Chapter 24: Setting Off
Ever since completing the last D-rank mission, Little Ai hadn't issued any new tasks.
During this period, Naruto had focused entirely on completing Konoha's missions and hadn't paid much attention to the system.
He hadn't expected that accepting this C-rank mission would activate it again.
The max-level Transformation Technique was one thing, but the 50,000 ryo reward was quite attractive.
After all, even a C-rank mission usually paid at most 50,000 ryo, and that had to be split among the four team members.
"It's getting late today. We still need to prepare. Is it okay if we set off tomorrow, Mr. Tazuna?" Kakashi asked after checking the time.
Tazuna glanced at the sky and nodded. "No problem."
Although he wanted to return home as soon as possible, he also understood the importance of safety.
If he didn't give these ninjas time to prepare and they were killed on the road by Gato's men, it would be over.
"Then we'll meet at the Konoha village gate at 7 AM tomorrow."
After setting the time with Tazuna, Kakashi turned to Team 7 and said, "Team 7, dismissed!"
"Wait a minute!"
Naruto interrupted. "We still haven't received the rewards for our two D-rank missions!"
"..."
The total reward for the two missions was 12,000 ryo, with Lady Shizumi's cat mission alone paying a whopping 10,000 ryo.
It was the highest-paying D-rank mission they had seen.
As expected of the Daimyo's wife. She really is generous!
...
The next morning,
Naruto arrived at the village gate on time and was slightly surprised to see that Kakashi and the others were already there.
"Hm? Kakashi, you actually didn't show up late?"
Kakashi: "..."
"I find it strange too. Kakashi-sensei didn't arrive late today. Did catching Tora mean there are no more cats to block your path?" Sakura teased along.
"That's enough, you two!"
Kakashi rolled his eyes. "Have you all prepared your things? We're leaving!"
"All ready, Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura replied.
Naruto gave an OK gesture.
Sasuke nodded.
"Very good."
Kakashi nodded, then turned to Tazuna. "Mr. Tazuna, any issues on your end?"
Tazuna shook his head and took a swig from his bottle. "I'm fine. Let's set off. I want to get back to the Land of Waves and finish building the bridge as soon as possible."
"Then let's leave early and try to reach the Land of Waves before nightfall!"
Kakashi looked up at the clear blue sky. The weather looked good — they probably wouldn't run into any unusual conditions.
...
"Um… Mr. Tazuna."
"What is it?"
"Your country is the Land of Waves, right?"
"Yes, why?"
"Does the Land of Waves have ninjas?"
"None," Kakashi answered in Tazuna's place. "Although most countries have different customs and cultures, nearly all of them have hidden villages and ninjas."
"For these countries, the hidden village serves as a form of military power. They also use their villages to establish diplomatic relations with other nations."
"The relationship between a country and its hidden village is close, but the village is not directly controlled by the country. They simply share the same stance."
"However, countries like the Land of Waves that have no hidden village do exist. There are many reasons, but mainly because they are small island nations far from the mainland and aren't easily influenced by other countries."
"That's also why they don't need ninjas."
"If they don't need ninjas, then why did Mr. Tazuna travel all the way to Konoha to hire us?" Sakura interrupted.
"Mr. Tazuna needs protection as an individual, but hidden villages aren't built according to the needs of a few people."
Kakashi glanced at Sakura and continued, "Establishing a hidden village requires massive financial support. Without the support of the Daimyo and wealthy merchants, a hidden village cannot operate long-term."
"Oh, I see~"
Sakura nodded, though she only half-understood.
She didn't know that, given the current prices in the shinobi world, simply doing missions couldn't sustain a village's finances.
Even if ninjas risked their lives on S-rank missions, the highest reward was usually between one million and ten million ryo.
And very few ninjas could complete such missions — they were elite existences in every village.
Moreover, danger wasn't limited to S-rank missions.
For jonin, A-rank missions already required extreme caution.
For chunin and below, B-rank missions were often life-or-death struggles.
Even lower-ranked missions could encounter unexpected dangers.
No hidden village could afford to trade lives for money.
After all, training a single ninja took a very long time — at least five or six years, sometimes more than ten.
Therefore, the finances of large villages like Konoha mostly relied on support from the Daimyo, wealthy merchants, and the major clans.
The rewards paid by clients were usually given entirely to the ninjas who completed the mission.
This policy not only won loyalty but also allowed Konoha to support more ninjas.
"Among all countries, the five major nations — the Land of Fire, Wind, Earth, Lightning, and Water — have the largest territories and strongest national power. They are known as the Five Great Shinobi Nations!"
Kakashi continued, "The strongest ninjas of Konoha in the Land of Fire, Kirigakure in the Land of Water, Sunagakure in the Land of Wind, Iwagakure in the Land of Earth, and Kumogakure in the Land of Lightning are called Kage. They stand above tens of thousands of ninjas."
"Eh? So the Hokage is that powerful?" Sakura said with an admiring expression, though she secretly doubted the Third Hokage's strength.
That skinny old man is really that strong?
"Don't underestimate the Hokage," Kakashi said, as if reading her mind. "Although the Third Hokage looks frail, he is undoubtedly Konoha's strongest ninja!"
"After all, he has mastered all of Konoha's ninjutsu and is known as the 'Professor of Ninjutsu'!"
"Mastered all of Konoha's ninjutsu? Professor of Ninjutsu?"
Listening to these impressive claims, Sakura gradually became convinced.
"Lies. Just listen to it. That old man doesn't know a lot of ninjutsu," Naruto said, lighting up a small laser on his fingertip. "He definitely doesn't know mine!"
"..."
"Kakashi-sensei?"
Sakura looked suspiciously at Kakashi, waiting for an explanation.
But Kakashi remained silent and simply kept walking.
Seeing this, Sakura understood that the legendary stories weren't entirely believable.
The Hokage might have mastered many ninjutsu, but claiming he knew all of Konoha's techniques was clearly impossible.
After all, he didn't even know Naruto's technique!
What kind of "Professor of Ninjutsu" was that?
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