B-rank Mission

Hizashi had died. There was no body and no funeral. Three days after he left Yuun's place, someone merely came to notify Yuun. According to Hizashi's will, everything he owned after his death was to be left to Neji Hyuga. And Neji Hyuga, who had just turned four, stubbornly refused Yuun's offer to look after him and chose to live on his own.

Setting Neji Hyuga's matter aside for the moment, Yuun only opened the scroll and envelope Hizashi had left him after receiving news of Hizashi's death. Just as Hizashi had said, the scroll recorded all of his insights from cultivating the Gentle Fist, as well as every method of training it from beginner level to mastery. At the end were all his research findings on the "Borrow Force, Return Force" concept Yuun had proposed. Without Yuun knowing, Hizashi had already completed the framework of the theory. He had even worked out the parts involving human biomechanics. For Yuun to master the theory, all he needed to do was start with himself and fill in the remaining details.

As for the envelope, it was just as Hizashi had said: it contained all his research on the Caged Bird Curse Mark. It included the principles and structure of the Caged Bird. If Yuun could understand Hizashi's research, it was not impossible for him to master the Curse Mark. Once he could cast it, researching how to remove it would become much simpler. At the end of the letter, Hizashi left Yuun a few words, hoping that if Yuun ever gained the ability to remove the Caged Bird, he would remove it from Neji Hyuga and set him free.

Looking at the letter, Yuun recalled the letter Hiashi had produced after Neji Hyuga's battle with Naruto Uzumaki in the third round of the original Chunin Ninja Exams. It seemed that had also been a path Hizashi had left for Neji Hyuga. If Neji Hyuga's talent proved ordinary in the future, Hiashi would naturally go easy on him for Hizashi's sake. If Neji Hyuga's talent was extraordinary enough to eventually threaten the Main House, Hiashi could use that letter to erase Neji Hyuga's hostility toward the Main House. No matter what, Neji Hyuga would not be in danger.

As for this letter to Yuun, it was likely another contingency Hizashi had left behind. With his years of understanding of Yuun, Hizashi knew that Yuun's cautious nature would ensure he burned the letter after reading it. That way, it would have no effect on Neji Hyuga. If Yuun achieved anything after inheriting Hizashi's research, Neji Hyuga would be completely free. Even if he achieved nothing, Neji Hyuga would suffer no harm.

After carefully committing the letter to memory, Yuun burned it as Hizashi had instructed, lest it invite any trouble. In any case, the letter did not contain much. Hizashi was not skilled in Curse Marks to begin with, and despite researching them for over a decade, he had not achieved much. It was not difficult to memorize. The scroll, on the other hand, did not matter. The entire clan knew Hizashi was Yuun's teacher, so it was perfectly normal for him to leave Yuun something. Besides, insights on cultivating the Gentle Fist were not especially precious. The Main House naturally had similar materials passed down through generations and would not covet Hizashi's modest notes.

After the five-day break ended, Shibi Aburame gathered Yuun and the other two and informed them that they would undergo a month of intensive training to prepare for the upcoming B-rank Mission.

"Sensei, aren't B-rank Missions only available to Chunin and Jonin?" After spending more than a year with Shibi Aburame, Hana was no longer so afraid of insects. "Can we carry out a B-rank Mission while we're still Genin?"

"Why not?" Shibi Aburame said calmly. "Mission rankings exist only to better protect ninja. As long as you are capable enough, you can carry out even an A-rank Mission."

"Sensei, can we know what mission we'll be carrying out?" Yuun asked curiously. Normally, missions came with confidentiality requirements. Missions that allowed for an entire month of preparation were truly rare.

"It's fine to tell you." After giving it some thought, Shibi Aburame answered readily. "To the northeast lies a country called Snow Country, which has always been friendly with Konoha. Several months ago, they sent someone to Konoha to commission a mission, asking Konoha to send people to Snow Country and help stabilize the situation."

"No way." At first, Yuun thought he had misheard. For a country to fall so far that it needed outsiders to stabilize its situation, how serious would things have to be? Yet Snow Country somehow had enough spare time for Yuun and the others to undergo intensive training? And they had sent someone several months ago. What had their people been doing all this time? "Sensei, pacifying an entire country is only a B-rank Mission? Snow Country isn't some tiny country with fewer than a thousand people, is it?"

"Pacifying a country would be at least an A-rank Mission," Shibi Aburame explained. "In fact, the people actually carrying out that mission have already departed. Your mission is to escort the client to Snow Country. What happens afterward has nothing to do with you."

"Just an escort? Then it makes sense for it to be classified as a B-rank Mission." Yuun now found it perfectly normal. After all, the person they were escorting was merely a messenger who had already completed his duty. Even if someone truly wanted to kill him, they would not send overly powerful forces. "Then our intensive training is for...?"

"Because most of the escort route will be at sea. Considering that none of you have ever gone out to sea, I will spend the next month strengthening your ability to fight on water. But the sea is very different from a river. So after half a month of training, I will take you to escort the client to the seaport, where you will undergo the rest of your training."

"Sensei will be going with us, right?" Hana asked casually.

"No. I will not be participating in this mission." Unexpectedly, Shibi Aburame intended to let Yuun and the others complete their first B-rank Mission independently. "This mission is not very difficult and carries limited danger. It is suitable as your transition from C-rank to B-rank Missions. I have matters to attend to and cannot accompany you out to sea. Besides, my abilities are not suited to naval combat."

Yuun and the other two looked at one another, but ultimately nodded. With the strength of the three of them, a B-rank Mission was not particularly difficult. In a one-on-one fight, an ordinary Chunin might not even be a match for Yuun or Itachi. Hana was slightly behind them, but in taijutsu alone, she was no weaker than a Chunin. Combined with more than a year of experience and over a hundred C-rank Missions, advancing to B-rank was only natural.

The so-called intensive training was not actually much. All three had good chakra control, so the difference between fighting on water and on land was limited. Yuun and Hana were both taijutsu-focused ninja. They only needed to adapt to the differences between water and solid ground to perform at full strength. Itachi excelled at Fire Release, Genjutsu, and throwing ninja tools, but his Water Release was also quite good. His combat strength would not decrease much on the water.

The results of half a month of intensive training were fairly good. All three had basically adapted to fighting on water, and working together, they could even contend for a short time against Shibi Aburame, who was not particularly adept at water combat. After assessing their results, Shibi Aburame took the three of them to the Hokage Building to officially accept the mission. Their client was a middle-aged man named Sandayu. He looked honest and dependable, which eased the worries of the three first-time B-rank Mission participants.

Escort missions existed from A-rank all the way down to D-rank. Having completed over a hundred C-rank Missions, the three naturally had carried out many escort missions. They knew full well how much trouble an uncooperative client could bring to a mission.