Chapter 91: An A-Rank Mission
Three days after the new Konoha Genin teams were formed, the area outside the Hokage Tower's mission assignment hall bustled with activity.
Konoha shinobi received missions through two methods.
One was direct assignment.
The other was voluntary acceptance.
However, regardless of the method, all missions needed approval from the higher-ups before release.
Without the leadership determining a mission's rank first, ordinary shinobi had no authority to even access the request forms.
And because newly formed Genin teams consisted of elite Jōnin capable of accepting A-rank missions paired together with completely inexperienced Genin who normally handled only D-rank missions—
The final judgment regarding their assignments naturally rested directly with the Hokage.
"Our very first mission!"
Naruto had been muttering excitedly about it the entire walk here.
Clearly, Minato's conversation with him last night had worked extremely well.
"I wonder what kind of mission it'll be!"
"Kakashi-sensei still isn't here…"
Hinata looked around worriedly but couldn't spot the agreed-upon figure anywhere.
"Yesterday, his injuries still didn't seem healed…"
"Could it be…"
"That's his own fault, so don't worry about it."
Naruto waved casually.
"He's a Jōnin, after all!"
Then suddenly Naruto turned toward Sasuke standing beside him.
"Though speaking of that…"
"You didn't even fight Kakashi-sensei yesterday, right?"
"So why are your face and arms covered in medicine and bandages?"
"None of your business."
Sasuke glared at him.
Then immediately winced after accidentally pulling at the injuries on his face.
Still—
Naruto could tell Sasuke actually seemed to be in a strangely good mood.
Hinata blinked thoughtfully.
This morning, only Naruto came to pick her up.
Neji-niisan never appeared.
Meanwhile, she had coincidentally seen familiar medical ninja leaving the Hyūga compound looking completely exhausted—
As though they hadn't slept all night.
The clever Hinata seemed to understand something.
"Yo. You guys are early again."
Kakashi's lazy voice finally sounded nearby.
Only this time, he no longer looked remotely cool.
Instead, he deliberately leaned against a cane dramatically.
Hinata, being a kind girl as always, immediately stepped forward to support him.
"Ahh, as expected, girls know how to care for injured people."
Kakashi sighed exaggeratedly.
"Meanwhile you two boys didn't even think about helping your injured teacher walk."
The two boys instantly complained inwardly at the same time.
Your arm's injured, not your legs!
"We're not early anymore!"
Naruto immediately complained.
"The other teams already finished receiving missions and left!"
"Let's hurry inside!"
"No rush, no rush."
Kakashi smiled so hard his visible eye curved shut while slowly making his way into the Hokage Tower under Hinata's support.
Naturally—
By the time they arrived, the previously crowded mission hall had already emptied completely.
Inside the hall remained only the Third Hokage, Iruka, and the mission assignment staff waiting for them.
"Kakashi-sensei, your condition…"
As the only "outsider" who didn't know what happened, Iruka looked genuinely shocked upon seeing Kakashi's current state.
"Ah, that's exactly what I wanted to report."
"Hm?"
Naruto and the others froze.
Weren't they here for missions?
Kakashi casually waved his hand before looking toward the Third Hokage.
Hiruzen quietly nodded.
Then deliberately revealed a surprised expression.
"Go ahead."
Thus—
The two immediately began acting together perfectly.
Kakashi calmly described yesterday's training exercise from beginning to end.
And when Iruka heard Kakashi's current injuries were caused during combat against Naruto—
He was completely stunned.
As a Chūnin, Iruka knew perfectly well how terrifying Kakashi Hatake truly was.
The man carried titles throughout the ninja world such as:
"Konoha Technician."
"The Copy Ninja."
"The White-Haired Death God."
And honestly—
Even if it offended other Jōnin, Iruka genuinely believed Kakashi was likely the strongest active Jōnin in Konoha right now.
And someone like Kakashi-sensei got injured by Naruto…?
Iruka subconsciously looked toward Naruto—
Who appeared completely clean and uninjured.
Meanwhile, poor Sasuke's injuries caused Iruka to mistakenly assume Kakashi had beaten him up instead.
"... I see."
The Third Hokage slowly nodded after hearing Kakashi's report.
"If that's truly your level of ability, then ordinary D-rank missions are indeed unsuitable."
Then after thinking briefly, Hiruzen pulled out a mission request scroll.
The moment Iruka saw the scroll's color—
His eyes widened instantly.
"Third Hokage-sama…"
Even the mission assignment staff nearby looked completely stunned.
"You see…"
Hiruzen calmly gestured for everyone to remain quiet.
"First, Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata…"
"I should explain Konoha's mission ranking system."
"The difficulty increases from D-rank upward to A-rank."
"Normally, Genin like yourselves can only accept up to C-rank missions."
"And for newly graduated shinobi, D-rank missions are the standard."
"However…"
The Third Hokage looked directly at them.
"Your abilities have already received the recognition of your assigned Jōnin instructor."
"So…"
"I now have another option for you."
Then Hiruzen held up the mission scroll.
"This…"
"Is an A-rank mission."
A-rank?!
The reason Iruka and the staff became so shocked was exactly because of this.
No matter how talented Naruto's group was—
There was absolutely no way newly graduated Genin should directly receive an A-rank mission!
A-rank missions were the highest-level assignments Konoha publicly distributed.
Anything beyond that entered S-rank territory—
National-level operations requiring Kage-class involvement.
"Third Hokage-sama, this violates village regulations…"
Iruka finally couldn't remain silent anymore.
"No matter how talented they are—"
"Yes."
Hiruzen nodded calmly.
"Directly assigning them this mission would indeed violate regulations."
"Therefore…"
The Third Hokage smiled slightly.
"This mission was originally assigned to Kakashi Hatake as a Jōnin."
"He merely chose to pass the final decision regarding acceptance to his students."
In other words—
A loophole.
An A-rank mission had to be accepted by a Jōnin.
Kakashi was indeed a Jōnin.
However, the right to decide whether the mission would proceed had been handed over to Naruto and the others instead.
A first mission…
At A-rank…
This was unprecedented even in Konoha's entire history.
And it also represented exactly how much faith Kakashi placed in his students.
Meanwhile, under everyone's focused gazes—
Naruto simply exchanged a glance with Sasuke and Hinata.
Without a single word, all three immediately understood one another's answer.
The blond-haired boy standing at the beginning of his shinobi path revealed an utterly confident grin.
Then answered decisively:
"Of course we're accepting it!"
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