Graduation, the First Mission

Graduating from the Ninja Academy was already two months behind him. The Uchiha clan's annihilation had also reached its final chapter that spring—the waters of the Naka River flowed as usual, but the Uchiha crest was nowhere to be seen along its banks.

Team 12: Mori Takuma, Yamada Kenta, and Sato Jiro.

Their squad leader was Aoba Yamashiro—a Special Jonin skilled in assassination techniques. In the original story, he was one of the personal guards protecting the Hokage. He was quite capable, but his presence was roughly equivalent to background scenery. Not even being assigned a named Jonin—this treatment was truly as unremarkable as it got.

Aoba Yamashiro was a man of few words. During their first team meeting, he only said three sentences: "I am Aoba Yamashiro. Meet at the training ground at six tomorrow morning. Don't be late." Then, he body-flickered away. Takuma stared at the empty meeting spot, his mouth twitching—at least let us introduce ourselves first.

Two months later, today, Takuma sat by the counter of Tenten Ninja Tool Shop, pouring out his experiences from this period all at once.

"So—" Tenten sat behind the counter, holding a shuriken she was halfway through sharpening. The blade glinted with fine light in the afternoon sun. "Finding cats, weeding, picking up trash, moving rice—that's your two-month ninja career?"

"There was also cleaning the river and helping the pharmacy take inventory." Takuma held up a finger to correct her. "During the inventory, Yamada mixed up the licorice and coptis, and the shop owner almost kicked us out. Later, he specifically asked for me to go and apologize. I worked for a whole day for free and only got a tael of goji berries as pay."

Tenten put down the shuriken and laughed until she slumped over the counter. When she laughed, her twin buns bobbed, and the red ribbons tying her hair swayed in the sunlight.

Tenten took a sealing scroll from under the counter and tossed it to him. "Take this. Three lightweight shuriken and five smoke bombs of my own formula. The smoke lasts eight seconds longer than the military-grade ones."

Takuma caught the scroll and weighed it; it was very light in his hand. "Free?" he asked.

"Free."

Takuma smiled and tucked the scroll into his ninja pouch. The wind chime at the door rang; a customer had entered. Takuma stood up to take his leave, but Tenten suddenly called out to him.

"By the way, what's the mission tomorrow?"

"Finding a cat." Takuma's tone was like he was reading a death sentence. "The pet cat of the Fire Daimyo's wife, named Tama no Jo."

"Finding a cat again." Tenten's tone was full of sympathy.

"This time is different. It's the Daimyo's cat. Its status is higher than mine." Takuma pushed open the door and looked back with a weary smile.

The next morning, Takuma arrived at the designated meeting spot.

Aoba Yamashiro was already waiting with a mission map and a three-zone division chart. Yamada and Sato arrived shortly after, and the three of them received their assigned areas in the dim morning light. Takuma was assigned the North District—centered on the Hokage Rock, covering the bushes at the foot of the mountain, the riverside path, and a small patch of sparse woodland.

"Fire a signal flare after capturing the target, and everyone will immediately return to the meeting point." After stating the mission requirements, Aoba Yamashiro paused and added, "The Daimyo's wife is deeply attached to this cat, so be sure to handle it with care."

After searching for nearly an hour, he had found nothing.

Takuma stood at the foot of the Hokage Rock and tilted his head back to take a drink of water. The water in his canteen had been warmed by the sun and tasted of plastic. He wiped the water from his chin, and his peripheral vision suddenly caught something moving above the Hokage Rock.

A golden figure was crouching on top of the Hokage Rock, holding a brush longer than he was, with several paint buckets placed by his feet.

Naruto dipped the brush into a bucket of red paint and began painting on the Third Hokage's nose. He didn't seem satisfied after finishing, so he added three whiskers on each side. He stepped back twice to check the effect, nodded in satisfaction, turned toward the First Hokage's statue, and began painting sunglasses on him.

[Event "The Daily Graffiti on Hokage Rock" witnessed.]

[Reward: Lottery Chance x1]

Then, he heard the roar.

"Naruto—!"

Iruka's figure appeared on top of the Hokage Rock, his face flushed red, the veins on his forehead clearly visible. Naruto grabbed his brush and took off running, with Iruka in hot pursuit.

Takuma crouched under a crooked tree, watching the entire chase in a very comfortable position. Three laps, two escapes, and finally, he was grabbed by the back of his collar. When Naruto was dragged away by Iruka, he was still struggling, shouting things like "I will definitely become Hokage" and "Grandpa Third's nose was meant to be painted red," his golden head held stubbornly high under Iruka's restraint.

Takuma held his breath and began the lottery. The system's roulette wheel spun in his consciousness, various colored lights flickering. He stared fixedly at that golden streak—

[Lottery complete]

[Obtained: Captain America's Physical Enhancement Serum Formula (Formula only, no finished product)]

A list unfolded in his mind. Century-old ginseng, Tianshan snow lotus, live bear gall, deer antler from a specific season, cordyceps, and dozens of other medicinal herbs he couldn't even pronounce. At the bottom was a line of small print: All materials must be harvested at their peak medicinal state and brewed in the specified order. It would comprehensively improve muscle density, bone strength, metabolic rate, and the immune system.

Takuma folded the list and tucked it into the deepest part of his ninja pouch.

Converted into Konoha mission pay, this medicine would require three thousand D-rank missions to afford the materials—assuming he didn't eat, drink, or pay rent. This formula was more expensive than Konoha's GDP.

A cat's meow interrupted his calculations.

Takuma turned his head. A pure white cat was lying on a branch of the crooked tree, a red ribbon tied around its neck. It looked at him with amber eyes half-open and half-closed, its tail swaying lazily against the trunk.

Tama no Jo.

Takuma and the cat stared at each other for three seconds. After three seconds, the cat yawned.

"You've finally decided to show yourself." Takuma stood up and said in a tone used for coaxing children, "Your Highness, your humble servant has been looking for you all morning. Could you do me the honor of coming down?"

The cat licked its paw.

Takuma fished a thin string out of his ninja pouch and tied it to the end of a kunai. He took a deep breath and flicked his wrist—the kunai flew out with the string, wrapped twice around the branch, and blocked the cat's only escape route. Tama no Jo looked down at the string, then up at Takuma, and finally condescended to stand up, stepping down the trunk slowly and landing steadily on Takuma's shoulder.

"Thank you for your grace." Takuma rolled his eyes, pulled a signal flare from his waist, and pulled the firing pin.

The red signal flare exploded above the Hokage Rock, still blinding in the midday sun. Takuma walked back carrying the cat, looking up as he passed the front of the Hokage Rock. A Chunin from the cleaning squad was hanging on the rock face scrubbing the paint; the Third Hokage's nose had returned to its stone color, with only a small orange mark remaining on his chin, like a tear track from crying.

Takuma looked down at the cat in his arms. Tama no Jo was nestled comfortably in the crook of his arm, purring, not looking at all like a cat that had been lost for three days—more like it had gone out to inspect its territory, got tired, and just happened to find a qualified mount.

"You're certainly comfortable," Takuma said.

The cat ignored him.

When they returned to the meeting point, Yamada and Sato were already waiting. Seeing the white cat in Takuma's arms, they both breathed a sigh of relief. Aoba Yamashiro took the cat, checked it, and nodded after confirming it was uninjured. For once, he said something extra: "Mission accomplished. Free time for the afternoon."

Takuma didn't go straight home. He detoured to Tenten Ninja Tool Shop; the wind chime rang as he pushed the door open. Tenten looked up and saw him, just about to ask if he had found the cat, but Takuma beat her to it and recounted his entire experience from start to finish.

"So the Hokage Rock was painted, you watched the whole thing, the cat sat on your head for half an hour, and you didn't notice at all," Tenten summarized.

"I was witnessing history."

"You were slacking off."

"This is called strategic observation."

Tenten grabbed a rag from the counter and threw it at him. Takuma caught the rag and walked out of the shop with a smile.