Naruto: I'm Not a Pokémon

Chapter 21 C-rank mission

Three days have passed since the reorganization of Team Ao.

Apart from occasional instruction during these three days, Ao only led the three kids to complete four of the simplest D-rank tasks.

It was also to take care of the two people, Mirukawa Kaito and Momochi Zabuza, who had just become Genin. Through this simplest task, the two of them were familiar with the process of ninjas receiving and executing tasks.

Ninja missions are divided into five ranks: D~S:

D-rank tasks are usually the simplest tasks that do not require combat, such as taking care of pets, fishing, and farming.

C-rank missions are slightly more difficult, meaning you may get hurt while performing the mission. However, they usually face ordinary people, such as capturing wild animals and eliminating bandits.

B-rank missions are more dangerous and may involve fighting with hostile ninjas. You need to be a Chūnin or above to accept them. The missions may even include dangerous activities such as assassinating ninjas and undercover spies.

As for A-rank and S-rank missions, they can only be undertaken by Jōnin. These two types of missions often involve crises and secrets of the ninja village or the country, and require facing high-rank combat forces from other countries or even destroying the entire ninja unit.

Although the team leader Ao is a Jōnin, in a newly formed team like this, the Jōnin usually plays a more guiding role and will not participate in the mission.

Therefore, the team still accepts missions according to the combat power standards of three Genin, and accepts D-rank and C-rank missions.

Ao was happy to see his disciples busying around, and to have a veteran like Terumi Mei, who had graduated a year ago, to guide them, while he could just sit back and do some fishing and earn money.

However, since the Kirigakure Village is different from Konohagakure Village, the D-rank missions themselves are not taken seriously by the village. In addition, due to the recent pre-war preparations, the number of such missions is even rarer.

So Ao agreed and took on a C-rank mission today for everyone to practice.

Kaito felt good about this, as it was just as he had guessed before. The official mission issued by the Ninja Village was indeed approved by the system.

In the four D-rank tasks in the past two days, he got 5 gold coins for each one. This is equivalent to gaining a new channel for gold coins in addition to daily tasks and achievements.

Just in time today, he can find out how much gold coin rewards there are for C-rank tasks.

After picking and choosing, the four of them left the mission center.

After walking out of the Mizukage Building, Mei still complained somewhat indignantly.

"Ao-sensei, are you trying to make things difficult for us by choosing a mission like 'rescue a child kidnapped by pirates'? It would be better to choose the previous one, which was to capture a pregnant tiger shark for the nobles of the Land of Water."

Ao was also a little embarrassed about this.

But it's no wonder that Mei felt that the mission was bad. This mission was issued by villagers in a remote area on the border of the Land of Water.

The low reward for the mission is only one aspect. At the same time, since the villagers themselves have no intelligence capabilities, they only provide basic information such as a certain pirate near a certain sea area.

Moreover, most pirates' looting trips often last for a long time, so it is undoubtedly difficult to find these pirates in the vast ocean.

The reward is low, the journey is long, and the task is complicated. It can be said to be the least cost-effective type of C-rank task.

"There's nothing we can do. The number of village missions has been reduced recently, originally in preparation for war. But in order to maintain the expenses of their members, the big clans have been accepting missions like crazy recently. C-rank and B-rank missions are too popular."

Kaito had some understanding of this when chatting with Nakamura Keiko and Hoshigaki Kisame these two days, so he also spoke up to help Ao explain it.

"What Kaito is saying is correct. But this mission is not without benefits. Since the mission was just issued, it seems that the issuer has not left the village yet. We can get some information from him first."

Ao spoke up to explain for himself and quickly took over the conversation.

However, Ao also knew that Mei was only complaining verbally and would still perform her mission wholeheartedly.

Zabuza was still standing there with a cool expression on his face and didn't say a word. Oh, no. It was a cool expression with a bandage on.

The three arrived at the inn where the person who issued the task was staying.

Kaito can only say that he didn't expect that the Kirigakure Village, one of the five great ninja villages, would have such a simple inn.

If the word "Hotel" on the "black" sign at the door of the hotel was not a little uneven and not completely covered by dirt, no one would know that this was a hotel.

Looking at the inn door which was half covered by vines, the four of them pushed the door open with a bit of helplessness.

For the purpose of training students, Ao basically just watched this simple task.

"Hello, we're looking for a person named Hugo." As a senior, Mei stepped forward and asked.

The lady at the front desk didn't say a word, but just raised her chin and pointed it at a young man in simple clothes who was sitting in a daze in the corner of the lobby.

The young man's haggard face had obvious features of a coastal fisherman. His clothes were a very simple short-sleeved shirt and long pants, with many salt stains left by the sea water.

His skin was tanned and rough from the sun and wind, and his arms and shoulders were particularly muscular from years of fishing and boating.

It's just that he must have been worried recently and hasn't been eating or sleeping enough, which has caused him to look haggard and weak.

Kaito subconsciously analyzed the person in the corner and concluded that he should be the one who issued the task.

The three of them walked quickly up to the man.

Although Mei's voice was not small when she was at the front desk just now, given his mental state, he obviously did not notice the previous voice.

It was not until the three people came closer that the middle-aged man raised his eyes and looked at the three people coming over.

"Excuse me, what can I do for you, three ninja-sama?"

Since the three of them were obviously wearing ninja costumes and the Kirigakure Village forehead protectors, Hugo naturally would not treat them as just ordinary children, and there was a hint of respect in his tone.

With Mei's personality, she wouldn't be shy about it. She introduced the trio openly and explained that they were here to learn more details about the mission.

The man began to narrate in a low voice with a sad face.

"Our village is an ordinary village near the border of the Land of Water. We make a living by fishing. Although our life is poor, we are very happy."

"..."

Kaito saw that this person seemed to be preparing to speak for a long time and felt speechless, so he had to interrupt him.

"Get to the point! Is there any useful information?"

The fisherman's emotions were suddenly interrupted and he was still a little dazed.

Mei also looked at Kaito with some blame, but did not refute it.

Seeing this, the man continued.

"There were about 30 or 40 pirates who attacked our village, and they only had one ship."

"Not only was the property of our village looted, but seven children were also kidnapped. Money is not important. I just hope that Ninja-sama can rescue the children." The man restrained his emotions a little and looked at everyone expectantly.

"The hostages kidnapped by pirates may not be alive." Zabuza pointed out the problem calmly.

Mei felt a little sorry for the situation and said, "Since the pirates specifically kidnapped children, there must be a reason. They wouldn't kill them so quickly. If we find the pirates' lair, maybe we can rescue these children."

"The prerequisite is to find the pirates' lair." Kaito also reminded Mei in time.

However, the man named Hugo said weakly at this time: "I may know where the pirates' lair is."

(End of chapter)