I Can't Take It Anymore, Old Man Third! Give Us a High-Rank Mission!

The next day, at the mission assignment hall in the Hokage Building.

"I quit! Even if I die, I'm not going after that damn cat again!"

Naruto clung to the floor like an octopus, refusing to let go no matter how hard Kakashi pulled.

Tears and snot streamed down his face as he bitterly complained.

"I'm a man who's going to become Hokage! I didn't come here to be a litter-box cleaner!"

"I want tougher missions! C-rank! No, B-rank! Even A-rank would do!"

The ninjas around them who were picking up missions watched the familiar scene with unsurprised smiles.

This was already the third time this month that Naruto had thrown a tantrum in the mission hall.

"Alright, Naruto, quit messing around and get up." Kakashi rolled his dead-fish eyes, his face full of helplessness.

"If you keep this up, lunch is canceled today."

"I don't care! If you don't give me a high-rank mission today, I'm sleeping right here and not leaving!"

Naruto shamelessly began rolling around on the floor.

Just as Kakashi's headache was splitting and he was about to knock Naruto out and carry him away—

Bang!

The door to the Hokage's office was kicked open from outside.

"It's so noisy. Are you seriously not going to let people sleep this early in the morning?"

A lazy voice came from the doorway.

Sen walked in slowly with a yawn, both hands tucked into his pockets.

Behind him were the cool-faced Sasuke and an awkward-looking Sakura.

Clearly, those two had also had enough of this boring routine.

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, sat behind his desk with a headache from Naruto's racket.

When he saw Sen enter, he was just about to scold him and tell him to keep his "little brother" under control.

But Sen gave him no chance to speak.

He walked straight up to the desk, extended his right hand, and opened his palm.

"Lord Hokage."

Sen's tone was flat, but there was an unquestionable pressure in his eyes.

"Team 7 is applying for missions above C-rank."

The old Third frowned and set down his pipe.

"Nonsense! You only graduated recently. You haven't even worked out your teamwork yet. How can you take high-rank missions?"

"That would be irresponsible toward your lives!"

The old man put on the solemn air of a concerned elder, ready to launch into a long lecture.

But Sen had no patience for his preaching.

He flipped his palm.

Pop.

With a soft sound, a bizarre man-eating flower with an intensely vivid color and a ring of sharp serrated teeth bloomed from his palm without warning!

The flower was not large, only the size of a palm.

Yet its two rows of densely packed teeth gleamed with a chilling light like steel blades.

Crunch! Crunch!

The flower's petals opened and closed, producing a scalp-tingling metallic biting sound.

As though it could crush anything at any moment.

The office instantly fell silent.

Naruto, who had been throwing a tantrum on the floor, forgot to cry.

Kakashi, standing at the door watching the show, nearly dropped his copy of Icha Icha Paradise.

The old Third's eyelids twitched wildly as he stared fixedly at the little flower in Sen's hand.

He could sense that the seemingly beautiful flower contained an extremely terrifying amount of chakra!

Sen said nothing.

He simply raised his head and looked at the old Third, revealing an exceptionally "kind" smile.

"Lord Hokage."

Sen's voice remained lazy, but the threat in his words was completely undisguised.

"The village's landscaping has mostly been finished lately, and my little flowers and plants have been getting a little restless from idleness."

He reached out with his other hand and gently stroked the man-eating flower's sharp teeth.

"You know how plants are. They always need some nutrients to grow better."

"If we keep catching cats and pulling weeds every day..."

Sen narrowed his eyes slightly, his gaze sweeping over the enormous wooden pillars in the office that had been grown by the First Hokage himself to support the building.

"I can't guarantee that my little darlings won't get too hungry and run off to chew on the Hokage Building's pillars."

"If your office collapses then, don't blame me for not warning you."

It was a naked threat!

Threatening to tear down the Hokage's home right in front of him just to get a mission!

In all of Konoha Village, Sen was probably the only one who dared do something like that!

Kakashi covered his face in pain.

He finally understood why the old Third had dumped this hot potato on him.

This was no genin. He was clearly an ancestor!

Naruto's eyes shone as he looked at Sen with a face full of worship.

"Wow! Big bro is so cool! He just threatened the Hokage!"

The old Third looked at the man-eating flower still going crunch, crunch in Sen's hand, and the corners of his mouth twitched violently twice.

Feeling the faint but suppressed irritable aura around Sen, he knew the boy was really close to reaching his limit.

The Third weighed his options at lightning speed.

Keeping this great lord in the village with nothing to do every day was indeed a hidden danger.

Who knew whether he might be in a bad mood one day and actually demolish the Hokage Building?

Rather than let him sit around bored and cause trouble, it was better to send him out and give him something to do.

"...Sigh."

The old Third let out a long sigh, feeling that he was becoming less and less dignified as Hokage.

He rubbed his throbbing temples and weakly waved at the ANBU guard by the door.

"Go."

"Bring in the client from the Land of Waves who is waiting outside."

"Assign them a... C-rank escort mission."

The ANBU accepted the order and left.

Hearing that, Sen smiled in satisfaction.

He flipped his palm, and the bizarre man-eating flower instantly withdrew into it and vanished.

The tense atmosphere in the office dissipated along with it.

The moment Naruto heard there was a C-rank mission, he sprang up from the floor and began jumping around excitedly.

"Awesome! We can finally leave the village!"

Only Kakashi, seeing the defeated expression on the old Third's face, silently lit a candle for him in his heart.

Teacher, you've had it rough.

Not long after.

The office door was pushed open.

A disheveled old bridge builder reeking of alcohol staggered inside, his hair a complete mess and his appearance utterly shabby.

He let out a drunken burp and swept his bleary gaze over the few brats in the room.

His eyes were filled with undisguised contempt and distrust.

"Huh? What the hell is this?"

The old man pointed at Naruto and slurred loudly.

"You're sending these snot-nosed little brats to protect a super bridge-building expert like me?"

"Especially that blond idiot who looks like a moron!"

Naruto instantly bristled, pointing at the old man's nose as he prepared to curse him out.

Sen merely raised an eyebrow.

He walked up to the drunken old man and extended a foot.

Then, extremely discreetly, he gave him a light trip.

"Whoa!"

The old man's foot slipped, and he fell face-first in a perfect sprawl right in front of the Third Hokage's desk.

He was so thoroughly dazed by the fall that he could not get up for a long while.

Sen withdrew his foot and gave the old man on the floor an exceptionally innocent, harmless smile.

"Hello, sir."

"From now on, we'll be your personal bodyguards."

"On the road, please... teach us well."