Chapter 13: First Time Taking a Mission
Although ninja tool throwing is taught at the Ninja Academy, and is one of the basic skills, ordinary ninja generally don't have real combat-level proficiency with it right after graduating.
Only geniuses like Kakashi and Itachi could already use ninja tools in actual combat at six or seven years old.
And just now, Kihon Toichi had thrown those Kunai and Shuriken with full force. For ordinary ninja, especially those below Chunin, it would have been very hard to block them.
But not only had Yoruha blocked them, he had even been able to react in time.
He had even been able to clearly see the flight paths of the Kunai and Shuriken Kihon Toichi threw.
That proved Yoruha wasn't just physically strong and highly coordinated—his perception and eyesight were also far beyond normal.
At the very least, Kihon Toichi knew he himself couldn't have reached that level at Yoruha's age.
Yoruha had no idea what Kihon Toichi was thinking.
He was just very dissatisfied with him.
Still, it was only dissatisfaction. Yoruha had no intention of doing anything.
With his current strength, there wasn't much he could do anyway.
Kihon Toichi walked over to the three of them.
"Today, I'm taking you to accept a mission."
Tanako Hon and Yamada Juki, who had just been badly startled, immediately became excited when they heard they were going to take a mission.
They completely forgot how frightened they had been just moments ago.
"Really, sensei? We can take missions already?"
Kihon Toichi nodded expressionlessly. "Of course. But for now, you'll only be taking missions below C-rank. And while carrying out missions, I'll also be training you."
"You'd better prepare yourselves."
"My training is very harsh."
Kihon Toichi's tone suddenly turned icy.
He looked at Yoruha, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly. "Though I imagine you're looking forward to it."
Yoruha looked at Kihon Toichi and frowned.
"Toichi-sensei, the three you're leading right now are students who've only just graduated from the Ninja Academy. A test like the one just now was completely unnecessary, wasn't it?"
Kihon Toichi patted Yoruha on the shoulder. "You're still hung up on that? Maybe for those two, the days ahead won't be easy. But for you, it should be a good thing, right?"
Yoruha knew what Kihon Toichi meant.
And he really was looking forward to seeing what kind of ninjutsu Kihon Toichi could teach him.
It just wasn't very friendly to Yamada Juki and Tanako Hon.
After all, the two of them really did only have average talent. If Kihon Toichi was too harsh on them, they were definitely going to have a rough time.
Seeing that Yoruha said nothing, Kihon Toichi smiled.
"Let's go. We're heading to the Hokage Building to take a mission."
Yamada Juki and Tanako Hon hadn't noticed the exchange between Kihon Toichi and Yoruha. The two of them were still delighted that they were finally going to officially take a mission.
And after the four of them left, up in a tree at the training ground—
Kakashi, who should have been taking Team 7 to accept a mission, stood there on a branch.
A novel was in his hand.
But his attention was no longer on the book.
He had watched Kihon Toichi's probing of Yoruha from start to finish.
Yoruha's performance had surprised even him.
Even after Yoruha and the others had gone, Kakashi still muttered to himself, "It's not just that he has a huge amount of Chakra. His physical reflexes are far sharper than an ordinary ninja's, and his eyesight is already comparable to mine when using Sharingan."
Kakashi felt that with the speed Kihon Toichi had launched those Kunai and Shuriken, even ordinary Chunin wouldn't have been able to react.
Even if they noticed, if they couldn't react in time or track the flight paths of the ninja tools, they still wouldn't be able to stop them.
And that kind of reflexes and eyesight was no longer something an ordinary ninja could possess.
Kakashi even suspected that Yoruha's eyesight just now was already comparable to his own when using Sharingan.
"I wonder if this kid could learn my Chidori."
Thinking of Yoruha's vision, comparable to Sharingan, and his agile movements, Kakashi had to admit he was extremely well suited for Chidori.
But Chidori was, after all, an A-rank forbidden technique.
Leaving aside the fact that Yoruha had no particular connection to him and wasn't even his student, even if Kakashi truly wanted to teach him, he probably still wouldn't dare.
Forbidden techniques weren't just powerful and destructive—the most important thing was that they were also highly dangerous to the user.
So even if Kakashi wanted to teach Yoruha, he'd still have to weigh the risks involved.
The reason Kakashi taught Sasuke was not only because Sasuke was his student, but also, importantly, because Sasuke had Sharingan.
Even for Sasuke, with Sharingan, it had still taken a full month of special training to learn it.
Watching Yoruha's retreating figure, Kakashi murmured, "If you really don't have any ill intentions toward the village, then you really are someone worth cultivating."
"If nurtured properly, maybe you'll become the next Fourth Hokage."
At this moment, Kakashi's wariness toward Yoruha had lessened quite a bit.
The reason for that change was that just now he had seen Yoruha get angry because Kihon Toichi had hurt his teammates.
Yoruha's anger had been genuine.
Kakashi knew Yoruha was someone who treasured his comrades. At the very least, that was the kind of person Kakashi was willing to trust.
Yoruha reminded him of his former self.
No—back then, he hadn't even done as well as Yoruha.
After all, he himself had spent a long period lost and fallen.
"I'm honestly a little jealous of Toichi. Such ridiculous luck, picking up a seedling this good."
In Kakashi's view, as long as Yoruha didn't die young, his future achievements would not be inferior to Kakashi's own in the slightest.
Then, when he thought of his own three problem students, Kakashi felt a headache coming on.
Although Sasuke and Naruto both had tremendous potential—
one was from the Uchiha Clan and had awakened Sharingan;
the other was the Nine-Tails jinchūriki and also carried the bloodline of the Uzumaki Clan.
But those two were not easy to teach.
In fact, one of the Third Hokage's reasons for handing both of them to him had been to use Sasuke's Sharingan to keep Naruto in check.
But whether it was Sasuke or Naruto, both of their personalities were far too troublesome.
Compared to them, Kakashi felt Yoruha might actually be easier to guide.
At least Yoruha seemed much more mature in his thinking.
Shaking his head, Kakashi vanished from the training ground.
Very soon, Yoruha and the others arrived at the Hokage Building.
The Third Hokage didn't notice anything special about Yoruha.
And neither Asuma nor Kakashi nor Kihon Toichi had told the Third Hokage anything about Yoruha.
After coming out of the Hokage Building, they ran into Team 7, who were likewise there to accept a mission.
The moment Naruto saw Yoruha, he happily called out, "Hey, Yoruha, what mission did you get?"
Naruto ran over to Yoruha's side as if they were old friends and asked with a grin.
"Just a D-rank mission."
After all, it was their first mission.
There was no way they'd be assigned anything too difficult.
Naruto, however, clearly didn't understand that.
He said with a smile, "A D-rank mission? This time we're definitely getting a C-rank one."
Yoruha didn't say much, only replying, "Then good luck to you."
Meanwhile, Kakashi's gaze remained fixed on Yoruha the whole time.
Yoruha's conduct pleased him greatly.
As far as he was concerned, Yoruha was exactly the kind of student he wanted most.
Mainly because their personalities were fairly compatible.
Standing beside Kakashi, Sasuke looked at Yoruha with some puzzlement.
He didn't have a very deep impression of Yoruha.
He didn't even remember that he and Yoruha had been in the same class.
Sakura was the same.
But when she saw Yoruha, she was still stunned by how striking he was.
Her face stayed calm, but inwardly she thought, He actually doesn't look any worse than Sasuke. Who is he? He even seems pretty close with Naruto. How could someone like that have such a good relationship with Naruto?