Early the next morning, Orochimaru, fully equipped and prepared, made his way to the Hokage's office. As the newly appointed leader of his team, he was now responsible for taking on missions on behalf of his squad.
Being disciples of Hiruzen, the three of them Orochimaru, Tsunade, and Jiraiya had a lot of leeway when it came to missions.
Their missions weren't mandatory. Orochimaru and his team would first be asked if they were available. If they wanted to take the mission, they could. If not, there was no pressure. In essence, their participation in missions was dependent on their own mood and availability.
The reasons were clear. First, they were the Hokage's disciples, so naturally, they were given preferential treatment. But secondly, and more importantly, Orochimaru wasn't just any ninja he was also one of the key researchers in Konoha's scientific development efforts. Konoha had many skilled ninja, but not many could contribute to scientific research like Orochimaru. So, the village gave him freedom in mission choices to allow him to focus on more important projects.
Because of this, Jiraiya and Tsunade also benefitted from this leniency, following Orochimaru's lead in choosing tasks.
When Orochimaru entered the office, Hiruzen looked a bit surprised to see him.
"You've just been appointed captain, and already you're eager to get started on missions?" Sarutobi asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I'm tired of staying in the village and want to go out for a bit," Orochimaru replied casually.
Although Orochimaru had a clear training plan, progress was slow. He knew that he was still too young to fully execute his long-term goals. If he wanted to win Danzo's trust and delve deeper into more controversial experiments, he needed to first master advanced techniques like cell transplantation. However, his research on cultivating cells was still in the early stages, and it would take time before any real progress was made. In the meantime, Orochimaru figured it would be good to familiarize himself with the world outside Konoha.
Hearing this, Hiruzen chuckled softly. "It's true. What you need most now is real-world training. So, what kind of mission would you like to take on?"
See? This was the treatment a Hokage's disciple received not only could they choose their missions, they were even asked what type of mission they preferred.
"The mission level should be as high as possible," Orochimaru said in a calm tone.
Although the three of them were still officially genin, their strength had far surpassed that rank. While they weren't yet ready for S-rank missions, B-rank missions were well within their capabilities.
Hiruzen nodded thoughtfully. He knew his three students were progressing quickly, and giving them more advanced missions was the logical next step. However, as their teacher, he still had to consider their safety. After some deliberation, Hiruzen selected a relatively safe yet challenging B-rank mission escorting a caravan to the Land of Rice Fields.
The journey might involve some danger, but the enemies they'd encounter were unlikely to exceed chūnin level. This mission would give them some real-world experience without posing excessive risk.
Orochimaru accepted the mission scroll, but before he could leave, the door burst open, and Jiraiya came charging in.
"Orochimaru! Orochimaru! Did you get an S-rank mission? Did you?!" Jiraiya shouted excitedly, practically bouncing with enthusiasm. Behind him, Tsunade followed, her face covered with exasperated black lines.
Tsunade sighed and shook her head, pointing at Jiraiya as she spoke. "I told him no, but he insisted on coming anyway. Now he's convinced we're about to take on an S-rank mission."
"S-rank? Hahaha!" Hiruzen couldn't help but laugh. "Jiraiya, genin aren't allowed to accept S-rank missions."
"Seriously?" Jiraiya groaned in frustration. "All these missions lately have been so boring. Can't we take on something more exciting?"
Despite being repeatedly knocked down in both training and life, Jiraiya's enthusiasm never seemed to wane. He was always ready for the next challenge.
Orochimaru raised the mission scroll in his hand and said, "There's no S-rank mission, but we did get a B-rank mission. Let's go."
"B-rank?" Jiraiya froze for a moment, then broke out into a wide grin. "That's awesome! B-rank missions are usually reserved for chūnin! We're finally getting some real action!"
For a genin to be assigned a B-rank mission without a jōnin guide was rare. This alone proved that the Third Hokage recognized the strength and potential of his students. Of course, it also helped that they were Hokage's disciples.
Ignoring Jiraiya's excited babbling, Orochimaru turned on his heel and headed for the door, clutching the mission scroll. Their mission was simple head south of Konoha, where a caravan awaited their escort to the Land of Rice Fields.
---
As they left the Hokage's office and passed by the training grounds, Jiraiya suddenly stopped and pointed, shouting, "Orochimaru! Tsunade! Look over there!"
Curious, Orochimaru and Tsunade followed Jiraiya's gaze to see a group of boys, about their age, sparring. But one of the boys stood out a white-haired boy wielding a short sword. He was incredibly skilled, effortlessly holding his ground against three opponents at once.
"That guy… he's really strong!" Tsunade exclaimed, her eyes wide with surprise.
Tsunade was a fierce fighter herself, and aside from Orochimaru, she had rarely encountered an opponent who could match her strength. But this boy was something else entirely. He was fighting three-on-one, and from the looks of it, he wasn't even breaking a sweat.
She glanced sideways at Orochimaru, wondering if even he could handle three opponents with such ease.
"Hatake Sakumo," Orochimaru murmured, narrowing his eyes as he watched the boy. "I almost forgot about him."