Setsuna walked to a corner to read the scroll. Within a few minutes, Hizashi, looking preoccupied, arrived at the hall. Guy waved vigorously: "Hizashi-sensei, over here!"
Hizashi walked over and shook his head: "Sorry to keep you waiting."
"It's fine, it's fine. We actually haven't been waiting long, Hizashi-sensei. Shall we go accept a mission now?" Although Guy had previously complained about D-Rank missions being boring, he was still quite proactive in taking action.
Hizashi noticed Setsuna in the corner and asked: "What is Setsuna doing?"
Guy replied: "Setsuna-san is studying the Yin Seal scroll given by Tsunade-sama. I'll go call him over right now."
"No need, I'll wait here." Hizashi said quickly.
"Eh?" Guy looked puzzled, 'Is Hizashi-sensei always this easygoing?'
He remembered when he first joined his previous team… even the slightest mistake would get him scolded, let alone making the team leader wait for him.
After thinking for a moment, Guy reached an answer in his heart: 'Hizashi-sensei is really a good person.'
While Setsuna was diligently absorbing the knowledge from the scroll, Hizashi nearby couldn't help but let his thoughts wander again: 'Since the last Great Ninja War, Tsunade-sama has rarely participated even in village affairs. Why would she suddenly give Setsuna a scroll, and a high-level Ninjutsu like a sealing technique at that? Could it be a reward given by Hokage-sama through Tsunade-sama's hands?'
Although he wasn't familiar with the [Yin Seal], sealing techniques were almost never low-level. Even the most ordinary sealing techniques were B-Rank, and slightly advanced ones were A-Rank.
'Wait, I've heard that the department Elder Danzo controls even places seals on its own Ninjas. Hokage-sama specially promoted Setsuna, had him kill Elder Danzo, and now bestows a sealing technique... Could it be that he wants Setsuna to take over Elder Danzo's role and become the new [Darkness of the Ninja World]?'
Thinking this, Hizashi's gaze towards Setsuna held a trace of awe. Although the department Danzo controlled was secretive, as a Jonin of the Hyuga Clan, he had heard some things about it. It was a terrifying organization that created death from the shadows.
'What attitude should I adopt towards him in the future?' Hizashi pondered briefly and soon reached a conclusion, 'On the surface, I am the team leader, but in reality, I should just let Setsuna take charge.'
Although it was a bit cowardly, he didn't dare to order around someone who could hold his life and death in their hands.
Ten minutes later, Setsuna had memorized the contents of the scroll, returned it, and only then belatedly noticed: "Has Hizashi-sensei arrived? Guy, why didn't you wake me?"
"I told him not to. After all, I was late first." Hizashi smiled kindly, "If everyone is ready, shall we go carry out the mission now?"
Guy asked: "Hizashi-sensei, haven't we accepted a mission yet?"
"No need." Hizashi shook his head. "The reason I was late is that the village's higher-ups have already assigned us a mission. All the new teams are to repair the street on East Tenth Street."
Then he added specifically: "The mission reward is very generous, a full 800,000 ryo."
"800,000 ryo!" Guy's eyes widened. The total rewards from all the missions he had taken over the past two years might not even amount to that much.
Setsuna's expression was somewhat subtle. He asked: "Hizashi-sensei, may I ask which higher-up it was?"
Hizashi said: "It was Elder Danzo."
"So it was Elder Danzo." Setsuna smiled meaningfully. He could mostly guess Danzo's intention. It was nothing more than petty revenge, wanting to regain some of his dignity.
Seeing the smile on Setsuna's face, Hizashi became even more certain of his guess.
The four arrived at East Tenth Street. The street had become a deep trench, as if pushed flat by some terrifying force, yet the houses on both sides were unaffected.
'Was it him? He could even control his power so precisely during the fight with Elder Danzo.' Hizashi observed Setsuna out of the corner of his eye, inwardly quite amazed.
Seeing this scene, Guy exclaimed: "Was there an enemy invasion yesterday? The destruction is this severe."
He suddenly realized something and looked at Setsuna: "Setsuna-san, I think you live on this street, right?"
Setsuna nodded: "I do live here. But maybe I trained too hard yesterday. I slept very soundly after returning and don't know what happened."
Others might have found this suspicious, but Guy had a look of complete understanding: "Yeah, yeah, I'm like that after training too."
Shizune asked: "Hizashi-sensei, how do we repair it? Using Earth Release Ninjutsu?"
Hizashi shook his head and smiled: "Forget that you haven't started Chakra Nature Transformation training. Even if you could use the five elemental Ninjutsu, controlling a Ninjutsu to level the street without causing secondary damage to the foundations of the surrounding houses would require at least Jonin-level Chakra Control."
Setsuna thought thoughtfully, 'Could it be that the reason Kakashi likes to carve dog heads with his Earth Release is actually to train his Chakra Control?'
Hizashi added: "The village is offering such a high mission reward not for you to finish the job with one or two Earth Release Ninjutsu. You need to repair this street to the best possible condition."
Before long, the remaining teams also arrived one after another.
Looking at this several-hundred-meter-long giant trench, Asuma couldn't help but complain: "I don't know what the old man is thinking. A few Jonin using Earth Release techniques could fix this easily, but he wants us to repair it manually. What a waste of our time."
Obito, not far away, felt the same: "Exactly! We should be taking missions like escorting intelligence, wiping out bandits, or hunting Rogue Ninjas. That's how we grow!"
Their eyes met, and they felt a certain kinship.
Asuma looked at Setsuna again: "Senpai, you must think so too, right?"
Setsuna smiled slightly: "To me, what mission we take isn't important. Every journey and its scenery are part of training."
"Eh?" Asuma was very surprised. He thought a training maniac like Setsuna would definitely agree with him, but Setsuna was actually so calm.
"Setsuna is quite right." Minato, standing next to Obito, said with a smile. "One could even say that the more D-Rank missions one completes, the more excellent they become."
Asuma curled his lip: "Orochimaru-san only performed 16 D-rank missions, and he still became one of the Legendary Sannin."
"That's why Orochimaru has grown increasingly detached from the grassroots. Sometimes even I can't see through him." The Third Hokage, observing remotely from his office via the Crystal Ball Technique, shook his head gently.
After sighing for a while, the Third looked at Setsuna in the image and nodded slightly.
When he heard Danzo say yesterday that Setsuna was too extreme, he was somewhat worried about Setsuna's temperament, especially since Danzo himself was already quite extreme.
Now it seemed that was completely Danzo's baseless speculation. Setsuna's mental state was undoubtedly beyond that of most Ninjas.