Chapter 35: Naruto's Perception

"Hurry! Old man Hokage! Quickly, give us a C-rank mission!"

Naruto shouted at Hiruzen Sarutobi the moment he stepped into the mission hall.

'Old man Hokage?'

Upon hearing this title, Hiruzen Sarutobi massaged his forehead and sighed. This Naruto was not nearly as adorable as he had been as a child. Back then, it was "Grandpa Hokage" every other breath. And now? He only called him "Grandpa" when he wanted something. The rest of the time, it was just "Old man Hokage."

If Naruto knew what he was thinking, he would surely retort, "You should be thanking the heavens I haven't called you 'Old Geezer' yet."

"Are you sure you're ready to take on a C-rank mission right now?" Hiruzen asked, looking toward their team leader, Kakashi, to gauge his opinion.

Kakashi stated bluntly, "No problem, Lord Hokage. I believe they are capable of completing a C-rank mission."

Hiruzen nodded, instantly grasping the implication. It seemed Naruto and Sasuke had grown significantly, and this team was now qualified for such assignments. Hiruzen would not doubt a judgment coming from Kakashi; he was a ninja he trusted deeply.

"Let me see what missions are available." Hiruzen picked up the mission list and spotted a C-rank task issued just yesterday. "Perfect. There's a C-rank mission that came in yesterday afternoon—a bandit suppression request." He pointed toward the door and added, "The client has been waiting at the entrance for quite a while, so this mission is yours."

Team Seven accepted the mission and met with the client to understand the details. A town located over a hundred kilometers from Konoha had been plagued by a gang of bandits holed up in the nearby mountains. This group had been wreaking havoc, committing every crime imaginable. Just yesterday morning, they had robbed local villagers and murdered two of them. Driven to their breaking point, the townspeople pooled their money to issue this request for suppression.

The other two members were quite excited about the mission, but Naruto felt a strange, inexplicable sense of familiarity.

"Very well. This is our first mission outside the village as Team Seven. Everyone, you have one hour to pack your gear. We meet at the village gate in one hour."

"Understood!" ×3

"Wait, Kakashi-sensei." Naruto suddenly called out, asking, "You won't be late this time, right?"

At these words, Sasuke and Sakura both turned their gaze toward Kakashi. The suspicion in their eyes was plain for anyone to see.

*Ugh.*

Kakashi felt the awkwardness of being caught in the act. He had originally planned to visit the memorial stone to inform his fallen comrades about his departure from the village, but in light of this, he decided to skip it.

"I promise, I won't be late this time," Kakashi said gently.

Seeing him make such a vow, Naruto feared he might go back on his word. "It’s a deal then, Kakashi-sensei. Whoever is late has to be a puppy for a day." He extended his hand, signaling the others to join in and seal the pact.

Sasuke glanced sideways at Naruto. *Hey, you're so strong now, do you really have to be this childish? Act normal, you idiot. I don't want to lose to a man-child like you.*

Nevertheless, he placed his hand on top of Naruto's. Whether it was childish didn't matter; he just didn't want to see Kakashi be late—it certainly wasn't because he wanted to see the show. Yes, that was all.

Sakura, however, thought it was perfect and placed her hand down without a second thought. Her dark persona was practically exploding with joy. She really, *really* wanted to see Kakashi-sensei acting like a dog. It would be hilarious.

Awkwardly scratching his head and looking at the three stacked hands, Kakashi had no other choice. "It's a deal, then."

"Dismissed!"

An hour later, at the village gate, Kakashi-sensei was indeed not late. In fact, he hadn't even packed; he had come straight there. None of the team members were late either. Seeing this, Naruto just smiled. Sasuke kept his usual cool face, but Sakura's disappointment was visible. The show was ruined.

"Well, since we're all here, let's head out."

"Understood!" ×3.

On the road, the team's pace was slow because they had to follow the client. At first, Naruto was full of enthusiasm. This was his first time leaving the village in broad daylight. But soon, all he saw were trees, and more trees. He was suffering from sensory fatigue. When would he be able to show off the Flying Raijin openly? As a Genin, he probably needed to make some contributions before he could learn such techniques. He would have to keep looking for opportunities.

After traveling for a day, the team reached their destination just as the sun was setting. Despite the town's hospitality, Kakashi declined their offer of lodging, choosing instead to lead the team directly up the mountain. It was better to finish the mission early.

"Naruto, can you sense anything?" On the way up the mountain, Kakashi seemed to finally remember he had a sensory ninja on the team.

Naruto thought for a moment and replied bluntly, "There don't seem to be any signs of humans on this mountain."

"The whole mountain?"

"Yes, Kakashi-sensei."

*His sensory range is that large?* Although they hadn't fully entered the mountain yet, Kakashi's experience told him, just by looking, that the mountain was quite vast.

"Mr. Aoki, are you certain these bandits were still here yesterday?"

The guide, Aoki, replied, "Of course, Kakashi-san. They even came down the mountain to pillage yesterday."

Kakashi asked again, "Where is their stronghold?"

"Just ahead."

When they arrived at the hideout, Naruto finally realized why it felt so familiar. This was the place where he had been refining his clones last night! He never expected that out of so many C-rank missions, Team Seven would end up with this one. He was literally stealing his own kills.

They searched the stronghold, but found nothing; it had been wiped clean yesterday. Using his senses, Naruto discovered that even his Flying Raijin kunai had been buried three meters underground using Earth Style. Moreover, these Flying Raijin marks were different. They weren't the "Early" (Zao) marks he used daily, but "Correct" (Zheng) marks, meant to distinguish them from the ones he used in public.

After the search, Kakashi gave Naruto a strange look. "Naruto, you're a bit quiet today."

*Huh?* Naruto was speechless. *How does this involve me?*

Kakashi was just showing concern for Naruto, assuming he was nervous. He turned to Aoki and said, "Mr. Aoki, you can head back now; we'll take it from here. Rest assured, we Konoha ninja will definitely help you wipe out these bandits."

Aoki nodded and left, trusting the Konoha ninja. The rest of Team Seven ate a simple meal and began their stakeout.

High up, leaning against a tree branch, Naruto began to think. It looked like he wouldn't be able to go back today; tonight's refinement plan would have to be put on hold.

"Kakashi-sensei," Naruto called out, "I can sense the entire mountain range and monitor this place at all times. Isn't there really no need for us to stay here and feed the mosquitoes?"

Upon hearing this, Sasuke and Sakura nodded in agreement. Even though ninja were trained for this, there was no reason to suffer unnecessarily.

However, Kakashi said something that left the two of them bewildered: "Can you sense how many special shuriken I placed along the way?"

Naruto glanced at Kakashi-sensei in surprise, then suddenly understood. Along the way, Kakashi had been tossing out shuriken marks every so often. At the time, Naruto hadn't known why, but it turned out he had been planning this all along. He was definitely "bear-ing" gifts.

"There's one within five kilometers, one at ten, one at fifteen, and one at twenty kilometers."

*Twenty kilometers?* Kakashi was amazed; that distance was already astonishing.

"And the furthest one is fifty kilometers away."

*Hmm?* Kakashi looked up abruptly, his eyes filled with disbelief.