First Mission

Two days had passed since that class.

Today, they would be taking on the first mission of their ninja careers.

After preparing a lunchbox for her mother, Ning Xue got ready to head to the meeting point.

Before she left, her mother was still concerned about whether she was really all right.

At the meeting point.

Kotetsu Hagane looked at his three students.

Sugiyama Tetsu was still full of energy and restless as ever. He seemed to have completely emerged from the shadow of the Torture and Interrogation Force two days ago.

He also seemed full of anticipation for the upcoming mission.

Nakamura Daisuke, meanwhile, was still as lazy as ever, and his complexion looked fairly normal.

It seemed that aside from possibly giving him nightmares for a night, it had not left much of a lasting impact.

Only Hyuga Ningxue.

Kotetsu Hagane turned his gaze toward her.

Usually the quietest of the three, the young girl looked slightly pale today, with faint, barely noticeable dark circles beneath her eyes.

Unlike the other two, who looked around or whispered to each other, she simply stood there in silence, as if digesting something on her own.

Looks like the first lesson is still affecting this child.

Kotetsu Hagane understood, but did not say it aloud. This child seemed to have poor psychological endurance; she needed time to adjust to that kind of shock.

"All right, stop standing around foolishly."

Kotetsu Hagane clapped his hands, drawing the three of their attention. "Starting today, we will officially begin carrying out missions."

He opened a scroll and continued speaking to the three before him.

"Our first mission is D-rank. Help Lady Shuihu of South Street find her lost pet cat, Xiaohu."

"Find... a cat?" Sugiyama Tetsu froze for a moment, then his shoulders slumped in disappointment.

"I thought it would be something more exciting..."

Nakamura Daisuke's eyes lit up instead.

"Find a cat? That's great. We can slack off, and it's way better than that awful place from two days ago!"

Ning Xue said nothing, merely nodding slightly.

The group arrived at Lady Shuihu's home on South Street. She was a plump, anxious-looking middle-aged woman.

"Oh! You're finally here!" The moment Lady Shuihu saw Kotetsu Hagane and his team, she pounced on them as though they were her saviors.

"Oh, ninjas, please hurry and find my Xiaohu! It's usually so well-behaved and never runs around. I only opened the door to let in some air today, and in the blink of an eye, it was gone. Please, you have to help me find it!"

The middle-aged woman grabbed Kotetsu Hagane's arm and shook it back and forth with such force that he swayed along with her.

Faced with this employer, who not only grabbed him but also would not stop talking, Kotetsu Hagane could only patiently interrupt her.

"Madam, we understand your request. We will begin searching now."

Yet the middle-aged woman still would not let go, continuing to talk about how precious and intelligent her cat was, as though she had lost not a cat, but her own child.

Sugiyama Tetsu was at a loss in the face of this situation and could only reassure her.

"Please don't worry, ma'am. We'll definitely find it!"

Nakamura Daisuke quietly edged backward, his face plainly showing the word trouble.

Ning Xue stood a little farther away and listened in silence. The woman's shrill, anxious voice made her already muddled head ache even more.

She had not slept well these past two days. Every time she closed her eyes, the bloody, disgusting scenes from the Torture and Interrogation Force flashed through her mind like ghosts.

Kotetsu Hagane was experienced. After the woman finished complaining, he cut off Lady Shuihu's endless chatter and tried to ask for key information.

"Madam, please describe Xiaohu's appearance. Where did you see it last? Are there any places it often goes or things it likes?"

"Xiaohu is an orange cat, with a little white at the tip of its tail and a golden bell tied around its neck!" Lady Shuihu gestured as she spoke.

"It loves the special tuna rice balls I make most!"

"And I usually love taking it for walks on Commercial Street. Normally, it likes climbing around on the roof at home or in the trees in the yard. Oh, right, it also seemed to have a grudge against a black cat. Could it have gone off to fight? Oh, and..."

She began listing every possible detail again, mixed with a great deal of useless chatter.

"What a... pain," Ning Xue quietly muttered from afar. Neji had once complained to her that during missions, the worst people to encounter were those overly concerned about their pets, because they mixed far too much nonsense into their accounts and reduced mission efficiency.

"All right, we understand." Kotetsu Hagane interrupted decisively once more. "We'll split up and search.

"Tetsu, search the streets in the northern district. Keep an eye out for any fighting among stray cats."

"Daisuke, search the rooftops, walls, and alley entrances."

"Ning Xue, use the Byakugan to scout this area. Focus on high places and hidden corners."

"Yes!" Sugiyama Tetsu charged toward North Street with great enthusiasm.

"Yeah, yeah, got it..." Nakamura Daisuke reluctantly began climbing the nearby wall.

"Mm."

Ning Xue took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and tried her best to suppress the bloody images in her mind before starting her work.

When she opened her eyes again, the veins around them bulged as the Byakugan's field of vision instantly expanded to a radius of one kilometer.

She then began searching the streets, alley entrances, and rooftops.

Activating the Byakugan required intense concentration, but she was in poor condition today, making it a huge burden for her.

Not only did she have to focus on searching, she also had to suppress the images that kept flashing through her mind and interfering with her search.

Meanwhile, the other two searched for ages without finding anything. They even went into a group of stray cats and got scratched a few times.

Kotetsu Hagane watched the three of them, his gaze eventually lingering on Ning Xue, whose face had grown even paler.

Before long, however, Lady Shuihu, who had been waiting anxiously, started babbling again, complaining that the ninjas were inefficient and worrying about what would happen if Xiaohu was in danger...

But at that moment, Ning Xue's Byakugan seemed to spot the cat with the golden bell. It was hiding in an alley two streets away.

"Found it," Ning Xue said quietly, her voice carrying a faint, barely perceptible exhaustion.

"Where?" Kotetsu Hagane immediately asked.

"Southeast. Two streets away, behind a pile of junk in a dead-end alley."

Ning Xue pointed in a direction.

"Good. Lead the way."

Ning Xue closed her eyes briefly. Only after the veins at the corners of her eyes gradually faded did she lead the three toward that dead-end alley.

The group soon arrived at the alley Ning Xue had described.

The alley was narrow and dimly lit, with some discarded furniture piled inside.

And the cat was in a hard-to-spot corner of the alley.

But unexpectedly, Xiaohu was not trapped. Instead, it was staring fixedly into the old furniture ahead.

Following the cat's gaze, everyone saw something that took them by surprise.

There, a nimble black cat was affectionately licking a gentle white cat, while several newborn-looking black kittens lay beside them.

And Xiaohu was hiding in a corner like a defeated loser, silently shedding tears.

Whether because of the poor lighting or some other reason, they could vaguely make out its shoulders trembling constantly, making it look utterly miserable.

"Uh... this..." Sugiyama Tetsu opened his mouth, unsure how to describe the scene.

Nakamura Daisuke yawned.

"Oh, we found it. Then hurry up and catch it so we can turn in the mission. Why are we standing around?"

Kotetsu Hagane was also speechless. He had not expected a cat-finding mission to lead to this kind of emotional drama.

Ning Xue silently watched the lonely back of the orange cat. For some reason, three words surfaced in her mind: cuckold fetish.

Kotetsu Hagane stepped forward and easily picked up the orange cat, which was still immersed in sorrow. The cat only whimpered symbolically twice before giving up struggling, letting itself be carried back with an expression as though nothing in the world had any meaning anymore.

Mission complete.

After handing the cat over to Lady Shuihu and listening to ten full minutes of thanks, Kotetsu Hagane said they would gather again at the same time tomorrow, then left first.

Sugiyama Tetsu and Nakamura Daisuke high-fived each other, delighted at completing their first mission.

After greeting Ning Xue, they left together as well.

Ning Xue, however, felt even more exhausted. She did not say much to her teammates, merely nodding before turning and leaving too.

She did not go home immediately. Instead, she changed direction and headed toward the training ground she often visited.

She sat down with her back against a large tree, its shadow enveloping her body.

The moment she closed her eyes, the nauseatingly bloody scenes from the Torture and Interrogation Force surged over her like a tide.

Her mind involuntarily recalled the morality of her previous life and the coldness of this reality.

The two sets of values clashed fiercely in her mind, making her head feel as though it would split apart.

She still needed time. She needed time to ease these feelings and adapt to them.