Ninja Pot Shadow

Shikamaru looked a little embarrassed. Seeing that everyone was staring at him, he casually replied, "I am Nara Shikamaru. I don't have any dreams. I just want to marry an ordinary-looking woman and live a peaceful life."

Asuma's smile was a little stiff, and she finally looked at Choji.

Choji scratched his face. Did he have any dreams? Did he? Probably not!

"My name is Choji Akimichi, and I want... I want to eat all kinds of delicious food? Does that count..." Seeing Asuma's ambiguous smile, he quickly changed to a more appropriate way of saying it among ninjas: "I want to train hard, become an excellent ninja, not allow anyone to insult my comrades, and eat some delicious food during my rest time?"

We've finished talking about Class 10; now it's Class 8's turn.

Kiba Inuzuka was the most proactive: "I want to become Hokage!"

Ino smiled and nodded. "Young man, you will never become Hokage, not even in this life, the next life, or the life after that!"

Shino Aburame thought for a moment: "I want to become a ninja who attracts attention."

Finally, it was Hinata's turn. After hesitating for a long time, the little girl stammered, "I hope... I hope to become brave, like Ino. I hope to gain my father's approval. I hope..." Not knowing what to say, she summarized, "I hope to become an excellent female ninja."

Asuma and Kurenai exchanged a glance, both feeling that the child had a very clear understanding of herself. She did indeed lack courage and confidence, and compared to the confident Ino on the other side, her shortcomings were quite obvious.

After a joyful dinner, Class 10 was officially established.

Since you've become a ninja in Konoha, you need to work. Whether you come from a ninja clan or are a commoner, a ninja's job is to carry out all sorts of missions.

Naruto found Jiraiya's bankbook, and the string of zeros on it dazzled Naruto's eyes. Was that money really earned from writing novels? The streets were full of emaciated farmers, and the literacy rate was so low. How many people actually read books? Most of his money was saved up from completing missions.

The ninja world has a relatively clear division of tasks.

First and foremost is the S-class mission, which involves state secrets.

Next are A-level missions concerning the movements of the ninja village and the nation.

A B-rank mission that requires ninjas to participate in the battle, with a high chance of injury or even death.

A Class C mission where there is a possibility of injury during the mission.

And D-rank missions that do not require combat and do not endanger lives.

Strictly speaking, the matter of Mizuki could be considered a B-level mission, but it could not be made public. Considering that Haiyi and Lujiu were also there to protect them, the village gave each of them a C-level mission, with a reward of 50,000 taels each.

Genin missions are mostly D-rank, with occasional C-rank missions.

Chunin Exams involve most C-rank missions and all B-rank missions.

Jonin are highly skilled; they are only responsible for A-rank and S-rank missions.

New ninjas like Ino can only take on extremely trivial D-rank missions right from the start.

She had no objection to this. Even a character with Orochimaru's art style had done 16 D-rank missions, so what did she have to complain about?

Just imagine Orochimaru with his sleeves rolled up, squatting in the ground weeding, feeding pigs, and picking up trash... Ino felt she had absolutely no right to be pretentious! She should just focus on doing her mission!

The first task proved to be a challenge for her.

Weeding the farmland in the village!

It sounded easy, and it looked easy, but seeing the worried farmer sighing beside her, Ino felt that things were not so simple. She didn't think that a farmer who had been farming all his life couldn't do weeding. His expression seemed to indicate that there was something more to this weeding task.

Shikamaru was also the kind of person who thought three steps ahead before taking one step, and he stood by the edge of the farmland and observed carefully.

Choji wasn't as cunning as them. In Fatty's view, it was reasonable for the team to have two people who used their brains, and for him to use his own strength, so there was no problem. He even liked this kind of cooperation.

He rolled up his trousers and went down to the field to weed.

Two minutes later...

"Ouch..."

"Help! Shikamaru, please save me... Am I going to die...?"

Choji lay weakly in the mud, his back and thighs covered with leeches the size of fists.

The water in the farmland was 20 to 30 centimeters deep, and the water was full of leeches.

This is the main reason why the farmers issue D-level tasks.

Fatty Choji has strong defenses; a couple of kunai stabs and kicks don't break through his defenses at all. But leeches are different; they suck blood, leaving Fatty pale, weak, and looking like he's about to die.

Shikamaru valued his best friend highly. He said to Ino, "You take care of the waterlogging problem, and I'll treat Choji?"

Choji's body was actually not difficult to deal with; it was just a matter of salt and fire. However, seeing such a dense mass of leeches still made Ino feel a little disgusted.

She thought for a moment and said, "Okay."

Shikamaru went to find salt, while she stood by the farmland, carefully examining the stagnant water in the field.

Water cannons are definitely not suitable for this area. Their mission is clearly stated: to clear weeds, not to destroy farmland! If a water cannon is used, everything will be gone.

The main body stands by the field, letting the shadow clone remove the weeds? That won't work either; there are so many leeches here, the shadow clone would just disappear after being sucked up a couple of times.

Asma watched from afar, clearly showing no intention of helping; this was a task they had to solve themselves.

Ino circled the farmland and quickly found a low-lying area. After some calculations, she used earth-escape technique to dig a reservoir and a ditch. Then, she used water-escape technique to divert the stagnant water in the farmland, along with all sorts of miscellaneous insects, into the reservoir.

By the time Shikamaru had finished dealing with all the leeches on Choji, she had also finished the initial cleaning of the farmland.

With the biggest obstacle of the mission cleared, the remaining physical labor was left to Shikamaru and Choji. With the sun about to set and the two strong young men still not finished, Ino had to get out of the field to help.

Chapter 59 C-Rank Mission

The eldest son of the Nara family, the young lady of the Yamanaka family, and the chubby young master of the Akimichi family—none of them had ever done farm work before. Choji was also a little dizzy from blood loss, and Ino had no strength at all. Shikamaru was the main force in weeding. Poor Shikamaru, a rich young master who liked to lie down and watch the clouds drift by, was so tired in the end that he could hardly straighten his back.

"Hmm, not bad. Let's go for barbecue tonight, your classmates are there too." Asma strolled over leisurely, a cigarette dangling from his lips.

Aside from Choji regaining some strength after hearing about the barbecue, Ino and Shikamaru were too weak to speak and staggered to the barbecue restaurant.

Upon entering, I found quite a few familiar faces, including not only Kurenai Yuhi's Team 8, but also Kakashi's Team 7.

Ino, Shikamaru, Choji, Hinata, Kiba, Shino, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura—this was the first time the nine of them had reunited since leaving school, but the atmosphere of the reunion was not very enthusiastic.

Ino pinched her nose and looked at Sakura with disgust: "Wide forehead, why do you smell so bad?"

Sakura exploded: "Ino-boo, how are you any better than me? Look at your hair, it's a mess like a bird's nest!"

After everyone sat down and chatted for a while, they discovered that everyone had had a very difficult time with their first day's D-level mission!

Ino and her Class 10 were tasked with removing insects and weeds.

Naruto and his Team 7 were tasked with collecting trash from the river. The river was stinky, not only smelly but also full of garbage! Sakura and Sasuke were both overwhelmed by the stench. Naruto, a true warrior, finally found an opportunity to use the Shadow Clone Technique in front of others. He assigned his shadow clones to collect the trash, and in the end, all the hundreds of shadow clones returned to their original body, effectively knocking the original body unconscious from the stench.

Hinata and her Class 8's mission was to take care of children at a kindergarten. Hinata spoke softly, and the children weren't afraid of her at all. Kiba, on the other hand, had a quick temper and scared the children to tears three times, earning a stern warning from the kindergarten principal. As for Shino... no one listened to Shino at all. The three of them were tormented to the point of ecstasy by the unruly children that day.

Ino understood immediately after hearing this; it must have been arranged on purpose.

With her water-escape skills, cleaning up the trash at the bottom of the river should be the easiest task for her. She doesn't need to control her strength at all; a single water dragon bullet can solve all the problems.

Using Naruto's Multiple Shadow Clone Technique would be the most convenient way to take care of children at kindergarten.

Shino's insect control techniques are the most suitable for cleaning up the farmland.

The village's current arrangements are clearly assigning unsuitable tasks to unsuitable people.

Damn it, you grandson...

Everyone was exhausted and had little interest in talking. After eating and drinking, the group quickly dispersed and went home.

……

Even when not on missions, Ino still maintained two shadow clones for training.

For her, missions offer little improvement and are far less effective than self-training, but missions are essential for her—it's a ninja's job.

Ino wants to live a quiet life in the village, but some people don't think so.

At Naruto's insistence, the village gave Team 7 a standard C-rank mission. Considering that these genin had never seen blood, and that it wouldn't work to just practice ninjutsu without real combat experience and killing someone, Team 10 was also included.

The Third Hokage personally assigned the mission to them.

After Ino read through the mission details, she discovered that it wasn't the Land of Waves as she had expected, but rather a mission to wipe out a group of mountain bandits on the border of the Land of Fire.

Mountain bandits are nothing more than moving targets when facing ninjas with chakra. However, ninjas are a profession with high attack but low defense, or rather, all humans have the same defensive capabilities. They are just mortals, and if they are not prepared, 99% of ninjas can be killed by a kunai. From this perspective, there is not much difference between ninjas and mountain bandits.

The Third Hokage went to great lengths to ensure that the village's new generation of ninjas could see blood.

The sixteenth generation Ino-Shika-Cho trio, the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, and the sole heir of the Uchiha clan—these individuals are extremely important.

They must be transformed from students into ninjas. Mountain bandits are the best targets, but protection must also be provided.

A C-rank mission not only required the deployment of Kakashi, an elite Jonin, but also brought along Asuma, the Hokage's favorite son.

The core message is simple: have them do a good job of protection. Kakashi's attack power is not a problem, but he often acts a bit recklessly.

Asuma, who served as the guardian ninja of the Fire Country's daimyo, has more experience as a bodyguard than Kakashi. He has a gentle personality and can effectively protect Ino and other new generation ninjas.

Before setting off, the Third Hokage, holding his pipe, gave a special reminder: "You are all the future of the village. When carrying out missions, you must obey the orders of the Jonin leading the team, but you must also have your own judgment... This band of bandits has committed numerous atrocities, frequently kidnapping civilians. As ninjas of the Land of Fire, and as ninjas of Konoha, you must wipe them out! Only by killing all these bandits will the nearby civilians gain true safety..."

The Third Hokage's speech was long and tedious. This wasn't a Jonin meeting, and Kakashi didn't want to leave the younger generation of the village with a bad impression of being lazy, so he could only pretend to listen attentively.

Asma's biological son didn't have so many concerns. Seeing the old man rambling on and on, repeating the same old things over and over, he went off to smoke by himself.

Ino and the others listened with gritted teeth for an hour. Even Sasuke, who had been keeping a cold face, was frowning deeply when the Third Hokage finally finished explaining all the precautions.

His words completely washed away Naruto's joy at receiving a C-rank mission. When the group of eight left the village, the future Seventh Hokage was walking weakly and listlessly.

When they went out on missions, in addition to their usual ninja tools, Ino and the others each carried a black backpack.

There are many things here, including tents, supplies, medicine and food for camping in the wild. Even if someone gets separated from the main group, they can survive in the wild for several days with these things.

Choji carried the most stuff, a whole bunch of things like iron pots, shovels, and seasonings. It didn't look like he was going on a mission; it looked more like he was going on a picnic.

The Land of Fire is a plain, and the village where the mission takes place is located in the southwest corner of this plain. The climate there is hot and humid, and the crops are not good. The common people are very poor, so poor that they can't afford to eat. They have no choice but to go into the mountains to become bandits. They become bandits and then rob other common people. This cycle continues, and eventually, there are more and more bandits.

Konoha Village has always adopted a laissez-faire attitude towards this. If the Land of Fire is peaceful, how will their ninjas make a living?

Once the bandits have some combat ability, we send genin to train them and harvest some experience. After a few years, when there are more bandits, Konoha sends people to harvest them again, and so on.

Ino had a general understanding of this, and she did not refuse the task.

Ninjas are ultimately meant to kill, regardless of whether those guys are the "wicked" bandits the Third Hokage spoke of. It would be best if they were, but it doesn't matter if they aren't. She needs these bandits to test her "capacity"!

Chapter Sixty: The First Battle After Leaving the Village

Not long after the group left the village, Kakashi called Ino aside.

She turned her head to look over there.