Konoha's Mission Master

The attributes added by proficiency have been perfectly assimilated, and there is an additional reduction in activation time. With proficiency, it takes him about 1 second to form a hand seal and use water bullets. After a further reduction of 50%, it only takes 0.5 seconds to use them.

That 0.5 seconds can be enough to change life or death.

In a familiar corner, naked Yakumo performs hand seals and uses water bullets on the bathroom tiles.

With a loud bang.

Water splashed everywhere, instantly shattering the tiles on the wall. Yakumo leaned closer and discovered a hole about five centimeters in diameter in the wall…

"Such strong penetrating power!"

Yakumo quickly picked up his tools and began to clean up the marks on the wall. The water bullet's power had exceeded expectations, far surpassing the scope of a C-rank ninjutsu. While its destructive power was not yet at the level of an A-rank, its ease of use and low consumption made it, in a sense, completely overwhelm 100% of B-rank ninjutsu, making it arguably the strongest B-rank technique.

While dealing with the traces, he couldn't help but imagine the power of the water bullet after it broke through again, which would be comparable to an A-rank ninjutsu!

To break through again requires 600 proficiency points, which is almost... 6000 gold coins, and it takes three weeks to accumulate.

The good news is... he estimates that he will master the art of concealment in the next few days, at which point he will be able to improve his swordsmanship without restraint.

Chapter 12 New Mission, Death Forest

A new week begins, and tasks are refreshed.

The weekly tasks remain largely unchanged, except that the three-day training with Masako Mori has been replaced by a seven-day swordsmanship training session with Kakashi. The reward is 0.5 Agility and 150 gold coins.

Within a week, Yakumo's various attributes saw another significant improvement.

[Personal Panel]

Name: Jing Bayun

Age: 7

Constitution: 6.5 (Endurance, Resistance, Recovery)

Strength: 4.4 (Weight, Attack, etc.)

Agility: 5.6 (Neural reaction, running)

Intelligence: 5.9 (learning ability, mental resilience)

Chakra: 10.8 (30 points to advance to Chunin)

Gold coins: 50

At this point, his physical attributes had reached the middle level of the class, and Yakumo was confident that he could surpass Kakashi Hatake in strength within three months!

Of course, the mission still had to be done, and the morning run still had to be done. There could be no slacking off. For several nights in a row, Yakumo would pester Kakashi to practice swordsmanship together. Under Kakashi's guidance, the Hatake Secret Manual began to increase rapidly at a rate of 5 or 6 points of proficiency each night.

A new week has passed in the blink of an eye.

He still hasn't mastered the art of hiding...

He admitted that he overestimated his learning ability…

Yakumo's gold coin reserves have reached 2100.

Furthermore, its attributes have received another boost.

Monday, October 6.

The weekly tasks are refreshed regularly... The reading reflections and diary entries don't change much, but the second task is completely new content.

Second, the brave dare to conquer the forest.

Mission requirements: Go to the Forest of Death for a picnic with Kakashi, Masako Mori, Obito Uchiha, and Rin Nohara, and complete a hunt.

Task Rewards: 0.5 Intelligence, 150 Gold.

The Forest of Death... the regular venue for Konoha's Chunin Exams. It is said to have been created by the First Hokage using Wood Release, but this cannot be verified. Most importantly, it is home to many wild beasts, some of which are even as strong as Chunin.

This is undoubtedly a dangerous place, especially for these kids who aren't even genin. Fortunately, the mission didn't specify a particular location; if they only went two kilometers in, they shouldn't encounter any strong wild beasts.

So the next question is... how to convince them to participate in... this expedition.

Picnic... Yakumo's first thought was barbecue, so all that was needed was barbecue seasoning. As for meat, it could be sourced locally, with the numerous wild animals in the Death Forest providing ample ingredients.

Then, Yakumo stared into the drawer at the 293 million ryo from the Land of Fire, lost in thought. He spent about 8 ryo per month, which amounted to 96 ryo per year, nearly a million ryo. This meant the compensation for his parents' deaths would only last him a maximum of three and a half years… After that, he would have to rely on the monthly orphan allowance from Konoha Village to survive…

Economic crisis…!

Thinking back to the days when Naruto relied on relief funds... he couldn't help but shake his head. Even in another world, he still had to worry about money.

In his past life, he could barely make ends meet by taking on some farming-for-hire tasks and selling rare items, but what should he do now...?

Taking on a mission... is too early.

Part-time job... no time.

Never mind... there's always a way out.

The first step is to save money.

After breakfast, Yakumo ran to the materials store to buy the barbecue ingredients, put them in the storage scroll, and started his morning run... Not long after, Masako Mori appeared, and the two of them went to Training Ground No. 14 together.

"Masako, I'm thinking of suggesting a picnic and adventure on the outskirts of the Death Forest today. Could you help me figure out how to persuade them?" Yakumo chose to bring Masako Mori into his camp first, so that he would be more confident in persuading the others later.

"The Death Forest... but it's very dangerous there. Can I know why you want to go to the Death Forest?" Masako Mori didn't answer immediately, but asked with a hint of doubt.

"Because... I want to go on an adventure."

Mori Masako suddenly appeared in front of Yakumo, her large eyes fixed on him, trying to uncover the truth hidden by him. Their eyes met... and the atmosphere began to become somewhat strange.

"Okay, I promise you."

Masako Mori withdrew her gaze, a beautiful blush spreading across her cheeks. However, Yakumo did not notice this, as he had already begun practicing the sword techniques from the Hatake Secret Manual after receiving an affirmative answer.

Once or twice...

At eight o'clock, Kakashi arrived at the training ground with his short sword and trained with Yakumo. As the undisputed number one in the class, he was not arrogant; on the contrary, his efforts were no less than anyone else's...

…This does not include Matt Kay.

At nine o'clock in the morning, Nohara Rin arrived and began practicing chakra control under the tree. Her goal was clear: to become a support medical ninja for the team.

It wasn't until 10 a.m., when the weather had become quite hot, that Obito Uchiha arrived at the training ground in a nonchalant manner.

"No way, you two finally get a break, aren't you going to rest?" Obito Uchiha asked incredulously, looking at Yakumo, who was covered in sweat.

Due to the unique nature of the ninja academy, classes are held normally for the first 27 days of each month without a break, while the last three days of the month are a unified rest period, preventing students from being constantly under mental strain and breaking down.

"Early bird catches the worm, and diligence can make up for lack of talent," Yakumo replied. At this moment, Obito was already squatting under the tree watching Nohara Rin train.

He came to Training Ground No. 14 not to cultivate, but simply to accompany Nohara Rin.

"Sigh." Yakumo rested for a moment, then gripped his sword again and began training, his posture perfect and each strike imbued with his full strength.

In his view, it was precisely Obito Uchiha's lazy and complacent attitude that left him powerless to stop the tragedy when it struck... No, that's not right either; even if Obito was strong, he couldn't have stopped Madara's plan...

With the sun high in the sky and the temperature rising sharply, it was clearly no longer suitable for cultivation, so the group had no choice but to rest under a tree.

"If you ask me... how about we go explore the Forest of Death and have a picnic while we're at it?" Yakumo officially began to make his plans.

“Okay, the Death Forest should be much cooler than here, I agree,” Mori Masako said directly.

"Speaking of which... the Forest of Death is very dangerous, isn't it?" Obito Uchiha's voice was hesitant, clearly carrying a hint of reluctance.

"Obito, you're not scared, are you? With such cowardice, you still claim you want to protect Rin? I think you should just give up." Masako Mori mocked without hesitation, and her undisguised contemptuous gaze directly ignited Obito Uchiha's anger.

"Who said I wouldn't dare? I'll go then! Anyone who chickens out is a coward!" Obito Uchiha shouted, his face flushed red.

Ordinary provocations might not work, but when it comes to Rin… Obito Uchiha completely loses his rationality.

"Haha, when the time comes... don't let your legs tremble and you start crying."

"Kakashi, what are your thoughts?" Yakumo asked.

The most difficult one to deal with is Kakashi. Provocation is basically ineffective against him unless he agrees in his own mind.

"It should be fine if it's just the outer area. When I was four years old, my father took me to train in the outer area of ​​the Death Forest for a month."

Wow, that's a classic Versailles scene.

"Then it's settled, haha, I've brought all the barbecue ingredients... the rest we'll hunt for ourselves."

Chapter 13 Hunting and Barbecue

The group went home to prepare their weapons and agreed to meet at Entrance Twelve, the closest entrance to the Death Forest, half an hour later.

The fence made of wire and steel bars in front of them was marked with "Danger" and "Do Not Go," and the several-meter-high fence seemed very difficult to cross.

Ten minutes later, everyone arrived one after another, but there was a huge iron lock on the gate. Yakumo looked up and glanced at the barbed wire fence that was several meters high.

"Should we climb over?"

"Just go through the door," Kakashi replied matter-of-factly.

"There's a lock on the door, do you have the key?" On second thought, given Hatake Sakumo's status in Konoha, it seemed quite reasonable for him to have the key to the door.

Kakashi stepped forward, took out a wire from his clothes, and began to fiddle with it intently. In less than half a minute, the huge lock clicked open.

He opened his mouth with a sigh.

"Haven't practiced lately...I've gotten rusty..."

Versailles...

"How do you even know how to pick locks?" Obito Uchiha asked hastily, especially since the undisguised admiration in Rin Nohara's eyes made him quite unhappy.

"My father taught me..."

Kakashi then countered with a question.

"Isn't this basic ninja knowledge?"

“To be honest… I don’t know how,” Yakumo said.

“I don’t know either…” Masako Mori said.

“Me too… I don’t know how,” Nohara Rin said.

"Lock picking is a skill that is easy to learn. I mastered it in three days... There's plenty of time to learn it later."

"This is Versailles, isn't it..."