A New Mission

After an admittedly unpleasant hot spring trip, Kamizuki returned to Konoha and spent a warm, happy weekend at home with his two adorable sisters.

At seven thirty on Monday morning, every member of Genma Team gathered in front of the Hokage Building, ready to take on their first mission of the new week.

With his three adorable subordinates and little Adou, who Sakura Mangetsu was holding in her arms, Genma entered the mission hall. There weren't many ninjas there to pick up missions that day.

Inside the hall, several small groups were gathered in front of the five mission boards—S, A, B, C, and D—choosing assignments that suited their teams.

Genma and his three subordinates first went to the B-Rank Mission board and looked it over, but couldn't find anything that seemed suitable for their team.

So they moved on to the A-Rank board. Genma searched through the assignments, but none of them seemed quite right. Some required teaming up with another group, while others offered too little of a challenge.

What, you wanted a challenge? Then go take an S-Rank mission!

Heh... S-Rank missions certainly were challenging, but they weren't qualified to take one!

Realistically, an S-Rank mission required at least two or three members of the team to be jonin or above. Otherwise, it wasn't simply a matter of looking for a challenge—it was practically asking for death.

Just as Genma was debating whether to take on a mission that looked like it might be somewhat difficult,

a frail-looking figure lightly tapped him on the shoulder. When Genma turned around, he saw that it was Gekko Hayate.

Genma looked at Hayate in surprise. "What brings you here today, Hayate?"

Hearing Genma tease him like that, Gekko Hayate didn't respond. He couldn't suppress the itch in his throat.

He coughed several times, then covered his mouth and said with some effort, "Cut it out. The Third sent me specially to ask your entire team to come to his office!"

"Oh." Hearing that the Third wanted to see their team, Genma gave a simple, straightforward reply. Then he led his team after Hayate toward the Hokage Office.

Genma Team followed Gekko Hayate to the top floor of the Hokage Building. After reaching the top, they walked down a long corridor. As soon as they turned the corner, they saw two ninjas standing on guard outside a room in the middle of the hallway. The room looked larger than the others.

When they got closer, they realized that both guards were at jonin level. Kamizuki knew they were members of the Third Sarutobi Hiruzen's personal guard.

Gekko Hayate and Genma Shiranui nodded slightly to the two guards. They returned the greeting with a glance, and only then did Hayate gently knock twice on the door.

An old but powerful voice called, "Come in." At that, Gekko Hayate pushed the door open.

The others filed inside one by one. Kamizuki came in last and casually closed the door behind him.

Once everyone had taken their places, the Third, seated behind his desk and surrounded by a mountain of paperwork, instructed Gekko Hayate to move the documents piled in front of him out of the way.

Although Gekko Hayate was sickly, he was still quick and efficient. In less than two minutes, he had cleared away the tall stack of papers.

After seeing Hayate finish tidying up, the Third took a sip of tea, cleared his throat, and began:

"I've called you here today because I have a special mission that I'd like to entrust to you.

After speaking, the Third rested both hands on the desk and looked at the energetic young people before him.

Seeing that the Third had nothing more to say, Genma respectfully addressed him:

"Thank you for trusting our team, Lord Third. Please give us your orders. We'll do everything in our power to complete the mission."

The Third looked at these young people—the future of Konoha—with great admiration and said with a smile:

"Here are the details. This mission was commissioned to Konoha by the Daimyo of the Land of Rivers. There's very little information available, so after discussing it with the daimyo, the village has classified it as an A-Rank Mission.

"The mission is as follows: a number of supernatural incidents have occurred in the Land of Rivers, and several of its residents have gone missing. The details are unclear, so the Daimyo of the Land of Rivers wants Konoha to investigate and find the missing people. That's all."

After hearing the vague mission details, Genma frowned slightly, but still accepted the assignment.

After taking the mission, Genma Team bowed to the Third, then respectfully took their leave and exited the Hokage Office and the Hokage Building.

Once they were outside, Genma gave his subordinates their instructions:

"There isn't much information about this mission, so be prepared for anything. It might even turn out to be more difficult than an A-Rank mission. Go get everything ready this afternoon. The mission could take a while, so meet at Konoha Gate at seven sharp tomorrow morning. That's all! Dismissed!"

After saying "Dismissed," Genma turned and walked away.

Kamizuki had planned to head home and prepare, too, but just as he was about to leave, Mai stopped him.

The two girls knew Kamizuki had a large scroll he could use to store things, so they asked him to accompany them shopping for supplies they might need on the mission. They could also make some food and store it in the scroll. They didn't want to eat Military Ration Pills while they were out on a mission.

So Kamizuki was helplessly dragged along by the two girls to carry their things. The two of them were truly formidable shoppers.

Whatever they were buying, they could haggle with the shopkeepers for ages. In the end, they bought a huge pile of things before they were finally satisfied.