"Do you even have the money to pay for this, mister?"
The young shop clerk stood in front of Might Duy, hands planted firmly on her hips, doubt written all over her face.
"Uh..."
At her words, Might Duy hurriedly pulled out his wallet, only to awkwardly find it completely empty.
His face turned red with embarrassment.
"You're not planning to skip out on the bill, are you?"
The girl grabbed his arm and pressed forward with a sharp tone.
"I'm sorry! Please wait until I finish this cat-catching mission—I'll definitely compensate you for the loss!"
One hand gripping the chubby orange cat—who wore a thoroughly defeated expression—Might Duy bowed sharply at a perfect ninety degrees, the other hand pressed tightly against his thigh, shouting loudly.
"Don't be too hard on him."
Just then, Heiyan and Kosuke Maruboshi walked over side by side.
"You go inform the manager to handle the customer's compensation," Heiyan said, glancing at the young clerk.
"Yes, young master." The girl gave a slight bow, sneaked a quick glance at Heiyan, playfully stuck out her tongue, then blushed and ran off.
"This time we'll let it slide. Be more careful next time and don't act so recklessly."
Heiyan patted Might Duy's shoulder kindly.
"T-thank you... thank you very much, Master Heiyan!"
Might Duy stammered nervously, feeling unusually moved since he'd rarely experienced kindness before.
"No need to thank me. We're all genin from Konoha—we should help each other."
Heiyan exchanged a knowing smile with Instructor Kosuke Maruboshi.
Hearing that, Might Duy scratched his head, then grinned sheepishly along with them.
With that, the three Konoha genin left the izakaya and went their separate ways.
The next morning.
Hokage Office Building—Mission Assignment Desk.
Every day, hundreds of missions were posted here, ranked from highest to lowest as S, A, B, C, and D. These ranged widely in content: escorts, assassinations, rescues, thefts, guard duties, and miscellaneous chores.
For most Konoha ninja, mission rewards were their main source of income. The number and rank of completed missions also served as key references for promotion evaluations.
That's why the Mission Assignment Desk was always packed with ninja coming in and out, picking up and turning in missions nonstop.
At this moment, Kosuke Maruboshi and Heiyan arrived at the entrance of the mission assignment area.
"Heiyan, look around the nearby notice boards and see if there's a Rank C or D mission available," Kosuke instructed.
In Konoha's mission system, missions ranked B and above required prior approval from the Hokage himself, while those below B-rank were freely available to most chunin and genin.
Actually, considering Kosuke Maruboshi's capabilities, he could easily participate in S-rank missions. However, after declining promotion to jonin status, the Third Hokage specially arranged for him by assigning only simple tasks.
"Alright, Teacher."
Heiyan nodded and began searching.
Heiyan's goal was to find a mission outside the Leaf Village with a wide activity range and long duration, so he could train in the wild for an extended period.
Finally, after persistent searching, Heiyan found an "ideal" mission.
C-Rank Mission: Border Patrol.
Mission Content: Patrol border regions where the Land of Fire meets the Lands of Rivers, Rain, and Grass. Record population and economic conditions in over a dozen villages along the border line.
Mission Requirement: At least three Genin (beginner ninja).
This was one of many missions commissioned by the Fire Daimyo to the Leaf Village — essentially conducting a census in border villages.
Such missions were boring, time-consuming, poorly paid, and required long periods of outdoor living. That's why, even after months on the board, no one had taken it.
For Heiyan, however, this mission was perfect.
Because now he could not only learn wilderness survival techniques from Kosuke Maruboshi, but also understand local customs and cultures across the ninja world.
In addition, there'd be plenty of downtime along the patrol route to practice his ninjutsu.
"We're still one short though," Kosuke furrowed his brows. Finding a third team member for this mission would be difficult.
"Teacher, do you remember Might Duy from last night? What if we ask him?"
Heiyan thought for a moment and suggested.
"Speak of the devil. The Might Duy you mentioned just arrived."
Kosuke suddenly smiled, pointing toward behind Heiyan.
"Oh?"
Upon hearing this, Heiyan turned around and sure enough, spotted a familiar green figure within the crowd.
It was Might Duy holding that orange cat from last night, immediately drawing attention from numerous ninja as soon as he appeared — seemingly quite popular.
"Might Duy, why are you catching cats again? Seems like a waste of talent," someone sarcastically teased.
"Hehe."
Might Duy didn't even seem bothered. Instead, he looked rather proud. "Yep! Even the Hokage called me the feline-finder extraordinaire. Pretty impressive huh?"
Unexpectedly, as soon as he finished boasting, before he even finished speaking, the orange cat used its paws to attack him sneakily, forcing him to let go due to pain.
"Hahaha!" Everyone laughed together upon seeing this, instantly filling the mission assignment area with cheerful atmosphere.
"I heard Might Duy got kicked out of his team because he was clumsy and always made mistakes. Since then, no one wanted to team up with him, so he had to do tough labor jobs or help employers catch cats."
"Thank goodness Konoha keeps losing cats, or this guy'd starve."
"By the way, why does he, a grown man, wear green spandex? Got a thing for showing off or somethin'?"
Many ninja openly mocked him.
"Meow!"
The orange cat escaped danger, made a triumphant "meow!" then quickly darted away into the distance.
"My caaaaaaat!"
Without caring about his wounded hand, Might Duy took off after it right away. Unexpectedly, the orange cat climbed up a tree, making him miss completely and slamming his head directly into the trunk.
"Here. Catch!"
As Might Duy was still seeing stars before his eyes, a familiar voice reached him. It was Heiyan, holding the orange cat and handing it over to him.
Might Duy was deeply moved beyond words.
Even more surprising was that Heiyan invited him to join the team.
"To be honest, this mission doesn't offer much in terms of real rewards, and it's going to be tough. If you don't want to—"
"I'm in!"
Before Heiyan could even finish speaking, Might Duy loudly cut him off, his eyes gleaming with determination and tears.
For Might Duy, having someone acknowledge and accept him as a comrade meant more than anything else in the world.
Thus, under many curious stares and whispers, Heiyan, Kosuke Maruboshi, and Might Duy—these three genin—jointly accepted a C-rank mission and left the Hokage Tower.
Following Heiyan's suggestion, the trio headed to an izakaya for dinner before heading home to pack their gear. Two hours later, the squad regrouped at the village gate.
Among the three, Kosuke Maruboshi was the eldest and most experienced, stepping up to take command as team leader without hesitation.
"Move out!"
At his order, the three shinobi left Konoha, embarking on their distant journey.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Through the forest they dashed like lightning, darting forward with swift precision toward the border of the Land of Fire.
"Although this is only a C-rank mission," Kosuke warned them along the way, "we mustn't let our guard down. Always stay alert for unexpected situations. Understood?"
"Roger!" Might Duy responded loudly, tightening his grip nervously.
"Understood," Heiyan also nodded.
Indeed, lately tensions had been rising along the borders of the Five Great Nations, with skirmishes breaking out more often than not.
Yet Heiyan felt no concern whatsoever.
Within this newly formed team, both Kosuke Maruboshi and Might Duy remained largely unaware of each other's true strength. Only Heiyan clearly understood the squad's combat capability.
Kosuke Maruboshi, known as Konoha's first-generation eternal genin, had accompanied both the Second and Third Hokage on missions and learned ninjutsu from them. Now in his prime, he undoubtedly possessed the power of an elite jonin.
Might Duy, the second-generation eternal genin, had trained in the Eight Gates for over ten years. Even if he couldn't fully open all eight gates, he could at least reach the fifth or sixth. When unleashing his full potential, his strength closely matched Kosuke's.
As for Heiyan—the third-generation eternal genin—he was not only the youngest among the three but also completely inexperienced in missions. At first glance, he seemed like little more than deadweight.
In reality, however, possessing Sage Transformation and mastering the secret art of the Adamantine Sealing Chains, his strength actually represented the highest ceiling within this team.
Together, they were more than capable of taking on even an S-rank mission.
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