After the three of them finished introducing themselves, Dōichi Kimoto smiled and said, “Alright, that’s enough for today.
Gather here tomorrow morning, and I’ll take you to receive your missions.” Without giving them even a moment to respond, he vanished in an instant.
Itsuki Yamada and Tano Motoyo both stood there blankly.
They stared at the empty spot where he had just been, completely confused.
Kai helplessly shook his head.
“Looks like our teacher is pretty unreliable too.” “Kai, Tano, see you tomorrow.” Since Dōichi Kimoto had already left, Kai naturally had no intention of staying either.
But just as he was about to leave, Itsuki Yamada called out to him.
“Wait, Kai!
Today is our graduation day, and it’s also our first day as a team.
Shouldn’t we celebrate a little?” Before Kai could answer, Tano Motoyo immediately agreed.
“That sounds good!
Let’s go eat yakiniku.
My treat, alright?” “Kai, the two of us still don’t know much about you.” Having already recovered from what happened earlier, Tano Motoyo blinked her pretty eyes at him.
That made it rather difficult for Kai to refuse.
“Uh… then I’ll have to trouble you, Tano.” Although he had already guessed that she came from a wealthy family, he still felt a little embarrassed about letting her pay.
After all, in Konoha, a meal at a yakiniku restaurant was not cheap.
It was nothing like eating ramen.
Itsuki Yamada laughed.
“You don’t need to feel bad, Kai.
Tano’s father is a famous wealthy businessman in Konoha.
Her monthly allowance alone is worth the reward from a B-rank mission.” “T-Tree, if you keep talking like that, I’ll make you pay for your own meal.” Tano Motoyo seemed to dislike people bringing up how rich she was.
Yamada chuckled.
“Alright, alright.
I’ll stop.” “So, Kai?
You coming?” Kai was genuinely surprised by her background.
He had known she was well-off, but he had not expected her family to be this wealthy.
A B-rank mission usually paid between 80,000 and 200,000 ryō.
Even taking the minimum amount—80,000 ryō—that was enough to buy over a thousand bowls of regular Ichiraku ramen every month.
Meanwhile, Kai’s own monthly living expenses were only 5,000 ryō.
And with that amount, he was already living fairly comfortably.
Tano Motoyo’s allowance alone was at least sixteen times his monthly expenses.
The corner of Kai’s mouth twitched.
“The wealth gap really is huge…” Since someone was treating him to yakiniku, there was naturally no reason to refuse.
Kai smiled.
“Alright, let’s go.” The three of them arrived at Konoha’s most famous yakiniku restaurant, a place frequently visited by ninja gatherings.
The moment they stepped inside, a voice called out from inside the restaurant.
“Kai!
Over here!” Kai looked toward the source of the voice.
It turned out to be Ino and the others.
He glanced at Tano Motoyo, silently asking for her opinion.
Tano Motoyo smiled.
“You and Ino seem pretty close, Kai.” Kai answered calmly, “We only met today.” He was not sure what she meant by asking that.
But beside them, Itsuki Yamada suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.
“Don’t tell me… Tano is jealous?” Kai might not understand her very well, but Yamada did.
Tano Motoyo normally appeared gentle and soft-spoken, but she often hid sharp remarks beneath her smile.
After hearing Kai’s response, she smiled once more.
“Then let’s go join them.” Kai did not notice anything unusual, but Yamada suddenly had a bad feeling.
“I just hope this meal stays peaceful…” “Though that’s probably impossible.” He could already imagine what might happen later.
The three walked over to Ino’s table.
Sure enough, Ino, Shikamaru, Chōji, and their instructor, Asuma Sarutobi, were all there.
The moment Kai sat down beside Ino, Tano Motoyo smoothly seated herself between them.
Smiling, she said, “Ino, I didn’t expect to run into you here.” Ino glanced at Tano Motoyo.
The two of them actually got along fairly well.
Back at the Ninja Academy, Tano had been one of the few girls in class who was not obsessed with Sasuke.
Because of that, there had never been any rivalry between them.
And while Tano Motoyo did not come from a ninja clan, her family was still one of Konoha’s wealthy households.
So the two had maintained a pretty good relationship.
But today, Ino felt that something about Tano seemed different from usual.
Both Itsuki Yamada and Shikamaru noticed it as well.
As for Kai, he simply sat down beside Yamada.
Shikamaru casually introduced them.
“Kai, this is our instructor, Asuma Sarutobi.” Kai, Itsuki Yamada, and Tano Motoyo immediately stood up respectfully.
“Asuma-sensei.” All three of them knew Asuma’s identity.
Even setting aside the fact that he was the Third Hokage’s son, his status as an elite jōnin alone deserved their respect.
Elite jōnin were extremely powerful figures within any hidden village.
In some smaller ninja villages, someone of Asuma’s caliber could even qualify to become a Kage.
Even in Konoha, there were not many ninja who had reached the elite jōnin level.
No matter where they went, they belonged among the village’s strongest.
Seeing them act so formally, Asuma quickly waved his hand.
“No need to be so polite.
Sit down, sit down.” After the three sat down, Asuma helplessly looked toward Shikamaru’s group.
“Look at how well-behaved your classmates are.
You should learn from them a little.” Unfortunately, Shikamaru and the others paid him no attention.
After all, they came from prestigious ninja clans.
Even though they respected Asuma, they naturally would not act overly formal around him.
The Ino–Shika–Chō clans were in no way inferior to the Sarutobi Clan.
Ino ignored Asuma completely and instead stared eagerly at Kai.
“Kai, why did your team finish so quickly?
Didn’t your instructor test you?” As she leaned past Tano Motoyo to speak with Kai, Tano’s expression darkened slightly.
Though she did not show it openly.
Everyone looked toward Kai, clearly curious.
Although they had already graduated and officially become ninja, they still had to pass their instructor’s evaluation.
If they failed, the instructor had the authority to send them back to the Ninja Academy for remedial training.
Kai explained, “Our teacher’s test was relatively simple, so we finished quickly.” But before he could say more, Itsuki Yamada suddenly interrupted.
“Simple?
Not at all!
Our teacher’s test was terrifying!
Tano and I almost died!” Just remembering Dōichi Kimoto’s test made him shudder.
It had been horrifying.
At that moment, he had genuinely felt like dying might have been easier.
Yamada’s words immediately piqued everyone’s curiosity.
Asuma frowned.
“Who exactly is your instructor?” Because Asuma had entered the classroom before Dōichi Kimoto arrived, the two had missed each other.
“It’s Dōichi Kimoto-sensei,” Yamada answered.
Asuma froze for a moment, then frowned deeply.
He could not remember any jōnin in Konoha by that name.
“Dōichi Kimoto?
Why don’t I remember there being a ninja in Konoha with that name?”