The Restless Heart

Before taking on his first mission, Inuzuka Ryo had been incredibly excited.

But after completing a few missions, he completely lost his enthusiasm for them.

After completing dozens of D-rank missions, he became utterly numb.

The main reason was that missions for newly promoted Genin were always boring.

They were either catching cats and walking dogs, or weeding and delivering goods. Beyond that, if they received missions such as gathering herbs from cliffs or clearing silt from rivers, the Jonin Instructor would use the opportunity to teach them Chakra control techniques like tree climbing and water walking.

If someone could not quickly master even these techniques, it meant they truly lacked talent in Chakra manipulation.

Their future would most likely consist of spending ten or twenty years accumulating merits and seniority, hoping to get lucky enough to learn a few decent ninjutsu, then finally earning the title of Chunin at the peak of their lives in their thirties or forties.

That was assuming they did not die along the way.

Meikyō's soul had been formed from the fusion of two souls. On top of that, as an Uchiha who had awakened the Sharingan, his Mental Energy could not possibly be weak. His powerful innate Mental Power played no small role in this process.

At the very least, whether it was tree climbing or water walking, he mastered them with ease.

Since Aburame Nami had to control so many insects at once in her daily life, her mental abilities were naturally not weak either. Even Inuzuka Ryo was exceptionally talented, and he quickly learned both of these essential ninja skills.

"Alright, the next mission is to help Aunt Akita on Victory Street in the east of the village take care of her two-year-old son..."

Dan Katō held a mission scroll and read it out carefully, word by word.

"Ah?! We just helped Uncle Kyugang clear the weeds from his fields. Why is the next mission another torturous job like babysitting?!"

Inuzuka Ryo flopped helplessly onto the ground and complained.

This was completely different from the ninja life he had imagined.

Aburame Nami and Meikyō, on the other hand, listened attentively to the mission details.

The former was simply that kind of person, while the latter had long been prepared for it.

After all, this was one of Konoha's old traditions.

"I knew someone with your personality wouldn't want to do this mission, so I accepted two more. You can each take one."

A mischievous grin appeared on Dan Katō's face.

"Uncle Monden twisted his ankle while working yesterday and needs someone to walk his dog. That mission is perfect for Ryo. A Nara Family shop needs someone to gather medicinal herbs in the forest, which is just right for Nami's insects. As for Meikyō... I'll leave the babysitting mission to you!"

"So, Teacher Kato... why do the most annoying jobs always get assigned to me? I really don't have any experience taking care of children!"

Meikyō rubbed his forehead and could not help complaining.

Dan Katō watched Meikyō's expression with interest.

Of the three students before him, this one was likely the most gifted.

With Dan Katō's attainments in soul-, mind-, and perception-based ninjutsu, there was no way he could fail to notice Meikyō's enormous, innately extraordinary Mental Power. Coupled with the Sharingan bloodline and his Uchiha heritage, his future was limitless.

However, Dan Katō could also sense the profound impatience, unease, and fear hidden deep within Meikyō's powerful Mental Power.

These were things that even Meikyō himself had not noticed.

After all, for a modern person who had inexplicably become a Reincarnator one moment, before suddenly crossing over into Naruto World without even accepting a single mission, having such feelings buried within him was perfectly normal.

After learning about Meikyō's background, Dan Katō believed he understood everything. He hoped to use these seemingly tedious missions to thoroughly temper Meikyō's restless heart.

Otherwise, no matter how great a genius he was, heading onto the battlefield with such a mindset could easily lead to an early death.

Besides, Dan Katō also thought that teasing his own student was rather fun.

Of course, Kato Dan would not tell him the truth. Instead, he said:

"Well... there's nothing we can do about it. Honestly, considering our squad's strength and how well we work together, I think we're already capable of taking on higher-level missions. But we haven't completed enough D-rank missions yet, and without the Hokage's approval, there's no way for us to participate in those higher-level missions. I'm doing this to quickly bring our squad's mission count up."

"Considering Ryo and Nami's specialties, of course I would choose missions that they can resolve quickly."

Dan Katō's tone was utterly innocent.

"Sigh! Fine..."

Meikyō could only shake his head helplessly.

Time passed bit by bit.

Two months flew by in the blink of an eye.

Under Dan Katō's arrangements, Kato Squad completed D-rank missions at more than twice the rate of other squads.

Although they often divided up their work, Kato Dan would sometimes choose missions involving intelligence gathering or team coordination, allowing all three squad members to complete them together.

Even if the team coordination involved surrounding and catching a runaway stray cat belonging to the Daimyo's daughter, and the intelligence gathering involved helping an izakaya owner collect market information on sake.

Through the repetitive daily missions, and under Dan Katō's deliberate guidance, Meikyō gradually calmed the restless heart hidden beneath his composed exterior.

Perhaps Dan Katō believed the squad members had developed enough coordination over the past two months. Or perhaps it was because the village's main combat forces had all been deployed to the front lines, leaving too few people available for missions. In any case, just two and a half months after the squad was formed, Dan Katō successfully accepted a C-rank mission from Utatane Koharu, who was assisting the Third Hokage with administrative affairs.

"This is our target for this mission?"

Holding a photograph, Meikyō looked at the dark-skinned, tall, middle-aged man in it and asked.

"Four months ago, a secret team from Sunagakure infiltrated the Land of Fire to carry out missions such as sabotaging the rear. They attacked Tetsuseki Town in western Land of Fire, drastically weakening the local defenses. Then a group of Miners took advantage of the situation to riot, attacked the local nobles' estate, seized a large quantity of supplies, and fled into the mountains to become bandits, plundering the nearby residents. This man is Okamoto Ichiro, the leader of those bandits. The mission objective is to eliminate these bandits, recover the supplies, and deliver them to the Ishihara Family at the Daimyo's Mansion."

Dan Katō held up the mission scroll and explained the full background of the mission.