B-rank mission?

Although it was just a "formality," because it was already so late, the sky was already brightening by the time Akaseki and Minato walked out of the Anbu headquarters.

Neither of them went home; instead, they headed straight for the Hokage Office—today was May 1st, and after three days of rest, it was time for Team 7 to reassemble for missions.

"By the way, how is Kushina's condition?" Akaseki asked with a hint of concern.

"She's fine, she just needs to rest for a while," Minato said, finally relaxing as well.

As the two were talking, Ranwu arrived.

"Good morning, how was your three-day break?" Ranwu asked, taking the initiative to greet Akaseki and Minato.

"Hahaha... I made a little bit of progress." Akaseki started to chuckle as he imagined her reaction when she saw his "2+1" later.

Ranwu: ...

Wasn't I asking about "rest"?

"You really are... someone who never takes a break," Ranwu said, feeling a sense of helplessness as she looked at the workaholic of Team 7.

Immediately, Ranwu wrinkled her nose and asked curiously, "You two... you didn't just come from home, did you?"

Although she couldn't quite put her finger on it, Ranwu could tell from their mental state and the state of their clothes that the two of them looked rather "travel-worn."

"Of course we... spent the time training properly!" Akaseki naturally wouldn't tell the truth; he and Minato had been instructed to keep the matter confidential. He immediately asked with his head held high, "Did you have a good rest these past three days?"

"Why do you have that look on your face, as if you're the only one who trained..." Ranwu rolled her eyes at him.

"Oh? Want to spar?" Akaseki asked immediately.

"I hope your stamina has improved; don't go soft after just a few minutes," Ranwu retorted.

Akaseki and Ranwu had, of course, sparred before.

If they only sparred in Taijutsu, Ranwu was no match for Akaseki, but...

If they went all out, Akaseki would usually ferociously suppress Ranwu while his eyes were active, but most of the time, he couldn't convert that advantage into a total victory. Once the time limit for his eyes passed, Ranwu could immediately turn the tables and suppress him.

Just as Akaseki and Ranwu were at each other's throats, Jiraiya's voice drifted over: "Looks like you two had a good rest; you're both so energetic!"

"Jiraiya-sensei, let's take a simpler mission today! I need to teach this guy a lesson afterward!" Ranwu suggested.

"It doesn't have to be too simple; it won't take long to teach this little girl a lesson!" Akaseki added.

"Is it because you can't last long that you're in such a rush?" Ranwu retorted.

Jiraiya watched the two bickering and feigned difficulty, saying, "Eh? Is that so... I was actually planning to take you on a B-rank mission today, but it seems neither of you is interested..."

Upon hearing this, Akaseki and Ranwu immediately stopped arguing and looked at Jiraiya, their eyes shining as they asked, "B-rank mission? Jiraiya-sensei, can we really take on a B-rank mission?"

Generally speaking, B-rank missions already involved confrontations with enemy ninjas or rogue ninjas...

They usually required a Jonin to lead, with Chunin as the main force, and Genin at most acting as support.

Although Team 7 from the 13th graduating class had Jiraiya as their supervising Jonin, according to the usual trend of "supervising Jonin only being responsible for supervision," the three of them would never have had the chance to touch a B-rank mission.

"Hmm, but don't get too happy yet. You're only going to provide support; just think of it as getting a feel for the atmosphere... Of course, if you don't want to, I can pick up a D-rank first..." Jiraiya said, playing hard to get.

"We want to!" Akaseki and Ranwu shouted in unison.

"Eh? I thought you two still had a duel to settle?" Jiraiya asked, feigning distress.

"Not at all, not at all..." Ranwu quickly denied it.

Akaseki hooked his arm around Ranwu's neck and said, "We're brothers! What's there to fight about!"

Minato just stood to the side and smiled.

"Is that so... then come upstairs with me." Jiraiya said, satisfied.

B-rank and A-rank missions weren't picked off the notice board; they had to be collected at a special window on the second floor... Hmm? Jiraiya was continuing up to the third floor?

"Jiraiya-sensei, where are we going..." Akaseki asked, puzzled.

"This is a mission issued personally by the Third Hokage," Jiraiya explained.

Upon hearing this, Akaseki and Ranwu became even more excited—a mission issued by the Hokage himself had to be extraordinary!

Jiraiya knocked on the door and entered the Hokage Office, with the three of them following closely behind. As soon as they entered, Akaseki saw that another Jonin was present, and one he recognized—Torifu Akimichi.

Torifu Akimichi not only possessed the thick layer of fat characteristic of the Akimichi clan, but his face was also exceptionally round...

This was a sign of Torifu Akimichi's profound mastery of the Akimichi clan's secret techniques!

The reason Akaseki recognized Torifu Akimichi was not only because of his striking physique, but also because Torifu Akimichi was a teammate of Kagami Uchiha of the Uchiha clan, and the two were very close.

Among the six members of the Second Hokage's personal guard during the ambush, the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi, along with Shimura Danzō, Mitokado Homura, and Utatane Koharu, were all "old timers," while Kagami Uchiha and Torifu Akimichi were young men in their early twenties, the very youth generation the Second Hokage had focused on cultivating!

It was a pity that the Second Hokage's death had been so sudden...

If he had lived another three to five years, Kagami Uchiha and Torifu Akimichi would have at least been able to secure the position of "Hokage Aide."

Akaseki's gaze shifted to the side of Torifu Akimichi, where he saw three young men of similar age to himself, though slightly more mature...

Akaseki recognized them, of course—although they were one year ahead of him, he had seen them countless times in the Ninja Academy over the past five years.

They were none other than Shikaku Nara, Inoichi Yamanaka, and Choza Akimichi, the "Ino-Shika-Cho" trio.

Connecting this to the "support role" Jiraiya had mentioned earlier, Akaseki and the other two realized that the presence of these four people here was no coincidence...

Besides the Third Hokage, sitting in the advisory position to the side was Shimura Danzō, a man who looked uncomfortable just to be around.

"Jiraiya, so you've arrived as well." Hiruzen looked toward Jiraiya, a smile appearing on his face.

"Lord Hokage, Advisor Shimura, Jonin Akimichi." Jiraiya knew to use their titles while on duty, and he also greeted Torifu Akimichi.

"Jonin Jiraiya." Torifu merely nodded solemnly; while he didn't seem distant, he appeared quite stern and humorless.

This was different from the Torifu Akimichi in Akaseki's memory...

Previously, when Akaseki was at the Uchiha compound, he had little presence, so Torifu Akimichi had no impression of him. However, Akaseki had seen Torifu Akimichi come to visit Kagami Uchiha several times, and in his memory, Torifu Akimichi's personality should have been much more amiable.

But this was hardly surprising...

After all, less than half a year had passed since they were ambushed in the Land of Lightning and the Second Hokage had passed away.

"Torifu, Jiraiya, regarding this mission, I have already spoken to you both about it previously. Since you have decided to go, let us discuss the details more thoroughly..." Hiruzen Sarutobi began to speak leisurely.