Several system notifications appeared but Daichi ignored all of them for the moment. His attention was on his new sensei.
"We'll start our duties bright and early tomorrow. So meet me in front of the Hokage tower at 7 am." Kakashi gave a small thumbs up and vanished in a puff of smoke.
Daichi was surprised at how things turned out for him. 'I thought the Hokage would pass me and put me on another team but this was completely unexpected. I haven't heard any instances of a 2 man Genin team before. It's normal for chunin and Jonin ninjas but definitely unheard of for Genin. This is certainly a unique situation... There's no way he would have created a team like this with ordinary Genins... I guess he must have taken my strength and abilities into account… I should go tell the old man the good news.'
Daichi left the training ground and went home. He looked at the notifications piled up and decided he would go through them once he reached his house.
Before long Daichi reached his home and saw Kensei waiting for him at the entrance.
"So I take it everything went well?" The old man asked with a smile.
"Yes. I'm a Genin. It seems the Hokage made a different decision when it came to me. He put me on a two man team with Kakashi Hatake. It was unexpected but I'm not complaining." Daichi replied with a wide smile on his face.
Kensei nodded and patted his grandson's head. "Looks like you get to be a Genin this year after all."
Daichi nodded. "Yeah. My first mission as a Genin begins tomorrow."
"Go get some rest. Tomorrow the next part of your Journey begins."
Daichi agreed and went upstairs to his room.
The smile on Kensei's face dimmed as he saw the disappearing figure of his grandson. 'A two man Genin team? Hiruzen wouldn't make a choice like this unless he had no other option. Apprenticeship is not rare and is given to special students on certain occasions. But even they must go through with being part of a 3 member squad for a while. So Hiruzen must believe that Danzo will go after Daichi again if he is held back…'
Meanwhile Daichi was in his room and decided to look over the notifications. He closed the door and started looking through the blue system boxes that were piled up to the side.
[You have become a Genin. Quest - Path to the strongest is complete.]
'Finally! That's one quest completed. 5 more to go.'
[Special Reward.]
A-Grade Item Blueprint (3/3).
[You have obtained a secret map that shows the location of a special A-Grade item. Map is now in your inventory.]
The boy was taken back with the reward. 'What the? So the blueprint was a map? I thought it would be some kind of method to make an item or something… Hmm… So this map is essentially a treasure map with a rare and powerful item at the end… I wonder what kind of Item I'll find?'
Daichi took out the map from his storage dimension.
[New location added to the Mini-Map]
Daichi opened the Mini Map and looked at the location marked on it. 'The Land of Snow… It looks like I'll have to visit that place sometime in the future.'
The gamer eyed the map in his hands for a few seconds.
'Observe'
[Map to the A-Grade Sword - Midnight.]
[This map was created by a great swordsman over 6 decades ago. He placed his treasured weapon in a secret location somewhere in the Land of Snow weeks before his death and left this map for a worthy warrior to one day find and claim his treasure.]
'So I'm looking for a sword huh. And based on the description I have a feeling it's going to be a special one.'
Daichi put the map back in his inventory and read the next message. He was absolutely surprised when he saw what it was. 'Wow. So it finally happened.'
[You have acquired a rank in the ninja world. You have reached a special condition. Special stat Dignity is opened.]
[You have unlocked a Special stat.]
[Reward: 500 Exp.]
[75 Exp.]
.
[You have unlocked all the Special stats.]
[Reward: 2500 Exp.]
[375 Exp.]
'So that's what was needed to open the dignity stat huh. I thought it was acquiring some kind of special title but I suppose this works too.'
[Quest - Get the Bells: Reward]
[5000 Exp.]
[750 Exp.]
'Wow. Over 9000 Exp. in total. That's not bad at all.'
[Your Class has now changed from Student to Genin. +3 Points to all stats.]
'A 3 point increase in all my stats? That's incredible. So if this happened when I became a Genin then there is a chance I'll get another stat boost when I become a chunin or Jonin ninja.
'Status'
[Name : Daichi Hekima] (The Gamer)
[Class : Genin - ID 012559.]
[Age : 12]
[Title : Capable Child, Explorer, Prodigy, Beast Slayer, Dungeon Warrior, Executioner, Assassin, Mighty Healer, Slug Sannin's Apprentice, Master of the Elements, A Genius of the Continent.]
[Level : 50 (22287/65800)]
.
HP : 19234
CP : 49181
SP : 19680
MP: 7175
.
[Primary Stats]
Strength - 255
Vitality - 260
Dexterity - 213
Agility - 259
Intelligence - 180
Chakra - 360
Wisdom - 177
.
[Special Stats]
Sense - 125
Stamina - 212
Indomitable - 32
Charisma - 57
Persistence - 32
Dignity - 4
Luck - 7
.
[Stat Points - 712]
[Ryo - 299720]
'Nice! Very nice. Just becoming Genin made me a lot stronger. And this is just the start.'
Seeing the increase in his stat points always made Daichi happy. Closing the blue boxes Daichi went to see his grandpa. He and Kensei spent the day relaxing at the house and exchanging stories during their time away from the village. Before long, night fell and Daichi headed up to his room.
'The man told me to come at 7am but I'm sure he'll be late. So should I arrive late as well? No. What if he comes early just to mess with me? If I'm not there and he's already arrived it might set a bad impression of me to everyone.'
Daichi let out a sigh and crossed his arms under his head. He looked at the ceiling and his mind went through several things as he laid in his bed. 'I wonder what Tsunade Sensei and Shizune Senpai are doing right now?... Probably running around gambling and drinking…'
Before long Daichi went to sleep. He had a big day tomorrow.
—-
The next morning Daichi arrived at the Hokage tower at exactly 7am. Since the quest path to the strongest was completed he didn't get any daily quests. But Daichi still woke up early and completed his morning workouts. It had become a habit for him.
He didn't see Kakashi anywhere near the location and sighed. 'God Damn it. Why did I even think he would be on time… I'll just wait for a while and if he still doesn't show up then I'll meditate.'
Daichi leaned on the building and waited for his sensei with his arms crossed. Almost half an hour went by and at that moment a random Jonin walked up to him.
"Hey kid. You need any help?" The man asked Daichi.
"No. Thank you. I'm just waiting for my sensei. It's my first day as a Genin you see." Daichi replied with a small smile.
"Ohh… Who's your sensei?"
"Kakashi Hatake."
At that the Jonin understood what was happening. He let out a small chuckle and looked at Daichi with sympathy. "Yeah… You better get comfortable, kid. You're gonna be here for a while."
Daichi nodded and decided not to waste anymore time and sat down on the ground. He began meditating and gathering chakra and redirecting them to the Strength of the hundred seal technique.
Even though he was in meditation Daichi was still vigilant of his surroundings. The people who were walking through the streets and going to the Hokage tower raised an eyebrow at the kid sitting near the entrance and meditating. But since he wasn't doing anything they didn't pay him much attention.
Time went by and Daichi was suddenly aware of the familiar chakra coming near him. He let out a breath and opened his eyes.
"Yo!" Kakashi raised his hand and greeted his only student.
"Sup!" Daichi gave an equally cheeky greeting to his sensei.
"You don't wanna know why I'm late?" Seeing Daichi's silent stare, Kakashi asked.
"Not really. No." Daichi kept a straight calm face as he replied.
Kakashi sweat dropped at that bland response. 'Half the fun of coming late is watching their reaction. But this kid… He's taking the fun out of it for me.'
"Come on. Let's go get your first mission." Kakashi sighed and led Daichi through the tower.
Daichi had a smirk as he walked behind the man. 'Haha. Take that. I'm not gonna give you the satisfaction you cyclops.'
Kakashi's eyes twitched as he had a feeling that Daichi was laughing behind his back. They soon reached the mission room where the Hokage and another chunin were waiting for them.
"It's the Leaf tradition for a Genin team to receive their first mission directly from the Hokage. Come on." Kakashi said to the boy.
Kakashi and Daichi entered the room and saw the Third Hokage and Daikoku sensei waiting for them.
"Lord Hokage." Kakashi gave a polite bow and nodded his head at the chunin.
Daichi followed his teacher's actions and greeted the Kage and his former academy teacher.
Hiruzen and Daikoku smiled as they looked at Daichi. Both having different yet similar thoughts about the boy. Hiruzen began and addressed Daichi's unique situation.
"Daichi, I'm sure you know that the usual make-up of a Genin squad is 3 students and a teacher, right."
"Yes Lord Hokage." Daichi nodded and kept a serious face as he looked at the man.
"I decided to forgo that arrangement and pass you because you are an extremely talented individual. And also because of your performance during Kakashi's test."
Even though the Hokage praised him, Daichi heard the unspoken words. Don't make me regret it. He replied with a confident smile to those unspoken words. "Thank you for your consideration, Lord Hokage. I won't let you down."
Hiruzen smiled and nodded his head. "Well then Daichi, are you ready for your first mission?"
"Yes sir."
Hiruzen took the scroll Daikoku handed him and looked it over. He kept a calm face but was laughing hard inside. He couldn't wait to see Daichi's reaction.
The kage looked over the document and spoke. "A flower merchant and his family will be traveling a few miles out of the village today."
Daichi was surprised at hearing that description. 'Don't tell me I'm already getting a C Rank. Is my first mission going to be an escort mission?'
Since Daichi was expecting a D Rank mission, this was a complete surprise and it excited him.
Hiruzen saw the excitement on the boy's face and kept a calm attitude. "Your first mission…"
Daichi slightly leaned forward in eagerness.
"Is to babysit their 1 year old son till they return to the village." The kage said with a calm face.
Daichi's expression fell flat, as if someone wiped the excitement off his face. "You're kidding me right?" The words came out of Daichi's mouth before he could stop them.
Hiruzen, Daikoku and Kakashi chuckled watching Daichi's reaction.
The kage felt nostalgic as he looked at the boy's face. 'He looks exactly like Jiraiya did when I told him of their first mission… Ahh… Messing with Genin like this… It's so much fun.'
Daichi looked at the smiling faces of the adults and quickly composed himself. 'Damn this old man. He got me excited thinking I could go out of the village again so soon only to pull out an UNO reverse card. He probably realized that I'm aware of D Rank missions and just wanted to screw with me… So that's why he worded it like that.'
Daichi sighed and looked at the third Hokage. "Well played Lord Hokage."
"Why, Thank you. Now here's the scroll." Hiruzen smiled and held the document in his hand.
Daichi took the scroll and went to stand by his sensei. At that moment a quest was created.
"Good luck."
Kakashi and Daichi bowed and they left the tower. And like that Daichi's first D Rank mission began.