The daily life of a genin consisted of picking up garbage, babysitting, farming, or looking for lost pets.
As complete rookies, the missions they received were almost always D-rank.
By the time they took on their tenth D-rank mission, the Second Young Master of Konoha had had enough.
"No more! I'm not doing these boring missions anymore!" Asuma was throwing a tantrum in the mission hall of the Hokage Building—just short of flailing on the floor and wailing.
Yuhi Shinku looked on helplessly. Nearby, Kurenai and Asakawa Kiyosuke quietly exchanged a thumbs-up behind his back.
They also found the trash-picking lifestyle unbearably dull. A ninja's life was supposed to be exciting—not this monotonous routine.
"You three just graduated not long ago. You're still genin. Taking on higher-ranked missions right now isn't appropriate," Shinku said, trying to calm them. He knew how impatient kids could be.
Hiruzen Sarutobi met his son's stubborn gaze and sighed, feeling a twinge of guilt. As Hokage, his duty was to the village. It left little time for his family.
"Since you've done well on your previous missions," Hiruzen said, "I'll make an exception this time and assign you a C-rank mission."
The three kids cheered loudly.
Hiruzen unrolled a C-rank mission scroll and picked one that would challenge them a bit.
"There's a group of bandits holed up in Mount Sumin, twenty-five kilometers southeast of the village. They've kidnapped the client's son. The mission is to wipe them out completely and rescue the hostage. What do you think? Want to take it?"
Wipe them out? As in, not a single one left?
Now that was more like it.
Shinku looked over at his three students.
"We'll take this mission."
"Yes! Finally, something with a bit of excitement!" Asuma shouted, jumping up. Kurenai was clearly excited too. Asakawa Kiyosuke furrowed his brows for a moment before his expression relaxed, as if convincing himself internally.
Hiruzen watched them go, nodding slightly as the four left the mission hall.
...
Once everyone had packed their gear, Shinku led the team toward their destination.
As they traveled, he briefed them.
"The bandits number between fifty and seventy. Maybe more. The client wants all of them eliminated—don't let a single one escape. And above all, make sure the hostage is rescued safely."
Kiyosuke asked, "Do we have a visual on the hostage?"
Shinku took out a drawing. It depicted a young boy, probably about their age.
"Memorize his face. He must not be harmed. Once he's safe, you are to eliminate every last bandit. That's the mission."
"A whole gang of people, and it's still only a C-rank mission?" Kiyosuke muttered, shaking his head. Life really wasn't worth much in this world. Still, he knew that as a ninja, he had to be mentally prepared to kill for a mission.
It was just part of the job.
...
The four of them traveled quickly and reached their destination by the afternoon. After gathering intel from the client, they made their way toward Mount Sumin.
By dusk, they were hidden in the trees, observing the bandits below.
The mountain stronghold was noisy and rowdy. Bandits laughed and joked, chugged liquor, tore into grilled meat—it was a life of indulgence.
Meanwhile, the four of them stayed hidden, quietly chewing bitter ration pills.
Shinku spoke, "Unless your lives are in danger, I won't be stepping in. Kiyosuke, you'll come up with the plan. Remember—the mission is full extermination. Got it?"
"Yes."
And with that, Shinku vanished.
Kiyosuke spoke next. "Alright. I'll take out the bandit leader. Asuma, you and Kurenai sneak in and rescue the hostage. Once he's safe, I'll disguise myself as their boss and summon all the bandits together. That's when you two rush back and we wipe them out in one swoop."
"I object. I want to take down the boss," Asuma raised his hand.
"Oh? In that case, I guess I'll go with Kurenai~" Kiyosuke's voice stretched with amusement.
Kurenai nodded. "No objections here." She specialized in genjutsu—direct combat wasn't her strength anyway.
Asuma glanced at her, then suddenly said,
"I'll go with Kurenai to get the hostage. You go take care of the boss. Just make it quick."
"Tch. Got it. We move at nightfall."
"Okay."
...
As darkness fell, the trio split up.
The bandits lived in a rough, poorly disciplined camp, making it easy for trained ninjas to sneak in. Almost too easy.
Under cover of night, the three silently captured a lone bandit.
Kurenai immediately cast a genjutsu on him and got the information they needed—the hostage's location and where the bandit boss stayed.
Then, Kiyosuke pulled out a kunai, covered the man's mouth, and slashed his throat.
"Whoa, Kiyosuke, you—" Asuma's face went pale.
Kiyosuke's face was just as pale. He even looked a little sick. But he forced himself to speak.
"We have to learn how to do this. Hokage-sama gave us this mission to make us shed blood. Otherwise, why else would we be handed a C-rank mission like this? All the way here, Shinku-sensei left everything to us—you both saw that, right?"
Killing was routine for ninjas. Sooner or later, they had to learn.
The Third Hokage wanted to sharpen them. And only through fire and blood would they shine.
"I know. It's just…" Asuma lowered his head. "Even so…"
"We're ninjas."
Kiyosuke stood, still pale, and dragged the body into the bushes. He said softly,
"Don't forget the rules."
The mission comes before everything.
Kurenai and Asuma got up. They were still shaking, but they quickly regained their focus.
"We'll leave the rest to you, then."
And with that, they melted into the shadows.
...
Kiyosuke exhaled slowly, the nausea rising in his throat again. He swallowed it down, forcing himself to stay upright. His legs were shaking.
"Damn… Can't let those two outdo me."
Still, he was impressed. They'd bounced back so fast. That was what it meant to be a ninja.
He had to move forward too. He'd chosen this path. No turning back now.
Clenching his teeth, he slapped himself across the face, shook off the fear, and began approaching the building where the bandit leader lived.
It wasn't hard to find. The boss had the best place in camp.
The only two-story wooden cabin.
Kiyosuke moved in without a sound. From inside, he could hear drunken laughter and flirting.
Carefully, he lifted a roof tile and peeked down through the gap.
The bandit boss—bald, burly—was drinking and fondling a woman in her thirties with a curvy body but plain features. They were eating and drinking without a care in the world.
"Go bite them."
The little white snake on Kiyosuke's wrist slithered across the rooftop, then silently dropped into the room.
Inside, the man and woman were still laughing when the snake struck—biting down hard on the boss's foot.
Drunk and dulled, the man didn't even notice the pain. He kept groping the woman and chuckling, unaware that death had already come knocking.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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