Kyōichi, Konoha’s Life Mentor

"Asuma, are we really getting a B-rank mission?"

Shisui and kurenai arrived at the gathering point, and this was their first sentence.

"I don't know. I just... casually mentioned wanting to take a high-level mission."

Asuma was also bewildered.

He had just mentioned it to the old man, and in the afternoon, he received a notice to gather.

"Let's leave the village first. I'll explain on the way."

Kyōichi didn't say much. After everyone was present, they registered at the village gate and headed west.

Leaving Konoha, he explained the mission.

Then.

"For this mission, I'll use wartime standards. No cooking on the way, all food will be replaced with soldier pills. No rest until the specified distance is covered."

"Yes!"

"Move out."

Beyond their joy, the three felt a few more nerves.

Looking at sensei's appearance...

This mission might really involve enemy ninjas.

On the way, kyōichi pondered in his mind.

This was the period of Akatsuki's expansion. The Land of Rivers had no ninja village, and this clearance was definitely related to them.

Completely matches!

However.

The current Akatsuki probably wouldn't attack Konoha ninjas. Moreover, their mission was to support Minato, not to fight, so it wasn't that dangerous.

Including the Third Hokage, who also believed Minato's mission wasn't very risky.

But.

What if danger occurred?

In these turbulent times, they couldn't afford too many losses. Sending kyōichi and his team was just an extra precaution, and if they could gather intelligence, that would be best.

Kyōichi knew this well.

"Sensei, does this mean Kakashi's team also took a C-rank mission?"

Asuma, after running a long distance, suddenly blurted out.

Kurenai was speechless.

You're just finding out now?

Kyōichi couldn't be bothered to respond.

Kurenai helplessly explained: "Kakashi is a chunin. Their team's strength was originally above a normal genin squad, so taking a C-rank mission is normal."

"Sensei Obito's team seems to have taken a C-rank mission too."

"Oh."

After hearing Kurenai and Shisui's words.

Asuma scratched his head. He had thought his team was special, but it turned out elite squads were basically starting to take C-rank missions.

He had been a bit cocky, but now was grounded.

"C-rank missions are mostly escort missions with less fighting. Our last mission was a special case. This time, our mission is B-rank mainly because we might encounter ninjas."

Kyōichi explained.

Generally, C-rank missions pay between 20,000 and 50,000 ryo, primarily protective in nature. Their last mission directly targeted and eliminated enemies, taking the initiative.

Simply put, they went beyond the standard!

Of course.

The reward was higher.

The final payment was 60,000 ryo, 20,000 more than the initial 40,000, because they eliminated bandits and also recovered stolen village goods.

They pursued their path.

Soon, traces of team seven appeared on the road.

Until the Fire Country border, the traces suddenly disappeared—Minato's team had begun deliberately erasing their tracks.

"Proceed to the mission location."

Kyōichi took out the map, checked the position, and headed towards Minato's mission location.

Arriving here, there were no more tracks to follow.

Asuma looked around curiously, especially when passing areas with human presence, but there were too few people here. Walking for a long stretch, they'd see barely anyone.

"Sensei, there are so few people in the Land of Rivers."

"It's too chaotic. Of course, people would leave to survive."

"Because there's no ninja village? But the daimyo has money to gather ninjas, right?"

Asuma was puzzled.

Kyōichi was silent for a moment, then said: "Because it's surrounded by too many big countries, and the region is relatively large. Even if there was a ninja village, it would barely survive."

"But the Land of Rain..."

Shisui thought of the country located between the three great nations.

Isn't the Land of Rain worse?

But.

During the Second Shinobi World War, the Land of Rain almost single-handedly faced three great nations and was momentarily unrivaled.

"The Land of Rain had Hanzo."

Kyōichi sighed.

Moreover.

Early on, Hanzo was incredibly powerful with his own idealistic pursuits. But after the Second Shinobi World War, Hanzo was also beaten down by the three great nations—

Hanzo was at his peak, seemingly victorious.

However.

The three great nations could recover in just a few years. What about the Land of Rain?

Except for the three anomalies of Yahiko, their education and medical systems were incomparable. Producing a second Hanzo would require a mutation.

This was the difference between large and small nations.

Hearing kyōichi's words, the three fell silent.

Over the years, they had always viewed things from Konoha's perspective, considering these ninja villages' war-mongering as despicable. But putting themselves in their shoes, if they were ninjas from a small village, they might be even more desperate than Hanzo.

A moment of silence.

Asuma, Shisui, and Kurenai seemed lost in thought.

But.

A voice rang out on kyōichi's side.

[Completed 'Sarutobi Asuma' thought guidance. He now views you as a life mentor.]

[Evaluation: Excellent]

[Reward: Flying Swallow]

Hm?

Asuma, you've finally repaid me!

Kyichi ran and claimed the reward.

Flying Swallow wasn't a knife, but Asuma's dual blade fist close combat technique, enhanced with wind release nature transformation, making the attack terrifying.

One could say.

This was Asuma's bread and butter!

Of course.

The current Asuma hadn't even completed his blade fists, so Flying Swallow was naturally out of the question.

Kyōichi comprehended it and felt great.

The technique itself was secondary.

Since Flying Swallow was paired with dual blade fists, it came with some dual-wielding weapon effects. Kyōichi could clearly feel his two hands were more agile than before.

Especially his left hand.

This was an enhancement many ninja techniques couldn't provide.

Just this point, he had profited.

Moreover.

Flying Swallow wasn't entirely a blade fist technique. It could also be used with sword techniques, just with slightly different methods.

"Looks like getting a second chakra blade is imminent."

Kyōichi, happy, couldn't help but sigh.

One wasn't enough!

After a moment of reflection, he glanced at Asuma.

The kid was deep in thought but quickly remembered the mission, shaking his head to clear his mind.

Kyōichi smiled.

Asuma had indeed grown a lot.

The previous Asuma, while not comparable to the young Naruto, was similar—a mischievous kid who would become the village's troublemaker. Otherwise, he wouldn't have later left the village over a minor conflict.

Now, he was clearly different.

All thanks to me!

Of course.

While sighing, he was secretly using chakra sensing to continuously explore the surroundings, searching for Minato's traces.

Finally...

"Found him! This way."

Kyōichi pointed the direction.

Asuma and Shisui were stunned, but Kurenai was unsurprised.

She followed Kyoichi's pace, complaining while running: "You don't actually think the sensei didn't sense anything and just let us wander around Shiragumo Town, right?"

"So..."

Shisui instantly understood.

sensei in Shiragumo Town had probably known the bandits' location long ago and was just testing them at the time.

No wonder he appeared so timely later.

"I remember! My father told me the Second Hokage had a sensing technique that could detect others' positions from far away, even sensing chakra strength."

"Stop talking nonsense. Keep up."

Kyōichi didn't deny it.

Anyway, he wasn't planning to hide it. If they guessed, they guessed. Now that his identity was recognized by Tsunade, he wasn't afraid of the village causing trouble. At worst, he'd do what Tsunade said and simply leave the village.

No big deal!