"What kind of mission?"
Naruto looked at the request in Jiraiya's hand and asked with disinterest. He was no longer interested in low-level missions.
"This time, the lowest is a B-rank mission!"
Jiraiya saw through Naruto's thoughts, waved the mission request enticingly, then said seriously,
"Besides that, there's also an S-rank mission, and it has something to do with you, Naruto."
"S-rank?"
Naruto's eyes lit up immediately. "What kind of S-rank mission would have something to do with me?"
"To be precise, it's related to your classmate."
Jiraiya pulled out a page from the stack and handed it to Naruto. "Do you remember your classmate Uchiha Sasuke? He was taken away by Orochimaru. The Uchiha Clan then issued a special S-rank bounty within the Village. The mission is to snatch him back from Orochimaru and bring him back alive."
"The reward is thirty million Ryo!"
When the reward was mentioned, Jiraiya's eyes instantly turned into gold ingots.
Ordinary S-rank missions usually paid around one million Ryo. The Uchiha Clan likely didn't have time to deal with this matter themselves, so they raised the bounty dozens of times.
Thirty million Ryo—even Jiraiya couldn't help but be tempted, so he casually accepted the mission.
"Sasuke?"
Naruto showed a surprised expression. He still had a deep impression of that classmate who constantly challenged him. There was even a strange sense of familiarity toward him.
He never expected Sasuke to be taken away.
However—
"Who is Orochimaru?" Naruto asked curiously.
"Orochimaru, huh…"
Jiraiya's expression grew melancholic, a trace of nostalgia appearing in his eyes. He waved his hand.
"Just a ninja who went down the wrong road. But he's very strong."
"Very strong?"
Naruto's eyes lit up. "How strong?"
"Extremely strong!"
Jiraiya raised his hand solemnly, leaving a tiny gap between his fingers. "Compared to me, he's only a little weaker."
"Oh!~"
Naruto nodded seriously. "Then he's indeed quite strong."
Naruto was deeply impressed by Jiraiya's strength. Someone only slightly weaker than him could indeed be called powerful.
He couldn't help but wonder how far his current self was from someone like Jiraiya.
As that thought surfaced, Naruto looked at Jiraiya with burning eyes.
"Don't even think about it!"
Jiraiya instantly saw through his intentions and crushed them outright.
Was he joking? Naruto could already control Five-Tailed-level Nine-Tails Chakra. Even Jiraiya would need to use his true strength against him, and might still embarrass himself.
More importantly, using his full power against his six-year-old disciple would be far too shameful.
If anything, he'd rather let Orochimaru be the one to lose face.
But that guy was slippery.
"Let's look at other missions."
Jiraiya set Sasuke's bounty aside. "This mission has a high reward, but Orochimaru's whereabouts are hard to find. It won't be completed anytime soon."
"This A-rank mission from Grass Hidden Village is decent. All you need to do is go there and find a red-haired little girl. The reward is one million Ryo."
"And this one—a debt collection mission jointly issued by four casinos. The bounty is one-tenth of the debt, which is twelve million Ryo!"
Jiraiya twitched as he read the mission details.
He didn't even remember when he had taken this bounty, and he instantly recognized who the target was.
"How much gambling debt has this guy accumulated?" he muttered.
"What?"
Naruto didn't hear clearly and leaned closer.
"Nothing."
Jiraiya quickly put the mission away, rummaged through the stack, and finally pulled out a B-rank mission.
"Let's start with this one."
The mission was to wipe out a bandit group led by a Chunin. The reward was one hundred thousand Ryo, and the location was nearby.
Naruto had no objections. It was just a Chunin.
As expected, the mission was completed effortlessly.
After receiving the reward, Jiraiya said he would treat Naruto to a big meal—
And then he cried.
"My two guests, I am truly sorry!"
The barbecue restaurant owner bowed deeply as he sent off the still-hungry Naruto and the tearful Jiraiya, his mouth twitching uncontrollably.
Naruto alone had eaten three days' worth of meat and claimed to be only sixty percent full.
"My esteemed guests, I apologize for the poor hospitality. Next time you visit, I guarantee you'll eat your fill—and enjoy a twenty percent discount!"
The owner smiled fawningly. In all his years of running the restaurant, he had never seen anyone eat so much.
An angel.
"Really?"
Naruto's eyes lit up. He truly hadn't eaten his fill.
"No more! Never again!"
Jiraiya grabbed Naruto and fled.
That meal had cost one hundred eighty thousand Ryo—even after a discount!
And Naruto was only sixty percent full.
If he ate freely, Jiraiya would go bankrupt.
From that moment on, Jiraiya decided barbecue was terrible and swore never to eat it again.
Actually… with Naruto's appetite, no food was safe.
He had to keep doing missions, or he wouldn't even be able to afford meals.
With that thought, Jiraiya tossed aside all the B-rank missions he was holding.
They were useless.
They couldn't train Naruto anymore, and the rewards weren't even enough for one meal.
From now on, the lowest they would take was A-rank missions.
"By the way, Naruto, why did you suddenly become such a glutton?" Jiraiya asked while flipping through missions.
"I don't know."
Naruto scratched his head. "Maybe my body got stronger."
"There's a limit to that!"
Jiraiya stared at him. "Your appetite is outrageous. Even the giant toads of Mount Myōboku don't eat as much as you do."
"Could it be that your physical abilities surpass those of a giant toad dozens of times your size?"
"I'm not sure."
Naruto thought for a moment. "But my strength has increased a lot, and my body feels much tougher."
He stopped walking, glanced around, then approached a nearby boulder.
With one hand, he lifted a massive rock nearly ten times his height.
"See? I can lift this without using chakra."
"Pfft!~"
Jiraiya nearly lost his mind.
"You brat—what exactly did you experience over there?!"
He rushed over, poking and pinching Naruto all over.
The conclusion was terrifying.
Naruto's body was no longer human.
It was like a giant beast compressed into human form.
Jiraiya couldn't imagine what kind of training Minato had arranged to produce such results.
But it explained everything.
Such a body could naturally handle Nine-Tails Chakra.
And with that body, such an appetite made sense.
Still, missions had to be done.
Otherwise, Naruto would eat him into poverty.
"Alright, put the rock down."
Jiraiya waved his hand, picked up a mission, and said, "Next, we're heading to the Land of Grass to earn you some food money."
"Oh!~"
Naruto gently placed the rock down and followed him.
---
The Land of Grass lay between the Land of Fire, Earth, Rain, and Waterfalls. Sandwiched between major powers, its situation was precarious.
Grass Hidden Village specialized in studying the ninjutsu of other nations.
To put it nicely, they were good learners.
To put it bluntly, they had no unique techniques of their own.
Well—not entirely.
Grass Hidden Village had a special kunoichi.
She possessed powerful chakra and exceptional sensory abilities. By biting her skin, injured people could rapidly recover both chakra and wounds.
Yet instead of being protected, she was treated as a public medical pack.
Anyone injured could come and take a bite.
"Karin!"
That day, a woman rushed home, scooped up her daughter, and tried to flee.
"Mama, where are we going?" the girl asked softly, curled in her arms. "Are we leaving the Village?"
"Mm."
The woman nodded, sweat-soaked gray hair clinging to her forehead.
Her hair had once been red.
Years of having her chakra drained had turned it gray.
She was only in her twenties, yet looked fifty.
She knew her life was over—but she refused to let her daughter share that fate.
So she secretly posted an A-rank mission at an underground exchange.
One million Ryo.
To take her daughter away.
She had no money.
She gambled that whoever accepted the mission would value her daughter's abilities—and wouldn't be a demon like the ninjas of this Village.
They had nothing left to lose.
What could be worse than staying?
But fate loved cruel jokes.
Her mission was accepted.
By one of the legendary Three Sannin.
Hope bloomed—
And then despair followed.
Grass Hidden Village discovered the mission.
They hunted her down.
She fled—but not far.
Whoosh!
A kunai pierced her ankle.
They fell.
"You filthy bitch!"
"Trying to escape?!"
The ninjas kicked and cursed them.
She curled around her daughter, pleading weakly, "Please… don't hurt Karin. I just wanted to send her away. She's still a child."
"After you die, she'll replace you!"
"Do you know how important she is to us?!"
Their blows grew heavier.
Boom!
A figure cloaked in crimson chakra descended from the sky.
A chakra tail swept the attackers away.
Vertical pupils glowed coldly.
Naruto turned his head.
"Jiraiya-sensei," he asked quietly, "can people like this even be called ninja?"
---
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