A/N : Sorry I had to make some necessary changes.
[ JINICHI WATARU ]
The afternoon sun baked the flat concrete of the academy rooftop, radiating a stifling heat that made the summer air shimmer. For the last three weeks, this roof had become our team's unofficial staging ground. Today was no different. In the center of the terrace, our Jonin sensei, Shohei Nara, was fast asleep, using the thick, shadowy fur of his summoned bear, Kuro, as a makeshift mattress. Kuro let out a low, rumbling huff with every breath, completely indifferent to the lazy shinobi drooling on his crystalline Armor.
Out of boredom I summon my status screen.
'Status'
●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●
[STATUS]
[Name] — Jinichi Wataru
[Level] — 19
[Exp Bar] — 120,000 / 13,107,200
[STATS]
Strength — 33 [High Genin]
Constitution — 33 [High Genin]
Speed — 33 [High Genin]
Dexterity — 33 [High Genin]
Intelligence — 33 [High Genin]
Chakra Capacity — 33 [High Genin]
[Stat Points] — 89
●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●
[Skills]
●Transformation jutsu [ Lv 22 ]
●Clone jutsu [ Lv 25 ]
●Spinjitzu/Spinjutsu [ Lv 15 ]
●Image Training [Lvl 24]
●Metal [ Lv 42 ]
●Chakra Augmentation [Lvl 17]
● Chakra Control [Lvl 40]
Scan [ Lv 10 ]
● Substiution jutsu [ Lv 21 ]
● Shurikenjutsu [ Lv 24 ]
●Body flicker technique [ Lv 18 ]
● Shadow Clone jutsu [ Lv 15 ]
●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●
A frowned grew on my face.
'System, why is my levelling up speed so slow?and why haven't I gotten frequent mission quests. '
[ It is because player [ Jinichi Wataru ] is weak.]
'How though? I'm no longer a slouch in my Spinjutsu and taijutsu, my chakra control is higher than that of an average Genin...'
[ Player [ Jinichi Wataru ] will learn when the time is right]
'Sigh…'
Aoi let out a long, theatrical groan, tossing a pebble over the edge of the roof. She was slumped against the brick chimney, her green eyes glaring at the sky with absolute utter boredom.
"I am officially losing my mind," she complained, breaking the quiet tranquillity of the afternoon.
"It's been three weeks. Three weeks of painting fences, wrangling muddy wild boars, looking for that demon cat, and delivering groceries across the village. When are we going to do actual ninja missions? I didn't graduate from the academy to be a glorified errand runner."
I leaned against the chain-link fence, crossing my arms over my chest, and simply shrugged. "Speak for yourself. I'm perfectly fine with not getting stabbed today." My memories of the canon timeline were a constant, blaring siren in the back of my mind.
The outside world was a meat grinder filled with rogue shinobi, missing-nin, and mercenaries who wouldn't think twice about slaughtering a squad of fresh Genin. D-rank missions were boring, sure, but they were safe.
"And another thing," Aoi pivoted, aiming her frustration directly at me as she gestured wildly toward my attire.
"If we are just going to be pulling weeds in civilian gardens, why do you insist on wearing that ridiculous getup? You look like a scavenger."
"It is a highly functional battle suit!" I shot back, adjusting the rugged fabric resting on my shoulders.
"It's designed for combat efficiency and prioritizes environmental adaptability. Just because you're perfectly fine running into battle wearing a hoodie and pants doesn't mean I have to be. Besides, I need the extra storage."
"You look like a brooding nomad who got lost on the way to the Land of Wind." she mocked, crossing her arms.
"And we haven't even been doing combat! The most dangerous thing we've fought was that very angry rooster near the western gate."
"Oh, really?" I countered, raising an eyebrow behind my mask.
"Is that so? Because I seem to recall a certain training exercise about a week ago that was pretty violent. Or have you already repressed the memory of the rabbits?"
Aoi immediately shuddered, all the argumentative fire draining from her face in an instant. She pulled her knees up to her chest, her expression souring into a grimace.
"That wasn't a mission. That was just Sensei being a sadist."
"It was a necessary psychological conditioning exercise, Aoi," Kisuke chimed in from his spot near the roof access door, his voice carrying its usual calm, polite cadence.
"Sensei was making sure we wouldn't freeze when it mattered most."
[ FLASH BACK, a week ago]
It had been a crisp morning at Training Ground 3. Shohei had arrived uncharacteristically early, carrying a woven basket. When he opened it, three small, incredibly fluffy white rabbits had hopped out onto the grass. Aoi had instantly swooned, crouching down to pet them, and even Kisuke had offered a small, rare smile at the sight of the harmless creatures.
"Take out your kunai's and kill them." Shohei had ordered lazily, his hands buried deep in his pockets. The command had hit us like a physical blow. We had all just stared at him, gobsmacked, waiting for the punchline. But there was no joke. Shohei had fixed us with a cold, unforgiving glare that stripped away his lazy persona entirely.
"Get on with it."
Kisuke had been the first to move. Without a single change in his polite expression, he drew his kunai and ended the creature's life in one swift, efficient motion. He hadn't blinked, but his knuckles were white around the hilt of his weapon and his face had a sour expression.
I went next. The cold metal of my kunai had felt impossibly heavy in my grip. A pit of deep, nauseating discomfort had welled in my stomach, threatening to force my breakfast back up my throat. I swallowed down the bile, closed my eyes for a fraction of a second, and drove the blade down.
Aoi had been the last. Tears freely spilled down her cheeks as she knelt over the final rabbit. She had whispered a quiet, trembling apology to the small animal before finally stabbing it through the neck, her shoulders shaking violently as the creature went still.
Seeing our shaken states, Shohei's strict glare had softened marginally. He had crouched down beside us, his tone losing its harsh edge as he apologized for putting us through it. But his lesson was clear: the shinobi world was a dog-eat-dog nightmare. It didn't care about our feelings, and it would kill us if we blinked. We needed to be ready to take a life to protect our village and ourselves, without a second of hesitation.
[END OF FLASH BACK]
The memory faded, leaving a heavy, suffocating silence on the sun-baked rooftop. The playful banter was completely dead, replaced by the grim reality of our chosen profession. Even Kuro seemed to sense the shift in mood, letting out a low whine in his sleep.
Kisuke, ever the diplomat, smoothly stepped in to rescue the plunging morale. He clapped his hands together, producing a sharp sound that snapped both Aoi and me out of our gloomy reflections.
"Well! As informative as E-rank tasks are for village infrastructure, perhaps we are ready to stretch our legs a bit further."
"Sensei," Kisuke called out, raising his voice slightly to carry over the snoring.
"Given our flawless execution of today's errands, would you be amenable to requesting a C-rank mission from the administration? I believe the team is strong enough, is high enough to handle the risk."
Shohei's eye cracked open, squinting against the harsh sunlight. He let out a long, suffering sigh, staring at Kisuke for a solid ten seconds as he weighed the effort of a real mission against the annoyance of a whining Genin squad.
"Fine," he grunted, slowly pushing himself off Kuro's back.
"If you three want to go get yourselves killed outside the walls, I won't stop you. Let's go see the old man."
"He doesn't mean that right.....right?" I ask incredulously
The walk to the Hokage Mansion was filled with a renewed sense of anticipation. Aoi had a spring in her step again, and even I couldn't deny the small thrill of adrenaline at the possibility of leaving the village for a mission. We applied at the front desk, and a stern-faced secretary immediately guided our squad up the winding wooden stairs, pulling open the heavy double doors to the Hokage's office.
[ HIRUZEN SARUTOBI ]
I exhaled a slow stream of smoke from my pipe, watching Team 13 file into my office. Shohei Nara looked as exhausted as ever, slouching in the front with his hands in his pockets, while his three Genin lined up behind him with military precision. Kisuke Yoroi stood perfectly straight, Aoi Setsuna practically vibrated with eager energy, and then there was the boy I had been keeping a very close eye on.
My eyes naturally drifted to the anomaly of the group, Jinichi Wataru. Even standing still, the boy was a walking contradiction to standard academy protocols. He had completely abandoned the traditional Leaf village attire, opting instead for a highly customized bounty-hunter aesthetic that spoke of a deep paranoia and a need for extreme self-reliance.
His base layer consisted of dark blue and black combat gear, but beneath the fabric, I could clearly see the dull glint of woven chain armor protecting his vital joints and chest. Over his torso, he wore a rugged, dark blue poncho that draped over his shoulders, perfectly designed to obscure his arm movements and hide his hand seals from enemy dojutsu or observant veterans.
His face was entirely obscured by a specialized dark blue ninja mask that wrapped tightly around his head and covered his lower face, leaving only his blue eyes exposed to the world. In a rather practical display of village loyalty, he had bolted the metal plate of his Konoha forehead protector directly onto the thick fabric of the mask's forehead.
But it was the accessories that held my true interest. Strapped securely to his left and right hips were two small, reinforced gourds. To the untrained eye, they were canteens for water or medicine. But Boar's reports, combined with Shohei's bell test summary, confirmed their true purpose. They were filled to the brim with iron dust. The boy was carrying his Kekkei Genkai ammunition directly on his person, ready to deploy his Metal Release at a moment's notice.
"Team 13," I greeted warmly, setting my pipe down in the crystal ashtray on my desk. "My secretary informed me that you are requesting a C-rank assignment. Considering your exemplary record with D-rank tasks over the last three weeks, I am inclined to agree. I have an escort mission that requires a capable team. You are to protect a client traveling to the Land of Tea."
Before I could elaborate on the details of her predicament, the heavy oak doors of my office swung open with a loud creak, and the client in question stepped into the room.
"Ah…here she comes now."