The next day.
9:00 AM.
Seimei arrived on time in front of the Hokage Building.
Before he got close, Ryosuke's voice came from afar.
"Seimei, here!"
Seimei looked in the direction of the voice and immediately saw Ryosuke waving his arm and Mizutani Shizuko standing quietly beside him.
So, he walked over quickly.
"Seimei-kun."
Seeing Seimei approaching, Mizutani Shizuko whispered.
"Hmm, Shizuko."
Seimei nodded in response.
"Seimei, why are you arriving just on time again? Can't you come earlier?"
Ryosuke looked at Seimei, who was not in a hurry, and complained.
Seimei knew he meant no harm, so he casually replied, "You guys came early. Sensei said to gather at nine o'clock, and it's not nine o'clock yet."
"Sigh!"
Hearing this, Ryosuke sighed lightly and muttered, "You're always so mysterious, leaving as soon as the mission is done. I wonder what you're doing."
'What am I doing? Of course, I'm training.'
However, he knew this himself and didn't need to say it out loud.
Therefore, Seimei pretended not to hear his words and waited quietly for Furukawa's arrival.
During this time, he didn't forget to gather a small amount of chakra at the soles of his feet to gain proficiency in 'Chakra Control'.
Although this method wasn't as efficient as tree climbing and water walking, it could be done anytime and anywhere, so the progress was not bad.
Seimei estimated that in four or five days, he could upgrade it to lv3.
By then, he could save 15% of his chakra.
However, it would be more difficult to go further.
Seimei could already vaguely feel the limit of this proficiency gaining method.
After reaching lv3, simply gathering chakra at the soles of his feet would probably be difficult to accumulate proficiency anymore. Even if it was possible, the efficiency would probably be greatly reduced.
After that, he might have to find other methods to train.
As for the goal...
Seimei roughly had one in mind - the chakra threads used by puppeteers from Sunagakure to control puppets.
Condensing chakra into such thin threads and controlling them flexibly was definitely not a simple matter, and it required a high level of chakra control.
If he could obtain the corresponding training method, he could definitely increase the level of his 'Chakra Control'.
However, these were all things for the future.
At this stage, his main focus was still on awakening the Sharingan.
...
9:00 AM sharp.
A figure appeared silently.
It was none other than Furukawa.
"Sensei!" x3
Seeing the newcomer, Seimei and the others hurriedly greeted him.
"Hmm."
Furukawa nodded, his gaze sweeping over the soles of Seimei's feet, and then said, "Since everyone is here, let's go in."
With that, he walked towards the Hokage Building.
Seimei and the others quickly followed.
Passing through the gate, they came to a spacious hall.
Inside the hall was a circular wooden counter, behind which sat several Chunin, who were the staff responsible for reviewing and issuing missions.
Seimei and his group walked towards them.
On the way, Ryosuke asked boredly, "Furukawa-sensei, what mission are we taking this time? Picking up trash or babysitting?"
"No."
Furukawa said without turning his head, "We're taking a C-rank mission this time."
"What?"
Hearing this, not only Ryosuke was surprised, but even Seimei showed a bit of surprise.
You know, in Konoha, newly graduated Genin usually had to complete more than eight D-rank missions before they were allowed to take on C-rank missions.
This was also the minimum requirement for participating in the Chunin Exams.
Generally speaking, D-rank missions didn't involve combat and were mainly for rookie Genin to practice. They were basically trivial matters.
But when it came to C-rank missions, combat would be involved.
Although they wouldn't fight against other ninjas, there was a good chance of encountering bandits, mountain bandits, robbers, gangsters, and other such criminals.
Therefore, it wasn't absolutely safe.
In the past half month, they had only completed four missions in total, all of which were D-rank, and they didn't meet the requirements for taking on C-rank missions at all.
'It seems that Konoha wants to accelerate the growth of our batch.'
Almost instantly, Seimei came to this conclusion.
And this also added a bit of urgency to his好不容易平静的心,再次多了几分紧迫感.
Konoha indeed didn't send them directly to the battlefield, but they also didn't intend to train them step-by-step.
If he wasn't mistaken, it wouldn't be long before their batch would be sent to the battlefield.
"Great, we can finally leave the village."
Looking at Ryosuke, who was still excitedly shouting, Seimei didn't say much. He just quietly followed behind Furukawa.
Although the other party was his teammate, he didn't need to remind him of everything. The other party also needed to grow.
In front of the counter.
After some conversation with the staff, Furukawa got a scroll.
After opening it, there was a mission inside.
Mission: Bandit Suppression
Content: A group of bandits is entrenched on Mount Xiaohei, causing a significant impact on the merchant road below. They need to be eliminated as soon as possible.
Rank: C-rank
Requirements: Kill all the bandits.
Reward: 75,000 Ryo
'It's actually a direct combat mission. They really value actual combat ability, huh?'
After reading the content on the scroll, Seimei glanced at Furukawa and muttered to himself.
From the content of the survival exercise, it could be seen that compared to other teachers who focused more on students' character, Furukawa obviously valued actual ability more.
Even for C-rank missions, direct combat missions were obviously more difficult than escort missions.
After all, the former almost certainly involved combat, while the latter might be completed peacefully.
Bandits and robbers were also human and feared death. If they saw that the target had ninja protection, they might give up.
So there was a possibility of avoiding combat.
In this case, the newbie Genin performing the mission only needed to bear the psychological pressure and didn't need to actually fight.
On the contrary, direct combat missions were different. They required real fighting, and there would definitely be bloodshed.
Logically speaking, even when taking on C-rank missions, they should start with easier ones and gradually increase the difficulty, but Furukawa obviously didn't intend to do that. He started with the most difficult one right away.
This would inevitably put more pressure on the Genin.
Just like now, after reading the mission content, Ryosuke, who was excitedly shouting just now, immediately fell silent, and Mizutani Shizuko's face turned pale.
They were, after all, children around ten years old. Even though they had learned many killing techniques in the ninja academy, they still hesitated when it came to actually killing someone.
Not to mention them, even Seimei, an adult, couldn't help but feel a ripple in his heart after knowing what he was about to do.
As a young man who grew up in a peaceful era, Seimei had an instinctive awe of life.
Even after transmigrating and accepting the memories of his predecessor, his already formed worldview wasn't so easily broken.
However, he also knew clearly that in the ninja world, where human life was as cheap as grass, if he couldn't overcome the psychological barrier, only death awaited him.
For self-preservation, he could only let others die instead of himself.
Moreover, these bandits weren't good people either. Killing them was also eliminating harm for the people, so he didn't need to have too much of a psychological burden.
As if convincing himself, Seimei let out a light sigh, and his mood gradually calmed down.
Looking at the three who were silent, Furukawa didn't offer any comfort. He just instructed, "Go back and organize your equipment now. Gather at the village gate at ten o'clock tomorrow morning. Remember, don't be late."
With that, he used the Body Flicker Technique and left the hall.
Looking at Furukawa who had disappeared without a trace, Seimei withdrew his gaze and looked at his two bewildered teammates. He didn't offer any consolation either, just said "I'll go first" and left.
Looking at Seimei's back, Ryosuke raised his hand, wanting to say something, but in the end, he gave up.
(End of Chapter)