The next day, after yesterday's experience, there were signs that Yugao Gekko might be the most worry-free Jonin to lead a team since Konoha was founded.
First of all, although two members of his Third Squad had fairly limited abilities and, like him, were pure combatants who fought with blades, the remaining member covered specialties such as medical treatment, sensing, and tracking.
Even Higashino Makoto's cooking was the best among them. Perhaps in the future, when they went on missions in the wilderness, they would also have a versatile chef on hand.
And he wouldn't hold them back, either. He could be used as a primary attacker.
Most importantly, for the first lavish meal he treated his adorable subordinates to as their Jonin team leader, Yugao Gekko hadn't even had to spend a single coin.
There had been two other people present: Higashino Megumi and Uzuki Sakura. The two mothers had competed to pay, grateful that their senior had become their children's Jonin team leader.
In the end, Uzuki Sakura had won this battle of generosity by a landslide.
Yugao Gekko felt his standing in the team plummeting. Even his son's gaze seemed to regard him as a shameful miser.
To restore the glory of a Jonin team leader, he felt duty-bound to carefully plan out his team members' ninja paths and help them grow into strong, qualified Ninja as soon as possible.
He would also pass on all his skills to Gekko Hayate and Uzuki Yugao. As for the other team member, he could fend for himself. Teaching him some mission experience would be enough. As for things like ninjutsu, those were completely beyond his abilities.
That morning, after Higashino Makoto finished his daily workout, he took off his weights, ate breakfast, washed up, and tied his Headband around his forehead. He carefully checked his ninja tool pouch, then fastened the strap across his body. The weapon attached to it was one he would be using for a long time to come.
His right hand flashed behind his left shoulder and drew his short sword. He checked the two characters Higashino on its blade, confirmed everything was in order, sheathed it, and headed out.
When he arrived at the Training Ground where the team had arranged to meet, Gekko Hayate and Uzuki Yugao were already there. Hayate looked the same as ever, while Yugao had changed: she'd switched to a form-fitting outfit that was easier to move in, and had a sword strapped to her back.
Because of their height, he and Hayate both used short swords, though theirs were a little longer than Higashino Makoto's. Once they grew up, they would switch to standard Straight Long Swords. That was determined by the fighting styles of their two families.
Higashino Makoto wouldn't need to switch. His attack range wasn't determined by the length of his blade. The blade's quality mattered more; it made it easier to use his technique.
His family heirloom was perfect for now. It wasn't forged entirely from Chakra Metal, but it held great sentimental value.
If he could make a name for himself in the Shinobi World with this blade, perhaps he could even earn the nickname Konoha White Fang. Then he could get Kakashi to call him godfather!
Actually, never mind. Just hearing the word godfather made him feel like he might get stabbed.
Not long after he exchanged greetings with the two, Yugao Gekko appeared.
Uzuki Yugao was rather straightforward and immediately asked, "Hey, Sensei, let's start the mission. Is the first step to go to the mission desk in the Hokage Building's office hall?"
Yugao Gekko looked over the three of them. His face showed no expression, but he was secretly pleased. "You're right, but I've already accepted the mission. We can get started right away."
The young girl grew even more excited. "What's the mission? Will there be a fight?"
"I understand your desire to serve the village, but unfortunately, you're only Genin. You can only start with the lowest-ranked D-Rank Missions."
"Huh? But hasn't Hayate already done those? Are you making him go through it all again?"
Hayate was an honest person. "I don't mind. You two can take the lead."
"Don't be naive. Genin have a mandatory D-Rank Mission Quota of at least eight. Otherwise, you won't even qualify to take the Chunin Ninja Exams."
After saying this, Yugao Gekko softened his expression a little. "But considering we're currently in the War Period and people are needed everywhere, I'll only give you five days. Complete at least twenty D-Rank Missions. If you can't finish in time and the deadline gets extended, don't blame me."
"No problem!" x2.
There were plenty of simple tasks in and around Konoha that weren't assigned to dedicated staff. They were all posted as D-Rank Missions. One reason was to give newly graduated Genin a chance to practice while helping their teams build rapport and strengthen their bonds.
Another purpose was to give Genin with no hope of becoming Chunin a chance to earn money and support their families.
Without that, many long-serving Genin would know only the simplest applications of Chakra and have no other way to make a living. Konoha couldn't support them for nothing; they'd starve if they had nothing to do. Might Duy had been an example of that.
As for capable teams, they only needed to complete a few more challenging tasks to meet their low-level mission quotas.
Higashino Makoto understood, but still had to make a complaint. "No problem here, either, as long as it's not finding a pet cat for the Daimyo's family or some noble."
Yugao Gekko didn't quite understand. "How could it be? Those people rarely come to Konoha."
His words revealed little respect for the Daimyo or nobles, but few Ninja were like him. Most were quite deferential toward those nobles, with a deep-rooted, utterly baseless loyalty that did no justice to the extraordinary energy flowing through their bodies.
A thousand years of conditioning Ninja to obey had branded these people with stubborn mental seals. Higashino Makoto often seemed out of place among them because he wasn't obedient enough in his thinking.
Uzuki Yugao asked, "So, what's our first mission?"
Yugao Gekko replied, "Finding cats!"
Higashino Makoto: "???"
"Ahem!" Seeing the question marks on Higashino Makoto's face, Yugao Gekko explained, "The Uchiha Clan used to be responsible for this, but most of their people are on the eastern battlefield right now, so they don't have enough hands to deal with it.
"There's an abandoned town not far from Konoha called Empty City. The Ninja Cat Clan lives there, and they're very close to the Uchiha Clan.
"This is the time of year when cats go into heat, so quite a few little fellows have wandered over to Konoha to flirt around. After all, pet cats may not be Ninja Cats, but they're all beautiful, aren't they?
"You have to understand that Ninja Cats aren't the same as ordinary cats, just as Ninja aren't the same as ordinary people. The Ninja Cat Clan is an intelligent species. To ensure their offspring inherit that intelligence, they don't allow their members to mate with ordinary cats. They have a proper marriage system among themselves, just like humans.
"So they've sent the village a mission to catch all the little fellows who've come to Konoha and take them home."
Higashino Makoto couldn't even complain. Damn it, even Ninja Cats were starting to practice racial discrimination?
Uzuki Yugao said, "If there aren't too many of them, it should be easy."
Yugao Gekko pulled out a stack of photographs. "I'm afraid you're in for a disappointment. There are twenty-three of them, and they're all Ninja Cats who can use Chakra. They're much faster than ordinary cats."
Uzuki Yugao: "..."
Gekko Hayate said, "Sensei, wouldn't someone from the Hyuga Clan be best suited to this mission?"
"You're wrong, Hayate. The Hyuga Clan can't just activate their eyes whenever they like inside the village. I think you all know why."
Uzuki Yugao asked, "Sensei, did you do this on purpose? There are so many of them, and they're all Ninja Cats. How long will it take to catch them?"
"That depends on your abilities. I picked this mission especially for you." Yugao Gekko smiled faintly, summoned an extra-large metal cage covered in sealing papers from the Sealing Scroll, and set it down beside him. Then he used the Body Flicker Technique to sit on top of it, looking utterly unbothered.
He really had picked it especially for them. If he hadn't learned that a certain someone had a Perception Ability, the mission wouldn't have gone to them.
"Leave it to me!" Higashino Makoto took the photographs and carefully memorized what the Ninja Cats looked like, then passed them to Hayate and Yugao to look through.
He expanded his sensing until it covered all of Konoha, quickly noting each target's location in his mind.
Uzuki Yugao asked, "Makoto, did you find them?"
"Found them!" Higashino Makoto quickly listed a few locations for them. "There are quite a few cats gathered at these places. We'll split up. I'll cover the west and north, and you two handle the other directions. Meet back here once the mission's done."
"Yes!" x2.
Once they'd chosen their directions, the three vanished with the Body Flicker Technique.
Ninja didn't take ordinary routes. They routinely leaped from rooftop to rooftop over other people's homes.
As Higashino Makoto raced along, he thought about the mission. It felt like someone higher up had learned he had a Perception Ability and deliberately assigned it to test him.
That way of doing things could only be called very Ninja-like.
Every Ninja Village followed strict secrecy rules, and so did the Ninja. The village wouldn't force you to reveal your abilities completely, but if you had any special skills, it would take note. Then, through a few missions, it could roughly figure them out. You didn't need to volunteer the information.
That's what Ninja did.
Before you continue