acceptable."

"But can you replace the others?"

"He looks so clean and fair-skinned, maybe he'll get weak in the knees at the sight of an enemy!"