#96 - Chapter 96: New Mission to Advance to the Chuunin Tea Country

Naruto's words silenced Konohamaru, and he stopped resisting, allowing Naruto to take him away.

Before leaving, Naruto patted Tsunade on the shoulder, "Have a good day at work!"

Tsunade: "......"

......

"Naruto-aniki, is your father the Fourth Hokage?" Konohamaru suddenly asked after leaving the Hokage Building.

"Yeah," Naruto nodded.

"But why... does it seem like nobody knows?" Konohamaru asked, puzzled.

"Why should everyone know?" Naruto retorted.

Konohamaru was ashamed by that one sentence.

Naruto-aniki, as the son of the Fourth Hokage, didn't enjoy any of the privileges of a Hokage's son, while he, as the grandson of the Third Hokage, enjoyed the love and adoration of everyone in the village.

"Train hard," Naruto said, patting Konohamaru's head, "If you want to take back that house, you should strive to become an excellent ninja and then obtain the Hokage position. Not set up a bunch of traps like an idiot to stop another Hokage!"

"I understand, thank you, Naruto-aniki!!"

Konohamaru nodded vigorously and then asked, "But Naruto-aniki, have people already forgotten Grandpa?"

"Do you think people have forgotten the Fourth?" Naruto still didn't answer directly, but instead, asked Konohamaru again.

Have people forgotten the Fourth's sacrifice?

The answer, of course, was no. People had just forgotten the Fourth's son.

Konohamaru didn't understand Naruto's sorrow but understood Naruto's meaning.

"I understand, Naruto-aniki! I'll cheer up!!"

Konohamaru regained his spirits, and Moegi and Udon also returned to their usual cheerfulness.

"As expected of Naruto-aniki!"

"Naruto-aniki, do you want to come to my house for dinner today? Hishaku-neechan learned some new dishes, they're super delicious!"

"New dishes? You've added more tasks for your maid again?"

"Hehe, it's because Aniki likes to eat them!"

"Ah, you guys are hopeless. Let's go try them then. It's been a while since I've had Hishaku's cooking, I kind of miss it~"

"And... after dinner, I'll teach you guys some training!"

"Yay!!"

A few days later, Tsunade officially succeeded as the Fifth Hokage and held an inspiring inauguration ceremony in Konoha!

The entire village of Konoha regained its vitality, and the Konoha ninjas restarted their missions.

Tsunade and the Konoha ninjas' tasks also gradually increased......

This day,

Naruto and the others were summoned to an office to receive a new mission.

However, they had been there for a long time, but Kakashi was still nowhere to be seen.

"Eh? Where's Kakashi-sensei? Why isn't he here yet? Is he late again?" Sakura guessed.

"No."

At this moment, Tsunade arrived late and said to the three of them, "All the Jonin, including Kakashi, have been assigned new missions. So this mission will only be the three of you!"

After saying that, Tsunade sat down and then took out a file.

"Also, Naruto, according to the decision of the Konoha elders, from today onwards, you will be a Chunin of Konoha and can lead a team to carry out missions independently!"

[Ding!]

[Congratulations to the host for successfully being promoted to Chunin, obtaining the mission reward: Full-level Observation Haki! ♫]

"Chunin?!"

Sakura looked at Naruto with envy, while Sasuke looked at Naruto with jealousy.

He didn't care about the Chunin status; what he cared about was the recognition of his strength!

He had also performed well in the Chunin Exams, but he had not passed!

What did that mean?

It meant that his strength was still far from enough!

"This mission will also be led by you. First time leading a team, no problem, right?" Tsunade said with a teasing look.

"No problem at all!" Naruto wanted to feel the power of Observation Haki, but now there was no time, so he gave Tsunade an okay sign.

"That's good."

Tsunade nodded with satisfaction, "This mission is a B-rank mission, but under special circumstances, it may become an A-rank... The mission content is to protect an important person."

"Important person? Who is it?" Sakura asked.

"Don't know."

"Don't know?"

Sasuke and Sakura looked at Tsunade with puzzled expressions, but they saw Tsunade holding a scroll, opening it, and slowly saying, "In the neighboring Tea Country, there is a once-every-four-years Homa Shrine festival. During the simultaneously held race, you need to protect the contestants!"

"But the person you need to protect was already attacked by assassins dispatched by the opponent before arriving here."

"Assassins? So what do we need to do?"

After listening to Tsunade's words, Sakura and Sasuke still didn't know what they were supposed to do.

Naruto, on the other hand, had some impression of this mission, so he looked calm.

"You can directly ask Elder Jirota of the Tea Country for the detailed situation. He will tell you what to do specifically!"

"Also, you must arrive in the Tea Country today, and act quickly!"

Sasuke and Sakura were about to leave after receiving the instructions, but Naruto suddenly raised his hand and asked, "How is the reward calculated?"

"......"

"150,000 Ryo. Because the mission may be upgraded to A-rank at any time, it will be given the highest B-rank reward!" Tsunade said.

"If it might be an A-rank mission, you should issue the mission with an A-rank reward, geez."

Naruto complained, then suddenly thought of something and stared at Tsunade, "That Elder Jirota or whatever is probably your friend, right? Are you helping him save money because of personal favors?"

Tsunade's cheeks turned red, "Baka! How could I, the dignified Fifth Hokage, do such a thing? This is the employer's own consideration; we are just accepting the mission normally!"

Naruto glanced at Tsunade with disdain and didn't argue with her too much, turning around and leading Sasuke and Sakura towards the Tea Country!

150,000 Ryo for a mission, each person can get 50,000 Ryo, not bad.

According to the current prices in Konoha, that's enough for them to live for several months!

Several hours later,

Naruto and the others arrived in this country before noon.

The Tea Country is located south of the Fire Country and borders the small tail of the Fire Country. It is a small country without a ninja village.

"There's a teahouse ahead, let's go eat something, Naruto!" Sakura, who was a little hungry, requested Naruto.

Now Naruto is the official team leader and also the only Chunin among them, so any requests must be made to Naruto.

Of course, even if Naruto wasn't the official team leader, they would subconsciously ask Naruto.

After all, Naruto is the strongest among them!

"Since we've already arrived in the Tea Country, let's eat lunch before we go," Naruto looked at the still-bright sky and agreed to Sakura's request.

The group of three entered the teahouse.

The inside of the teahouse wasn't small, with six or seven tables, but the business was only average. Besides them, there was only one customer.

Naruto glanced at the person and knew that this person should be the one they were supposed to protect this time.

Ibiki Morino's idiotic younger brother, the former Konoha Genin—Idate Morino!

: Three chapters for today, good night, brothers!