A comic book journey to see the Eye of Antiquity

Ino definitely understood Yang Lei's meaning, or rather, anyone who wasn't an idiot understood Yang Lei's feelings for Hinata, and also understood that Hinata had never refused him.

"Let's go."

At this moment, Asuma saw that Yang Lei had finally arrived, and with a wave of his hand, he led the way into the Hokage Building behind.

This time, Yang Lei didn't come to the Hokage Building to go to the Hokage's office. Instead, he followed Asuma to the mission distribution area. He was finally going to carry out a mission as a ninja.

However, when he saw the mission handed over by the third generation with a smile, he couldn't help but sigh with disappointment. It really was a D-rank mission.

Although the Third Generation has a lot of work to do, he will come to the mission distribution center to help out whenever he has free time, mainly because there are many extremely difficult and high-level missions that need his help to allocate.

Missions aren't just given out randomly. Apart from low-level D-rank and C-rank missions, any mission above B-rank must be confirmed with the Third Hokage.

As mentioned before, starting from B-rank missions, enemies are very likely to include ninjas, not to mention higher-rank missions.

If a situation arises where the ninjas have to confront other forces, who would dare to easily assign a mission other than the Hokage?

You know, a single mistake can easily cause conflict between ninja villages. How many years has it been since the Third Shinobi World War? Let's just let this world have some peace and quiet. At the very least, we should find the Hokage to take the blame.

"Would you like to help Uncle Yamada weed?"

Looking at the task assignment in their hands, the four children were helpless. It wasn't a problem with the difficulty, but rather that it was too troublesome.

"Let's go."

Asma didn't care. Firstly, he didn't dare to contradict his own father, because he would really be taught a lesson.

Furthermore, as a Jonin instructor, he is only responsible for providing guidance and will not personally participate in such missions. Whether it is difficult, tiring, or dirty is none of his business.

"That's so irresponsible."

Shikamaru retorted irritably. Although he couldn't guess what Asuma was thinking, he clearly saw other, simpler D-rank missions, such as finding a lost pet cat or helping an old man in the village buy something. These were much easier than weeding.

Unfortunately, the protests were ineffective. Those D-rank missions were reserved for the other two teams. Although theirs was not the most difficult, it was the most tiring and time-consuming, so naturally, it had to be taken on by the Third Hokage's son, Asuma.

Besides, their tenth squad has one more member, Yang Lei, than the others. It's unreasonable for four people to work so hard without getting the most arduous task assigned.

"Let's go."

Yang Lei had no objection to this. After all, working was a kind of training, since he was always wearing the load, just perhaps less intense.

And so, the tenth squad received their first task. Although it was simple—just helping Uncle Yamada, a villager, weed—it still made the four children a little excited.

Especially for Yang Lei, it wasn't just because this was his first mission after becoming a ninja, but also because it meant he could finally earn money and have his own income. If possible, he probably wouldn't need to collect subsidies starting this month.

Actually, he didn't need to choose. Ever since he graduated from the ninja academy, his name has been off the list of those eligible for subsidies. So, Yang Lei, you'd better work harder and earn more money to support yourself, or you might really starve.

"Let's get to work."

After traveling for a short while, under Asuma's leadership, Team 10 quickly arrived at Uncle Yamada's house. Without saying much, the four genin got to work, following Uncle Yamada's instructions to remove the weeds from the field.

Apart from Choji, none of the other members of Squad 10 are idiots. In particular, Ino, because of her love for flowers, is quite knowledgeable about weeds and the like, which prevented Squad 10 from making the embarrassing mistake of pulling up the vegetables as well.

"This is really troublesome."

In the evening, the work that had lasted all day was finally finished. When he pulled out the last weed, Shikamaru stood up and patted his slender waist with his hand, looking like a little old man. Asuma, who had been sitting idly by and watching the commotion all day, shook his head with amusement.

"I'm exhausted."

Ino was also exhausted. She dropped the weeds she was holding and ran to the side, grabbing a seat next to Asuma and sitting down, looking completely weary.

"I can eat an extra bowl of rice for dinner."

This was Choji's speech. He didn't complain about being tired, but rather expressed in a different way that he had indeed put in a lot of effort.

Among them, only Yang Lei remained silent. For him, this was just a relatively easy form of cultivation. The more physical exertion he expended, the better. In other words, the more tired he was, the greater the rewards he would reap.

"Let's go back."

Asma called the commissioner to hand over the task, pocketed the commission, and led the four of them back.

"Oh, by the way, how about I treat you guys to barbecue for dinner?"

"Yay!"

0056 Missions and Training on the Water

"What's today's mission?"

The next day, Team 10 gathered again at the entrance of the Hokage Building. This time, the children were no longer excited; yesterday's weeding task had shattered their passion and enthusiasm.

"Today."

Chapter 58

The Third Hokage glanced at the several D-rank missions in his hand, thought for a moment, and then handed one of them over.

"Tsk tsk."

After reviewing the mission, Asma clicked his tongue and passed the mission assignment down to Yang Lei and the other three, allowing them to take a look at it.

"Go to the stream behind the village to clean up the garbage. Clean up at least 100 meters of the river. The commission is 100 taels. For every additional 100 meters cleaned, the commission will be 100 taels more."

"The commission is pretty good."

Yang Lei raised an eyebrow, thinking to himself that this was a big job.

"Since there are no objections, let's go."

Asma said this, he called the four people and went out.

"Any objections will be refuted, right?"

Behind him, Shikamaru couldn't help but complain. As a prodigy with an IQ of over 200, he had already seen through Asuma's thoughts.

Asma laughed heartily, and without saying much, led Yang Lei and the other three towards the back of the mountain.

The back mountain is a familiar territory for Yang Lei, where he has spent a lot of time over the past six years. In fact, you could say he has spent more time in the back mountain than in the village.

That's a bit of an exaggeration, considering he spends quite a bit of time sleeping at home at night.

Anyway, Yang Lei spent a lot of time in the back mountain and was very familiar with the terrain. For example, for today's mission, he had bathed and caught fish in that stream before, and he also practiced wading in the water there.

"arrive."

However, when Asma brought Yang Lei and the others to their destination, Yang Lei was somewhat stunned.

All he could see on the river surface was all kinds of garbage, a stark contrast to the clear stream he had been bathing in upstream.

Come to think of it, if the situation upstream were the same, he would never go into the river to wash or bathe, let alone catch fish to eat. Just thinking about it makes him feel nauseous.

"Let's get to work."

At this moment, Asma produced four large baskets and four long wooden clamps from somewhere. He instructed the four men to carry the baskets on their backs and then let them take the four wooden clamps down into the river.

No, it's not going down to the river, it should be going up to the river.

All four were ninjas, and after Asuma's simple instruction, they all learned the principle of water walking. Yang Lei, in particular, didn't need Asuma to teach him the principle because he already knew it. He set off carrying a heavy load, stepping on the river surface little by little to pick up the trash and throw it into the basket on his back, and got to work.

It's unclear how long this trash has been soaking in the river. Because the stream is a flowing river, the trash isn't dirty at all; it's just a bit unsightly.

Therefore, none of the four complained. Even the only girl, Ino, quickly got to work and soon cleaned up a large area of ​​the river, with remarkable results.

. . . . . .

Before we knew it, it was noon.

"Yang Lei, take a break."

On the shore, besides Asuma, Shikamaru and the other two were sitting on the bank, while Yang Lei, who was the only one still on the river, was calling out to them.

Although the chakra required to tread water is not much, it cannot be ignored and must be maintained continuously.

Of the four genin in Team 10, apart from Yang Lei, none of the other three had abundant chakra. Choji was slightly better off, while Shikamaru and Ino had taken time to rest and refine their chakra several times. This was Choji's fourth time getting out of the water. Only Yang Lei had persisted from the beginning until now.

Yang Lei glanced back and saw that the four people on the shore had already set up a campfire and were roasting a few fish they had caught upstream. He wiped the sweat from his face and replied, "No rush."

Since he can't eat now that he's ashore, he might as well rest after the fish is cooked.

At this point, Yang Lei was no longer working for the commission. He discovered that constantly releasing chakra seemed to train his sustained output, and because he was also silently refining his chakra at the same time, although he recovered less than when meditating, this helped train his recovery ability during battle.

I believe that as long as he continues to cultivate, just one day will be enough to make a slight improvement in his strength.

There are no shortcuts to success. The road to success is full of thorns and hardships. Those who succeed are those who overcome all obstacles and hardships to reach the final throne.

For example, Yang Lei was already exhausted at this moment. After all, he was carrying more than 1,800 kilograms of weight than others. Every time he bent over to pick up trash, it was a workout, so it was not easy at all.

But he had to grit his teeth and persevere because his ambition was too great. He didn't want to become Hokage, but to reach the divine level of the Sage of Six Paths, or even surpass him, to become the supreme being of the ninja world, and to stand at the highest point in this world.

Therefore, he must strive and overcome all hardships and torments. This kind of light drizzle of training is not a storm that will defeat him, but just a few grains of sand, part of his journey to build a tower from sand.

Yang Lei encouraged himself and continued his work. With each second he persisted and each time he bent down to pick up a piece of trash, the solemnity and admiration in the eyes of the four people on the shore increased.

They noticed Yang Lei's exhaustion, which is why they told him to go ashore and rest. But he persevered with sheer willpower and is still going strong, which is truly admirable.

There are so many geniuses in the world, but even other geniuses are impressed by someone like Yang Lei who is willing to endure hardship and cultivate for 230 years.

How should I put it? It's not because I'm a genius that I earn people's admiration and respect, but because I'm willing to work hard that I impress others.

"Hmm? What's that smell?"

Just then, Ding Ci frowned, subconsciously sniffed, and smelled a strange odor.

"Oh no, the fish is burnt."

The four people on the shore realized at the same time that they had been so engrossed in watching Yang Lei that they had burned the fish. By then it was too late; the fish had turned into charcoal. This shows just how absorbed they had been.

"Fool."

On the river, Yang Lei heard the commotion behind him and subconsciously turned around to look. He saw the four of them frantically trying to salvage their lunch. He couldn't help but chuckle. But that chuckle caused him to suddenly lose his breath.

"Pfft."

Suddenly, the already weak chakra in Yang Lei's feet disappeared, and he sank to the bottom with a thud.

Chapter 59

Let's not even talk about how heavy Yang Lei is; the weight of that set alone is over 1,800 jin (600 kg), which is close to one ton.

Also, Yang Lei was carrying a basket on his back to collect the trash, so the moment he entered the water, a whole bunch of trash was pushed out by the buoyancy of the water.

In other words, Yang Lei's entire morning's work was for nothing?

0057 Yang Lei's Qualifications

"Oops."

The four people on the shore didn't care about saving their lunch anymore; they all rushed out and, stepping across the river, quickly arrived at the spot where Yang Lei had fallen into the water.

"Pfft."

Asma was the fastest. Ignoring the trash covering the river, he plunged into the water with a "plop." He saw Yang Lei struggling at the bottom of the river. He was exhausted and would likely drown if no one came to his rescue.

If that were to actually happen, it would be a huge mess. Not only would he lose face, but a future hero would drown in a trash-filled creek before he could even rise to power, and the book would have to end there.

Thankfully, Asma arrived and grabbed Yang Lei's arm to lift him up.

"It's so heavy."

Asma couldn't lift it after one attempt, which finally gave him a clear understanding of the extent of Yang Lei's load.

"That guy."

Asma chuckled to himself. Although he knew Yang Lei was hardworking, he hadn't expected that Yang Lei would make such great progress right under his nose, unknowingly increasing his load to nearly a ton. He had previously thought those lead irons were fake.

"Get up for me."

However, Asuma is a Jonin. Although he can't do what Yang Lei does, carrying a ton of weight all day and acting like nothing's wrong, since he hasn't trained in that area, he can still unleash his power for a short time.

With a determined effort, he managed to bring Yang Lei to the surface before his oxygen ran out.

"call."

On the river, Shikamaru and his two companions waited nearby, only breathing a sigh of relief when the two came out.

"Choji, give me a hand."

After they came out, they heard Asuma call out to Choji, which surprised the three of them. But when Choji touched half of Yang Lei's body, he was almost crushed to the ground.

How heavy is that?

Choji complained.

"no need."

By this time, Yang Lei had caught his breath, gathered the last of his chakra at his feet, broke free from Asuma's support, and the group walked toward the shore.

It was precisely because of the burden he was carrying that Yang Lei was so tired and his chakra was being consumed so quickly. Otherwise, with all the hard work he had put into his training over the past few years, he would never have run out of chakra from just one morning of wading through water.