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The daily missions continued as usual. For tasks with more people around, Naruto would wear his mask; for those with fewer people, he'd let loose and have some fun.
Currently, the bloodiest task was slaughtering pigs.
Aside from Sakura, who lost her appetite, the other two didn't react much.
Naruto had experience slaughtering pigs back in his rural days, and Sasuke… well, his entire family had been slaughtered, so it didn't faze him.
At ten in the morning, the team prepared to take on a new mission. Kakashi's definition of "morning" always started at ten.
As soon as they stepped out of the teleportation gate, Naruto spotted Team Eight—Hinata, Kiba, Shino—and, of course, the mature and striking Akane-sensei.
"Hinata!" Naruto removed his mask and flashed a sweet smile.
There was no helping it—he hadn't seen Hinata in several days and missed her dearly.
Without little Hinata, Naruto felt like he might die. That pretty much summed up his feelings.
"Naruto-kun!" The petite Hinata was equally delighted. After being split into different teams, both of them had been busy with missions and training under their respective teachers.
Unfortunately, Kakashi hadn't taught them anything—completely laissez-faire parenting. He was practically inhuman.
Naruto created a shadow clone to handle the remaining three members while he took Hinata's small hand and began teasing her playfully.
Having already eaten two packs of Akamaru's lunch, Kiba couldn't hold back any longer. Baring his teeth, he shouted, "Hey, Naruto! Did you even notice I'm here, you bastard?"
Even Shino, whose presence was practically nonexistent, pushed up his glasses and said, "Naruto, you should observe your surroundings more carefully. If you ask why, it's because a ninja…"
"Oh, you guys are here too."
"Damn it, you bastard—" Kiba growled.
"Quiet, Kiba," Akane warned softly.
The mission hall prohibited loud noises.
Akane glanced sideways at Naruto, trying hard not to laugh but maintaining her stern demeanor.
She couldn't help it—in her mind, Naruto was still the jinchūriki who had almost been mauled by dogs.
Naruto casually tossed two pieces of raw meat to Akamaru. He'd noticed earlier that Kiba had eaten Akamaru's lunch.
Meanwhile, Naruto's shadow clone brought the remaining three members through the teleportation gate.
"Good morning, Akane," Kakashi greeted lazily.
"Good morning, Kakashi-senpai."
The entire village knew that Kakashi's "morning" started at ten.
After exchanging pleasantries and gently holding Hinata's hand, Naruto learned that Akane-sensei, seeing her students' decent skills, intended to take on a slightly higher-level mission—something like dealing with wild beasts or bandits. With her supervision, nothing would go wrong.
However, Naruto wasn't ready for high-level missions yet. He feared the interference of the grand cosmic will. If he loudly demanded a higher-level mission, the Third Hokage would undoubtedly trigger the Wave Country arc, sending him off to face Zabuza. And frankly, Zabuza was way beyond his current capabilities.
Naruto planned to follow the standard progression of a typical fantasy novel: quietly develop his strength after crossing over, occasionally flexing his power to humiliate others, then showcasing his talents during the Chunin Exams (or sect tournament), catching the eye of a powerful mentor who would take him as a disciple.
That was the proper formula. Why did he have to run into someone as strong as Zabuza right after leaving the newbie village? Was this some kind of dragon-slaying quest?
Even reckless players didn't rush things like this.
Just as he was pondering, Naruto suddenly caught a whiff of alcohol and dried fish…
Then he saw a tipsy old man wobbling in. The man had a white towel draped around his neck, a white rope tied around his head, and small glasses perched on his nose. Leaning against the wall for support, he slurred, "Is this where you accept missions?"
Naruto's scalp tingled. Seriously, old man—you're so drunk you can barely stand. Why not come back tomorrow? You couldn't have picked a worse time. Are you doing this on purpose?
Naruto quickly stepped forward and said, "Yes, this is the place."
There was no helping it. Naruto was about to work his usual schemes again. Otherwise, this game wouldn't be playable.
He could already predict what would happen next.
This NPC old man would issue a mission.
Then Akane, who'd been fretting over which mission to choose, would see it—a perfect opportunity to leave the village and even travel abroad. An escort mission would train vigilance, and a C-rank mission carried minimal risk.
And then…
He and Asuma would be drinking side by side at a grave, drowning their sorrows.
"Old man, you're not from Konoha, are you?" Naruto asked.
"How did you know?" the old man replied. Though drunk, he wasn't completely oblivious yet.
"Well, you're carrying a backpack, which means you've either come from far away or are traveling a long distance. The label format on your sake bottle isn't from Fire Country, and with that smell of salted fish, it's clear you're from a coastal nation."
Naruto's deduction skills were in full swing. Knowing the outcome, he worked backward to piece together the process.
"You're drunk, yet you still came to issue a mission. That means you're in a hurry to leave, right?"
"The towel around your neck is for wiping sweat after heavy labor. At your age, you shouldn't still be doing such strenuous work unless your financial situation is poor."
"You're from a distant land, rushing to Konoha to issue a mission despite your hardships. It seems you're facing some serious family or work issues that require a ninja's assistance to resolve."
"So, old man, your mission is likely an escort combined with protection—either for your family or your work. Or perhaps both?"
Tazuna, who had been dozing off from the alcohol, suddenly snapped awake. He'd only said one sentence, yet this kid had guessed everything. Incredible.
"Oi, Naruto, what are you doing?" Sasuke asked. This was the first time he'd seen Naruto talk so much to a stranger. Something seemed off.
"I want to leave the village and see the outside world," Naruto replied.
[Leaving the village, huh? Seeing the outside world doesn't sound bad.] At this thought, Sasuke smirked devilishly, sending Sakura into a frenzy of heart-eyed admiration.
"Old man, what do you think of me?" Naruto turned to Tazuna and asked.
"What do you mean?" Tazuna hesitated, wary of revealing too much.
"How about assigning us to your mission? I consider myself pretty strong, and the guy next to me"—Naruto pointed at Sasuke—"is a bit weaker."
Missions could be assigned to specific individuals. In the original story, there was even a princess who specifically requested Sasuke because she found him so handsome. In this era, idol types really did have it easy.
"Hmph," Sasuke crossed his arms and looked away.
What's with the attitude? You can't even beat me.
Ignoring Sasuke, Naruto continued, "Moreover, we're genin, so the commission won't be expensive. Plus, we just graduated from the academy, and we have a jonin leading us. A jonin! Super strong!"
Tazuna was quite tempted. A jonin should be sufficient, and this kid…
In the end, under Naruto's persuasion, the mission was accepted, sparing Zabuza from being hunted down worldwide by a Nine-Tails jinchūriki and the Hokage's son.
As for the Third Hokage, Naruto gave him a meaningful look, letting him figure it out himself. The look said:
[Old man, if you don't want to collapse in front of everyone from a nosebleed-induced blood loss and end up hospitalized, you'd better let me leave the village.]
The Third understood the message. More importantly, he believed Kakashi could protect the two kids.
The mission was classified as a C-rank: escorting bridge builder Tazuna back home and ensuring the completion of the bridge.
On the surface, it was a C-rank mission. But Naruto knew better—it was at least an A+ mission. The "A" stood for Zabuza, and the "+" for Haku. Both were exceptionally strong opponents.
After bidding farewell to little Hinata, Naruto went back to prepare for Zabuza.
Truthfully, there wasn't much to prepare. He used mithril ingots to craft kunai. Each mithril ingot was slightly longer than a standard kunai, enough to grind one into shape.
Mithril was incredibly durable and hard, capable of withstanding Zabuza's massive cleaver. After all, it was sturdy enough to withstand the Nine-Tails' rage.
Unfortunately, the furnace in his sealing space had been damaged by the Nine-Tails, rendering it unusable. He couldn't retrieve it, so it remained stored away or dumped into a small pocket dimension as junk.
Without a second furnace or facilities capable of melting mithril, Naruto resorted to diamond processing techniques. Any material, no matter how hard—even diamonds—could be processed using diamond grinding methods.
Naruto used mithril to grind mithril. Each shadow clone worked on one piece, grinding out several kunai.
Though his warehouse contained two mithril pickaxes and axes purchased from shops, Naruto found them utterly embarrassing.
The next morning, Kakashi led Team Seven and Tazuna out of Konoha's gates.
By then, Naruto had crafted six mithril kunai. They weren't particularly sharp, but they were sturdy enough to block Zabuza's blade. If worse came to worst, he could always use the mithril pickaxe. It might look ridiculous, but it would get the job done.
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