Ichiraku Ramen, Reconnaissance Mission

Upon hearing Ryosuke's words, Shisui finally remembered that this guy's Sharingan was special, capable of copying even secret techniques.

Far from being angry, he instead revealed a smile.

Just like that, the group arrived at the village.

However, unlike last time, they had come to the main village of Konoha.

"Shisui-sensei, let's go eat ramen. I've suddenly got a craving for it."

Sanhe pointed at the 'Ichiraku Ramen' sign by the roadside and said to Shisui.

"Oh? Isn't barbecue more expensive than ramen? Are you stupid?" Miyuki retorted.

"You're the stupid one. We can eat barbecue back in our own village, but ramen is only found here. Besides, Ichiraku Ramen is incredibly famous in the village; I've never even had it before," Sanhe shouted with even greater emphasis.

Passersby on the road were startled by Sanhe's voice and cast curious glances their way.

But as soon as they saw Ryosuke's clothing, they hurried away in a rush.

"What a buzzkill. Why do you still have to wear that outfit?" Sanhe turned his ire toward Ryosuke again.

"Because this is the only set of clothes I have," Ryosuke said expressionlessly.

Sanhe froze, seemingly realizing something, and then turned his head away.

[Ding, Temporary Mission 1 completed. Obtained 500 EXP.]

The system's notification sound suddenly rang out, causing Ryosuke to steal a glance at Miyuki and Sanhe.

He had originally thought this mission would be completed after he helped them obtain the bells; he hadn't expected it to finish only now.

It seems that in any world, playing the victim is the easiest way to elicit sympathy, even if he hadn't been lying.

"Ryosuke, what do you think?"

Shisui looked at Ryosuke and asked.

"What?"

"Do you want to eat barbecue or ramen?"

Shisui explained.

"Sanhe makes a good point. Barbecue can be eaten elsewhere, so let's go have ramen."

"Ryosuke, not bad, you're a man of taste. Let me tell you, the ramen here is delicious."

Sanhe suddenly walked over and slung an arm around Ryosuke's shoulder, seemingly very satisfied that he supported his opinion.

He really is a guy who wears his heart on his sleeve.

With that, the four of them walked into the ramen shop together.

The 'familiar' Uncle Ichiraku poked his head out: "Welcome! Oh, it's Shisui. Is this a group meal?"

"That's right, Uncle Ichiraku. It's been a while. These are my three students."

As he sat down, Shisui introduced Ryosuke and the others to Ichiraku.

"They're all elites of the Uchiha clan. The future safety of Konoha will depend on you all. Let's consider today's meal on the house," Uncle Ichiraku said very happily.

As a businessman, he didn't harbor the same prejudices as others in Konoha Village.

This brought rare smiles to the faces of Sanhe and Miyuki.

Soon, four large bowls of ramen were served.

"Itadakimasu." Sanhe was the first to pick up his chopsticks.

Miyuki and Ryosuke exchanged a look, then began to eat as well.

Before long, the shop was filled with sounds of praise.

"So delicious."

"How tasty."

"As expected, the ramen here is the best."

The corners of Ryosuke's mouth twitched a few times, and he couldn't help but sigh inwardly at these sheltered individuals.

While he admitted that the ramen here was much better than the food he had eaten over the past few years, it still fell quite short of his own standards for delicious food.

If I weren't a member of the Uchiha clan, perhaps opening a restaurant here would make a lot of money. What a pity.

After the meal, the four of them left Konoha Village. Aside from Shisui, the others couldn't stand the feeling of being deliberately patronized.

"Shisui-sensei, do we still have training tomorrow?"

Sanhe asked first.

"No need. I have already received a mission from the Third Hokage," Shisui said with a smile.

"No way? Since when?" Mihawa exclaimed.

"Just while we were eating ramen. It's only a C-rank mission, but for newcomers, it's already quite a challenge," Shisui said.

Ryosuke nodded to himself. That was true; most ninja teams started with D-rank missions.

Perhaps it was because they were all from the Uchiha clan that they were being "specially" taken care of.

"Shisui-sensei, what is our mission?" Miyuki asked.

"This is a reconnaissance mission, heading toward the Land of Lightning," Shisui replied.

"The Land of Lightning? Cloud Ninja? Is this really a D-rank mission?" Ryosuke whispered.

He thought of the Fourth Raikage.

Could this be the aftermath of the previous incident?

But according to the events he was familiar with, hadn't the Third Hokage already "compensated" the Cloud Ninja with a member of the Hyuga branch family?

Could it be that they were still unsatisfied and wanted to start a war?

"The reasons behind this are somewhat complex. You don't need to understand them; just know that this is an order issued personally by the Hokage. We only need to observe whether any enemies have intruded into the Land of Fire."

Shisui said.

Indeed, if classified by mission difficulty, reconnaissance was not truly difficult, especially for the Uchiha clan, who possessed superior observational abilities.

Yet, Ryosuke couldn't shake the feeling that this mission wasn't as simple as it seemed.

Regardless, this was an opportunity.

As long as he was out on a mission, his system would finally have a real place to be put to use.

Especially with the lightning-style ninjutsu that the Cloud Ninja excelled at.

Ryosuke had yet to resolve the issue of his chakra nature.

Perhaps this was the perfect chance.

"Alright, everyone go back and prepare. The reward for this mission is two thousand ryo."

After saying this, Shisui waved at the three of them and vanished from the spot.

"Did I hear that right? Shisui-sensei said this mission pays two thousand ryo?" Mihawa's eyes turned into the shape of pencils.

"And this is just a D-rank mission? Turns out making money as a ninja is so easy."

"That's right. Starting tomorrow, we're comrades-in-arms. Let's all work hard together," Miyuki said, looking at Ryosuke.

Ryosuke nodded without saying a word.

Then, the three of them went their separate ways.

Ryosuke returned home, found a small bag, and packed his meager collection of ninja tools inside.

This was all he owned.

"Tomorrow marks the beginning of my path as a ninja. I must become stronger."

Ryosuke said to the mirror, clenching his fist.

The night passed without incident.

Early the next morning, Ryosuke first dropped Sasuke off at the Ninja Academy and told him to inform Uchiha Fugaku that he was heading out on a mission and didn't know when he would return.

Only then did he arrive at the village gate, where Uchiha Mihawa and Miyuki were already waiting for him, though Shisui was nowhere to be seen.

Ryosuke sighed inwardly, realizing that the strength of their Team One was likely at the level of Chunin or higher for every member.

"I hope this mission goes smoothly."