Assistant Teaching Mission, Qi Luna's "Well-Intentioned Efforts"

"This is Yahiko, I have arrived at position B!"

"Received, I have also arrived at position A!"

"No problems on my end either!"

"Move!"

Following the command, three figures darted out from behind a corner and a utility pole, pouncing on the cat sleeping under the eaves.

The brilliant sun bathed Konoha in a layer of shimmering gold. Yahiko sat slumped on a bench in Konoha Park, looking completely drained of energy; even his orange hair seemed to have wilted a little.

He held a cage containing a fluffy tabby cat that was struggling incessantly, its claws furiously scratching at the iron bars.

(The cat belonging to the wife of the Land of Fire's Daimyo is named Tora, but that is the one Naruto and the others caught, which is a cat from over twenty years later. Therefore, the Tora here is a predecessor to that Tora, not the same cat.)

"Another boring D-rank mission. This time it was catching the Daimyo's wife's runaway Tora, last time it was weeding the Herb Garden, the time before that was cleaning trash out of the Konoha River, and the time before that..." Yahiko groaned. "Brother Qi Luna, when will we be able to take on some high-level missions?"

"We're already elite ninjas capable of trading blows with Brother Jiraiya! Doing these boring D-rank missions all day is a complete waste of our talents! Our youthful passion is about to be drowned in all this chicken feed..."

Beside him, Konan carefully retracted the special paper she had used to capture Tora. Her long blue hair fluttered in the evening breeze, and her delicate brows were slightly furrowed. Her tone was calm, yet it carried a hint of dissatisfied resentment:

"It truly is a waste of unnecessary energy. Besides, Tora runs away often and is several times more alert than the average cat, but the process of catching him doesn't seem to have any obvious effect on improving our strength..."

Nagato silently straightened his forehead protector, which had been knocked askew during Tora's struggle. The Rinnegan beneath his red hair held a trace of helplessness.

He didn't complain, but the slight pursing of his lips and the fleeting confusion in his eyes clearly showed that he, too, had begun to doubt the necessity of performing such missions.

Standing before them, Uzumaki Qi Luna had his hands clasped behind his head. Watching his disciples look so dejected, a flicker of understanding crossed his eyes, followed by a faint, elusive curve of his lips.

"Feeling aggrieved? Feeling like you've wasted your time and your 'strength'? Thinking that a ninja should devote more time and energy to improving their combat prowess?"

His gaze swept over the three of them before finally resting on the still-snarling Tora.

"A mission is a mission, regardless of rank, content, or quality. Accurate intelligence gathering, careful observation of the environment, patiently waiting for the right moment, analyzing all possibilities of the target, making judgments, and strategizing for different situations... these are all indispensable foundations for a ninja!"

"A so-called ninja is one who can endure what others cannot. You need the perseverance to never give up and the conviction to hold your ground! Before you truly understand what a ninja is, this accumulation of experience is absolutely necessary!"

He paused, casting his gaze toward the Ninja Academy bathed in sunlight, watching the commotion of the children's outdoor classes, before changing the subject:

"Since you find it boring... then go back to the Ninja Academy and take a look at the juniors in the village. Perhaps you will gain something there..."

"Eh?"

The three were taken aback.

But Qi Luna had already begun walking toward the Hokage Building.

After submitting the mission, Qi Luna requested the task of being a teaching assistant at the Konoha Ninja Academy from Sarutobi Hiruzen. After casting a pitying glance at the Tora in Madam Shijimi's arms, he led Yahiko and the others toward the Konoha Ninja Academy.

A short while later, upon arriving at the Ninja Academy training grounds, Qi Luna and his group saw a group of five or six-year-old toddlers practicing basic physical coordination.

A river channel about ten meters wide lacked a formal bridge; only a few logs spaced far apart connected the two banks, and the students were lined up, trying to cross them one by one.

"Whoa!"

"Splash!"

"This is so hard!"

"Teacher, this is too difficult!"

The river wasn't rapid—in fact, it was quite calm—but several students still fell off the log bridge, causing the scene to descend into chaos. The young Chunin teacher in charge of the first-year class looked quite helpless.

Qi Luna led Yahiko and the others to find this young Chunin and confirmed the mission:

"Yamada-kun, sorry to bother you. You can safely leave the rest to my disciples."

The Chunin teacher named Yamada looked as if he had been granted a reprieve:

"Ah! Jonin Qi Luna, I'll leave it to you then!"

The newly enrolled first-year students looked at Nagato and the others with curiosity, chattering away.

"Wow! It's Senior Nagato! The top student who applied for early graduation a while ago!"

"And Senior Yahiko! I heard his Body Flicker Technique is faster than an average Chunin's!"

"Senior Konan is so pretty~ Her Paper Style secret jutsu is so gorgeous too!"

Seeing the chaotic, stumbling scene before him, Yahiko's earlier irritation from catching Tora was immediately replaced by a sense of responsibility that left him both laughing and crying.

Nagato watched a girl who had tried for a long time but still couldn't keep her balance, having already fallen off the slippery log bridge more than once. His gaze softened involuntarily.

Konan walked over to a student with blue hair, whispering softly to guide them in adjusting their chakra flow.

"Hey! The chakra at the soles of your feet needs to be distributed evenly; don't attach too much! Just dumping it all out at once will only make you slip faster!"

Yahiko squatted beside a clumsy, chubby boy and couldn't help but shout his instructions, his short orange hair bobbing with his movements.

"Right, just like that. Take it slow, carefully feel the flow of your chakra..."

Nagato patiently corrected the girl's movements and the way her chakra circulated, his Rinnegan clearly reflecting the chaotic chakra at the soles of her feet.

"Relax your body. Chakra isn't something you force out with brute strength..."

Konan's voice was like a clear spring, soothing another nervous child beside her.

The three of them quickly immersed themselves in the role of "teachers," earnestly guiding the group of naive children.

Watching the joyful smiles that appeared on their faces over even the slightest progress, a strange sense of satisfaction welled up in the hearts of Yahiko and his two companions.

So, guiding others and watching them grow bit by bit was also a task filled with such a sense of accomplishment!

The annoyance brought on by the tedious and dull missions of late had also dissipated significantly without them even realizing it.

"Big Brother Qi Luna, did you all perform many D-rank missions back in the day? When you were guiding us, did you feel the same way we do now while guiding these children?"

Seeing the Ninja Academy students' training finally on the right track, Yahiko took a moment to look at the "painstakingly devoted" Qi Luna with a face full of admiration.

Qi Luna, however, was caught off guard by these questions and couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

"Not at all!"

"That guy's mission record only has a single C-rank mission; everything else he performed was B-rank or higher! He never did any of that boring D-rank stuff at all."

Just then, a small figure walked in through the entrance of the training ground.