The following days were indeed not easy. However, the one who wasn't having an easy time wasn't Takemi, but Kakashi.
Kakashi had planned for this trip to be long. He intended to train Takemi while having him execute missions.
But along the way, he was surprised to find that things were going much smoother than he had imagined?
Things weren't going according to his expectations.
At the beginning, Takemi did make some blunders due to lack of experience. But he quickly adapted and performed quite well, which surprised Kakashi.
However, after he started guiding Takemi's training, this surprise turned into shock.
Because he discovered that Takemi's foundation was extremely solid, and his talent was also astonishingly good.
Often, he only needed to teach him how to form hand signs for a jutsu and how Chakra circulated within the body when using it. Then, he could figure it out and learn it on his own.
And when using it, he was in no way inferior to some people who had trained hard for a long time.
Even with taijutsu, it was the same. He managed to learn his Kenjutsu, even when he had demonstrated it with just a kunai.
After this period, Kakashi seemed to somewhat understand how the teachers who had taught him back then might have felt.
So, this is what it feels like to teach a genius?
Moreover, Takemi was even more talented than he was back then. Not only did he learn quickly, but he also had many of his own ideas.
No matter what kind of jutsu, he seemed to want to change it a bit, whether it was the state of the jutsu or the simplification of hand signs.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
After a set of hand signs that had clearly been simplified, Takemi spat out a huge fireball.
The fireball whistled towards the distant bandit camp, and then turned into an overwhelming inferno.
The bandits inside couldn't even let out a scream before they were reduced to ashes by the flames.
"Kakashi-sensei, the mission is complete."
Takemi turned his head and looked at the silent Kakashi beside him.
"After scouting, all thirteen bandits were inside, and there were no hostages, so there aren't any accidental injuries. If there are no unexpected issues, they should all be taken care of."
"Okay."
Kakashi nodded numbly, then mechanically offered a compliment, "Well done, your progress has exceeded my imagination."
Kakashi himself didn't know how many times he had said similar things. He was starting to get tired of saying it.
At this moment, he truly felt that teaching a genius wasn't necessarily enjoyable. After all, they learn too quickly, and soon, you might soon have nothing left to teach them.
"Kakashi-sensei, it seems our C-rank missions are basically all completed. Should we handle that B-rank mission now?" Takemi blinked, asking curiously.
"I remember it's about a noble from the Land of Waves. For some reason, someone placed a bounty on him on the black market, so we might encounter enemy ninja."
"Okay."
When discussing professional matters, Kakashi immediately recovered and said, "This mission actually has some issues. The bounty is not low, so we might encounter some more powerful ninja."
"Eh?"
Takemi was stunned for a moment. If that was the case, the difficulty of this mission was considerable.
He asked, "Then why is this mission only B-rank?"
Kakashi explained, "Because as a noble, he has personal samurai, the kind that use Chakra. Those guys don't like other ninja joining in. So, we're just backup."
"This setup lowers the difficulty, and besides, the money he's offering isn't much, so it can only be considered B-rank."
"So that's how it is."
Takemi nodded, but couldn't help but inwardly complain, so this is what kind of mission it was.
Low pay, uncertain circumstances, and samurai who dislike ninja.
Other ninja probably wouldn't be willing to take it, but it seems like a good mission for a newcomer like himself to practice on.
Fortunately, Takemi didn't mind such missions.
He blinked and looked at Kakashi, asking, "Kakashi-sensei, although this mission doesn't seem that complicated, it's still a B-rank mission, so..."
"..."
Hearing this, Kakashi immediately raised an eyebrow. He had heard similar things quite a lot on this journey.
Knowing what Takemi was getting at, he asked, "What do you want to learn now?"
Takemi rubbed his chin before speaking, "I heard Guy-sensei say that Kakashi-sensei's strongest skill is Lightning Release."
He had long wanted to 'whitewash' some Lightning Release and then properly try out that Purple Electricity.
"After all, that's Kakashi-sensei's signature ninjutsu, and didn't my previous test also show that I have Lightning Release chakra nature?"
"So, before we head to the Land of Waves to meet up, teach me first!"
Kakashi said, "But, that's not suitable for you..."
Takemi interjected, "I know, Guy-sensei said that Kakashi-sensei's Lightning Release is used in conjunction with the Sharingan, but I still want to try."
"..."
"Kakashi-sensei, you don't want your only current student to not even know the jutsu you're best at, do you?"
"..."
.....
"Verification complete, mission accomplished. Here is your payment."
"Okay."
Inside an underground exchange in the Land of Hot Water, two men wearing black cloaks with red clouds on them took the cash handed to them by the administrator.
Then they casually accepted another mission before turning and leaving.
"Another mission completed."
After leaving the exchange, one of the men, who carried a large sword, had sharp teeth, a cross-shaped scar on his face, and red markings, spoke.
"Also, you're getting more and more used to this life, Itachi."
"It's been over a year, I've already adapted, Juzo." The other man nodded. He had a Konoha ninja headband with a horizontal scratch mark.
Clearly, these two were Biwa Jūzō and Uchiha Itachi!
The Akatsuki was still in its accumulation phase. Currently, they were constantly doing missions to save money for the Akatsuki.
This kind of life was relatively boring but also suitable for the two of them.
"What's the next mission, in the Land of Waves?" Itachi looked at Jūzō and asked curiously.
As a newcomer who had only joined for a year, he still listened to Jūzō on many things.
"Yes, hunting a person, apparently a noble." Jūzō glanced at the mission list, then put it away.
"However, this has nothing to do with us. If there's a request, we take it, regardless of the content."
"So, no matter who this noble is, or who wants to kill him, we don't need to know."
"Even for a prank-like job, there's no need to know who requested it or why. We just get paid for our work."
"You've said these words many times." Itachi spoke calmly, his gaze looking into the distance.
"Don't worry, I've memorized them."
"That's good, let's go." Jūzō nodded, then walked forward without looking back.
"Finish early, and maybe we can have some free time..."