The First Mission Concludes

"Finally back!"

The red-haired girl, Kushina, stood before the gates of Konoha and spread her arms wide, her face beaming with joy.

"Ha~"

Yueshu let out a yawn, having absolutely no idea what Kushina was so excited about.

They had been out for nearly twenty days, but Yueshu didn't feel much of anything. If he had to say, it was just that he could finally eat something decent; he actually missed Shizune's cooking.

Yueshu thought to himself, wanting to return to the Senju Residence immediately and just lie down.

Yueshu was strange; the other three people besides him were all more or less excited, while he was the only one thinking solely about sleeping.

"Mission triggered:"

Oh, come on!

Yueshu sobered up instantly. This voice was never a good omen; it was definitely going to be some troublesome business again.

We just got back, can you give it a rest!

"Return to the Senju Residence within five minutes. Mission completion reward: one lucky draw."

Yueshu had already braced himself for another impossibly difficult mission, so he hadn't expected the system to hand out a bonus instead.

Once the electronic voice finished, the corners of Yueshu's mouth curled up uncontrollably.

He couldn't help it; when the system handed out bonuses, he just had to love it.

"Alright, mission accomplished. For this period, everyone should—"

Whoosh!

A gust of wind blew past before Jiraiya could even finish his sentence.

"—get some good rest."

The belated words fell as Jiraiya scanned the area.

One, two, three.

Someone was missing.

Yueshu had already vanished.

"----"

Jiraiya's eyes nearly popped out of his head.

It wasn't just him; Minato Namikaze and the others were the same.

In all the time they had known him, this was the first time they had seen Yueshu so proactive.

"Could the sun have risen from the west today for this kid?"

Jiraiya looked up at the shining sun overhead.

"I think that's impossible, Jiraiya-sensei."

Minato Namikaze watched Jiraiya's actions and said helplessly.

Jiraiya scratched his head and chuckled.

"Mikoto, let's go eat at Ichiraku Ramen. We haven't had it in a long time."

Since Yueshu had already left, Kushina couldn't be bothered to care anymore; she called out to Mikoto and headed toward Ichiraku Ramen.

"Wait for me, Kushina."

Mikoto hurried to catch up.

The two women walked off together, leaving only the master and student, Minato Namikaze and Jiraiya, behind.

"Jiraiya-sensei."

Minato Namikaze saw Kushina and Mikoto heading to the ramen shop and had intended to go grab a bite with Jiraiya, but when he turned his head, he found the white-haired figure had already disappeared.

"This old man is off to gather material! You get some good rest, Minato; your body still hasn't fully recovered."

Jiraiya's figure was already a small speck, his voice carried back on the wind.

Minato Namikaze sighed.

"Jiraiya-sensei has injuries of his own, too."

After a light grumble, Minato Namikaze set off.

He planned to wander around, grab some dango, and then head home to rest.

As he walked, Minato Namikaze suddenly had an idea, and he pushed the thought of going home to rest to the back of his mind.

Wasn't there a ninja with superb medical skills in Konoha? He could stop by to see her; it would kill two birds with one stone.

Thinking this, Minato Namikaze picked up his pace.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Yueshu had already returned to the Senju Residence.

The room was empty, and the electronic voice rang out in his head.

"Mission: Return to the Senju Residence within five minutes to complete. Reward: One lucky draw."

With the reward successfully in hand, Yueshu smiled.

The beautiful voice of a young girl drifted from the courtyard, and Yueshu immediately knew what Shizune and Tsunade were doing.

It was nothing more than Shizune's daily medical ninjutsu training.

However, Shizune's talent for medical ninjutsu was not particularly high, and there was no visible, terrifying progress. Even so, the master and apprentice continued their daily training.

On one hand, it was persistence; on the other, perhaps it was duty and a sense of shame.

"System, draw."

Regardless of all that, Yueshu wanted to have a good draw right now.

After his previous two bouts of bad luck, Yueshu didn't believe he would be that unlucky this time.

That was what he thought.

However, reality was cruel; the system's voice rang out, immediately telling Yueshu the result.

Was it bad luck or good?

"Congratulations to the host for obtaining,"

"Master Chef (S-rank)."

"Pfft!"

Yueshu spat out a mouthful of blood—figuratively speaking, of course.

"What the hell, I can even draw cooking skills? And it's S-rank! Where does that leave those A-rank ninjutsu!"

Yueshu complained aloud.

Sentence after sentence poured from his mouth, but unfortunately, the system ignored him completely.

Only Yueshu stood there like a fool, talking to himself.

"What are you doing?"

"Uh—"

A female voice came from the side, and Yueshu immediately shut his mouth.

He turned his head.

He saw Tsunade looking at him with a strange expression, and behind her was Shizune with the same look in her eyes.

It was the look one gives a fool.

Yueshu seemed to grasp the meaning, and his fragile heart was wounded once again.

"Goodbye, wonderful world."

He lay down on the ground, and from somewhere, he produced a blanket and went straight to sleep.

Thud!

A scream rang out from the Senju Residence.

"What are you doing as soon as you get back? Acting like an idiot again?"

Tsunade's fist was still smoking, and she wore a benevolent expression, while Yueshu lay on the ground with smoke rising from his head.

"Nothing, I just felt the call from the lands of Africa."

Yueshu lay on the ground, his voice weak and listless.

"Honestly, you go out for once and come back without any change at all."

Tsunade sighed.

"Still the same ghost of a person; I really worry about you growing up."

"I don't think you have the right to say that to me."

Yueshu glanced at Tsunade, who had suddenly started lying down.

He didn't know how it happened, but ever since Yueshu moved into the Senju Residence, Tsunade had truly become more and more of a slacker.

"Whether it's Yueshu or Lady Tsunade, honestly, you both have such thick skin."

Shizune sighed, expressing her helplessness toward the two people in front of her.

The big one and the small one did nothing but slack off and sleep all day.

The only times they were active were when Tsunade would teach Shizune, or when it was time for Yueshu to cook.

Other than that, she really never saw these two do anything else.

"Don't you guys ever get tired?"

Shizune asked curiously, her eyes fixed on Yueshu. Compared to Tsunade, Yueshu was the most outrageous; his level of laziness was far higher than Tsunade's.

"There's no help for it. There are no phones or computers, no novels or manga, no anime to watch, and no games to play. I used to do all those things in my spare time, and now that I suddenly have nothing to do, I don't know what else to do. Training and such is too tiring; since I have a system now, let's just leave it at that."

Yueshu wore an expression that said "there's nothing I can do," his tone shifting into one of nostalgia as he spoke, before finally sighing and sinking into melancholy.

"I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about."

Shizune could not make heads or tails of Yueshu's words; things like the "computers" he mentioned were concepts she had never even heard of before.

"That is the pinnacle of modern creation. You don't need to understand it, it's fine. Just let me have some peace and quiet now."

Yueshu rolled over, moving to the side, and began to wallow in his sadness alone.

"Suit yourself. Since it's rare for you to be back, I'll cook dinner tonight. I'm heading out to buy some groceries first."

"Shizune, bring back a few servings of Five-Color Dango for me, okay?"

Tsunade waved her hand, and Shizune sighed as she agreed.

The sunlight outside the window was at its most intense, and Yueshu and Tsunade lay together on the tatami mats.

"How was the mission this time?"

"If we're talking about that, there's one thing I absolutely have to say first."

Tsunade looked at Yueshu, her breathing slightly heavy, looking as if she couldn't wait to hear it.

"What is it?"

"Please go tell that Third Hokage to properly vet these C-rank missions. My poor little heart can't take it."

Yueshu's "my heart can't take it" act made Tsunade burst into laughter.

"I see. So your first C-rank mission turned into something else again, right? Probably an A-rank mission, I'd guess."

Tsunade's laughter echoed through the room, leaving Yueshu speechless.

"Konoha's C-rank missions are truly a grave sin."

"Hahaha, it's only happened occasionally. Our first C-rank mission was like that too; it was supposed to be a simple escort mission, but it inexplicably turned into an A-rank mission. It's a good thing our teacher and the rest of us were strong enough, otherwise, you wouldn't be seeing me right now."

"No, no, no. Now that two victims are sitting here together, do you really expect me to believe this is just a coincidence?"

"In reality, Konoha's C-rank missions are probably all A-rank or even S-rank missions, aren't they?"

Yueshu retorted.

These C-rank missions really were harmful to people.

"Well, isn't it enough that you came back alive?"

Tsunade was quite broad-minded about it, brushing it off with a laugh.

But that was just talk; Yueshu knew very well that this lazy woman beside him was exceptionally worried about others.

"That's true."

Yueshu's temperament was just like that; he didn't dwell on things that didn't matter. It was all in the past.

"Alright, time to sleep. I had a bit to drink last night, and my head still hurts. Goodnight."

Tsunade snatched the blanket from Yueshu and went straight to sleep.

"Fine, ladies first."

Yueshu sighed helplessly and had to go find another blanket.

Covering up while sleeping had become a habit; even if he didn't use it as a cover, it was nice to just hold onto.

A quiet atmosphere permeated the room as sunlight filtered in through the window, the steady, rhythmic breathing of Yueshu and Tsunade rising and falling in unison.

"I'm home. We have a guest tonight."

"Pardon the intrusion."

Shizune's voice drifted in, and a blonde figure walked into the Senju Residence, looking somewhat reserved.

It seemed the Senju Residence would be quite lively for dinner tonight.