Naruto: Starting with Tsunade

Chapter 69 Super S-Class Mission

Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head, summoned a blond-haired ninja, chatted with him for a while about everyday matters, and tried to appeal to his emotions.

The Jonin was deeply moved. He wondered if the Third Hokage, who cared about him so much, would entrust him with an important task in the future.

Just as he was lost in thought, Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly brought up the matter of one of his recently lost subordinates.

When this matter was mentioned, the blond-haired ninja immediately became somewhat sad.

Hiruzen Sarutobi offered a few words of comfort: "I'm going to find you a new teammate to fill the void left by your position."

It was rare for the Hokage to be so busy and still remember him, so the blond Jonin cast a grateful glance at him.

Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled and handed over a document.

The blond-haired ninja took it with both hands and quickly glanced at it.

What do you think of Aokiji?

"He's a genius."

The blond-haired Jonin's assessment of Aokiji was simply two words.

"Okay, then I'm planning to add him to your team. What do you think?"

The blond-haired Jonin's face stiffened, and he politely declined: "I'm sorry, Hokage-sama, my strength may not be enough to take on such a genius. Placing him in my team would be a waste of his talent. I think it would be more appropriate to recommend him to someone else."

He knew that Aokiji had a bad reputation.

The circle of Jonin is only so big, and it's common for them to communicate with each other.

It is said that this person has an extremely eccentric personality. Despite his outstanding talent, he is too afraid of death. He often finds various reasons to avoid missions with a difficulty level higher than C. Even if he does go, he will take an extremely negative attitude.

A special Jonin once planned to teach Aokiji a lesson by punching him once to prevent him from being beaten a hundred times, so that he would be disciplined. However, he almost failed and was beaten up by a Genin.

Although that special Jonin wasn't particularly skilled in combat, that was relative; his title included the word "Jonin."

Aokiji is only twelve years old and he already has this kind of strength. In another year or two, he will probably be a standard Jonin level. If a conflict occurs then, and I, as a Jonin, accidentally lose, wouldn't I be disgraced and become a laughing stock?

Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't press the matter and dismissed the Jonin. He then approached several other Jonin to ask if they were willing to take Aokiji in.

Although the Jonin's answers differed in wording, they all conveyed the same general meaning: "I am of limited knowledge and ability; please seek someone more knowledgeable, Hokage."

In fact, Aokiji's disobedience was one thing, but at most, people would treat him like he was invisible. The problem was that he also ruined the team atmosphere, often making sarcastic remarks about others not having the talent to be ninjas and saying they should go back to raising pigs. Compared to Aokiji, who was a genius, this caused people to have a mental breakdown and start thinking about giving up being a ninja...

This forced all the Konoha Jonin to take action and not shirk their duties.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was somewhat aware of Aokiji's disruptive behavior towards the team, and he had asked his friends, including Tsunade, about Aokiji's situation.

According to what he understands, Aokiji developed an extreme fear of death due to his tragic past. He is also afraid of the death of those around him, which causes him to have negative emotions. Therefore, he doesn't communicate much with people and keeps his distance from most people.

However, he is not completely closed off; he can still make friends, but only those with great talent and strength, such as his three disciples.

Because strong people are less likely to die, Aokiji doesn't have to worry about them having accidents that would upset him.

However, it's not that having good talent necessarily makes Aokiji willing to communicate. According to him, although having good talent makes it less likely for accidents to happen, the larger the base, the higher the probability of accidents. Therefore, he has to strictly control the number of friends.

Many children experience drastic personality changes due to their childhood experiences; Aokiji is just one particularly unique example.

Just as Hiruzen Sarutobi was racking his brains about how to deal with Aokiji, a young girl entered the room.

In her early teens, she wore a striking golden ponytail with a strand of hair cascading down her forehead. Her almond-shaped eyes were large and bright, and her delicate, bright oval face had skin as white as snow, making her look as graceful as a maiden.

She wore a Konoha headband, and her upper body was wrapped in bandages that extended to her thighs. Her entire body was predominantly light green, with a sleeveless top, white arm sleeves, and a light green skirt that revealed her slender, long legs.

(P.S.: Based on Ino during her genin days, just change her face, clothing color, and headband placement.)

She was Tsunade. In the two years since, she had grown a lot in all aspects compared to the past, except for her chest.

"Huh? Tsunade, what brings you back?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi was surprised. He remembered that at this time, the other party should have been on a mission.

Tsunade entered the Hokage's office as if she were in her own home, casually found a cup, and poured herself a cup of tea without any hesitation: "The mission went smoothly, so I finished it ahead of schedule, and came back early to see the old man."

Hiruzen Sarutobi protested, "Hey, I'm still young, okay?"

Tsunade held the teacup with both hands, took a slow sip, and complained, "Who told you to grow a beard? You look older than my old Hashirama."

With reason and evidence, Hiruzen Sarutobi gave a bitter smile.

Perhaps it's because he has to deal with a lot of things every day since becoming Hokage, but he feels like he's aged very quickly lately, and Biwako often teases him for looking like someone in his forties.

Tsunade, having nothing else to do, casually asked, "Alright, let's not talk about this anymore. You looked really troubled, old man."

With his protests proving ineffective, Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed, "It's all because of your friend Aokiji."

Tsunade was taken aback: "What's wrong with him?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled wryly and took out a stack of transfer requests related to Aokiji from the drawer.

Tsunade put down her teacup, picked up a few papers at random, glanced at them, and said speechlessly, "Aokiji really knows how to cause trouble."

Tsunade wasn't surprised that he would do something like this; this guy would do anything to save his life.

"Aokiji has a real talent for being a ninja. Do you think there's any way to guide him onto the right path?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi wanted to hear Tsunade's opinion, as she knew Aokiji better.

Tsunade quickly waved her hand: "Don't ask me, I have no idea how to guide this oddball onto the right path."

Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed.

"but……"

"But what?" Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes lit up as he pressed for an answer.

"Actually... it's quite easy to get Aokiji to be a ninja obediently."

"???"

"Just give him a reason he can't refuse."

"How so?"

"Aokiji is a greedy guy. I think he'll have a flexible bottom line if the money is right."

Hiruzen Sarutobi: ...

He paused, then smiled wryly, "But even so, I can't just give him money directly, would that be bribery?"

"I didn't say I'd give him the money directly; we just need to change our approach slightly."

"Change your approach?"

"That's simple. For regular tasks, you can just let him complete them by himself."

"Should we let him complete the task alone?"

"If we assign the task that was originally a four-person team to him alone, wouldn't he naturally get more money?"

"Plus, since he's the only one there, he can't possibly slack off. I think he'll be more serious than anyone else for the money. Of course, this is on the condition that the task isn't too difficult."

Hiruzen Sarutobi remained silent, pondering the matter.

"I've already given you the method; whether you adopt it or not is none of my business."

Tsunade was bored in the Hokage's office, so she left after saying that and went straight home. Her family had recently welcomed a new baby, and she was going back to visit her younger brother.

After Tsunade left, only Hiruzen Sarutobi remained in the office.

He got up, went to the window, looked at the scenery outside through the glass, and murmured, "Alone, huh...maybe that'll do."

After adopting Tsunade's advice, the result was just as Tsunade had predicted: Aokiji changed his usual lazy style and became very active and serious in his work.

Especially those C and D rank missions where you just find random cats and dogs, which most ninjas would look down on, he did them with more gusto than anyone else. To him, it wasn't just about finding cats and dogs; it was about finding money.

Normally, when there are four of them, he isn't very motivated to look for kittens and puppies, since the money will be divided up and only a small amount will be left. But now it's different; if he finds a kitten, all the money is his, so he's happy to do it.

As for missions of C rank or higher, Aokiji said he wasn't stupid enough to touch them.

This comfortable life continued for a while until one day, Elder Itachi suddenly found him and his words stunned him, making him think he had misheard.

"Aokiji, I have two Super S-rank missions here. Listen carefully."

Aokiji: ? ? ?

Super S-class mission.

There were two of them!

What a joke!

(End of this chapter)