Chapter 246: S-Rank Mission Reward

"Finally back," Obito said, looking up at the tall wooden walls of Konoha with a sigh.

Every time he went out on a mission, he realized how comfortable it was to sleep on a big, soft bed.

Obito felt he had discovered the essence of humanity: while training in Konoha, he wanted to go out on missions; while on missions, he wanted to finish quickly and go back. Maybe that's just how people are.

"I can't wait to start training," Might Guy said with an excited expression.

Having gone through the chaos of the battlefield, his combat ability had grown stronger, and he had also gained something from sparring with Dekkai. Might Guy couldn't wait to continue improving himself through training.

Kakashi, who had originally planned to take a day off to rest, couldn't sit still after hearing Might Guy's words.

If he rested, it would be like stopping while running, while Might Guy kept running.

"Teacher Muyue, will you go to the Southern Forest later?" Kakashi asked.

If Muyue went to the Southern Forest, he would train there too; if not, he would train at home until midnight.

"Mm, I will go. If you want to train, you can come, and I'll guide you as usual," Muyue said with a nod and a smile.

"Of course, if you want to rest, you can rest for a day and start training normally tomorrow."

Normally, after such a major incident, they should have been given an extra two days off, but Muyue had reduced the training intensity when they were at the camp due to location constraints, which practically counted as a few days of rest.

"Then I'll trouble you, Teacher Muyue," Kakashi said, confirming that Muyue would go to the Southern Forest, and prepared to head there for training.

Seeing that both of them immediately wanted to train hard as soon as they returned, Obito, whose only desire was to get his photos developed and tell Rin about the mission, felt out of place.

In the end, just as Obito had thought, Might Guy and Kakashi headed straight for the Southern Forest.

Obito could only sigh, split off a Shadow Clone to go to the main district of Konoha to develop the photos, while his main body also went to the Southern Forest to train.

If he came back together with them and didn't train, wouldn't that make him look the laziest?

…

After parting with his students, Muyue went directly to the Hokage Building and straight to the Hokage's office to report to Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Although Jiraiya had probably already sent back all the information, he still needed to report himself because it was his responsibility.

Knock, knock!

Muyue knocked on the wooden door of the Hokage's office.

"Come in," Hiruzen Sarutobi's voice came from inside the office.

Receiving Hiruzen Sarutobi's permission, Muyue opened the door and entered the Hokage's office.

Looking up and seeing it was Muyue, Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled. He took his pipe down, blew out a puff of white smoke, and said,

"Muyue, here to report on the mission?"

"Yes, Lord Third Hokage. On this mission, we encountered an unexpected situation. As soon as we arrived at the camp, we faced a large-scale attack by the Iwagakure ninja forces, and then…" Muyue began explaining the specifics of the mission.

"Muyue, I don't even know what to say about your squad. Every time I assign you a C-rank mission, something unexpected happens and you give me a surprise," Hiruzen Sarutobi joked.

Four consecutive C-rank missions gone awry, and the fourth one coinciding with the outbreak of a major war—no one else could manage that.

Hiruzen Sarutobi felt that if it weren't for Muyue's strong abilities, a different ordinary jonin leading the team might have resulted in heavy casualties.

"Maybe I'm just unlucky," Muyue said, making a self-deprecating remark.

He hadn't expected the fourth mission to turn out like this either; after all, he had been prepared to complete a straightforward C-rank mission, but it ended up being a big one.

"Perhaps Konoha is fortunate, having you encounter this battle just in time," Hiruzen Sarutobi said with a chuckle.

"Defeating Iwa's Explosion Release user Kari, and even using Water Release to block the Four-Tails Jinchuriki's attack during the fight with the jinchuriki—no wonder Danzo looked unhappy when I requested your transfer. It turns out he lost an elite operative."

When Jiraiya's report came back, Hiruzen Sarutobi was very surprised. He already knew Muyue was stronger than an average jonin from his previous missions where he killed jonin, but he hadn't expected Muyue to be that much stronger.

During these days of war with Iwagakure, the Explosion Release user Kari had been making a big name for himself, repeatedly defeating Konoha squads during skirmishes. Ordinary jonin were no match for him. Even as the war intensified, Kari continued to perform well, thanks to his proficient taijutsu, Explosion Release, and Harden Technique.

Although Minato and Jiraiya could handle him, they needed to deal with the more troublesome jinchuriki. Hiruzen Sarutobi had originally intended to send an elite squad to handle Kari, but he encountered Muyue on the battlefield and ended up in a life-or-death situation.

Although it was just a written description, Hiruzen Sarutobi could see Muyue's excellent performance in this war, and Jiraiya's personal letter to him further confirmed this.

Hiruzen Sarutobi rarely saw Jiraiya place such importance on someone, let alone send a special letter to remind him of Muyue's strength and potential.

"My current strength is largely thanks to Lord Danzo's efforts," Muyue acknowledged with a nod, acting like a proud Root elite.

He didn't like Danzo, but Danzo was quite good as a shield.

"You defeated Kari, killed many Iwa-nin, and rescued many village comrades. Your impact on the battlefield is enough to upgrade this mission to an S-rank mission." Hiruzen Sarutobi listed Mu Yue's achievements on this mission one by one.

This time was a bit different from before. Before, he had simply encountered enemy ninja during wartime while doing missions, then fought and killed them. This time, he had played a major role directly on the battlefield, so it was directly upgraded to the highest rank mission.

"In addition, the battle where you and Jiraiya's team repelled the Jinchuriki counts as a separate S-rank mission." Hiruzen Sarutobi continued.

This was requested by Jiraiya, because he felt that one S-rank mission wasn't enough for Mu Yue's great contribution; Mu Yue's performance in the battle against the Jinchuriki fully deserved an S-rank mission.

After reading the report, Hiruzen Sarutobi also felt there was no problem, but this S-rank mission was only for Mu Yue individually, not the whole team. The upgrade from C-rank to S-rank was for the whole team.

"For the supply transport mission, the original reward was 100,000 ryo, and the village adds an additional 1,150,000 ryo, totaling 1,250,000 ryo. The S-rank mission reward for repelling the Jinchuriki is 1,200,000 ryo." Hiruzen Sarutobi announced the rewards for Mu Yue's missions this time.

"Thank you very much, Lord Third Hokage." Mu Yue smiled and thanked him. The commission for S-rank missions was always over one million ryo.

However, this was the pre-tax amount. In Konoha, the more you earned, the higher the tax. If it were a team, the amount each member ended up with wouldn't be too exaggerated.

"In addition to the commission, you may choose any ten ninjutsu from the Ninjutsu Hall." Hiruzen Sarutobi continued.

The Ninjutsu Hall was where Konoha stored D-rank to A-rank ninjutsu. It contained most of Konoha's ninjutsu, but there were relatively few A-rank ninjutsu; most were B-rank and C-rank.

This was a reward Hiruzen Sarutobi specially gave considering Jiraiya's remark that Mu Yue's ninjutsu foundation was very strong.

If Mu Yue could truly quickly convert these rewards into combat power, then there would be more training in the future.

"Furthermore, I personally will teach you two additional ninjutsu: Water Style: Great Waterfall Technique and Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique." After saying that, Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled and stroked his small beard, looking like he had high hopes for Mu Yue.

The expression on Mu Yue's face was very complex. He seemed surprised that Hiruzen Sarutobi gave so many rewards at once, then showed deep gratitude.

"Lord Third Hokage, I will never forget your great kindness." Mu Yue said with a moved expression.

Although most of it was acting, it had to be said that Hiruzen Sarutobi was indeed generous this time: ten ninjutsu of his choice, plus two A-rank ninjutsu taught personally, one of which was developed by Hiruzen himself.

Mu Yue felt that if it were another native Konoha ninja, they might already feel like 'a scholar dies for his confidant' in their heart.

"As Hokage, watching you juniors grow up is the greatest reward for me." Hiruzen Sarutobi said with a kind smile.

Hearing these somewhat familiar words, for a moment he even suspected that Hiruzen Sarutobi might have a 'Konoha Prosperity System' where the more strong people in the village, the more rewards.

But he immediately dismissed this idea. If that were really the case, then Hiruzen Sarutobi should have dealt with Danzo long ago, and also won over and appeased the Uchiha.

That guy Danzo talked about being for Konoha, but only caused internal conflict without increasing overall strength; he could be called a cancer.

All kinds of thoughts flashed through his mind, but Mu Yue didn't think further. He continued to flatter along with Hiruzen Sarutobi's words.

Whether Konoha was strong or not was none of his concern. Mu Yue never cared about Konoha; he cared about his disciples, the students he had taught, and the friends who had helped him.

As a transmigrator who considered himself to have relatively correct values, he really didn't have much affection for Konoha, this military base, and his impression of this world was even worse.

Although productivity had already developed, feudal noble landlords were still flaunting their power over the people; it was simply absurd.

He couldn't change much alone now, but he believed that when he grew stronger, and when his disciples learned more knowledge and also grew strong, they should be able to make this terrible world a little better.

"If there are no unexpected situations, I am usually home after seven in the evening. If you want to ask questions, you can come to me between seven and eight." After handing the ninjutsu scroll to Mu Yue, Hiruzen Sarutobi said.

When he said he would teach extra, it naturally wouldn't be just giving the training method; he would teach personally.

"As for the Ninjutsu Hall, I will handle the procedures for you. Then you can go with the voucher to choose the ninjutsu."

"I will definitely train hard and never betray your expectations." Mu Yue said seriously.

He had obtained Shuriken Shadow Clone once before, but he would have to practice the Great Waterfall Technique himself.