Konoha: Who Says the Shinobi World Can't Play Hunter?

Chapter 39: Mission

The barbecue gathering ended with everyone cheering in satisfaction, except for Asaema, who was left to foot the bill with a pained expression.

"Remember, we officially start missions tomorrow. Meet at the mission hall at 8 AM sharp." Asaema announced expressionlessly, ignoring his still-chatty team members. He wanted to get out of there as soon as possible—his wallet and his heart were crying.

"Yes!" ×3.

The next morning, Kazama got ready and left the house early. Well, not much to prepare, really—he always carried his weapons and ninja tools, and today was just their first mission, which meant the usual pet retrieval, babysitting, and weed-pulling. Since they wouldn't be leaving the village, all he needed were a few basic scrolls.

If there was one place in Konoha that was always bustling, it was the mission hall. Every day, hundreds, if not thousands, of ninjas gathered there to take on missions and earn commissions. Most of them were chūnin and genin; high-ranking jōnin usually took A-rank or even S-rank missions, which were classified and not publicly listed in the mission hall.

This meant the mission hall was more or less like a crowded market—not the kind of place where the Hokage personally assigns missions to every small genin squad, as the stories would have you believe. Well… maybe for the protagonist. But Kazama? Definitely not.

The spacious hall had multiple windows, each marked with the rank of missions available, designed like bank teller counters.

"Yo, morning, everyone."

"You're too slow, Kazama! You almost made us late!" Nobuko complained. She had been excited about officially becoming a ninja and had arrived extra early—only for Kazama to show up just on time.

"Relax, did I actually make us late? No. So what's the problem? If you wanted to meet earlier, you should've said so beforehand." Kazama was in a good mood, refusing to argue. Instead, he chose to stay logical—no need to fight with the ladies.

"You—!" Nobuko's cheeks puffed up in frustration.

"Alright, enough. Let's look at today's missions and pick a few." Asaema had already queued up and was at the front.

"Finding a cat?" Kazama scanned the long list of pet retrieval missions—finding cats, dogs, parrots, and all sorts of missing animals. Predictable. He flipped the page.

"Farming—pulling weeds, plowing fields, planting seeds, harvesting." Agricultural missions. Next.

"Washing clothes, cooking, babysitting." Domestic work.

He took a deep breath and flipped again.

That was it.

The entire D-rank mission section boiled down to these categories. Sure, the booklet was thick, but it was all just variations of the same few types of missions.

"Not even worth looking at." Kazama tossed the booklet to the other two, who frowned as they skimmed through it.

"Asaema-sensei, we'll take the farming missions—weed removal, plowing, and planting." Kazama decided without even consulting the others.

"Eh?!" ×2.

Both Ichiro and Nobuko were shocked by Kazama's quick decision. Asaema, however, gave him a thoughtful look.

"You sure?" Asaema asked.

"Sure."

"... …"

Ichiro and Nobuko had no words. They hadn't even thought about what to pick yet, and now Kazama had already decided for them.

Konoha was far larger than what was shown in maps or stories—what people usually saw was just the central district, with its government buildings and major facilities.

The residential areas weren't all crammed into one place—in fact, many clans had their own territories, huge plots of land that they managed independently.

Today's mission was still within Konoha's borders, so they weren't technically leaving the village, but it was far from the Hokage's office—almost at the outer edges of the village territory.

The field they arrived at was overgrown with weeds. It was clearly farmland, but poorly maintained, allowing the wild grass to take over.

Their employer was an old man, hunched over and breathing heavily every few steps. Kazama half-expected him to collapse at any moment.

"Alright, you're here. Get to work," Asaema ordered, activating Body Flicker—in the next instant, he was gone, reappearing on a nearby tree, lounging comfortably with his sword in hand.

"Alright, let's do this," Kazama said, tossing farm tools to Ichiro and Nobuko—but keeping none for himself.

"Why aren't you taking any tools?"

"Why should I use basic farm tools? I'm a ninja." Kazama's tone was matter-of-fact.

Nobuko's expression twisted in disbelief.

"You—our mission is teamwork, so why are you slacking off?"

"Who said I was slacking?"

"You're not even holding a tool! You're just sitting there, reading a scroll! How is that not slacking?!" Nobuko huffed, exasperated.

"Miss, how can I convince you? Never mind, actions speak louder than words." Kazama sighed, shaking his head and turning back to his scroll.

Asaema, watching from afar, observed quietly.

After their battle yesterday, he had learned not to judge Kazama too quickly.

Instead of jumping to conclusions, Asaema decided to wait and see how Kazama would handle the mission.

Meanwhile, Ichiro—the quiet, reliable one—had already started digging. He was used to manual labor, so it was natural for him.

Nobuko, however, was struggling.

She had never done hard physical work, and plowing was exhausting. Within minutes, she was covered in sweat, panting heavily.

By the time Ichiro had nearly finished one row, she had barely done a third.

She glanced at Kazama, still sitting comfortably, and her frustration boiled over.

She slammed her hoe down, marched over, and glared at him.

"This is teamwork! You need to help, not just sit there! Are you really planning to do nothing?"

Kazama finally looked up.

"Relax. I'll handle half of this field. Satisfied?"

"Ha! Big talk!" Nobuko scoffed. "You think you can finish half when I can barely get through a third of a row?"

"You just don't believe me, huh?" Kazama smirked.

"Fine! Show me!"

"Alright. Time to demonstrate what a real ninja should do." Kazama stood up, stretching lazily.

Then, he put his hands together and formed a seal.

Ichiro and Nobuko watched closely.

Asaema, still observing from his tree, narrowed his eyes in anticipation.

Kazama took a deep breath.

Then—

"Wind Release: Vacuum Blade!"

He swung his hand, and a sharp gust of wind ripped through the ground, clearing an entire row of soil instantly.

Nobuko's jaw dropped.

Ichiro's eyes widened.

Even Asaema's eyebrow twitched in mild surprise.

Kazama grinned.

"Now that's how a ninja should work."

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You can read advance chapters ahead on patreon.com/fishkiss69, I will upload 1 extra chapter every day there.

THANK YOU

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