Qinglong's First Mission

The Yamanaka ninja's face, caught by Qinglong, showed extreme terror. His eyes were wide open, cold sweat pouring down his face, his heart filled with dread.

The others were also intimidated by Qinglong and stared at him in shock.

"The wild boar wasn't even a match for this brat!"

Qinglong ignored them, not wanting to kill any more than necessary. He put down the Yamanaka ninja and turned to leave.

"Bastard! Die!"

In his terror, the Yamanaka ninja erupted, revealing a ferocious killing intent. Wielding a kunai, he screamed and lunged at Qinglong.

"Don't underestimate me! Brat!"

"We are ninja who walk in darkness, willing to sacrifice ourselves to complete our mission!"

"Clang!"

The Yamanaka ninja's fierce thrust was caught by Qinglong's hand.

Another Root ninja couldn't hold back and drew his kunai, stabbing forward.

Qinglong's eyes flashed. He reached out and grabbed the other's kunai-wielding hand as well.

With a spin, he flung both of them into the air.

The two sent flying into the sky were utterly shocked! They hadn't expected Qinglong to block their attacks so easily and then throw them upward.

But they weren't panicked and began forming hand seals.

However, Qinglong was faster.

As he flung the two into the air, he raised both hands and unleashed two blinding waves of light upward.

"Boom! Boom! BOOM!"

In the dark night sky, two dazzling fireworks erupted.

The two ninja in the flames turned to ash!

The remaining two Root ninja watched the sky full of fireworks, their legs trembling in terror, their teeth chattering uncontrollably.

They were incredibly fortunate they hadn't attacked. It was only because they were a step too slow that they witnessed this astonishing explosion.

Their two teammates had vanished without a trace in Qinglong's single strike!

"So, the two from Root, can I leave now?"

Qinglong turned back and spoke to the two still trembling ninja.

The two ninja trembled, wanting to attack, to defend the honor of their Root members to the death.

But they still lacked the courage to attack. Faced with certain death, they chickened out!

They no longer had the courage to fight!

They gritted their teeth and said in trembling voices, "Y-yes... you can go."

Qinglong turned and left without a second glance.

Only after Qinglong had left did the two Root ninja finally relax, slumping to the ground. Their clothes were already soaked with sweat.

Figures were already flashing across the rooftops of Konoha. The explosion had been too shocking, prompting the village's ninja to investigate.

The two Root ninja quickly got up and left the scene.

At the Hokage's office building, Qinglong arrived, ready to pick up a mission and earn some money to achieve financial freedom, after which he could embark on a journey of ninja training.

He wanted to go to the Land of Hot Springs, soak in a hot spring, and experience the local customs and culture.

He wanted to go to the Land of Lightning and have a fight with Killer B.

However...

The mission dispatcher at the Hokage's office building refused him.

"This Genin, your Jonin instructor hasn't arrived yet, so I can't give you a mission."

The young lady who dispatched missions said so. No matter how Qinglong explained, she refused. She insisted that he needed his Jonin instructor to lead him before he could be assigned a mission.

"Damn it!"

Where was he supposed to get a Jonin instructor?

Qinglong had no choice but to give up. He'd just have to go out and take on ninja bounty missions later. Although the missions were difficult, that was where the real money was, even if the risks were higher.

Passing by Ichiraku Ramen, he saw Naruto slurping noodles.

"Naruto, you haven't eaten lunch yet!"

Qinglong went in to greet him.

"Ah, it's Qinglong!"

Naruto turned his head.

"I shared a lunchbox with Sasuke today, and I'm still not full."

Then he excitedly recounted their bell-grabbing challenge and successful graduation.

Qinglong's mind conjured an image of Naruto and Sasuke feeding each other bite by bite.

"Tsk tsk! Naruto, so Sasuke's your type?"

Qinglong teased with a curious click of his tongue. Naruto's face immediately turned red with embarrassment, and he finally admitted, "Sasuke is my teammate!"

Inside a casino in a small town in the Land of Fire.

Shizune dragged Tsunade, who had gambled all night, out of the building in a hurry.

"Ah! Lady Tsunade, our plan to return to the village has been delayed another day!"

Tsunade frowned impatiently.

"Oh, come on, Shizune! It's just one day's delay, we're still going back. Once we're back in the village, I'll have to take on disciples again. When will I ever have a chance to play like this again!"

"We have to take this chance to play a little longer."

"But Lady Tsunade, we're out of money! You gambled it all away!"

Shizune was speechless. You gambled all your money away, don't you realize that?!

Besides, Lady Tsunade only has one disciple. Everyone else has three, yet you complain about how hard it is.

"Ahhh...!"

Tsunade reluctantly set off, heading to Konoha to work and earn money so she could spend it again.

In Konoha, Qinglong finally found a bounty mission.

Konoha Ninja actually had their own trading market, where some bought ninja tools and others sought summoning beasts.

Qinglong had found a mission to capture a ninja beast, and he was now preparing to head into the depths of the forest to catch a powerful ninja beast to sell.

"Hey! Qinglong!"

Little Lee, Neji Hyuga, and Tenten, who were on their way back after completing a mission to drive away wild beasts, happened to run into Qinglong as he was heading into the forest.