B-Rank Mission 1/2

Naruto's Office.

"Lord Naruto!"

"You're here." Sarutobi Hiruzen was still processing documents. "Wait a moment."

After about the time it took to drink a cup of tea, Sarutobi Hiruzen let out a breath and rubbed his brow. "Sorry to keep you waiting."

Although Hayato knew the Naruto worked hard, only after joining ANBU did he learn that Sarutobi Hiruzen worked at least twelve hours a day, and sixteen-hour days were nothing unusual.

For a man nearing seventy, that was absolutely draining his life away.

Sarutobi Hiruzen's gaze fell on Hayato. "Have you gotten used to ANBU, Hayato?"

"Pretty well," Hayato replied.

That was the truth.

Not long ago, Hayato had met up with Aburame Shishin.

Aburame Shishin had poured out his grievances. After clearing three or four sewers, his Kikaichū were practically turning into stinkbugs.

Hayato took great pleasure in his misfortune and encouraged him, "Don't be in such a hurry to feel depressed. You've got plenty of depressing days ahead of you. Haha."

Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at Sharoro again. "Kaito, your swordsmanship has improved remarkably. Not bad."

"Heh." Moonlight Sharoro said smugly, "Of course. As long as I get a little serious, there's nothing I can't do."

Hatake Kaito scolded, "Sharoro!"

After saying a few things unrelated to the mission, they finally got to the point.

Sarutobi Hiruzen asked, "Do you know Inari Village?"

Hatake Kaito and Moonlight Sharoro looked confused, indicating that they did not.

"I know a little about it," Hayato said. "It's a village within the Land of Fire, with only a little over twenty households. It had dealings with Konoha before, but there has been no news from it for more than ten years. Um, from the Ninja Academy..."

"Yes," Sarutobi Hiruzen said. "It is a mountain village nestled in a hollow and cut off from the outside world. Because of Konoha, it was drawn into battles between ninja."

At that moment, someone knocked on the door.

"Come in."

The ANBU on duty led a middle-aged man inside.

The middle-aged man had an honest-looking face and dark skin. He wore a gray coarse-cloth outfit covered in patches, with a pair of handwoven straw sandals on his feet. He looked like a farmer. On closer inspection, there were still-fading bruises on his face and limbs.

"N-Ninja... s-sir." The middle-aged man looked restrained and timid. He glanced at Hayato and the others once, then did not dare raise his head again.

Sarutobi Hiruzen said, "This is Tuan Hachiro from Inari Village. He is the employer for this mission."

Tuan Hachiro suddenly dropped to his knees and kowtowed. "Please save our village, ninja sir."

Sarutobi Hiruzen gestured for the ANBU beside him to help Tuan Hachiro up, then sighed. "Don't worry, Tuan Hachiro. Inari Village has shown Konoha kindness before. We definitely will not stand idly by."

At the mention of his village, Tuan Hachiro became extremely agitated. Left with no choice, Sarutobi Hiruzen had the ANBU ninja help him out of the room.

"According to Tuan Hachiro," Sarutobi Hiruzen said, "Inari Village was occupied by a group of ninja a month ago. There are seven of them, and all other intelligence is unknown. Your mission is to gather intelligence and decide your next course of action based on it. The villagers' lives must take top priority during the operation."

"Yes!" Hatake Kaito said.

"Hayato, if you have something to say, say it," Sarutobi Hiruzen said.

"Heh." Hayato said, "Lord Naruto truly has sharp eyes. You saw right away that I had a question."

Moonlight Sharoro curled her lip. It was practically written all over his face. That flattery was terrible.

Sarutobi Hiruzen laughed and scolded, "Are you going to ask or not?"

Hayato hurriedly said, "If there's an employer, shouldn't the mission go through the normal process? Why was it assigned to ANBU?"

Moonlight Sharoro grabbed the soft flesh at Hayato's waist and twisted it sixty degrees, whispering, "Are you crazy? We finally got a high-level mission..."

Hayato: "Mmph~~~"

Hatake Kaito scolded her again. "Sharoro, stop messing around!"

Sharoro pouted. "But it's true! Lord Naruto, you've already given the order. A great man's word carries weight. You can't take it back."

Sarutobi Hiruzen did not know whether to laugh or cry.

"Yes, yes. A gentleman's word is never taken back. Don't worry, a cooked duck can't fly away."

"A cooked duck can't run away," Hayato said. "It can fly away."

"Another day, I'll introduce you to my grandson, Konohamaru," Sarutobi Hiruzen said. "You'll definitely get along."

"Why?" Hayato and Moonlight Sharoro asked in unison.

In Hayato's impression, Konohamaru should still be a snot-nosed brat.

Sarutobi Hiruzen laughed heartily. "Because you all like fooling around."

Hayato and Moonlight Sharoro looked at each other, then turned away.

Who's like you?

After clearing his throat, Sarutobi Hiruzen reined in his smile. "Inari Village is too poor to afford the fee for a B-rank mission. But Inari Village once helped Konoha. It is Konoha's friend. When a friend is in trouble, Konoha will never stand by with folded arms."

Tsk, tsk. Whirlpool Village must be crying itself unconscious in the bathroom after hearing that.

In other words, Tuan Hachiro was the nominal employer, while the Naruto was the one actually issuing the mission. That was why ANBU ninja were carrying it out.

Nothing wrong with that!

After leaving the Naruto's office, they split into three groups.

Hatake Kaito went to speak with Tuan Hachiro and ask about the seven ninja and Inari Village.

Moonlight Sharoro went to prepare supplies for the mission outside the village.

Hayato went to the archives to look for route maps, maps, and other information regarding Inari Village.

About an hour later, the three gathered at Konoha's village gate.

Kamizuki Izumo and Hagane Kotetsu were on duty at the entrance.

According to the rules, ninja had to register when leaving the village on missions. ANBU were no exception, except their registration information was confidential.

"Yo, Kaito. Heading out on a mission?" Kamizuki Izumo greeted him.

"Yeah, it's you two again." Hatake Kaito said, "Guard Konoha's gate properly. Don't let anyone steal the gate panels."

That was sarcasm, right?

It was the first time they had seen the sharp-tongued Hatake Kaito.

Besides, Hatake Kaito's group were all wearing masks, yet Kamizuki Izumo recognized them at a glance.

So masks were more for guarding against outsiders to the village. For people within the village, who saw one another every day and even worked together, masks had limited concealing effects.

So when women in TV dramas changed into men's clothes without even binding their chests and somehow nobody noticed, it was actually because the director had cast the Great Intelligence-Reducing, Protagonist-Blinding Technique, right?

Kamizuki Izumo chuckled. "Don't worry, nobody can steal it. Guarding gates is what we do best."

Hagane Kotetsu said, "Isn't this Sharoro? You still~~~ haven't grown at all! Hahaha!"

Hagane Kotetsu activated the Suicidal Technique, Taunt +99.

Moonlight Sharoro unleashed the Kick-Your-Leg Technique, Attack Power +100.

Hagane Kotetsu activated the Hardening Technique, Defense +99.

Moonlight Sharoro dealt 1 point of damage to Hagane Kotetsu.

Clearly familiar with Sharoro's temper, Hagane Kotetsu had actually cast an Earth Release defense on his leg in advance.

But was it really okay to use ninjutsu for everyday horseplay?

Kamizuki Izumo looked at Hayato. "Yo, a newcomer. How about we have dinner together next time? Kaito, you should come too. Don't worry, we definitely won't drink you under the table next time."

Kamizuki Izumo's Talk-no-Jutsu dealt +99 damage to Hatake Kaito.

Hatake Kaito chuckled. "Sorry, no time. I'm not single, after all. I need to spend time with my girlfriend."

Eh? Eh?!

Hatake Kaito actually had a girlfriend?!

This...

He looked dependable, had a gentle personality, and earned a high income. Thinking about it, it was perfectly normal for Hatake Kaito to have a girlfriend.

Hatake Kaito used the AE skill—Show Off My Girlfriend Technique, dealing an additional +999 damage to single dogs.

Kamizuki Izumo and Hagane Kotetsu were defeated.

Hatake Kaito accidentally injured his teammates, dealing +99 damage.

Hyuga Hayato and Moonlight Sharoro spat blood.

[PS] Thanks to "1A90" and "Huang Shumi" for 1 recommendation vote each; "Pian'ai Bairimeng dyf" and "A Yi Yo" for their recommendation votes; "Hua Jiu Laobing" for a recommendation vote; "Yi Ge Hao Hao Nanren" for 5 recommendation votes; "Ningmeng Tuanzi Jiang" for 6 recommendation votes; "Shou Xin, Shou Qing." for 8 recommendation votes; and "Xia Mazi" for 9 recommendation votes.

[PS] Thanks to "Ningmeng Tuanzi Jiang" for the 100-point tip.

[PS] I revised this chapter for a long time this morning, practically rewriting it. Sorry for the delayed update. The next chapter will be at 9:00 p.m.