Leaving the Hokage's office, Shibi Aburame, the Captain, handed the mission scroll to Might Guy standing beside him.
While Guy was reviewing the document, Shibi Aburame addressed the others: "After we dismiss, everyone will go back and prepare the ninja tools needed for combat." "Although this mission isn't very complicated, everyone must be fully prepared." "Especially you, Shinichi. Since this is your first mission, be meticulous in your preparations." "Ninja tools, a few changes of clothes, and a reasonable amount of money." "If things go smoothly, the mission period will be three to five days, so be prepared accordingly."
Shibi Aburame was very thorough, and his instructions were particularly focused on Shinichi, the rookie on his first mission. Although Hyūga Shinichi was now a Special Jōnin, he had no mission experience. Among the entire team, the youngest Shinichi was the one he worried about the most.
At the same time, Shibi Aburame was not optimistic about Shinichi's combat performance in future missions. It wasn't that he thought Shinichi's combat strength didn't match the Special Jōnin title, but in his view, Shinichi was simply too young.
Consequently, he worried Shinichi would falter when truly faced with a bloody battlefield. He had witnessed this before in his career: excellent Ninja Academy graduates, once on the battlefield, were unable to utilize their abilities due to fear and other factors. Those graduates were at least eleven or twelve years old; Shinichi was even younger...
Although his mind was filled with worry, Shibi Aburame understood this was a necessary path for a ninja. Furthermore, Shinichi's development was beyond his control.
This mission was chosen by the Fourth Hokage and approved by Hyūga Hiashi. Even if Shibi Aburame opposed it, it was meaningless. What Shibi Aburame could do now was to try and manage the various emotions that Hyūga Shinichi might display during the mission.
While Shibi Aburame was speaking, the mission scroll had already been passed from Guy and Uchiha Shisui, finally reaching Shinichi's hands. This was Shinichi's first time holding a mission scroll, and he was naturally curious. He took it and began to read carefully.
The content of the mission scroll was very detailed, far more so than Minato's verbal summary. It explicitly introduced the mission objective—the bandit group—and included the ability charts for the three rogue ninjas.
The three leaders of the bandit group were former Konoha ninjas, and there were naturally records of them in Konoha's ninja archives.
The assessment system used eight parameters to evaluate a ninja's ability: Hand Seals (印), Ninjutsu (忍), Taijutsu (體), Genjutsu (幻), Intelligence (智), Strength (力), Speed (速), and Stamina (精). The maximum score for each attribute was 10. For most ninjas, this rating system was completely sufficient, with only a very few ninjas transcending this evaluation framework.
The mission scroll contained the ability charts for the few rogue ninjas. The three individuals' abilities were all quite balanced. The one with the highest total score only reached 36, and the other two scored 34 and 32, respectively.
In addition, the mission scroll detailed the number of missions they had completed while they were still Konoha ninjas. Shinichi quickly scanned the list. The vast majority of the missions completed by the three were D-rank and C-rank, totaling over fifty missions each—a not-insignificant number.
They also had a single-digit number of B-rank and A-rank missions, indicating they were quite experienced. Combined with the fact that they were ninjas who survived the meat grinder of the Third Great War, Shinichi slightly raised his assessment of their actual strength.
Barring any accidents, their strength in a death match should slightly exceed what was listed in the ability chart.
Reaching the end of the mission scroll, the mission location surprised Shinichi:
"Galán City?"
"Aren't they just a group of bandits? Why is the mission location inside a town?"
Shinichi looked puzzled. In his mind, bandits should be hidden in some mountain hollow, building fortresses and robbing travelers. Why would they be found inside a town? Perhaps... was this city frequently subjected to looting?
"The location is correct. This group massacred nearly two hundred people in a village a month ago."
"They likely anticipated a purge and went into hiding."
"The Village received a public tip-off and discovered that these individuals are hiding in Galán City."
"The relevant information is at the end of the scroll."
Shinichi nodded quietly, skipping the intermediate content and quickly flipping to the end. Sure enough, he saw the information Shibi Aburame mentioned.
"Village massacre, huh..."
A group of notorious bandits. Seeing this information, Shinichi sighed internally. He felt he had moved one step closer to the darkness of this world.
These were just three Chūnin-level Missing-nin, yet after leaving the Konoha military system, they were capable of carrying out a village massacre. The lethality of Missing-nin against ordinary people was simply too high. In the ninja world, civilians were nothing more than cannon fodder.
At the time of the Third Great Ninja War, no one knew how many Missing-nin were scattered across the world.
These non-productive ninjas, in their struggle for survival, would poison countless regions and ordinary people. It was simply... unimaginable. Living within Konoha, Shinichi didn't feel much of the danger and chaos of the wider world. However, when this world unveiled even a small corner of its darkness to him, the reality was still quite startling for Shinichi.
"Have you all understood the mission objective?"
"We will assemble at the Village gate in two hours."
"Don't be late."
Shinichi handed the mission scroll back to Shibi Aburame, who took it and tucked it into his clothes, then addressed the group.
Seeing his teammates nod, Shibi Aburame simply called out "Dismiss," and quickly left.
Shinichi didn't linger either. The next instant, he used the Flying Thunder God to return to his room in the Hyūga compound. After quickly packing a few items of clothing and ninja tools into his bag, Shinichi left the room with the bag slung across his back.
Coincidentally, Hanako, in the adjacent room, seemed to hear the movement from Shinichi's room. She came to check, holding Hinata, and was slightly surprised to see Shinichi just coming out:
"When did you get back?"
"Are you preparing to leave already?"
"I heard your father say yesterday that you have a mission outside the Village today."
"Are you leaving so soon? Won't you stay for lunch?"
Hanako walked up to Shinichi, looked at the bag on his back, and asked with concern.
"I won't have time for lunch. The squad needs to assemble at the Village gate."
"Before I leave, I still need to go to the clan to retrieve some explosive tags."
Shinichi approached Hanako. As he spoke, he wiggled his finger in front of Hinata's eyes. When little Hinata reached out to grab it, he quickly pulled his hand back with a smile.
Watching her son tease her daughter, Hanako smiled slightly, then said gently:
"You must be careful."
"The success or failure of the mission is not important; you must return safely."
Hanako's concerned words moved Shinichi. After a brief moment of thought, Shinichi nodded heavily:
"You can rest assured."
"I will be very careful."
"And my teammates are reliable. There will be no problems."
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