After Mrs. Shijimi hugged (or rather squeezed) her beloved pet and left.
The Third Hokage, seated at the head of the room, reopened the mission log in his hand. After taking a slow puff from his pipe, he began to speak.
“Hmm, Team 7 just completed a mission to search for a lost pet. Next, their mission is to help in the neighboring town with…”
Seeing the Third Hokage open the mission log.
Naruto knew it was his time to act.
Before the Third Hokage could finish his sentence.
Naruto interrupted, speaking loudly.
“Grandpa Third, can you give our team a C-rank mission? All these D-rank missions have no challenge at all!”
His straightforward words were the best approach Naruto could think of. Being direct was the way to go, and Naruto believed that if he explained his reasons clearly, the Third Hokage would give them a chance for a C-rank mission. Besides, the Third Hokage surely knew the strength of Naruto, Sasuke, and the others. With Kakashi Hatake, a formidable Jonin capable of handling S-rank missions, leading them, a mere “C” rank mission would be no problem.
Typically, C-rank missions were escort missions that might involve bloodshed, but the enemies were usually bandits, robbers, or some private armed forces of nobles—essentially, rogue ninjas at most, not organized village ninjas. Missions involving ninjas from other villages, even the non-major ones like Grass or Waterfall, would be at least B-rank. Thus, Naruto was confident that the Third Hokage would approve a C-rank mission for their team.
Naruto had no intention of using the childish and unreasonable methods his original self had used in the story.
“You idiot, Naruto!”
As Naruto finished speaking, Sasuke, Sakura, and even Kakashi showed varying degrees of surprise.
At the head of the room.
Before the Third Hokage could respond, Iruka, who was sitting beside him, slammed his hand on the table and shouted at Naruto with a worried and angry expression.
“Do you know what a C-rank mission means, Naruto? You just graduated from the academy and need to gain experience. Only after accumulating enough can you take on C-rank missions. Right now, you’re too young! C-rank missions aren’t suitable for you. Understand this, Naruto!”
His direct worry and anger clearly showed Iruka’s concern for Naruto.
From Iruka’s perspective, Naruto and the others were still kids, even though Naruto had just recently killed Mizuki, a rogue ninja who could easily defeat Iruka.
But this didn’t change Iruka’s view.
He believed Naruto and the others should diligently complete D-rank missions to grow before taking on C-rank missions.
This concern made Iruka speak up before the Third Hokage. Afterward, realizing his mistake in addressing the village’s highest authority as if he were a colleague, he turned and bowed deeply to the Third Hokage.
“I apologize, Lord Hokage. It was out of line.”
The Third Hokage, understanding Iruka’s nature, waved off the apology and shifted his attention to Naruto.
“Naruto, do you know why ninjas are classified into Jonin, Chunin, and Genin, and why missions are divided into A, B, C, and D ranks? (Actually, there’s also S-rank, but the mission center generally only issues up to A-rank missions).”
The Third Hokage, with a kind smile, asked Naruto in a gentle tone.
“The classification of ninjas and missions helps match a ninja’s abilities with the difficulty of tasks, ensuring missions are completed effectively.”
Without much thought, Naruto answered directly.
His decisive response made the Third Hokage pause before he smiled.
“Exactly. Each ninja village follows this system to assign appropriate missions, from the Kage to Jonin, Chunin, and Genin, correlating with the mission ranks. A-rank missions are for Jonin or experienced Chunin teams, B-rank missions are for Chunin and above, and you, as Genin, can only take C-rank missions if experienced. As your teacher said, freshly graduated Genin like you should take D-rank missions to build experience. Do you understand, Naruto?”
The Third Hokage’s seemingly cloudy eyes showed a hint of concern as he spoke to Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura with a slightly solemn tone.
Sakura, standing beside Naruto, nodded vigorously like a pecking chick, then turned to Naruto.
“See, Naruto, even the Hokage says so. We should stick to D-rank missions and think about C-rank ones once we have more experience, okay?”
Before the Third Hokage spoke, Sakura might have wanted to take on a C-rank mission to show off to Ino. But now, she was completely deterred, realizing that being a Genin was different from being an academy student.
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