Chapter 26: The Weight of a Mission

[Shinji's POV]

After the bell test, Yamato explained its significance and how teamwork was the true focus of the exam. My decision to give away the bells, even if it was due to overconfidence, was what ultimately made us pass. With that, we officially became Team Seven.

To my frustration, Yamato then assigned us five D-rank missions before he would consider letting us take anything more challenging.

"Those are for newbies! We're already trained Genin. You should at least give us a C-rank mission as a starter," I argued, but his expression remained unchanged.

"These are the rules. Every new Genin team must complete a minimum number of D-rank missions to be eligible for higher-ranked ones," he said firmly.

"But you could override that, couldn't you?" I pressed. "We can handle something better."

"I will not bend the rules for my students. We should all follow them."

Akane sighed. "Let's just do them, Shinji. How bad could it be?"

I glanced at her and patted her shoulder. "You'll see."

She had no idea just how shameless the villagers could be.

We left the training grounds and headed toward the Mission Center, where all available assignments were listed. As I scanned through them, I quickly realized just how much of a waste of time this would be.

The missions included:

Cleaning the lawn.

Delivering scrolls.

Restoring a training ground.

Retrieving missing pets that were deliberately let loose just to annoy Genin.

'I get that this is meant to humble arrogant clan ninjas, but this is just ridiculous.'

It would take almost a week to finish these before we could go outside the village. Sighing, I resigned myself to the inevitable. We chose a delivery mission to complete first.

When we arrived at the designated location, I immediately recognized the man waiting for us.

"Mister Miyagi?" I said, raising an eyebrow. I had rented out my old house to him when I moved in the apartment.

"Shinji! You've already become a Genin? What a surprise," he said, handing me a scroll. "I guess I'll have to start preparing to empty the house soon."

I smiled. "Are you the one who issued the mission?"

"Yes, as per the request, this scroll needs to be delivered to the farm owner on the other side of the village. It contains the agreed-upon payments and some tools he requested," he explained.

Taking the scroll, I turned back to him. "There must be people who can do this for you without going through this long process. Why assign it to Genin?"

Mister Miyagi smiled. "Hokage-sama wants us to issue basic missions for Genin so they learn the process without any danger."

I just nodded and motioned for my teammates to move. As we made our way through the streets of Konoha, Akira groaned.

"So we have to do these kinds of tasks for five days before we get a real mission?"

"Yes. And our sensei won't let us skip them," I said flatly.

Akira scoffed but then suddenly changed the topic. "By the way, did you hear about the Hyūga Clan incident?"

My eyes narrowed slightly. "What happened?"

Akane answered in his place. "A Kumo Head Jonin tried to kidnap the Hyūga princess, but the clan leader stopped him—by killing him."

'So, the Neji Incident has already begun.'

She continued, "When Kumo found out, they blamed the Hyūga Clan, even though they were the ones who invaded Konoha and attempted to kidnap a child. But the most shocking part? Hokage-sama agreed to their ridiculous demand to offer up the clan leader's brother as compensation."

"Yeah, how could Hokage-sama do that? They weren't at fault at all! It makes the village look weak," Akira said, clenching his fists.

"That's exactly why he did it," I explained. "If Kumogakure had retaliated, Konoha would have been at risk. He prioritized the village over a single clan."

Akane frowned. "But what if Kumo was just testing us?"

I nodded. "That's entirely possible, but Hokage-sama wasn't willing to take that risk."

I could see the frustration on both their faces, and honestly, I agreed with them. Hiruzen's decisions after the Third Great Ninja War shaped everything that followed. If he had been just a little more resolute, things could have turned out very differently.

"I know it's unfair, but there's nothing we can do about it," I said, changing the subject. "For now, let's focus on completing these missions so we can finally get a real one."

We delivered the scroll and confirmed the mission's completion before heading home. This continued for five long days, repeating mundane tasks, even catching cats that turned easy with Kuro's help until we finally reached the required number of completed D-rank missions.

On the sixth day, we stood at the village gates, waiting for Yamato-sensei.

It had taken some effort to convince him, but he had finally agreed to let us take on a C-rank mission.

We waited in anticipation, wondering what kind of mission we'd be assigned. Finally, Yamato appeared, holding a mission scroll.

"We'll be heading to the Land of Water. They are experiencing a shortage of ninja due to the war, so Konoha is sending teams to help," he announced.

I frowned slightly. "The Land of Water? Why so far?"

Akira groaned. "Does that mean we'll be outside the village for a month?"

Yamato smirked. "Didn't you want to experience real missions and fight real shinobi? What better way than in the Blood Mist Village?"

Both Akira and Akane paled.

I rolled my eyes. "Don't spook them. You wouldn't dare take us near Kirigakure."

He chuckled. "No, our mission is to investigate multiple missing persons reports in villages scattered across the Land of Water. The likely cause is bandits or a rogue ninja."

I crossed my arms. "So we're dealing with potential missing-nin?"

Yamato nodded. "Correct."

Akira grinned. "Now this is what I signed up for!"

"Alright," I said. "Let's move."

With that, we left the safety of Konoha's walls, heading toward a mission that was anything but C-rank.