Leaving the Village

"Escort a merchant to the Land of Waterfalls."

Kushina softly read the C-rank mission Sarutobi Hiruzen had given her.

The Land of Fire possessed the best geographical environment among all the nations. Daily necessities and local specialties that were expensive in other countries were quite cheap within the Land of Fire.

Because of this, many merchants crossed borders to stock up on goods in the Land of Fire to sell elsewhere.

People would do anything for money; crossing a few countries for business was a trivial matter. Furthermore, the countries in the world of the Hokage were not particularly vast; one could reach another nation in just a few days, or at most, a couple of weeks.

"This is a C-rank mission?"

Kushina looked toward Sarutobi Hiruzen.

"Yes. Don't underestimate it. Although you won't encounter ninjas on a C-rank mission, you shouldn't take it lightly. Besides, you'll be able to leave the village and look around, won't you?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen smiled.

As the jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails, it was impossible for Sarutobi Hiruzen to let Kushina leave, even if only a small portion of Konoha knew that information.

The reason he allowed Kushina to leave the village was simple.

It was the guarantee of Jiraiya's strength. As one of the Sannin and his own student, Sarutobi Hiruzen naturally trusted the power of a Kage-level expert like Jiraiya.

Moreover, since the lady of the Uzumaki Clan had also agreed to let Kushina leave the village, there were no further concerns.

Sarutobi Hiruzen was currently in his prime; he was not yet as powerless or incompetent as he would be in the original story. He was not so hesitant or afraid to act, and he was still capable of upholding the title of the Third Hokage.

"That's fine, then. When do we start?"

When Kushina heard she could leave the village, the light in her eyes brightened, and her face wore an expression of someone eager to go out and play.

"You girl."

Sarutobi Hiruzen laughed in exasperation. There were very few people in all of Konoha who dared to speak to him like that.

"Then let's dismiss for today. Gather at the village gate at nine o'clock tomorrow morning."

Jiraiya spoke, and the members of the Jiraiya squad dispersed.

Tomorrow would be the Jiraiya squad's first mission outside the village.

The members of the Jiraiya squad could hardly sleep that night.

Even Minato Namikaze, who had been a genin for a while, was the same. Although he had graduated a month earlier than Yueshu and the others, Jiraiya had not taken him on any high-difficulty missions, keeping him on the same menial D-rank tasks as usual.

Now that they could finally leave the village, Minato Namikaze was arguably more excited than the other three, though he didn't show it on his face.

The second most excited was Kushina, followed by Mikoto, and finally Yueshu.

For Yueshu, the temptation of leaving the village wasn't actually that great. The Earth of his past life was several times larger than this ninja world, and he had already seen plenty of scenery.

Though, most of it had been on the internet.

Besides, could a shut-in still be called a shut-in if he left his house?

Yueshu spent the day being his usual lazy self.

But then, a voice rang out in his mind once more.

"Mission triggered: Complete the first C-rank mission. Mission completion reward: one lucky draw."

Yueshu was stunned.

Something seemed a bit off.

The recent missions had become increasingly difficult. Yueshu could clearly feel that it was as if the beginner phase had passed, and the system's missions had grown harder.

Logically speaking, a C-rank mission shouldn't be a problem for a novice genin team.

After all, it was a C-rank mission; it was stated that no ninjas would appear, and the gap between a ninja and a non-ninja was not small.

So, what kind of situation could cause trouble for a ninja squad?

Other than encountering other ninjas, there shouldn't be anything else.

Thinking this, Yueshu couldn't help but feel speechless.

Konoha's C-rank missions were truly...

One of a kind.

His own experience was like this, and so was Naruto's decades later.

Konoha's C-rank missions were truly unique.

"Forget it, I'll deal with it when the time comes. At least there's the Perverted Hermit. Even if he looks lecherous, he's at least reliable."

Yueshu rolled over, too lazy to worry about it anymore.

If the sky fell, there would be someone taller to hold it up, right?

The night grew deeper, and Yueshu's steady breathing echoed in the room.

The moon shone lonely in the night sky, with no other stars to be seen around it.

Soon, the next day arrived.

"Good morning."

Tsuki arrived at the village gate while yawning, where the members of Jiraiya's squad were already waiting, along with a carriage and a man and a woman.

"Good morning my foot, look at what time it is!"

"Eh? Isn't it exactly nine o'clock? I timed it perfectly."

Tsuki, completely oblivious, openly admitted to having timed his arrival to the dot.

"You guy!"

Veins popped on Kushina's forehead, and a ball of rage burned fiercely above her head.

"Ahem."

Jiraiya coughed, stopping Kushina, and Tsuki thus escaped a disaster, though he was completely unaware of it.

"This is the person we are escorting, Mr. Kuchiki Kuroi, and his daughter, Miss Kuchiki Kei."

Jiraiya introduced the man and woman standing to the side to Tsuki and the others.

Tsuki looked over as well.

The man was older than Jiraiya and dressed like a commoner; he didn't look like a merchant at all.

His daughter, however, was quite striking. Her long black hair was tied into a ponytail behind her head, and her delicate features were very pleasing to the eye, with a tear mole at the corner of her eye that served as the perfect finishing touch.

It had to be said that this woman was truly a beauty, further enhanced by her gentle temperament.

"Hello, my name is Himeshima Tsuki."

Tsuki's voice was calm. No matter how beautiful the other party was, it had nothing to do with him. Tsuki wasn't the type to lose his composure the moment he saw a woman; just kidding, wasn't sleeping, eating, and watching anime better than that?

After greeting the employer, everyone familiarized themselves with each other, and the first mission outside the village for Jiraiya's squad officially began.

As the carriage slowly exited Konoha, Tsuki and the others followed alongside it, and Konoha gradually faded into the distance behind them.

Tsuki and the others had truly left the village, and for several days at that.

Once they were out, everyone except Jiraiya and Tsuki couldn't help but feel a little excited.

After all, they had been in Konoha since they were born, so it was no wonder they were excited to finally have the chance to leave.

But Tsuki was not like that; on the contrary, he was more worried.

After the system mission triggered last night, Tsuki was basically certain that this C-rank mission would definitely not be as simple as it appeared on the surface.

He didn't know what lay ahead, and although he had the Perverted Hermit by his side, he still had to be careful himself.

After all, Tsuki didn't really believe that Jiraiya alone could protect all six of them.

"Well, it would be nice if things just stayed normal like this."

Tsuki glanced at the clearly expressive faces of Minato Namikaze, Kushina, and Mikoto, and said softly.