Marching Towards Chunin
"Hah~ ah," Yuan Wei patted his stomach, a contented expression on his face. "So satisfying!"
Lin Ke also breathed a sigh of relief, his little belly bulging. Due to financial constraints, he hadn't eaten anything good in a long time. The things he grilled in the wild were barely edible.
Plus, he had just finished fighting, so gorging himself felt amazing.
Xia wiped her mouth leisurely and said, "Nara Yan Shui-sensei, if we pass the exam, will we start taking on missions from tomorrow?"
"That's right, starting tomorrow, gather at the Hokage Building at seven in the morning." Nara Yan Shui nodded. As a bachelor and a Jonin, he didn't have many expenses, so he could afford to treat his subordinates to a big meal occasionally. He looked at Lin Ke's hair, which still hadn't recovered, and asked, "Your hair—"
"Should you go to the hospital to get it checked out?"
Turning unhealthy gray-white after a single fight seemed a bit problematic.
"It's okay."
Lin Ke touched his hair. It felt a bit prickly, but overall it still felt like hair, and he didn't feel any discomfort. It was just a superficial effect caused by the Substitute, with no harm to his body. Even if there were hidden effects, they would all disappear when the Substitute dissipated.
He thought for a moment and added, "It's a side effect of the jutsu. It should be fine when my hair grows back."
Should he shave his head at home?
Forget it, he'd rather live with gray-white hair.
He had his pride, okay? He was already a bit self-conscious about his short, nine-year-old stature, and becoming bald on top of that…
No way, absolutely no way.
"Okay." Nara Yan Shui responded. He didn't want to delve into his subordinate's secret techniques or Bloodline Limit. He took a sip of the iced water beside him, stood up, and said, "Then that's all for today."
He took out his wallet and walked towards the front desk, saying, "See you tomorrow."
The three members of Team Five also stood up and followed him out of the Barbecue Q restaurant. Just as they were about to disperse, Lin Ke suddenly called out to his two teammates, "Hey."
They both looked over from different directions.
Lin Ke's usually tense face broke into a smile. "From now on, please take care of me."
Even though it was just an exercise-like test, he was still slightly touched that his two teammates were willing to stand in front of him after he had bullied them.
The word 'comrade' was bound to be infused with different emotions in a life-or-death battle.
Xia glanced at him and turned to leave.
Yuan Wei shrugged his shoulders to express his helplessness, then gave a thumbs up, flashed a smile, and left.
Lin Ke didn't mind. He hadn't initially planned to form any bonds with the team. It was enough if the relationship wasn't too strained.
With the qualities cultivated by the Ninja Academy, as long as the conflicts weren't too great, basic cooperation and trust in battle were still achievable.
Without a way to solve the Substitute Jutsu's flaws, he desperately needed two trustworthy meat shields to stand in front of him until he could summon a powerful enough Substitute.
"Very good, step one, become a Genin."
"Achieved."
Lin Ke stretched his body, which was sore from the intense battle, and his smile widened.
"Next step—"
"Let's head towards Chunin."
...
—A month later, at the mission assignment office.
"We're going to get another low-reward mission, aren't we?" Lin Ke sighed inwardly, looking at the smiling staff member.
D-rank missions were simple tasks with no need for combat and no danger to life, with rewards ranging from five thousand to fifty thousand taels. In reality, most hovered around ten thousand taels, which was pitifully little when divided among four people.
Moreover, missions that reached the assignment stage couldn't be completed quickly—
For example, their last D-rank mission, with a reward of twelve thousand taels, was a mission that Nara Yan Shui had specifically taken on. The task was to clean up a section of the Nanga River's riverbed, which took them a full ten days to complete.
Of course, the main reason was that Yuan Wei and Xia spent more than five days adapting to water walking. Lin Ke worked hard for three days before his two teammates joined in. Their combined contribution to the entire mission was probably about the same as his, but Nara Yan Shui was fair in the reward distribution and gave him more money.
Similarly, the first D-rank mission Team Five took on was to help a construction site cut down and transport trees. His two teammates wasted a lot of time practicing tree climbing, so he received a larger share of the reward.
Don't think that D-rank missions are easy. In reality, they were tasks that ordinary people couldn't do or found very troublesome, which was why they commissioned ninjas. Even for ninjas, they still wasted a lot of time, otherwise, why would people throw in several thousand or tens of thousands of taels?
Their third mission was probably going to be similar.
Lin Ke thought to himself.
Nara Yan Shui is absolutely super qualified as a teacher. In the manga, Hatake Kakashi didn't start teaching his students to climb trees to enhance their Chakra control until their first mission outside the village, while he chose commissions that could be carried out simultaneously with training for his first two missions.
It's just a bit awkward from Lin Ke's perspective. Water walking and tree climbing were things he played with in his first year at the Ninja Academy. Now, to improve his Chakra control, he needs to grind it out slowly, and there won't be any improvement in the short term.
So, for him, the mission is just about making money.
"Third Hokage, please give us a C-rank mission," Nara Yan Shui said.
Eh?!
Lin Ke was a little surprised, he thought—
Nara Yan Shui turned his head and smiled, "With a C-rank mission, I don't think you should have any problems."
C-rank missions are basically at the level where you might get injured, but you won't encounter any ninjas. For two qualified Genin paired with a Genin who, after using his Secret Technique, has the strength of an elite Chunin, completing a C-rank mission is definitely a piece of cake.
"Since Yan Shui, you have such considerations... let me see, this one, I'll leave it to you." The Third Hokage sitting inside didn't change his smile at all and handed over a mission details sheet.
Nara Yan Shui glanced at it and handed it to Lin Ke standing next to him.
"Go to the Death Forest to clear out the rampant beasts... the reward is 30,000 Ryo!"
Hearing him read out the content, Yuan Wei and Kasumi were also a little excited. Mixing missions and training together, doing simple tasks, and constantly honing themselves didn't feel bad, but...
D-rank missions are really too boring.
It's completely using ninjas as tools—speaking of which, ninjas seem to be tools in the traditional sense.
The reward standard for C-rank missions is between 30,000 and 100,000 Ryo. Now, this mission to clear out the rampant beasts in the training ground is issued by the village, so it's understandable that the reward is the minimum standard.
Most importantly, there can finally be a fight.
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