Afternoon, Hokage Building.
"Uncle Sawada, give us ten more D-Class missions!" Obito said boldly as he walked into the mission hall.
Obito was giving it his all to be able to do C-Class missions, preparing to complete another thirty tasks today.
"There are currently no D-Class missions I can give you." Sawada Kazuya shook his head and said.
Actually, there were still missions, but they couldn't allow Obito and his team to keep doing them, because other Genin needed to earn a living as well. At their pace, some Genin teams in the village wouldn't have any work.
"Alright, we finally finished." Obito's eyes lit up with a smile. Using Shadow Clones was efficient but exhausting.
"So can we do a C-Class mission now?"
"No." Sawada Kazuya replied decisively, as he wasn't the Hokage and didn't have that authority.
Obito wanted to ask why, but he suddenly noticed the Third Hokage sitting not far away, chatting with another ninja, so he walked over.
The Third Hokage had just finished assigning a ninja's designated mission when he noticed the approaching Obito, and he asked cheerfully, "How does it feel to be an official ninja?"
"Not great, it's not as good as the internship. I can only do D-Class missions now." Obito responded sarcastically.
"Uncle Hokage, you know my skill level, plus Kakashi is a Chunin, and Rin isn't weak either. I'm sure our team can handle a C-Class mission." Obito eagerly introduced his team members.
Had they not been indoors, he would have wanted to shoot a fireball to prove his strength.
"You and Kakashi indeed both have the capability to complete a C-Class mission." Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded, showing a contemplative expression.
Rules were set for a reason; not allowing new Genin to complete C-Class missions was to protect them. However, if it's a team like Minato's, Sarutobi Hiruzen thought bending the rules a bit wouldn't be a big deal.
"Minato, do you think they're currently capable of completing a C-Class mission?" Sarutobi Hiruzen asked Minato.
Minato replied with a serious expression, "I think there's no problem."
During the bell-snatching exercise, they already proved their strength. Moreover, for B-Class missions, Minato believed they could handle them.
"In the future, when Minato's team takes on missions, they won't have to follow the new Genin standards anymore." Seeing that even Minato acknowledged their abilities, Sarutobi Hiruzen walked to the mission clerk and said.
"Rin, didn't I tell you there wouldn't be any problem?" Obito ran to Nohara Rin with a big smile, claiming credit.
Kakashi always said he was a bit dense, but Obito thought he was quite clever, just not good at learning theory.
"Just as you predicted, Obito, truly impressive." Nohara Rin smiled and praised.
She hadn't expected that quickly doing D-Class missions would actually work, and she had already prepared comforting words for Obito earlier.
"It wasn't the sheer number of D-Class missions that mattered, but their internship experiences and Captain Minato." Kakashi shared his perspective.
In this team, they merely replaced Might Guy with Nohara Rin compared to their internship, and there wasn't much difference. Captain Namikaze Minato was very strong, and Kakashi believed these were the real reasons they got the C-Class mission privilege again.
"I think you're just jealous of my intelligence, Kakashi. Why didn't you mention a way to get a C-Class mission before?" Obito said proudly, completely ignoring Kakashi's words.
Kakashi: ...
He didn't understand where Obito got the confidence to use that word.
But with so many people here, including the Hokage, Kakashi decided to let Obito save face and didn't argue with him over his intelligence.
Seeing Kakashi stay silent, Obito thought Kakashi had admitted his words, and excitedly ran over to Minato to pick a mission together.
"Is there a mission passing through scenic places?" Obito curiously asked.
"This is work, not vacation..." the mission clerk replied, speechless, as it was the first time he'd heard such a bizarre request.
"Scenery, huh? Then how about this escort mission to the Land of Hot Water." Minato thought for a moment and pointed to a C-Class mission.
The Land of Hot Water is located northeast of the Land of Fire, and in Minato's impression, its scenery was just as good, not to mention its many natural hot springs.
The mission clerk asked again for confirmation, and after receiving a nod, helped Minato register for the mission.
"The Land of Hot Water, a country I haven't been to yet." Obito showed a hint of curiosity. So far, he's only been to three countries: the Land of Rice Fields, the Land of Grass, and the Land of Rivers. The most memorable to him was the desert in the western Land of Rivers.
Growing up in the lush forests of the Land of Fire, the vast and endless desert was quite a shock to Obito.
"By the way, Jonin Minato, the border reconnaissance team reports that there seem to be quite a few Hidden Cloud Ninja showing up in the Land of Hot Water recently. Be careful during the mission." The mission clerk reminded.
This mission normally shouldn't involve encountering any ninja, as it was just escorting an ordinary person to a very ordinary place.
But now that the Hidden Cloud and Konoha are at war, if their ninjas accidentally run into each other, it'll definitely be a fight to the death.
"Thank you, I will." Minato smiled and thanked him.
Next, Minato took Kakashi and the three to find the client.
"You must be the ninjas for my mission. I'm Izumi Soju. I'm ready to set off whenever you are." Izumi Soju said with a smile.
"If that's the case, let's depart now." Minato nodded. He never dawdled when it came to missions.
Izumi Soju hadn't prepared a carriage, so the five of them walked toward the Land of Hot Water.
The formation was Minato and Obito in front, with Kakashi and Nohara Rin on the sides protecting, while the client was in the middle.
"Captain Minato, I think your space-time ninjutsu is awesome. If you place a kunai at home and some on the battlefield, you could go home for a break when tired and then return to surprise the enemy. Wouldn't that make you invincible?" Obito suddenly imagined.
The more he thought about it, the more he felt this "Homebound Minato" tactic was unbeatable; perhaps only the all-powerful Sage Mokgetsu could rival it.
Minato paused after hearing this, feeling that Obito's imagination was quite rich.
"Although it's a nice thought, the Flying Thunder God isn't as convenient as you think." Minato explained with a smile.
"The teleportation of the Flying Thunder God has a distance limit. If it's too far, I can't use it."
His Flying Thunder God isn't unlimited in distance, and the further away, the more chakra it consumes.
"The enemy won't just stay stupidly in one place. By the time I teleport away with the Flying Thunder God, they could already be somewhere else."
This point actually has a solution: by leaving a Flying Thunder God mark directly on the enemy.
But that leads to another problem. It's hard for Minato to leave a mark on a strong opponent, while for a weak one, he doesn't need a mark to defeat them.
Of course, the main issue is still the first one that can't be solved, so the Homebound Minato tactic can't be realized.
"Then just leave a few more kunai in between, bind a few short lines together, and won't the distance be longer?" Obito said, feeling a bit proud of his own cleverness, having resolved the fundamental problem at once.
"Obito, a ninja's chakra isn't infinite." Minato said with a smile.
With all that back and forth, even if he rests at home for an hour, it's pointless. He'll have expended a lot of chakra before even reaching the enemy. Such long-distance teleportation is very chakra-consuming.
"Uh, yeah, that seems to be the case." Obito realized that chakra is indeed a problem.
For instance, he could use the Breath of Flame technique to quickly release a jutsu with a single-hand seal. Theoretically, as long as he keeps releasing jutsu, no one could approach him, but the chakra doesn't hold up.
When the evening came, Minato found a relatively hidden place, set up a tent, and prepared to rest.
Ninjas can travel day and night, but the client was an ordinary person, so rest was necessary at night.
Seizing the opportunity, Obito continued to share his mission experience with Nohara Rin.
"You must pay attention to what Kakashi says. If Kakashi says there won't be any accidents, be careful, because that's when accidents will happen." Obito said with a serious face.
"No way?" Nohara Rin felt like Obito was joking, but his expression seemed genuine.
"It's just a coincidence!" Kakashi couldn't hold it in and explained.
"But it's been like this every time during missions before. Once might be an accident, but four times in a row? How can that be a coincidence?" Obito retorted.
"Alright then, tell me if we'll encounter ninjas on this mission or not." Obito continued.
Kakashi's mind spun rapidly, not knowing how to answer for a moment.
In normal circumstances, C-Class Missions don't encounter ninjas. But now it's wartime, and the registered ninja said there were Hidden Cloud sightings in the Land of Hot Water. This made it difficult for Kakashi to say.
"See, you're not confident yourself." Obito said with a triumphant smile.
"There won't be any accidents on this mission." Spurred by Obito, Kakashi thought for a moment and picked the most likely option.
Although there are Hidden Cloud in the Land of Hot Water, it's still a whole country. The chances of running into them are low, and the mission location is in the southern part of the Land of Hot Water, near the Land of Fire, further reducing the possibility of encountering enemies.
And the previous four C-Class Missions all had accidents. Kakashi felt that, no matter how unlucky, it wouldn't be five times in a row.
"You actually said it. Rin, this is no joke. Be really careful." Obito said in a serious tone.
Judging by Kakashi's previous records, Obito felt certain they'd encounter ninjas.
Watching the two compete over something that strange, Nohara Rin smiled helplessly and said, "I'll be careful, thanks for the reminder, Obito."