He was quite a friendly old man, and despite being wealthy, he lived in a modest, unassuming home.
"Yeah, this is the right horse," the old man nodded, lightly slapping the horse's rear end as a form of scolding.
Although the old man invited the four of them to rest at his home, Hayate Gekko politely declined.
After all, he wanted his subordinates to take on more missions to gain experience.
Without the burden of carrying the horse, Shiki's steps were naturally much lighter.
"I hope I can get a good mission next," Shiki expressed his wish appropriately. "And Yuuma, could you please stop pulling my clothes?"
Turning his head back, Shiki saw that Yuuma still had that innocent look on her face.
"What's wrong with this?"
"I just feel it's kind of weird."
"You're so spoiled, Shiki-nii," Yuuma Akimoto pouted discontentedly.
"Maybe it's because Yuuma clings too much?"
As they were talking, a shadow blocked his view. Shiki realized he had already arrived at the mission assignment office.
"Oh, Hayate, you're back," The Third said, unusually seated at the mission assignment desk, serenely puffing on his pipe.
"Yeah, we've completed this mission," Hayate stated calmly.
The Third exhaled a puff of smoke, then picked up the S-class mission slip and mused, "Your next mission will be babysitting for Elder 'Four-Eyes'."
"Great! Shiki, you guys ended up with the mission we passed on earlier!"
Shiki turned his head and saw Naruto excitedly shouting from a corner.
"Hey! Shiki, did you know? We've gotten an A-class mission now—to protect this seemingly unremarkable old man!" Naruto pointed without reservation at the elderly man wearing a straw hat, a naïve smile on his face.
Suddenly, Shiki realized the plot involving Naruto and Zabuza was about to begin.
The old man suddenly smacked Naruto hard on the head. "Don't you know how to respect elders, you shrimp!"
"No matter what, I'll definitely become acknowledged by everyone! Including you, old man!" Naruto raised his fist and shouted energetically.
Then he suddenly lightened up, scratching his head with a grin. "But since we've taken on an A-rank mission, doesn't that mean I'm already one step ahead of you, Shiki?"
"Idiot," Sasuke said coldly. At least for now, he still looked at Shiki with mixed emotions in his eyes.
Sakura didn't even bother giving Naruto any face, stating bluntly, "Shiki is a genius, while you're nothing but the class loser."
Naruto lowered his head, pouting slightly like a child who hadn't gotten his candy.
"Actually, I believe Naruto can become strong. It's both my intuition and trust in him." Smiling at Naruto, Shiki never hesitated to offer encouragement.
Then Shiki turned, his dark eyes lighting up with excitement.
"But speaking of which, Sensei Hayate, shouldn't we also consider taking on something... a bit more challenging?"
"Bang!!"
A hand slammed down on the table with a bang, followed by a thunderous bellow. "Shiki Uzumaki! Don't think that just because you've graduated from the Academy you can do whatever you want! You're all fresh Genin—of course you have to take basic missions. Every ninja goes through this! Don't you know that?"
After speaking, Iruka-sensei fixed an angry glare straight at Naruto.
"And stop trying to drag the others down with you!"
Naruto flinched. The old fear of Iruka from his academy days instantly kicked in. He quickly replied, "Yes, yes, Iruka-sensei, I'm sorry!"
"We should tackle harder missions!"
Seiji Ito stood with his arms crossed, gripping his white sword while blending into his pitch-black clothes.
His expression remained calm and unreadable, like he wasn't even the one who said it.
"At first, I didn't agree with giving such high-speed missions to rookies. But since Kakashi-senpai's team has already taken them on, maybe we should try something more challenging too?" Hayate Gekko scanned every member of Team 9 as he spoke. "At least, I'm very confident in the kids on Team 9!"
The Third Hokage set down his pipe and gently rubbed his temples. "In that case..."
Chapter 89: The Land of Rain
"Then I'll assign you a C-rank mission," the Third Hokage said calmly, exhaling smoke while scanning the list of C-rank missions.
"How about a message delivery mission?"
"The Third Gramps is totally tricking us again. A message delivery mission doesn't seem any different from our past ones!" Before Shiki could speak, Yuuma Akimoto had already playfully complained.
"This isn't a regular mission though—the destination lies outside the Land of Fire."
"Outside the Land of Fire?" Shiki asked.
"That's right. You need to deliver this letter to the Land of Rain!"
"Absolutely not!" Iruka's face changed instantly. "Lord Third, please reconsider carefully! The Land of Rain is littered with dangers everywhere—it's way too risky for these inexperienced rookies to handle!"
"Lord Third, this mission will be extremely difficult for these greenhorns," Hayate Gekko supported Iruka at this point. Though in truth, he'd grown just as bored of those mind-numbingly repetitive C-rank missions.
No one noticed, however, that Shiki's expression subtly shifted—lost in thought about something unknown.
"Just let me finish before you jump to conclusions."
The Third Hokage spoke calmly. "This C-rank mission is only to a small village on the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Rain—not deep inside. Although you might run into some brigands or hostile types along the way, for these rookies, it's still good training."
As he spoke, the Third pulled out a map clearly marking each nation's borders. His weathered finger pointed toward the border region between the Land of Fire and the Land of Rain. There, written in tiny characters, was the name of the place: "Nikamura."
"This is a village without ninjas. Due to its location at the border of the country, the village actually hasn't been greatly affected by the turbulence within the Land of Rain. This is what the mission issuer said, and he hopes you can deliver this letter to the Village Headman of Nikamura Village."
Hearing that the recipient was the Village Headman rather than a Kage, everyone immediately understood that this indeed was a simple village.
Hayate Gekko nodded upon hearing this. "Then this mission, we Ban 9 will take it!"
"It's so frustrating! Just when I started feeling a bit better than Shiki, it's gone," Naruto said with dissatisfaction.
"Alright already, Naruto. Just get ready already. Otherwise, you're not gonna have any Ichiraku Ramen for a while," Kakashi said lightly while patting Naruto's head.
Naruto's eyes widened instantly. "No Ichiraku Ramen for ages? No way! Today I'm getting double toppings and extra meat!"
"Like such a thing even exists?"
Sakura groaned, slapping her forehead.
But Naruto had already shot off. Looking at his expression, practically everyone could already tell that Naruto was going to wolf down more than just one bowl at lunch today.
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