Jiraiya Returns to the Village

The moment he switched to the [Tsunade (Young)] ninja card, he activated Strength of a Hundred.

"BOOM!"

As Akiyama Shun's fist descended and made contact with the stone, a shockwave violently erupted. The rock shattered instantly, and several shards, carried by the force of the wind, shot deep into the cave.

The debris struck the inner walls of the cave, echoing with a hollow sound.

Only after finishing this did Akiyama Shun look toward Tsunade.

"Teacher Tsunade, what were you going to teach me just now?"

"...It's nothing. Go on and give chase."

Tsunade opened her mouth, but ultimately said nothing, finally waving her hand to urge Akiyama Shun to hurry after the target.

What could she even say?

You learn so fast, what else is there for me to say?

At this moment, Tsunade finally discovered a serious problem with Akiyama Shun.

It was true that he was easy to lead and required almost no effort to teach, but it felt like there was absolutely no sense of accomplishment in being his teacher!

Akiyama Shun had already chased into the depths of the cave.

The path inside the cave was not complex; it was essentially a straight line.

Soon, Akiyama Shun caught up to the fleeing bandit leader.

"You brat! You still dare to chase me! Do you really think I'm afraid of you!?"

The bandit leader knew he couldn't escape, so he turned to face Akiyama Shun and began forming hand seals.

Was he afraid?

He was scared to death!

The sound of Akiyama Shun shattering the rock earlier had been so loud it echoed throughout the entire cave, and he had naturally heard it.

There was no need to guess what would happen if that kind of power hit him. He had already decided to use a simple Earth Style jutsu to stall for time and then use the Clone Technique to escape!

However, such a scenario existed only in his imagination.

A crackling sound of electricity was already emanating from Akiyama Shun's palm.

Chidori!

The flash of lightning illuminated the cave. In the bandit leader's eyes, filled with shock and terror, Akiyama Shun charged toward him, expressionless, with the Chidori in hand.

"Squelch!"

He thrust the Chidori forward, instantly piercing through the bandit leader's chest!

A smell of charred flesh wafted from the bandit leader's wound.

Akiyama Shun looked into the man's eyes, and only after confirming there was no vitality left in them did he withdraw his arm.

The corpse, having lost its support, swayed twice before collapsing to the ground.

Akiyama Shun grabbed the bandit leader's leg with one hand and began to head back the way he came toward the cave entrance.

When Akiyama Shun walked out of the cave, the bloodstains on the ground had already been cleaned up by three Shadow Clones, and Tsunade was sitting in front of a campfire. There was a pot over the fire, containing the very food the bandits had been cooking earlier.

"The brat is finally back. Eat while it's hot; no need to choke down those Military Ration Pills."

Having eaten nothing but Military Ration Pills for the past few days, Akiyama Shun felt absolutely nauseated.

He used to think that Military Ration Pills were at most tasteless and too dry, but after eating them this time, he realized they were truly disgusting!

Akiyama Shun tossed the bandit leader's corpse aside, found some water to wash the blood off his body, and then sat down by the campfire.

"Teacher Tsunade, what's inside?"

"Potatoes."

Tsunade replied casually.

However, once Akiyama Shun heard this, familiar memories began to surface, and the corner of his mouth twitched.

Who boiled the server for our Naruto Mobile Game?

Thinking this, Akiyama Shun fished the Naruto Mobile Game server out of the pot and began to bite into it frantically.

"How does it feel, having your first life-or-death struggle with a ninja?"

Tsunade asked while fishing a potato out of the pot for herself.

"I killed him in one move, so it doesn't really count as a struggle. I don't feel much of anything."

Akiyama Shun shook his head.

"Hahahaha, as long as you can adapt to this kind of combat, that's fine. Let's head back."

After eating a few potatoes to fill his stomach, Tsunade stood up first to leave, and Akiyama Shun rose to follow her.

Without the constraints of a mission, the two were in no rush on the way back. They stopped to rest whenever they felt tired; the journey that took three days to complete on the way there took five days on the way back.

Upon returning to the village, Tsunade first took Akiyama Shun to the Mission Assignment Hall to familiarize him with the procedures for completing a mission.

Missions accepted at the Mission Assignment Hall can be submitted directly here once they are completed.

Normally, for missions like clearing out bandits, a detailed written report must be submitted after the mission is turned in to prevent ninjas from falsifying their results.

However, such rules are useless when it comes to Tsunade; her reputation is enough to bypass all these troublesome procedures.

This mission started as a C-rank mission, but because they encountered a genin and engaged in combat later on, it was upgraded to a B-rank mission.

The mission reward also increased from the initial 40,000 ryo to 70,000 ryo.

This amount of money is actually not insignificant, but Akiyama Shun is not really short on cash right now; he earns more than this just by spending some time in any random casino.

Still, he takes on these missions primarily to adapt to the act of killing; the amount of money is irrelevant to him.

After receiving the money, Tsunade looked at it with a hint of disdain.

"This money isn't even enough for a single round~"

"It's fine, Teacher Tsunade. Just come find me whenever you're short on cash. Though, I might not be able to enter a few of the nearby casinos anymore; they've already blacklisted me."

Thinking of this, Akiyama Shun couldn't help but sigh. He would have to go out of his way to travel to more distant casinos to make money in the future.

"Hehe, I knew you brat would remember me. Right, what was it you said earlier about wanting me to keep an eye out for?"

After hearing Akiyama Shun's words, Tsunade immediately returned to her carefree state.

Akiyama Shun reminded her, "Teacher Tsunade, it's the Chunin Exams. I want to participate in the next Chunin Exams."

"The next Chunin Exams?"

Tsunade extended her thumb and lightly tapped her chin, beginning to recall.

"It hasn't been long since the last Chunin Exams; the next one should be in about six months. Wait a minute, you little brat, you haven't even been graduated for half a month yet, have you? And you're already thinking about the Chunin Exams?"

Although she was surprised, once she thought about Akiyama Shun's performance, Tsunade felt relieved.

"Don't worry, I'll remember to keep an eye on the specific dates for you. By the way, since today is your first time completing a mission, let's go to an izakaya to celebrate!"

Held in Tsunade's arms, Akiyama Shun said speechlessly, "Lady Tsunade, I'm still a child; I can't drink alcohol."

"You brat, can't you just watch me drink? I didn't tell you to drink!"

For the next month, Akiyama Shun spent his time performing various missions. A small portion were D-rank missions that didn't require leaving the village, helping the villagers with chores; these served as a form of relaxation.

The vast majority were C to B-rank missions.

Tsunade had specifically chosen these to help him accumulate combat experience.

In other teams, the fighting is basically carried out by the three genin as the main force, with the team leader assisting from the sidelines.

As for Akiyama Shun's battles, because he had no teammates, he was essentially the one rushing in to slaughter everyone on his own, while Tsunade mostly stood by and waited for the fight to end.

However, if Akiyama Shun was ever injured, Tsunade's level of medical expertise could ensure he recovered in the shortest time possible.

One night.

Akiyama Shun was at Yuhi Kurenai's house, hanging out with her and telling her about the interesting things he had encountered while carrying out missions during this period.

Yuhi Kurenai's eyes lit up as she listened; even though it was already past her bedtime, she became more energetic the more she heard.

"That's amazing! I really want to graduate and become a ninja soon too, but Father won't let me~"

Thinking of this, Yuhi Kurenai's originally happy little face immediately dimmed.

"It's alright. Spending more time at the academy to build a solid foundation before becoming a ninja will make carrying out missions much easier later on."

Akiyama Shun patted Yuhi Kurenai's head, comforting her.

Feeling the warmth on the top of her head, Yuhi Kurenai nodded.

"Oh, that's right! You've been out doing missions the whole time, so you probably don't know, right? Lord Jiraiya has returned to the village!"