C-Rank Mission

For the past few days, Kotetsu Hagane had been leading the three of them on D-Rank Missions.

At first, Sugiyama Tetsu had been energetic and enthusiastic, while Nakamura Daisuke, though lazy, had still done his duty.

But after several days of missions, they were practically depressed. There was no other reason—the clients simply had too many demands.

So Kotetsu decided to give them a C-Rank Mission today.

"Seeing how listless you all are, let's change things up today and take a C-Rank Mission." Kotetsu announced this to the three dispirited boys.

"C-Rank?" Sugiyama Tetsu's eyes instantly lit up. "Are we leaving the village? Will we run into enemies?"

Nakamura Daisuke yawned, looking as though he had not woken up yet. "C-Rank? What a pain..."

Ning Xue remained silent. He had no objections, since Kotetsu was the one accepting the mission.

"The mission is to escort a merchant caravan to the neighboring Land of Rivers and ensure the goods and personnel arrive safely." Kotetsu kept it brief.

"It is expected to take three days. We'll gather tomorrow morning, so let your families know. We leave first thing tomorrow."

Early the next morning, Ning Xue carefully checked his Ninja Tool Pouch, confirming that he had brought his Kunai, Shuriken, and the flask of specially made paralytic poison.

He asked his mother once more whether she would be all right on her own for the next three days. She smiled and said she could take care of herself, while reminding him to be careful.

When he arrived at the meeting point, Kotetsu and the other two teammates were already there.

Sugiyama Tetsu was fully armed, pacing back and forth excitedly. Nakamura Daisuke, meanwhile, carried a bulging backpack that seemed to be stuffed with plenty of snacks.

"Everyone's here. Let's go." Kotetsu led the three of them toward the village entrance to meet up with the merchant caravan.

The group arrived at the village gate and joined the caravan.

The caravan was not large, consisting of just three horse-drawn carts carrying goods.

All the cargo was tightly covered with oilcloth.

When the caravan's owner saw that the hired ninja had arrived, he visibly relaxed.

He respectfully handed over the mission certificate and carefully explained where the shipment was headed.

"These goods are being delivered to Kusagakure in the Land of Rivers. They're urgently needed medical supplies. We're counting on you, esteemed ninja." The man in charge explained.

Ning Xue's heart stirred slightly. Kusagakure? He remembered that place being rather chaotic, seemingly divided between two factions. Though he knew this, he said nothing.

And so, the group escorted the caravan out of Konoha.

The main road out of Konoha was fairly broad at first, but as they approached the fork in the road, the surrounding trees gradually became denser.

It was their first mission outside the village, so they could not help feeling excited.

Sugiyama Tetsu practically treated it like a sightseeing trip, constantly looking around and marveling at how beautiful the scenery was.

Nakamura Daisuke had found it interesting and fun at first, but as they traveled farther and farther, his stamina steadily declined. He became utterly exhausted, too lazy even to talk or admire the scenery. (It was hard to imagine how he had graduated. If they were all like this, then in Orochimaru's words, Konoha should just hurry up and be destroyed.)

Ning Xue, however, remained silent throughout. He walked at the rear of the group, activating his Byakugan from time to time to scan the surroundings and ensure there were no enemies lying in ambush.

In theory, C-Rank Missions were generally ordinary escort missions and did not involve fighting enemies. But that was only in theory. They still could not lower their guard. Even without ninja, there could be bandits roaming the wilderness.

The first day passed without incident.

As dusk approached, everyone set up their tents where they were. After finding a nearby river, they fetched some water and caught a few fish, then prepared to return and make dinner.

Although Ning Xue truly, truly hated fish, he had no choice but to swallow it because he had forgotten to bring compressed biscuits, rice balls, and the like.

That evening, everyone sat around the campfire, chatting and laughing. Of course, their chef, Nakamura Daisuke, was also there, grilling fish for everyone.

His cooking really was quite good, and everyone praised him—except Ning Xue.

"Urgh..." After taking one bite, Ning Xue felt nauseous. But to fill his stomach, he endured the disgust and forced himself to eat it all.

Seeing this, Daisuke began to doubt his cooking. Was it not good? Everyone else seemed to be enjoying it. Was there something wrong with my cooking?

"Hm, strange. What's Daisuke squatting over there for?" Kotetsu saw Daisuke crouching off to the side and curiously asked Sugiyama Tetsu, who sat beside him.

"No idea. Maybe he's bored." Sugiyama Tetsu continued eating the grilled fish in his hand without a care.

That evening.

Kotetsu assigned night-watch duties to Ning Xue and the other two.

"Sugiyama Tetsu, you and Nakamura Daisuke will take turns guarding the first half of the night."

"Ning Xue and I will take turns guarding the second half. Understood?"

"Understood." The three nodded in reply.

"Good! Then the three of us will sleep first. Sugiyama Tetsu, keep watch properly."

Early the next morning—it should have been around three in the morning—Ning Xue looked at the nearly asleep Nakamura Daisuke with some helplessness. Fortunately, there were no enemies around.

When Nakamura noticed someone approaching, he rubbed his eyes. The moment he saw that it was Ning Xue, he immediately flopped down and went to sleep, utterly unconcerned with the dirt on the ground.

"..."

The second half of the night...

Kotetsu, yawning, was startled when he saw Nakamura lying on the ground. He instantly pulled out a Kunai and vigilantly scanned the surroundings.

"Sensei, he fell asleep."

At that moment, a voice entered Kotetsu's ears.

Upon hearing the voice, Kotetsu still did not lower the Kunai in his hand. Instead, he pointed it toward the source of the sound.

Only after seeing Ning Xue's speechless expression and confirming it really was him did he lower the Kunai.

"Haha... Uh, next time, we should let him take the first watch. Haha..."

Kagami was a little embarrassed, but this was necessary.

"Go back and rest. Leave the remaining time to me."

Ning Xue answered with a quiet "Mm" and walked toward the tent.

(All right, I figured out how to edit chapters. Forgive me, everyone. This is the last time.)