Chapter 196: Bird Summon

"I wonder what kind of enemy we'll run into this time. If it's a chūnin, that'd be perfect—I can finally show off my full strength." On the way to the Hokage building, Obito drifted off into a fantasy.

Obito at least had some self-awareness; he definitely couldn't beat a jōnin, but a chūnin he could try—after all, Kakashi was a chūnin too.

"What are you thinking? That last mission was a freak accident. C-rank missions don't involve ninja." Kakashi said in exasperation.

He had done plenty of C-rank missions, and the only time he'd ever encountered a ninja on one was that last mission.

"We ran into one last time, so why not this time?" Obito shot back immediately. He actually kind of wanted another accident like that to happen.

The total bounty for that last mission was eight hundred thousand. After paying taxes, Obito ended up with over a hundred thousand ryō as his share—he was thrilled, seeing that much money for the first time.

"The Academy graduation exam should add a theory requirement, to keep some clueless people from becoming ninja." Kakashi said flatly.

"So your theory is a little better—big deal. A ninja's real measure is strength. What does it matter if your theory is good? Guy's theory is about as bad as mine, and he still kicked you so hard you couldn't get up."

Hearing Kakashi's taunt, Obito instantly bristled like a cat and launched a furious counterattack.

If Kakashi had said Obito wasn't strong enough, Obito wouldn't have been that mad—who'd win in a fight was still up in the air. But Kakashi mocking his theory knowledge really got to him, because his theory really was poor.

Kakashi's face darkened a bit, but he knew this wasn't the time to dwell on it. He jabbed right at Obito's weak point—his theory.

Muyue didn't stop them. Letting Obito get under Kakashi's skin a bit was fine. And so, bickering all the way, they reached the Hokage building.

Since other teams were also there to pick up missions, Obito and Kakashi temporarily called a truce. Obito didn't want to embarrass Muyue, and Kakashi thought arguing would look foolish.

"I'd like to take a C-rank mission," Muyue said to the registrar ninja.

The registrar ninja quickly pulled out a scroll and unrolled it for Muyue to see.

Muyue noticed there were also war missions listed on the scroll.

Unless the situation was particularly dire, Konoha generally didn't forcibly assign large numbers of ninja to the battlefield. Some less important missions were posted in the village for teams to pick up freely.

Of course, important war missions were still assigned to jōnin by the higher-ups.

But when ordinary available missions were mixed in with war missions, Muyue knew the war was gradually entering its next phase.

Actually, he had known since Jiraiya came to visit him at home.

Jiraiya traveled the shinobi world and rarely returned to Konoha, and yet here he was.

However, based on the original plot, Muyue judged it was still far from the most intense period. There was still a good while before the four great ninja villages would gang up on them—after all, Obito hadn't even graduated yet, and it would be over three more years before Kakashi became a jōnin.

According to the original timeline, this should be the start of Obito's third semester.

"Jōnin Muyue, although you're allowed to take C-rank missions, two members of your team are still trainees. According to regulations, you are not permitted to accept war missions," the registrar ninja said.

There were also war missions among D-rank missions. To prevent some irresponsible teacher from taking students to the battlefield and causing an accident, Hiruzen Sarutobi had banned teams with trainees from accepting war missions.

"Mm, I understand." Muyue nodded. He hadn't planned to take a war mission anyway—what if they ran into a jinchūriki, or the Tsuchikage or Raikage? That would be troublesome.

He only wanted to spar with future Kage candidates who hadn't fully matured yet. The current Kage were a no-go.

The Third Hokage, the Third Tsuchikage, and the Third Raikage—none of them was simple. The Third Hokage went without saying; he had seen his stat sheet. The Third Raikage was ridiculously durable, able to withstand even a Rasenshuriken. The Third Tsuchikage's Dust Release was also extremely powerful, plus he could fly.

"Hey, what mission can't we take?" Somewhat rebellious, Obito overheard that there was a mission they weren't allowed to take, so he immediately stuck his head in to look.

*Smack! *

Without even looking, Muyue smacked Obito on the head.

"Did you actually develop a jutsu just for hitting me, Muyue-sensei? That was so accurate?" Staring at Muyue, who was still reading the mission scroll but had precisely hit him on the forehead, Obito asked in shock.

"Because I have good eyesight," Muyue replied with a smile, then continued reading the mission scroll.

Excluding war missions, the C-rank missions were the same old things: driving off wild beasts, dealing with bandits, or escorting clients or documents.

It wasn't that clients didn't want to post other types of missions, but anything higher would require more money and become a B-rank mission, which was beyond what Muyue's team could take.

Muyue carefully read through the missions. More than the content, he focused on the location. He immediately ruled out the Land of Grass—Konoha and Iwa were likely to have a major battle there.

After looking back and forth, Muyue finally picked a mission in the Land of Rivers: driving off a wild beast.

The mission description told of a giant black eagle that frequently harassed the residents of a town called Kawakita in the mission area, eating the livestock the locals raised as if it were an all-you-can-eat buffet. Chickens, ducks, geese, and even pigs couldn't escape the black eagle's talons.

Muyue figured this black eagle was at least a summon beast—grabbing and eating a domestic pig took some serious strength.

Muyue also checked the mission posting time. It was a new mission just posted last night.

"Just take this mission." Mu Yue pointed at the mission to drive away beasts in the Country of Rivers.

If something goes wrong, it'll be extra money; if nothing goes wrong, we can also test the reward for a normal C‑rank mission. If all goes well, we might even get a bird summoning beast.

Few in the shinobi world can fly, so having a bird summoning beast would make it more convenient when fleeing if we can't win.

"Let me see, let me see." As Mu Yue walked out of the mission hall, Obito peeked over to look at the mission.

"Hey, it's not the country from last time."

Obito's voice seemed a bit disappointed.

"What, you like the Country of Fields?" Mu Yue put away the mission slip and asked.

"Hehe, not really, just that the chances of encountering enemies there are higher." Obito chuckled in reply.

Mu Yue was a bit unsure how to respond—he had been treating the Kumogakure shinobi like respawning small monsters.

But this time, Obito was right; the chance of meeting enemies in the Country of Fields was indeed greater.

Losing an elite squad—if it were on a frontline battlefield, that would be one thing; even the Raikage might die on the battlefield, let alone jōnin. But an elite squad disappearing directly due to an unexpected incident like this—Kumogakure would definitely send someone to investigate.

If not for the giant eagle in the Country of Rivers this time, Mu Yue would likely have specifically asked if there were any missions in the Country of Fields.

After all, it can't be that the Third Raikage himself would come to investigate.

There will be more later, but it will be quite late.