The next day.
At 9 AM.
Qingming arrived promptly in front of the Hokage building.
Before he could get close, Ryōji's voice rang out from a distance.
"Qingming, over here!"
Looking toward the sound, Qingming quickly spotted Ryōji waving his arms and Mizutani Seiko quietly standing beside him.
He hurried over.
"Qingming-kun," Mizutani Seiko greeted softly upon his arrival.
"Mm, Seiko," Qingming nodded in response.
"Why do you always arrive just in time? Can't you come a little earlier?" Ryōji complained, looking at Qingming, who seemed unbothered.
Knowing he meant no harm, Qingming casually replied, "You all arrived too early. The teacher said to meet at nine, and it's not even nine yet."
"Ugh!"
Ryōji sighed and muttered in exasperation, "Always so mysterious. He finishes a task and just disappears without telling us what he's doing."
What's he doing? Of course, it's training.
But Qingming thought it unnecessary to share this information, so he pretended not to hear Ryōji and quietly waited for Furukawa to arrive.
In the meantime, he didn't forget to gather a small amount of Chakra beneath his feet to brush up on his 'Chakra Control' proficiency.
Though this method wasn't as efficient as tree climbing or water walking, it could be done anytime and anywhere, allowing for decent progress.
Qingming estimated that in four or five days, he would be able to level it up to lv3.
By then, he could save 15% of his Chakra.
However, going beyond that would be quite difficult.
Qingming had already sensed the limits of this proficiency-boosting method.
Once he reached lv3, simply gathering Chakra at his feet would likely no longer accumulate proficiency. Even if it did, the efficiency would probably decrease significantly.
Afterward, he would need to find other ways to train.
As for his goal, Qingming had a general idea: the Chakra strings used by the puppet masters of Sunagakure.
Condensing Chakra into such fine strings and manipulating them flexibly was no simple task, requiring considerable Chakra control.
If he could find the right training methods, it would surely enhance his 'Chakra Control' level.
But those were future concerns.
For now, the focus was still on awakening his Sharingan.
At exactly 9 AM.
A figure appeared silently.
It was none other than Furukawa.
"Teacher!" ×3
Seeing him, Qingming and his companions quickly greeted him.
"Mm."
Furukawa nodded, his gaze sweeping over Qingming's feet before he spoke, "Since you're all here, let's go inside."
With that, he walked toward the Hokage building.
Qingming and the others hurried to follow.
They passed through the doors and arrived in a spacious hall.
Inside the hall were wooden counters arranged in a circle, behind which sat several Chūnin responsible for reviewing and assigning missions.
The group approached the counters.
Along the way, Ryōji, feeling bored, asked, "Teacher, what mission are we taking this time? Picking up trash or babysitting?"
"No."
Without looking back, Furukawa replied, "We're taking a C-rank mission this time."
"What?"
Hearing this, not just Ryōji but even Qingming showed signs of surprise.
It was well-known that newly graduated genin in Konoha typically 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 to participate in the Chūnin Exams.
Generally speaking, D-rank missions did not involve combat and were mainly meant for novice genin to practice, consisting mostly of trivial tasks.
Once they reached C-rank missions, combat would be involved.
Although they wouldn't typically engage in battles with other ninjas, there was a considerable chance they would encounter bandits, mountain thieves, robbers, or other such scoundrels.
Thus, it wasn't entirely safe.
In the past half month, they had only completed four missions, all of which were D-rank, clearly not meeting the requirements for a C-rank mission.
Looks like Konoha wants to accelerate the growth of our group.
In an instant, Qingming came to this conclusion.
This also added a sense of urgency to his previously calm mindset.
Konoha clearly wasn't sending them directly to the battlefield, but they weren't going to cultivate them step by step either.
If he wasn't mistaken, it wouldn't be long before their group would be sent to the battlefield.
"Great! We can finally leave the village!"
Ryōji exclaimed excitedly, still caught up in his enthusiasm.
Not wanting to say too much, Qingming quietly followed behind Furukawa.
Though Ryōji was his companion, he didn't need to remind him of everything; Ryōji needed to grow as well.
At the counter.
After a brief conversation with the staff, Furukawa received a scroll.
He opened it to reveal the task inside.
Mission: Eliminate Bandits
Content: A group of bandits is occupying the Little Black Mountain, greatly affecting the trade route below. They must be eliminated quickly.
Rank: C-rank
Requirements: Kill all bandits.
Reward: 75,000 ryo
So it's a direct combat mission. They really place more importance on practical abilities.
After reading the content of the scroll, Qingming glanced at Furukawa, pondering in his heart.
It was evident from the content of the survival exercises that Furukawa, compared to other teachers who focused more on character building, was clearly more concerned with actual abilities.
Among C-rank missions, direct combat missions were significantly more challenging than escort missions.
After all, the former almost guaranteed that a fight would occur, while the latter might allow for a peaceful resolution.
In such cases, inexperienced genin only had to bear psychological pressure without needing to engage in real combat.
In contrast, direct combat missions meant genuine fighting, and bloodshed was inevitable.
Logically, one would expect that even when accepting C-rank missions, it would be better to start easy and then progress to more difficult ones, but Furukawa clearly had no such intention, jumping straight to the hardest one.
This would inevitably place more pressure on the genin.
Just like now, after reading the mission details, Ryōji, who had been excitedly shouting a moment ago, suddenly fell silent, while Mizutani Seiko beside him turned pale.
After all, they were just ten-year-olds. Even though they had learned many killing techniques at the Ninja Academy, the prospect of actually having to kill made them hesitant.
Not to mention them; even Qingming, an adult, felt a ripple in his heart upon realizing what they were about to do.
Growing up in a time of peace, Qingming had an instinctive respect for life.
Even though he had traveled here and absorbed the memories of his former self, the deeply ingrained worldview was not easily broken.
However, he also understood that in the Shinobi world, where human life was cheap, if he could not overcome his mental barriers, the only thing awaiting him was death.
To survive, one must prioritize their own life over others.
Moreover, these bandits were not benevolent beings; killing them would also relieve the people of their suffering, so he didn't need to feel too much psychological burden.
Seemingly convincing himself, Qingming let out a deep breath, and his emotions gradually calmed down.
Seeing the three of them silent, Furukawa did not offer any words of comfort. Instead, he ordered, "Now go back and organize your gear. We will meet at the village gate at 10 AM tomorrow. Remember, don't be late."
With that, he performed a Body Flicker Technique and disappeared from the hall.
Watching Furukawa vanish, Qingming withdrew his gaze and looked at his two bewildered companions. He also chose not to say anything to comfort them, simply saying, "I'll head back first," before turning to leave.
Seeing Qingming's back, Ryōji raised his hand, wanting to say something, but the words got stuck in his throat, and he ultimately gave up.
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