Uchiha Values

March 17th, 7:50 AM.

Akashi Uchiha arrived outside the Hokage Building, looking full of energy.

Although he had trained alone until very late last night, he had managed to roll a massage device at the very end before sleeping, so he was now feeling refreshed.

Jiraiya was not late this time; at eight o'clock sharp, he led the three of them into the Hokage Building and arrived at the mission hall on the first floor to select a mission.

Seeing Jiraiya, many ninjas greeted him enthusiastically; it was clear that Jiraiya held a great deal of prestige among the jonin of Konoha.

Approaching the mission board, they saw it was plastered with mission notices, though they were all C-rank and D-rank tasks.

Higher-level B-rank and A-rank missions had to be collected at a specialized window and were not posted publicly; even the most confidential missions were assigned directly by the Hokage rather than being posted here for everyone to see.

Looking at the vast number of C-rank and D-rank missions, Jiraiya pondered for a moment.

Akashi and Ranwu both looked nervous—not because they were afraid the missions would be too difficult, but because they were looking at those trivial D-rank chores and worried that Jiraiya would choose something too boring!

"Hmm? This one will do..." Jiraiya seemed to have discovered something at this moment and reached out to take down a C-rank request.

Seeing that it was a "C," Akashi and Ranwu were both heartened. After noticing the other's reaction, they exchanged a glance and then curled their lips at each other, as if saying: Can't you be as mature as Minato?

"For C-rank and D-rank missions, you take them down here yourselves and then go to the registration desk to sign up. Remember, you must register; otherwise, you won't receive the reward even if you complete it. Furthermore, if you take a mission down but don't do it or register, once discovered, you will be severely punished, and you might even be stripped of your status as a ninja," Jiraiya warned sternly.

At the registration desk, the civilian ninja in charge couldn't help but be surprised when they saw the C-rank mission notice: "Lord Jiraiya, they are all students who just graduated from the ninja academy, right? Generally speaking..."

Generally speaking, no matter how trivial D-rank missions were, newly graduated genin would usually start with D-rank missions to adapt.

These harmless D-rank missions were even considered a form of welfare, and there was a limit to the number of D-rank missions each ninja could take per year.

Even when Jiraiya had just graduated, Sarutobi had taken them to do D-rank missions, but...

"It's fine, I know what I'm doing. They are very reliable ninjas!" Jiraiya explained.

Seeing Jiraiya say this, the registration clerk didn't try to persuade him further and instead retrieved the corresponding official mission documents for Jiraiya and the three of them to sign.

Just as the three of them finished signing...

Smack, smack, smack—

Jiraiya pulled a stack of folded paper fans from who knows where and hit each of them once on the head!

"Did you even see what the mission was before signing?" Jiraiya immediately lectured them.

Akashi, Minato, Ranwu: ...

They couldn't refute that.

Indeed, out of trust for Jiraiya and the excitement of taking their first mission, the three of them hadn't looked at the document carefully from start to finish!

"Remember, for a ninja, the most important thing is completing the mission. You must be cautious about everything regarding a mission!" Jiraiya said righteously.

Upon hearing this, Akashi immediately showed a look of defiance, though he hesitated to speak...

Seeing this, Jiraiya took the initiative to ask: "Akashi, do you have something to say?"

"Teacher Jiraiya, the purpose of establishing Konoha was to protect everyone, right? Missions are just a means for the village to obtain funds. Shouldn't 'protecting every comrade in the village' be more important?" Akashi retorted.

Jiraiya: ...

Jiraiya paused at these words, and Minato and Ranwu also looked at Akashi in surprise, as if they hadn't expected Akashi Uchiha to value his comrades so much.

"Ahem, that's right, the teacher was wrong... However, understanding the mission situation better is also the key to protecting yourself and your comrades." Although he had been refuted, Jiraiya's tone was somewhat gratified.

Sure enough, Akashi became arrogant at this point. Ranwu, standing to the side, felt it was a bit strange and asked: "Is this... what your Uchiha clan usually teaches?"

Valuing comrades and protecting everyone... are these lines from your Uchiha clan? How are they completely different from what my grandfather says?

"Of course! Ordinary ninjas just need to execute missions, but we Uchiha have to manage everyone in the ninja village, so we have more to consider... Hahaha!" Akashi said as if it were a matter of course, and by the way... transformed into an Uchiha maniacal laugh.

Jiraiya, Minato, Ranwu: ...

Now the three of them understood—it was indeed taught by the Uchiha clan, but the direction of the education wasn't about how important comrades were, but rather... that missions weren't that important!

Thinking about it, it made sense...

After the Second Hokage created the Military Police Force, most Uchiha clan members joined the force after becoming chunin. Most of the clansmen didn't have the opportunity to do missions in their daily lives, or rather... serving in the Military Police Force was their mission.

Only a very small number of clansmen were exceptions.

In this situation, the Uchiha clan would naturally promote the "uselessness of missions" theory—you do missions to make money, and making money is to (provide for us to) protect the village. How could missions be the most important thing? Of course, the village is the most important!

If they admitted that missions were the most important, wouldn't the Uchiha clan, as managers funded by the village, become beggars kneeling for money?

"I actually had a moment where I looked at this guy with admiration; I must have been out of my mind!" Ranwu stared at the Uchiha maniacal laugh in front of her, clutching her forehead and sighing.

"Ahem, alright, take a good look at the mission document." Jiraiya coughed twice.

[C-rank mission: Wanted thief in the Flower Capital.

Mission location: Flower Capital, Land of Fire.

Mission contact: Magistrate Naiku.

Bounty: 50,000 ryo.

Does the publisher provide room and board: No.

Mission deadline: April 4th.]

Brief: Assist the Flower Capital Office in arresting the thieves who have been rampant recently. The requester will provide assistance. Danger rating: low. Bounty: low. Recommended to take as a side task.]

That's right, the first mission for Team Jiraiya was not only a C-rank straight away, but... it also required leaving Konoha and traveling all the way to the Flower Capital!

Just the journey from Konoha alone would take two days on the road.

Fortunately, Akaseki and the others were prepared and could leave with their bags packed at a moment's notice.

"A thief... I wish it were a bandit group instead," Ranwu said, her greed getting the better of her.

The problem with thieves is that they aren't easy to track down, and the issue can't always be solved through pure force.

"Catching a thief doesn't necessarily mean there won't be any physical conflict. If it's an organized theft ring, there's bound to be armed support behind them," Minato reminded them at this moment.

"But since it's only a C-rank mission, it means there won't be any hostile ninja involved," Akaseki added.