D-Rank Mission?

The old forest behind Konoha was so filled with cicada cries that it made people want to kill someone.

Team 11 had received its first D-rank mission since its formation: capture the Daimyo's wife's beloved pet—Ahu.

This cat was practically a nightmare among Genin. It did not train Chakra, yet its footwork was slicker than the Body Flicker Technique, and its claws sharper than shuriken.

"Pant... pant... What kind of cat is this? It's a damn ninja beast!"

Tanaka Ichiro braced himself on his knees, sweat turning his forgettable face into a palette of colors.

Sato Jisuke was in even worse shape. Bandages covered his face after branches had forcibly "pinned him against the wall" when he crawled through the bushes earlier.

Ten meters away, beneath an old locust tree, its enormous shade spread like a parasol.

Ye Tian held a thermos cup and took slow sips. A few shriveled goji berries floated inside, steeped with the "inferior Spirit Tea" he had just exchanged for. Its bitter flavor slid down his throat, barely suppressing the inner heat deep within his body.

"Hey! Ye Tian!" Tanaka wiped away his sweat, fury shooting straight to his head. "Our legs are about to break from all this running, and you're over here nursing your health? At least move that noble ass of yours!"

Ebisu adjusted his black round-framed sunglasses. Though he said nothing, his gaze behind the lenses was clearly displeased. As an elite teacher, he could tolerate students being useless, but he could not tolerate them being more professional at slacking off than a Jonin like him.

"Cough, cough..."

Ye Tian set down his cup. His face was as pale as a freshly painted wall, and his eyes carried the calm assurance of someone saying, "I could die in front of you at any moment."

"Tanaka, acting blindly will not solve the problem. I am... sensing."

"Sensing my ass! You're just being lazy!" Sato rolled his eyes.

Ye Tian ignored him and slowly closed his eyes.

Divine Sense scan, full power activated!

Buzz—

Centered on him, everything within a five-hundred-meter radius was instantly mapped in his mind.

The tremors in the veins of leaves, the writhing of earthworms beneath the soil—even Ahu, perched on a branch hundreds of meters away with a bow tied around its neck, looking down at Tanaka as though he were an idiot—appeared as clearly as a 4K livestream.

But in the next instant, Ye Tian's Divine Sense locked tightly onto the roots of an ancient oak three stories tall, off to his front right.

Within the tangled gaps between its roots, a palm-sized, violet-glowing fungus emitted spiritual radiance invisible to the naked eye.

"A hundred-year Purple Lingzhi?!"

Ye Tian's heart leaped, nearly blowing apart his frail-sickly facade.

These ninjas only knew how to refine Chakra and fight to the death. They had no idea what heavenly treasures were. In their eyes, this was at most a strange-colored poisonous mushroom, but to a Cultivator, it was the main ingredient for refining Qi Gathering Pills—the stepping stone to breaking through Qi Refining Third Level!

This isn't a mission. This is touring a gold mine on public funds!

Ye Tian suppressed his inner ecstasy, opened his eyes, and shakily pointed toward the front right.

"I smelled... fresh cat urine. It's over there."

"Cat urine?" Tanaka froze for a moment. The excuse sounded absurd, but seeing Ye Tian's "I can't go on, I need to rest" act, he could only move in to surround the area with half-hearted belief.

The instant the two approached the oak tree, a yellow blur shot out!

"Argh!" Tanaka screamed while clutching his face, three bloody gashes appearing across it in an instant.

Ahu landed, its back arched and every bit of its ferocity on display. It swept its gaze across the group before finally locking onto Ye Tian, who looked the weakest, as though he could not even stand steadily.

Animals instinctively picked on the weak.

It pushed off with all four paws, shooting toward Ye Tian's throat like a yellow cannonball.

"Ye Tian! Dodge!" Ebisu cried out in alarm, about to activate the Body Flicker Technique.

Yet when Ahu's claws were less than ten centimeters from Ye Tian, his pupils abruptly shrank to pinpoints.

A trace of the savage pressure unique to a Cultivator—a pressure belonging to a higher life-form—slammed discreetly into Ahu's little head.

Thud.

The previously ferocious Ahu suddenly seemed to lose power in midair. Its limbs went limp, and it crashed flat onto its back at Ye Tian's feet.

Then, as if it had seen its own father, the little demon cat rolled over belly-up and let out an extraordinarily fawning purr, even rubbing against Ye Tian's pant leg to curry favor.

Ebisu froze. Tanaka and Sato's jaws nearly hit the ground.

"This cat... got knocked out by how handsome he is?"

Ye Tian crouched down and stroked Ahu's head, feeling its soft fur slide through his fingers. He shot a sidelong glance at Ebisu, who was awkwardly getting back up, and showed a weak smile.

"Looks like... it also thinks I have a friendly face."

While Tanaka clumsily stuffed Ahu into the cage and Ebisu treated Tanaka's wounds, Ye Tian staggered and "conveniently" fell into a seated position behind the ancient oak.

"Ow... My legs are weak..."

Using the massive roots as cover, Ye Tian released a thread of Spiritual Power from his fingertips and drove it into the soil as easily as cutting tofu.

In only one second, the hundred-year Purple Lingzhi was in his hand and instantly stored in the system space.

He casually grabbed a handful of dead leaves to cover the fresh earth, moving with the practiced ease of a habitual offender.

"Whew..."

Leaning against the trunk, Ye Tian genuinely let out a long breath. Mobilizing that trace of pressure had indeed made his heart beat faster, and combined with his bluish-white face, he looked even frailer.

"Ye Tian, nice work! Luck did most of the work, but you still earned credit!" Tanaka said excitedly as he carried the cat cage over. "I'll treat you to medicine later—no, tea!"

Ye Tian pushed himself up against the trunk, patted the dirt off his pants, and for the first time, a desire for work appeared in his eyes.

"Take more missions like this in the future. I... cough, cough, I like getting close to nature."

Ebisu pushed up his sunglasses, his heart swelling with the comfort of an elder. "This child has finally found his calling as a ninja. This is the awakening of youth!"

Ye Tian looked at the radiant lingzhi in the system space and thought, Youth my ass. With this thing, I can touch the threshold of Qi Refining Fourth Level tonight.

What was so great about being a ninja compared to cultivating immortality?