Chapter 35: Leaving the Village on a Mission, Kakashi's Worry!
After Sakura finished speaking, Sasuke frowned and nodded with a grave look in his eyes.
Meanwhile, Naruto came over looking completely confused and asked, "What? What?"
"What explosion?"
Naruto had slept soundly last night. The explosion hadn't woken him at all.
Sakura glared at him.
Then she looked at Sasuke expectantly.
Even though Sasuke was usually cold and aloof, he really had noticed yesterday's explosion.
And the explosion last night had been anything but ordinary.
Sasuke had never seen such a terrifying blast before. For a moment, he had almost thought another village was attacking Konohagakure.
"I'm not sure, but even a Jonin couldn't have caused that explosion last night."
Sakura froze for a moment. She had only known that the huge explosion last night had made an enormous commotion.
She had never thought about it that deeply.
"Even a Jonin couldn't do it? Not even Kakashi-sensei?"
Sakura looked at Kakashi.
Naruto walked beside them, scratching at his head. He really wanted to chime in, but he had no idea what had happened last night.
Sasuke also looked at Kakashi.
Kakashi acted as if he hadn't noticed and said nothing.
"Kakashi-sensei, you should know about what happened last night, right? You couldn't do it either, could you?"
Under the gaze of Sasuke and the others, Kakashi shook his head. "I couldn't do it either. But last night's explosion was the village's relevant departments testing a new ninjutsu. There's no need for you to make wild guesses."
After hearing that, Sasuke fell into thought.
But he said nothing more.
He could tell that what Kakashi said probably wasn't true.
Still, this involved the village's upper ranks, and Sasuke had no intention of pressing further.
Seeing that even Sasuke didn't ask any more questions, Sakura also let it go.
Naruto still looked utterly baffled.
He had no idea what was going on.
The four of them arrived at the Hokage's office.
When he saw it was Kakashi's team, the Third Hokage looked at Kakashi.
Kakashi gave a slight nod.
Both of them knew what that meant.
The moment Naruto entered the Hokage's office, he ran up to the Third Hokage and complained, "Old man Hokage, stop giving us those annoying low-level missions already."
The Third Hokage looked at Naruto and sighed. "You're still only a rookie ninja who just graduated from the Ninja Academy. You're supposed to slowly build up experience through low-level missions."
"And you've only just become genin. At most, you can only take D-rank missions."
Naruto shook his head. "But those D-rank missions are way too boring. I want to do a higher-level mission."
Although the Third Hokage was right, Naruto truly didn't want to keep doing D-rank missions, so all he could do was act stubborn.
On the other side, although Sakura and Sasuke said nothing, their thoughts were actually the same as Naruto's.
They also didn't want to keep doing low-level missions anymore.
Kakashi, meanwhile, thought helplessly, I knew he'd start throwing a tantrum.
At that moment, he thought of Yoruha.
I wonder how that kid is doing now. His Chakra was drained dry yesterday, and he woke up after only one night of rest. I wonder if there'll be any aftereffects.
In that instant, Kakashi's mind had already drifted far away.
Seeing Naruto continue to wheedle and pester him, the Third Hokage had no choice.
He could only compromise. "Fine, I understand. I'll give you a C-rank mission."
Naruto, who had originally been sitting on the floor with his back to the Third Hokage, instantly jumped up when he heard that.
"Really? What mission is it?"
Looking at Naruto's eager expression, the Third Hokage smiled. "Protecting someone."
The moment he heard it was an escort mission, Naruto's imagination ran wild. "Protect who? A daimyō? Or a princess?"
Kakashi looked at Naruto's excited face and felt a little speechless.
How could protecting a daimyō possibly be only a C-rank mission?
Although Sasuke and Sakura weren't as wildly imaginative as Naruto, they were also very expectant.
They really didn't want to go back to missions like finding cats and catching dogs.
The Third Hokage didn't answer Naruto's question. Instead, he called toward the door, "Please come in."
At once, all four of them looked toward the entrance.
Not long after, the door opened.
An old man carrying a bottle of alcohol walked in, leaned against the doorway, and looked at the people in front of him.
He even took a swig before saying with obvious dissatisfaction, "Why is it just a bunch of brats? Especially that shortest one—he looks super stupid. Are you really a ninja?"
Hearing the old man's words, Naruto actually laughed and said, "Hahaha, who are you talking about? The shortest one, the stupidest-looking one..."
As he spoke, Sakura and Sasuke silently moved behind Naruto.
With that comparison, the smile on Naruto's face instantly froze.
"Bastard, who are you talking about? Who are you calling stupid? You old geezer, I'll kill you, you bastard—"
Naruto bared his teeth and claws and lunged forward, only to be pinned down by Kakashi beside him.
"You want to kill the person we're supposed to protect? Idiot."
Ignoring Naruto's yelling, the old man said, "I am the super famous bridge builder Tazuna, that's who."
"While I'm building the bridge, you'd better protect me properly."
Naruto disliked Tazuna very much. He crossed his arms resentfully and turned his head away, not wanting to look at him.
When Sakura and Sasuke heard it was an escort mission, and one that required leaving the village, they both felt a little excited.
This counted as their first real mission after officially becoming ninja.
But Kakashi frowned. "A mission that requires leaving the village?"
He was worried.
Not worried that doing a mission outside the village would be dangerous, but worried that Yoruha would be in danger if he wasn't in the village.
After all, who knew whether the Third Hokage would really keep the promise he made last night?
What if the Third Hokage used this mission to send him out of the village and then made a move against Yoruha?
Could Kihon Toichi stop it?
Obviously not.
Although Kihon Toichi was also a Jonin who came out of the Anbu, his standing in Konohagakure was nowhere near Kakashi's.
The Third Hokage valued Kakashi very highly.
And Kakashi truly was also the strongest Jonin in Konohagakure at present.
Tsunade and Jiraiya were not in the village.
And Guy, in his normal state, was absolutely no match for Kakashi either.
So among Konohagakure's Jonin, Kakashi was the only one the Third Hokage truly valued.
With Kakashi protecting Yoruha, the Third Hokage would keep his word.
But if Kakashi wasn't there, whether the Third Hokage would be pressured by people like Danzo into giving up on Yoruha was hard to say.
Seeing Kakashi's complicated expression, the Third Hokage knew what he was thinking.
So he said, "Kakashi, this mission is for Naruto and the others to have a good look outside the village and see more of the world. You are their teacher. This is your duty."
Kakashi frowned.
The Third Hokage was warning him.
Telling him not to forget his current responsibility.
But the more the Third Hokage acted like this, the more worried Kakashi became.
Naruto, standing to the side, heard the Third Hokage's words and grinned. "Hahaha, old man, I'm definitely going to complete this mission perfectly and show you just how awesome I am."
Kakashi said nothing.
Just as they were about to leave, Kakashi couldn't hold back anymore.
He looked at the Third Hokage and said, "Lord Hokage, since this mission requires us to leave the village, I want to bring Yoruha along on this mission."
"Jonin Kihon asked me that when I go out to carry out missions, I should take his student with me."