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Konoha Central Street.
Chewing on a rice ball, Akira Tsubaki ran all the way to the door of the [Happy Hot Springs Bath].
Looking at the locked door and the large sign that read "Closed for Rest," his expression was complicated.
"The good news is that this bathhouse belongs to me now."
"The bad news is that it's going to cost a fortune to reopen."
"Manpower, utilities, water—it all costs money."
The thought made Akira Tsubaki feel a little distressed.
After all, that dinner last night was paid for by me!
Leaving Central Street, he first assembled Team Minato, and then rushed to the Hokage Building amidst Obito's incessant complaints.
"Hey, Akira, we're in a rest period! Why are you still making us pick up a mission?"
"Are you even my good brother anymore? Is this how you treat me just because you became captain?"
"Answer me!"
Obito vented his dissatisfaction the entire way, practically needing a megaphone.
The guy only quieted down once he walked into the Hokage Building.
The Task Room.
Flipping through the mission scrolls, Akira Tsubaki stroked his chin.
"If you find the tasks here too low-level, you can go to the Hokage's office to request higher-ranked ones," the recording ninja reminded him.
After all, only D-rank missions were kept here.
In the end, Akira Tsubaki accepted a mission: [Cleaning the Old House].
Once outside the Hokage Building, Obito exploded again.
"Cleaning? Hey, aren't you usually smart? Has your brain been infected by those Dango-faces?" Obito shouted, using an insult inspired by Anko.
Team Minato, the pride of their generation, is going to clean an old house?
If other squads found out, they would become a laughingstock again, especially to Mitarashi Anko.
It wasn't just Obito who was upset; even Kakashi had an opinion.
"Akira, instead of doing such a meaningless task, it would be better to train hard," Kakashi said, dissatisfied.
Glancing at his two rivals, Akira Tsubaki turned to Rin.
"I think this task is quite nice," Rin said after thinking for a moment, standing on the side of compliance.
Akira Tsubaki smiled.
As long as Rin agreed, he wasn't worried about the others refusing.
"In that case, Rin and I will take this mission," Akira Tsubaki said, shrugging his hands.
"Oh, is that so?" Obito immediately took the bait.
Kakashi didn't speak, but he didn't leave either.
Half an hour later.
Team Minato stood in front of a dilapidated old house, brooms in hand, their faces utterly dull.
Two crows croaked a few times, flying out from the holed roof.
The thick, serpentine grass stood a meter high, almost completely covering the yard, and the house itself was nearly engulfed.
That wasn't the main issue.
The main issue was that the wooden beams of the old house were clearly warped. No matter how they looked at it, the house seemed seconds away from collapsing.
"Well, what's the point of cleaning? Why don't we just tear it down and rebuild it?" Obito was on the verge of going mad.
"Indeed, there's no need to clean anymore," Kakashi agreed.
"It's strange. If it's like this, why would anyone request a cleaning?" Rin asked.
Akira Tsubaki also felt it was odd.
No normal person would bother cleaning this kind of ruin; it should be completely demolished.
"The mission was issued by the village; they probably don't want to invest money."
After thinking for a moment, Akira Tsubaki guessed the general reason.
Leaving such a desolate old house would affect the village's appearance, but rebuilding it would require a significant financial investment. Therefore, the village issued a low-paying D-rank mission to solve the visual problem cheaply.
Since they were already here, Team Minato had no choice but to bite the bullet and start cleaning.
Obito rolled up his sleeves and attempted to pluck the thick, serpentine grass from the yard.
This grass had a highly developed, tenacious root system.
Obito strained for a long time but couldn't manage to pull it out.
"Isn't this too difficult to pull out?"
As soon as he finished complaining, his eyes widened.
Not far away, Akira Tsubaki was effortlessly pulling out the weeds, seemingly without much force at all.
"How is that possible? Is the soil looser on his side?"
Scratching his head, Obito moved closer to Akira Tsubaki's area and reached for a patch of sagebrush with both hands.
"URGH!!!"
His face was flushed with effort, and he pushed with all his strength.
Plop!
Obito fell back onto the ground, his hands marked with two deep red lines.
The tough grass remained firmly in the soil.
"Akira, why can you pull it out and I can't?" Obito couldn't understand.
"Huh? Did you forget to eat?"
Akira Tsubaki replied casually, effortlessly pulling out another clump of weeds. He made it look as easy and casual as picking mushrooms.
Obito went quiet.
He suddenly realized that this simple D-rank mission was genuinely stumping him.
"He must be using some kind of skill!"
Obito began to meticulously observe Akira Tsubaki's technique for pulling weeds.
He wasn't the only one.
Kakashi was also secretly watching Akira Tsubaki, gaining a new understanding of his strength.
"He is stronger than me."
Kakashi was shocked.
There was no way he could pull out those weeds as easily as Akira Tsubaki.
Even in this short amount of time, Akira Tsubaki had uprooted almost half the yard. As for Kakashi? He had only managed a few plants.
The gap between them was enormous.
Before long, the serpentine grass in the yard had been pulled out.
Akira Tsubaki pulled 90%, and Kakashi pulled 10%.
"Clear away the weeds from the yard, and I'll go check the house."
As the captain, Akira Tsubaki embodied the spirit of hard work and walked into the ancient house alone.
In the yard.
Kakashi, Obito, and Rin gathered together.
"Did you notice, Akira's strength is immense," Obito spoke first.
"Obito, you two have been together for two years, and you didn't know?" Kakashi was genuinely puzzled.
"How the hell would I know? He was lazy all day long!"
Compared to the two boys, Rin thought of something else entirely.
"If Akira's strength is so great, why did he only score 21 points on the graduation physical exam?"
Yes.
With such immense strength, how could he possibly have scored only 21 points?
"Could it be that he was looking out for you, worried you would be the absolute worst student, so he deliberately held back?"
Rin's words landed like a critical hit.
"You mean, Akira has been covering for me?" Obito's face instantly fell.
"I think what Rin said makes sense," Kakashi agreed.
The implication of Rin's words was clear.
The true Dead Last was not Akira Tsubaki, but Obito himself.
Inside the House.
Akira Tsubaki stood in front of a wall, staring thoughtfully at a patch of peeling plaster.
Because, a Detonating Tag was exposed inside the wall.