When Sasuke tied up the remaining enemy with a rope and casually tossed him in front of Kakashi, Sakura and Naruto finally snapped out of their daze.
They stared at the restrained and groaning ninja, their expressions frozen in shock.
"This... this guy… is..." Naruto stammered, but before he could finish, Kakashi crouched down to examine the captured enemy.
"This guy was probably after Mr. Tazuna," Kakashi said flatly. "A ninja."
"This is definitely not something covered under a C-rank mission!"
As he spoke, Kakashi cast a quick glance at Sasuke, whose calm demeanor was almost unnerving. Then he turned to Tazuna, who was visibly flustered.
Though Tazuna wasn't a ninja and knew little about the complexities of their abilities, even he could tell that this young Leaf ninja was exceptionally skilled. Two attackers had suddenly appeared, but Sasuke had dealt with them effortlessly, as if it were child's play.
The Leaf Village ninjas... They truly deserve their reputation as the strongest in the ninja world, Tazuna thought to himself in awe.
At that moment, Kakashi stood and walked toward Tazuna.
"I think I need a reasonable explanation, Mr. Tazuna," he said, his tone calm but firm.
But Kakashi's mind wasn't solely on Tazuna's story. Another pressing thought occupied him was this Sasuke's first time killing someone?
Looking at Naruto and Sakura, it was clear this was their first time facing enemy ninjas. Their reaction to the attack was a mixture of shock and panic. It wasn't fear exactly, but they were clearly overwhelmed by the situation, unprepared for the harsh reality of combat.
And Sasuke?
The moment the attack occurred, he had reacted instantly. Without hesitation, his actions were swift, decisive, and efficient. He perfectly executed a kill with a kunai, then disabled the remaining enemy by breaking their limbs to ensure they couldn't fight back. Afterward, he had tied the ninja securely to eliminate any chance of resistance.
This level of decisiveness, combined with such caution, was entirely uncharacteristic for someone of his age and experience.
Has Sasuke already fought real enemies before this? Kakashi wondered. And not just fought them… killed them?
While Kakashi's mind raced, Tazuna, clearly trying to compose himself, retorted nervously, "What do I need to explain? You accepted my mission, didn't you? Isn't this what you're supposed to handle?"
Dazna's words brought Kakashi back to his senses.
"Hmph! A standard C-rank mission doesn't include dealing with ninjas from other villages!"
"And those two ninjas were clearly targeting you. I have every reason to believe you misrepresented the mission's difficulty."
Dazna began to panic.
If these Konoha ninjas abandoned the mission, he'd be as good as dead.
And it wouldn't just be him Wave Country would face total ruin.
What followed was Dazna's tearful and heartfelt plea.
Naruto and the others listened with great interest, their sense of justice flaring up halfway through his story.
But Sasuke had no time to waste on the old man's rambling.
What did Wave Country's fate have to do with him?
Sasuke's focus was on the system interface that appeared in front of him.
[Congratulations, Host! First ninja kill achieved.]
[Keep up the good work! Reward: Enhanced Ninjutsu Power.]
[Reward: Amplifies the power of ninjutsu below A-rank tenfold. Chakra consumption and difficulty remain unchanged, with only the power increased.]
Seeing the system's description, Sasuke froze for a moment.
Enhanced Ninjutsu Power this reward wasn't bad at all!
Unfortunately, it only applied to ninjutsu below A-rank.
Such a reward might be useful now, but in the future, when every jutsu he used would be S-rank and fueled by Sage Chakra,
C-rank and B-rank jutsu wouldn't even be worth mentioning.
'Still, it's not bad.'
'Let's accept it.'
[Please select a ninjutsu to enhance.]
There wasn't much to think about. Since it only applied to jutsu below A-rank,
the natural choice was to enhance Fire Style: Dragon Fire Technique.
Sasuke had already reached an incredibly proficient level with this technique.
Not only was he able to use it effortlessly, but its chakra consumption was already low.
With Sasuke's chakra recovery speed, he could use the jutsu every ten seconds without any issue.
The only downside was that its power was slightly lacking.
If its power were amplified tenfold, it could easily rival an A-rank jutsu.
This would make it a low-cost, easily controlled A-rank jutsu capable of one-shotting most chunin and below.
Of course, particularly skilled chunin or genin would be a different story.
'Enhance Fire Style: Dragon Fire Technique!'
[Enhancing... Please wait.]
[Enhancement successful.]
[Would you like to give this ninjutsu a new name?]
A new name.
Sasuke furrowed his brows in thought.
Indeed, it deserved a new name. After all, its power now rivaled that of an A-rank jutsu.
'Then let's call it...'
'Fire Style: Explosive Dragon Flame!'
[Naming successful.]
In the next moment, Sasuke didn't feel much different, but he was eager to test the newly enhanced fire-style jutsu somewhere.
Unfortunately, since he was currently on a mission, disappearing for a while to experiment wasn't an option.
After finishing his own matters, Sasuke looked at Kakashi and the others, who were still engrossed in Dazna's account of Wave Country's plight.
Sasuke was starting to get impatient.
"Enough already!"
He abruptly interrupted.
Dazna wanted to continue speaking but didn't dare to. Seeing Sasuke's sharp tone, he worried Sasuke might be considering abandoning the mission.
He looked visibly distressed.
However, Sasuke turned to Kakashi and said, "If we abandon the mission, the village will be marked with a mission failure!
"Even if the difficulty is higher than expected, it's still only a B-rank mission at most.
"Kakashi-sensei, with you here, a B-rank mission shouldn't be that difficult, right?"
Upon hearing this, Dazna's eyes lit up, and he looked at Sasuke with hope.
Just as Dazna was feeling overjoyed, Sasuke turned to him and added, "As for the mission fee if you can't pay it now, you can settle it later, right?
"Oh, and don't forget the interest!"
Dazna's face fell instantly.
This kid... was he really that obsessed with money?
What was this about not having enough money and shamelessly asking others for help?
What a spoiled brat!
If he didn't have the money now, he wouldn't have it later either!
Originally, Kakashi hadn't intended to call off the mission. But with Sasuke's input, the decision was made.
"Your suggestion is reasonable. For now, we'll upgrade this mission to B-rank. As for the payment, the remaining balance will be settled by Wave Country later
"Plus interest."
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