Before long, they finished fetching water.
"Give us another mission!"
"Huh?"
Tatsu Hamano was baffled, but when he met Jiraiya's gaze, he immediately assigned them another D-Rank Mission.
This time, they had to chop wood.
But—
It didn't take them long at all.
"Another one."
Half a month later.
"Lord Third, this really can't go on! Could you please make him stop? At this rate, we'll run out of D-Rank Missions!"
Tatsu Hamano couldn't take it anymore. He went upstairs to complain to the Third Hokage.
He had no choice.
It wasn't that he wouldn't assign them more missions. Jiraiya's team had completed more than half the village's D-Rank Missions over the past two weeks.
At this rate, the village would run out of D-Rank Missions in a few more days.
What would the other teams and ordinary Genin do then?
Would they have to go without income?
It really was a serious problem.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was at his wit's end. He pondered for a while.
Jiraiya's team was indeed exceptionally strong.
The leader went without saying.
Among the team members, there was Kakashi, already a Chunin; Kurenai Yuhi, who excelled at genjutsu; and Kyohiko Yoshimine...
C-Rank Missions wouldn't be a problem for them.
"Next time, let him take a C-Rank Mission."
"Yes, sir."
Tatsu Hamano breathed a sigh of relief.
C-Rank Missions...
It wasn't that he was unwilling to assign them. The situation was still unclear.
Though the nations had ceased fighting, there was no true peace. Small clashes still broke out between them.
What was more—
After the war, a large number of wandering samurai and bandits had roamed the land.
Taking on C-Rank Missions now was far more dangerous than it had been in peacetime.
Tatsu Hamano only handled mission assignments. He had no authority to decide the rules for new teams taking missions.
The Third Hokage nodded, and Tatsu Hamano no longer needed to push back.
[As the Hokage, you have actively worked for the village. Your contributions have earned widespread recognition.]
[Reward: Water Release: Wild Water Wave increased by 1 level]
Huh?
Kyohiko, who had arrived at the Hokage Building that morning to wait for the others, was bewildered.
What was going on?
Where had this reward come from?
They'd been grinding D-Rank Missions lately, and he'd somehow earned a reward he couldn't explain.
He checked his status panel.
[Name: Kyohiko Yoshimine]
[Age: 7]
[Kekkei Genkai]: None
[Skills]:
Transformation Technique (Proficient), Clone Technique (Proficient), Substitution Technique (Proficient), Body Flicker Technique (Master), Water Release: Wild Water Wave (Proficient), Water Release: Water Wall (Skilled)
Over the past half month, Kyohiko had focused on training his Taijutsu and two Water Style jutsu, but he'd only managed to raise them to the skilled level.
Now, Wild Water Wave had jumped straight to proficient.
A wealth of knowledge about Wild Water Wave came to mind. Some of it covered how to control Water Style jutsu and use Water Style chakra more effectively.
Wild Water Wave was a basic technique and didn't involve advanced nature transformation.
But—
At the proficient level, his skill could greatly reduce the chakra needed to cast it.
In theory, the same amount of chakra could produce thirty percent more water than before.
And that wasn't all. Many techniques used in Water Style jutsu were interconnected.
This was especially true for Wild Water Wave and Water Wall.
Neither technique's basic version involved complex nature transformation. As long as someone mastered the fundamentals and could extract Water Style chakra, they could cast either one with ease.
Both worked the same way.
Some of the knowledge that came with proficient Wild Water Wave could be applied to Water Wall.
Kyohiko was secretly delighted.
This was a huge boost!
Ninjutsu might not be much use in the high-level battles of the later stages, but right now, the Third Shinobi World War was what he needed to focus on.
At the level of ordinary ninja, Water Style jutsu were extremely useful.
"Kyohiko."
A soft female voice drew closer from behind.
Kyohiko turned around—
Kakashi and Kurenai Yuhi came running over, one after the other.
The three of them were together at last.
"You got here so early?"
Kurenai panted.
"Not long ago. I was passing by on my run, so I waited here."
Kyohiko replied.
Kakashi hesitated, about to speak, but caught sight of something from the corner of his eye and swallowed his question.
"Hahaha, you're all here early!"
Jiraiya had arrived.
He held two packs of popsicles, broke them apart, and handed one to each person.
"Let's go. Time to start today's missions. We'll finish enough of them early, then we can take on a more difficult C-Rank Mission."
Jiraiya had had enough of D-Rank Missions.
For an ordinary ninja team, D-Rank Missions might help with teamwork and developing their abilities, but for their team...
Forget it.
As a Chunin, Kakashi understood all the lessons he needed to learn. It was just that he couldn't get past his emotional hang-up, and Jiraiya didn't have a good solution for now.
Kyohiko—
He was the one Jiraiya least needed to worry about.
Kurenai only lacked experience, but she was still a long way from being ready to lead the team.
For them, only C-Rank Missions and higher—facing off against wandering samurai, thieves, or even ninja—would teach them what they needed to improve.
If they couldn't take C-Rank Missions, they would clear out all the D-Rank ones.
Jiraiya steeled himself.
Once inside the hall, he headed straight for Tatsu Hamano.
"Give us a—"
"Lord Jiraiya, Lord Hokage said you can take C-Rank Missions now."
Tatsu Hamano reported at once.
Jiraiya grinned. "Great. We don't have to do any more D-Rank Missions?"
"That's right. You've done enough D-Rank Missions. Take a look at the C-Rank board."
Tatsu Hamano gave a wry smile and brought over a new mission board.
Kyohiko glanced at it.
It seemed the reward earlier must have come from their missions.
Then he looked at the board.
Most of the assignments were escort jobs for merchant caravans.
As for the destinations...
They were usually troubled places like the Land of Rivers or the Land of Waves. Missions to the ninja nations, such as the Land of Earth, probably wouldn't count as C-Rank.
"This one."
Jiraiya pointed to a listing—
Travel to Tanzaku Town and protect a creditor while he collected a debt.
His lips curled into a smile.
"We'll take this one. Where's the client?"
"This mission was posted just yesterday. You only need to go to the Blue Flower Pavilion in Tanzaku Town and find a man named Koji Matsuyama."
Tatsu Hamano replied.
He hesitated for a moment, then said, "But the offered pay is nearly at the level of a B-Rank Mission. I suspect collecting the debt won't be simple."
"That's fine. As long as the pay's good. I know the way to Tanzaku Town, too."
Jiraiya waved a hand, his face beaming.
Kyohiko's expression turned strange.
Tanzaku Town wasn't exactly a wholesome place.
A ninja who went there might well break one of the Three Ninja Prohibitions.
It was hard not to suspect—
His teacher had taken the mission as an excuse, and really just wanted to enjoy himself for a while.
Kyohiko couldn't help grumbling to himself.
Kakashi and Kurenai Yuhi remained expressionless. Maybe they didn't know anything about Tanzaku Town, or maybe they simply didn't care.
In any case, Jiraiya happily accepted the mission.
But—
As soon as he left the mission hall, someone stepped in front of him.
"Lord Jiraiya, Lord Hokage requests your presence upstairs."
An Anbu Ninja.
Jiraiya sighed and nodded. After telling Kyohiko and the others he'd be back, he headed upstairs.
"Kyohiko, Kakashi!"
A shout rang out from inside as they waited.
Kurenai Yuhi's expression turned a little complicated—
That oddball again!
Might Guy.
Before you continue