C-Rank Mission

The next day.

Nine in the morning.

Qingming arrived in front of the Hokage Building right on time.

Before he even got close, Ryosuke's voice carried over from afar.

"Qingming, over here!"

Qingming looked toward the voice and immediately saw Ryosuke waving his arm, with Mizutani Shizuko standing quietly beside him.

So he quickly walked over.

"Qian-kun."

Seeing Qingming approach, Mizutani Shizuko spoke softly.

"Mm, Shizuko."

Qingming nodded in reply.

"Qingming, why do you always show up at the last second? Can't you come a little earlier?"

Ryosuke looked at the unhurried Qingming and complained.

Qingming knew he meant no harm, so he casually replied, "You're the ones who came early. Teacher said to gather at nine, and it isn't even nine yet."

"Sigh!"

Hearing this, Ryosuke let out a soft sigh and muttered rather speechlessly, "Always so mysterious. You leave as soon as the mission's done. Who knows what you're even doing."

What am I doing? Training, of course.

But it was enough that he knew that himself. There was no need to say it aloud.

So Qingming pretended not to hear him and quietly waited for Furukawa to arrive.

During that time, he did not forget to gather a tiny amount of chakra under his feet to grind his Chakra Control Proficiency.

Though this was less efficient than Tree Climbing and Water Walking, its advantage was that he could do it anytime, anywhere, so his progress was still decent.

Qingming estimated that in another four or five days, he would be able to raise it to lv3.

At that point, he would be able to save 15% of his chakra.

However, going any higher would be rather difficult.

Qingming could already faintly sense the limit of this method of grinding Proficiency.

Once it reached lv3, simply gathering chakra under the soles of his feet would probably make it very hard to accumulate more Proficiency. Even if it still worked, the efficiency would likely drop sharply.

After that, he might have to find some other methods to train.

As for a target...

Qingming already had a rough idea—that was the Chakra Threads used by Sunagakure Puppet Masters when controlling puppets.

Condensing chakra into such fine threads and controlling them with complete flexibility was definitely no simple matter. The required level of Chakra Control was absolutely not low.

If he could obtain the corresponding training method, he would definitely be able to raise the level of Chakra Control.

However, all that was for later.

For now, awakening the Sharingan was still the priority.

Nine o'clock sharp.

A figure appeared soundlessly.

It was none other than Furukawa.

"Teacher!" ×3

Seeing who had arrived, Qingming and the others hurriedly greeted him.

"Mm."

Furukawa nodded, his gaze sweeping over the soles of Qingming's feet before he said, "Since everyone's here, let's go in."

With that, he walked toward the Hokage Building.

Qingming and the others hurriedly followed.

Passing through the main doors, everyone arrived in a spacious hall.

Inside the hall was a ring of wooden counters, and behind the counters sat Chunin one after another—the staff responsible for reviewing and issuing missions.

Qingming's group walked toward them.

On the way, Ryosuke asked in utter boredom, "Teacher Furukawa, what mission are we taking this time? Picking up trash, or babysitting?"

"No."

Without looking back, Furukawa said, "This time, we're taking a C-Rank Mission."

"What?"

At those words, it was not just Ryosuke who was shocked; even Qian showed a trace of surprise.

One had to know that in Konoha, newly graduated Genin usually had to complete more than eight D-Rank Missions before they were allowed to take on C-Rank Missions.

That was also the minimum threshold for participating in the Chunin Exams.

Generally speaking, D-Rank Missions did not involve combat. They were mainly for rookie Genin to practice with, and were basically all trivial chores.

But once it came to C-Rank Missions, combat would be involved.

Although they would not fight ninja, there was a considerable chance they would encounter vicious criminals like bandits, mountain thieves, robbers, or gangsters.

Therefore, it was not absolutely safe.

Over the past half month, they had only carried out four missions in total, and all of them had been D-Rank. They did not meet the requirements to accept a C-Rank Mission at all.

"Looks like Konoha wants to speed up our batch's growth."

Almost in an instant, Qian came to this conclusion.

And that once again added a sense of urgency to the heart he had finally managed to calm.

Konoha truly had not sent them directly to the battlefield, but it also had no intention of training them step by step.

If his guess was right, it would not be long before their batch had to head to the battlefield.

"Great! We can finally leave the village."

Looking at Ryosuke, who was still excitedly shouting at the side, Qian did not say anything more. He simply followed quietly behind Furukawa.

Although the other party was his companion, he had no need to remind him about everything. He also needed to grow.

At the counter.

After Furukawa exchanged a few words with the staff member, he obtained a scroll.

After opening it, there was a mission inside.

Mission: Bandit Extermination

Details: A group of Mountain Bandits has entrenched itself on Little Black Mountain, greatly affecting the trade route below the mountain. They must be eliminated as soon as possible.

Rank: C-Rank

Requirement: Kill all Mountain Bandits.

Reward: 75,000 Ryo

It's actually a direct combat mission. So he really does value actual combat ability more, huh...

After reading the contents on the scroll, Qian glanced at Furukawa and muttered inwardly.

It could be seen from the contents of the Survival Exercise that compared with other teachers who placed more emphasis on their students' character, Furukawa clearly valued practical ability more.

Even among C-Rank Missions, direct combat missions were clearly more difficult than escort missions.

After all, the former almost guaranteed that combat would occur, while the latter might end without incident.

Mountain Bandits and thieves were people too, and they feared death as well. If they saw that the target had ninja escorts, they might give up pestering them.

So there was a certain possibility of avoiding combat.

Under such circumstances, the rookie Genin carrying out the mission only needed to endure psychological pressure and did not need to truly fight.

In contrast, direct combat missions were different. Those required real blades and real spears, and bloodshed was inevitable.

Logically speaking, even if they were taking on C-Rank Missions, they should start with the easier ones before moving on to the harder ones. But Furukawa clearly had no such intention. He had chosen the hardest type right from the start.

In this way, it would inevitably place even greater pressure on the Genin.

Just like now. After reading the mission contents, Ryosuke, who had been shouting excitedly moments ago, immediately fell silent, while Mizutani Shizuko at the side had also gone pale.

In the end, they were children of around ten years old. Even if they had learned plenty of killing skills at the Ninja School, when it truly came time to kill someone, they still hesitated somewhat.

Forget them; even Qian, an adult, inevitably felt a ripple in his heart after knowing what they were about to do.

As a young man who had grown up in an era of peace, Qian had an instinctive reverence for life.

Even though he had transmigrated here and accepted the memories of his predecessor, a worldview that had long since taken shape was not so easy to shatter.

However, he was equally clear that in a place like the Ninja World, where human life was as cheap as grass, if he could not break through this psychological barrier, then only death awaited him.

For the sake of protecting himself, it could only be "better my fellow Daoist die than this humble Daoist."

Moreover, these Mountain Bandits were not exactly good people. Killing them would also be ridding the people of a scourge, so there was no need to bear too heavy a psychological burden.

As if he had convinced himself, Qian let out a soft breath, and his mood gradually calmed.

Looking at the three of them, who said nothing, Furukawa did not offer any comfort. He only instructed, "Go back now and sort out your equipment. Tomorrow morning at ten, gather at the village entrance. Remember, don't be late."

With that, he used the Body Flicker Technique and left the hall.

Looking at Furukawa, who had vanished without a trace, Qian withdrew his gaze and looked at his two at-a-loss companions. He likewise did not speak to comfort them, only saying, "I'll go first," before raising his foot and leaving.

Looking at Qian's back, Ryosuke raised his hand, wanting to say something, but when the words reached his lips, he gave up in the end.