The First Mission

Early morning, the best time of the day.

People often said this in Yueshu's past life.

Though he didn't know if it were true, Yueshu held a negative attitude toward it regardless.

The reason was actually quite simple.

Why would you get out of bed when you could be sleeping soundly?

Isn't that a disservice to such a warm blanket?

So, when the seven o'clock alarm rang, Yueshu hesitated for half a second before decisively slapping it off and continuing to sleep.

What? You ask why Yueshu set an alarm for seven?

Need you ask? Because he passed the exam yesterday, and Konoha's first four-man squad was officially starting its operations.

And the first mission required them to assemble at seven in the morning.

But as far as Yueshu was concerned.

A mission?

Is it more important than sleep?

If it were a system mission, that would be one thing, but it was just an ordinary ninja mission; why sacrifice his precious, limited sleep time for it?

Therefore, Yueshu was strongly protesting the seven o'clock assembly, and he had taken action to show it.

Speaking of missions—

Yueshu's eyes, which had been tightly shut, snapped open.

It seems I have a lucky draw waiting for me once the mission is complete!

Yueshu finally remembered what all that special training had been for.

Wasn't it all to complete the system mission and earn that chance for a lucky draw?

A flash of excitement passed, and Yueshu closed his eyes again.

A lucky draw can be done anytime; it's not urgent to do it right this second. Besides, such things require bathing, changing clothes, and washing one's hands first. Better to just keep sleeping for now.

Thinking this, Yueshu settled in, intending to enjoy a nice nap.

"Good morning."

"Good morning."

A "good morning" drifted into his ears, and without even processing it, Yueshu responded subconsciously.

A few seconds later.

"Wait!"

Yueshu's eyes snapped open once more.

Just as expected, a bitter smile appeared on Yueshu's face.

Before his eyes stood the white-haired Jiraiya, followed by Minato Namikaze, Kushina, and Mikoto.

He hadn't expected all these guys to show up at his house at once.

"Good morning."

After a second of silence, Yueshu spoke, repeating the same response he had just given.

"What time do you think it is, and you're still sleeping!"

As expected, Jiraiya flew into a rage, and the whole house seemed to tremble.

Then—

"Jiraiya, you bastard, waking me up this early in the morning! You're dead meat, I'm telling you!"

There is always someone fiercer; no sooner had Jiraiya finished his outburst than the tigress in Yueshu's house began to roar.

As Tsunade's shout echoed, Jiraiya shuddered, his face turning pale.

It seemed his fear of Tsunade was etched into his very bones.

"Let's go, quickly!"

With a twitch of his ears, Jiraiya's expression turned panicked, and he dragged Yueshu out of his blankets and started running.

"Teacher."

Minato Namikaze, Kushina, and Mikoto were stunned; Jiraiya's escape was truly swift.

Footsteps sounded right by their ears, and before the three of them could even move, Yueshu's bedroom door was slid open.

A tall, beautiful woman stood there with a look of extreme displeasure, a vein pulsing on her forehead.

The black aura radiating from her body made the three children shrink away in fear.

They say women shouldn't be offended, and a Tsunade who has had her beauty sleep interrupted is even more terrifying.

"Jiraiya, you bastard, don't let me catch you!"

Looking at the open window, Tsunade shouted toward the outside before taking her leave.

Cowering to the side, Minato Namikaze, Kushina, and Mikoto finally understood why Jiraiya was so afraid of Tsunade.

The sheer intensity of her presence alone was enough to strike fear into anyone.

After Tsunade left, the five members of the Jiraiya Squad finally gathered.

By the time Minato Namikaze, Kushina, and Mikoto arrived, Yueshu was already standing next to Jiraiya with two bumps on his head and a look of helplessness on his face.

Yueshu felt he had no choice; he wasn't as strong as Jiraiya, certainly not as tough, and his sword wasn't even with him—it was still back in his room. There was no way he could have been a match for Jiraiya.

"Hahaha, what kind of look is that? Not bad, it suits you."

Yueshu was wearing pajamas, sporting two bumps on his head, and wearing a bitter, helpless expression, his eyes still heavy with sleepiness.

Seeing this, Kushina immediately switched into mocking mode.

"When one is in this situation, one has no choice."

Yueshu sighed.

Mikoto and Minato Namikaze chuckled softly on the sidelines.

Jiraiya, however, had black lines running down his forehead.

This kid was only a tiny thing, yet he acted as if he had been through so much, looking all deep and profound.

"Ahem."

Jiraiya coughed to draw everyone's attention to himself.

"Alright, our squad is officially formed today, so it's time to begin our first mission."

The four of them looked at Jiraiya.

"That's right, the first mission for our squad is to clean the streets."

"---"

"Huh?"

Kushina and Mikoto were stunned, while Yueshu just sighed.

Yueshu had already guessed that something like this would happen.

It was much the same in the original story; after becoming genin, they wouldn't immediately be given dangerous missions. It was mostly just chores and odd jobs around the village. If it were during wartime, they would be sent to the battlefield, but since the Second Shinobi World War had just ended, there would be over a decade of peace ahead. Naturally, there wouldn't be any dangerous missions for them to take on, so they were stuck with these kinds of menial tasks. This was a major reason why Yueshu hadn't wanted to get up for the meeting.

Sacrificing sleep time to do chores was just not worth it.

"Everything starts small, and ninjas are no different. Cleaning the streets is a contribution to the village, and there's even pay involved."

Minato Namikaze had already been doing this for a month and was long used to it, though given his personality, he was probably happy to do it anyway.

"Minato is right. Even the Third Hokage started out this way, and so did we."

Jiraiya nodded, fully agreeing with Minato Namikaze's words.

"Fine, then."

Kushina replied with a hint of disappointment, while Mikoto wasn't particularly bothered; cleaning the streets didn't seem so bad to her.

As for Yueshu, he cast a disdainful glance at Jiraiya.

That was definitely a lie. Before this, the ninja world had been in constant turmoil. The First and Second Shinobi World Wars had come quickly and were fought with extreme intensity. After all, even the First and Second Hokage had died; those men were top-tier powerhouses in their respective villages. The fact that they could die in war showed just how brutal those conflicts were, even if they didn't quite compare to the Fourth War.

"Alright, stop complaining. Even the tallest building starts from the ground up."

Jiraiya laughed.

The Jiraiya Squad's first mission—cleaning the streets—began immediately.

Jiraiya led the way, Kushina followed with a slight pout, Mikoto comforted her from the side, while Minato Namikaze and Yueshu followed quietly.

Come to think of it, I still have a draw I haven't used yet.

Yueshu suddenly remembered.

Since there was nothing to do right now, he might as well use it.

Yueshu couldn't be bothered with bathing, changing clothes, or washing his hands for luck.

"System, initiate draw."

Congratulations to the host for obtaining the Shadow Clone Technique (B-rank) and the Multi-Shadow Clone Technique (A-rank).

Hmm—

Yueshu could barely suppress the corners of his mouth from curling upward.

It seems, I've found a way to slack off.

Yueshu finally couldn't hide his grin any longer.

Oh ho, this is awesome!