It took only about three hours. The mission was finished before noon, but not quite perfectly.
Nineteen adult cats of various colors and patterns had been stuffed into an oversized metal cage. There were about as many males as females. It seemed these intelligent Hachimis were just like humans: apparently, fooling around outside was something both sexes enjoyed.
Higashino Makoto and Gekko Hayate were unhurt. Only Uzuki Yugao had several claw marks on her hands and face, but fortunately, Ninja Cats weren't strays and knew how to hold back.
Her strength might not have matched her two teammates', but she was no slouch. Those little things with Chakra were simply a handful.
Green Chakra glowed over Higashino Makoto's hands. As Uzuki Yugao experienced the benefits of having a Medical Ninja on the team, she asked curiously, "Sensei, is catching just nineteen enough? The village won't decide we failed the mission, will it? I don't want my first mission as a Ninja to end in failure."
Yugao Gekko didn't answer her. Instead, she looked at Higashino Makoto. "Makoto, are you sure we've checked every place in Konoha where there might be cats?"
"Yes, Sensei, I'm sure. We actually finished in less than two hours. We spent all the remaining time checking whether we'd missed any pets in the residents' homes."
Yugao Gekko nodded. "Then it's fine. The mission is to bring back all the Ninja Cats from the Ninja Cat Clan who haven't made contracts with Ninjas and are in Konoha. No one can guarantee they're all in Konoha.
"Remember, they're Ninja Cats, and they're fast. There are other towns and villages around Konoha, so the remaining few might have wandered somewhere else."
Since their Jonin leader had said so, what else could the three of them say? She was the boss, so what she said went.
It was easy enough to understand. The real world wasn't a game; mission targets wouldn't just sit around waiting for you to catch them. Ordinary cats were notorious wanderers, and these troublesome Ninja Cats were just as intelligent as humans.
Just look at how these little troublemakers were behaving.
If the Third Squad were a stray-cat rescue center from his previous life, and the ones they'd caught were ordinary cats, the only thing those cats could do was hiss like a bunch of old cats.
But this was the Shinobi World, and the cage was full of Ninja Cats.
As Higashino Makoto and Gekko Hayate carried the cage between them to turn in the mission, every little cat inside glared at the four of them with resentful, unhappy eyes.
It was as if they were saying, "This isn't over. Just wait till I get out, and I'll claw up your faces."
What a wonderful Shinobi World.
What did it feel like when a group of intelligent Hachimis looked at you with humanlike eyes?
Higashino Makoto thought it was pretty strange. Were these guys really not demons?
Most importantly, a few of them could even speak human language.
A black Hachimi near Higashino Makoto kept chattering away. "You despicable human, meow! Unforgivable! You interrupted my date, you bastard! I was just about to mount that pretty little cutie. It's all your fault, all your fault! I'm so mad! My love—over before it even began!"
It even extended its claws, trying to leave a few bloody scratches on Higashino Makoto's hand.
"Shut up. You call that love? You're just lusting after its body. You're shameless!"
"So what if I'm lusting after its body? What's wrong with that?"
Higashino Makoto had never seen a cat this shameless before. "I mean, you're Ninja Cats, right? Don't you see ordinary cats the way we humans see monkeys? How can you bring yourself to do that?"
"That's different. We look the same, have the same tastes, and there's no reproductive barrier. Could you have baby monkeys with a female monkey?"
"Huh? Huh-huh? That makes sense! Damn, you really know your stuff."
"See? It makes sense, right? So hurry up and let me out."
"Not a chance."
"Bastard!"
"If you keep making noise, I'll have you neutered. That goes for all of you. Anyone who objects, I'll take straight to the vet. I'll pay for the surgery!"
Those words were like a Tailed Beast Bomb going off in their hearts. All the Ninja Cats fell silent in terror.
Gekko Hayate and Uzuki Yugao: That's good to know. We'll use that trick against Ninja Cats from now on. It works like a charm.
What a wonderful world.
There weren't just Ninja Cats with minds like humans. There were also clever dogs, talking Toads, snakes, Katsuyu, lizards, and more.
Unfortunately, cats and dogs, the animals best suited to being pets, weren't very willing to be pets once they became intelligent.
They believed they were equal to humans. Want them to fight alongside you? Sign a contract first.
Ninja Dogs mostly came from Konoha's Inuzuka Clan. They considered Ninja Dogs their partners in battle. If you dared to treat them as pets, those dogs would really go back to their family and complain.
Then you'd have a whole bunch of people and dogs hunting you down.
The Ninja Cat Clan was even more outrageous. They were independent and terribly haughty, living carefree lives throughout the Empty Area and treating everyone with indifference. Only those equally arrogant Uchiha could put up with them.
What a shame.
Higashino Makoto shook his head inwardly.
These guys were intelligent and could talk after training, but unfortunately, they couldn't transform.
Otherwise, he could have seen the legendary Cat Ear Girls and Dog Ear Girls.
Furry fans would go wild.
Of course, he, Higashino Makoto, was a respectable Ninja. Naturally, he wasn't one of those so-called furry fans. Don't get the wrong idea—he was just curious, inexperienced, and wanted to see what they looked like.
Actually, Higashino Makoto knew where the Humanoid Ninja Beasts were.
They were all in Ryūchi Cave. There were four of them. Aside from that old woman, the other three Divine Princesses were all beautiful, and very curvy.
Unfortunately, Higashino Makoto wasn't interested. The thought of his partner suddenly revealing her true form in the middle of an intimate moment made him afraid he'd never get it up again.
There were Snake Demons in this world, but he wasn't Xu Xian.
Walking at the back, Uzuki Yugao noticed Higashino Makoto glancing at the Ninja Cats in the cage from time to time. For some reason, her danger radar suddenly went off. "Brother Makoto, I feel like you're thinking something naughty."
"Huh?" Higashino Makoto froze for a moment, then immediately protested. "How could I be? What naughty thing could I possibly be thinking?"
"Really? I don't believe you!"
"Of course it's true. I just think the Ninja Cats are pretty cute. If they could turn into humans but keep their ears and tails, don't you think they'd be even cuter?"
Moonlight Father and Son exchanged a look. They could suddenly picture it. That did sound pretty appealing. As expected of a genius like Makoto—even his ideas were so cutting-edge.
The male cats were clueless.
Uzuki Yugao, the Queen Cat: Pervert!
In the end, they completed the mission, so the Third Squad's first D-Rank Mission didn't end in failure.
The staff at the mission desk didn't say anything. Perhaps they'd expected this sort of thing, or perhaps the people in the Empty Area hadn't required them to catch every single cat.
After that, the three completed three more assignments, finishing their quota for the day.
Yugao Gekko had been right. She'd chosen the missions specifically to test their abilities to gather information and track things down.
Of course, Higashino Makoto's Sensing had been taken into account too.
The next day, all four missions were the same: repairing four small- and medium-sized Training Grounds around the village. They had to level the earth, chop down and haul away dead branches and broken limbs, replace the thick logs used for punching practice, and tie on fresh, thick hemp ropes.
The most troublesome part was replacing the wooden targets scattered throughout the groves, as well as clearing out some abandoned traps and collecting the Steel Wire and Hidden Weapons.
They weren't allowed to jump; they could only walk on the trees. It was clearly a test of the squad's Chakra Control, but it wasn't difficult for the three, who had been training for a long time.
On the third day, they had four more identical missions: clearing trash from four stretches of river within Konoha. Each stretch had a fixed length and counted as one D-Rank Mission.
This was also meant to train their Chakra Control. They had to walk on water.
Yugao Gekko had chosen the missions with a clear purpose. Or rather, Konoha had deliberately posted these jobs, which trained a Ninja's basic skills, as D-Rank Missions. That way, Genin could complete simple tasks, train themselves, earn money, and improve Konoha's environment all at once.
It was a perfect solution that accomplished several things at once.
As for why someone hadn't taught the three members of the Seventh Squad these basic skills when leading them in the future, all that could be said was that someone had gotten lazy and spent every day staring at his lousy little prince.
I won't say who was lazy!
Before you continue