Team Renjiro entered the Hokage building together and went to the Mission room.
On seeing the chunin in charge of distributing missions, Renjiro said, “Give us all the C rank Bandit elimination missions in the area between Konoha and Tanzaku area.”
The chunin nodded and handed 7 missions to Renjiro. Renjiro read the missions while thinking, ‘I haven’t been taking any missions for the last 7 months. I know the old man wanted to give me a break. But I have had a long enough break. He declined to give me an S rank mission. So, I should at least clear out some basic issues. These bandits would be a good start. Hopefully, some of these C rank missions will get upgraded to B rank. That’ll also provide some good training for the kids. All 3 of them are already ready to be promoted to Chunin.”
He stored the mission request forms. Then he looked at his squad and said, “Let’s move.”
The genins nodded and everyone flickered towards Konoha's entrance gate.
In the next week, 7 bandit camps were completely decimated. In that month, Team Renjiro slaughtered 18 bandit camps in the land of Fire.
The team started taking these missions with excitement. But by now, they were sick of it!
Hoka, Fujin and Mieko waited outside the Hokage building while Renjiro was selecting more missions.
Mieko complained, “Why are there so many bandits in our country? Also, why aren’t they stronger?”
Hoka sighed and said, “Yeah. 18 camps and there wasn’t a single bandit as strong as us.”
Fujin added, “I think our missions are purposefully chosen so that we don’t end up fighting anyone strong.”
Mieko commented, “That’s even more frustrating!”
Fujin sighed and nodded, “Yes. I had heard that many rank C missions go wrong and get upgraded to rank B or even A. I thought that it was a rather common occurrence. But it seems like I was wrong.”
Hoka replied, “They don’t happen that often. But they often cause serious injury or death. That’s why you hear about them very often.”
Fujin said, “Oh. That makes sense. I didn’t think about it that way.”
Mieko interrupted, “You guys are getting off-topic. Think how we can get a better mission! Should I yell at that mission-giving guy again? Last time he gave us a rank C mission. So maybe he might give us a B rank mission.”
Fujin looked at her and asked in a bored tone, “Last time I threatened him with you burning a baby. I don’t think he’d really mind us burning bandits.”
That comment made her face a bit red due to embarrassment.
They were about to talk more when Renjiro walked out of the building. He announced, "Today, we won't be taking a bandit hunting mission."
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Hearing that the team was excited. Mieko asked quickly with a lot of expectations, "Can we do a B rank mission sensei?"
Renjiro was amused by her question. Her expectations came crashing down as Renjiro shook his head and replied, "No, we will be escorting a merchant to Degarashi Port in the Land of Tea."
Hearing that, all 3 genins gave Renjiro a deadpan look.
Fujin asked, "What will we be protecting him from, Sensei?"
Renjiro smirked and answered, "Bandits, of course."
He enjoyed the look of betrayal on his students' faces for a few seconds and then said, "This will be a long trip. We will need around 2 weeks to reach there and around 3 days to return back. So pack your stuff, we will be leaving at noon."
The genins dejectedly replied yes and left. While leaving, Mieko asked Fujin, "Fujin, do you think threatening that mission guy with the life of the merchant might work?"
The team hadn't walked far away. Renjiro immediately sweated a bit as he heard it properly. He said slightly loudly so that his students could hear him, "It won't. I'll just take you to do bandit extermination missions for…."
Not wanting to hear their sensei's threat, the genins just flickered away while laughing. Renjiro just sighed at the antics of his students and muttered, "I'm too old for this shit"
Konoha's Main Gate :
At noon, team Renjiro gathered here. As usual, Fujin arrived last. Renjiro, Hoka, and Mieko were standing here, alongside 8 merchants and 2 carriages filled with goods. Each of the 2 carriages had its reins attached to 2 bullocks.
Fujin walked towards Hoka and Mieko who were standing behind Renjiro while he was talking with the most well-dressed Merchant. On seeing Fujin, Renjiro said, "This is Fujin, Toshio-san. The last member of our group."
Fujin looked at the guy and said, "Hello."
The merchant smiled, slightly bowed towards Fujin, and replied, "I am Iha Toshio. A merchant from the Land of Tea. We will be in your care Fujin-kun. Please take care of us."
Fujin nodded while thinking, 'This guy is awfully polite! Did he say this to all 3 of us? On a serious note, however, though he seems very carefree, he is actually very tense.'
He looked at Renjiro and stared at him while wondering, 'Is there more to this mission than he said? Now that I think about it, why did he suddenly take such a long mission? Earlier he seemed rather obsessed with making Land of Fire bandit-free.'
Renjiro saw Fujin staring at him and wondered, 'Has his sensory skills become so acute that he can even sense worry? I knew he could detect lies from chakra fluctuations, but has his sensor skills improved to this degree? Very few outside the Yamanaka clan can detect worry. And most of them are very experienced and veteran ninjas.'
Not wanting Fujin to catch onto anything, Renjiro stated, "The path that we are taking has a number of bandit camps. We have eliminated most of the bandit camps between Konoha and the Lands of River and Rain.
Through this mission, we will exterminate the bandits en route from Konoha to the Land of Tea. So keep your guard up, as there are at least 17 known bandit camps in our way."
The genins nodded on hearing this. Mieko and Hoka sighed internally. While Fujin wondered, 'Is he just worried due to the bandits? Or is it something else? Oh well, we should find out soon. I should stay on guard though.'
Renjiro then did an inventory check, while Toshio checked whether all his goods were packed. In 15 minutes, Team Renjiro left alongside the merchants of Land of Tea.