“That’s all for today’s practical combat class!
School is dismissed!”
As the dismissal bell rang, Imai Nobuyuki announced the end of class.
“Ren, want to walk home together?”
Yūhi Kurenai asked Kuroda Ren.
The two were deskmates, and over the past several days since the start of school, Kuroda Ren had already become quite familiar with Kurenai.
Their relationship wasn’t particularly close, but they could at least be considered friends.
Moreover, their homes were in the same direction, so it was common for them to walk home together after school.
“I plan to do some extra training at the training ground today, so I’m afraid I can’t walk all the way home with you.”
Kuroda Ren smiled.
“But I can walk you as far as the intersection near the park.
We’ll split up there.”
The route to the training ground was different from the route home, but the two paths overlapped for a short distance.
“Training?”
Yūhi Kurenai froze for a moment.
“You’re already this strong.
Do you still need extra training?”
In Kurenai’s eyes, Kuroda Ren, who ranked first in every practical combat class, was absolutely a genius among geniuses.
She couldn’t understand why someone who was already so talented still needed to work so hard.
In her way of thinking, if someone was a genius, wouldn’t they naturally become stronger as they grew older?
Why put themselves through all that hard work?
“Talent and hard work are both dead ends on their own.”
Kuroda Ren didn’t explain much.
“Only when the two are combined can someone become a truly powerful person.”
He quickly packed up his things.
“Let’s go.”
In fact, when Kuroda Ren first discovered that his deskmate was Yūhi Kurenai, he had considered trying to become closer to her and seeing whether he could eventually take her father, Yūhi Shinku, as his teacher.
Yūhi Shinku wasn’t particularly famous in the original story, but he was still a quite formidable Jōnin and one of the relatively rare shinobi who specialized in genjutsu.
However, considering that genjutsu wasn’t particularly compatible with his own talents, Kuroda Ren eventually abandoned the idea.
He still maintained his friendship with Kurenai, though.
After all, Yūhi Kurenai was already a rather cute little girl, and in the future she would grow into a beautiful woman with both looks and an excellent figure.
Naturally, Kuroda Ren didn’t mind being friends with her.
As for Sarutobi Asuma’s hostility…
Kuroda Ren had already thought it through.
It was impossible for him to win everyone’s favor.
If someone wanted to treat him as a romantic rival, then so be it.
This kind of childish “rivalry” was hardly something even Sarutobi Hiruzen, no matter how petty he was, could shamelessly interfere in.
…
After leaving the Academy, Kuroda Ren walked with Yūhi Kurenai for a while before they parted ways at an intersection near Konoha Park.
However, Kuroda Ren didn’t immediately head for the training ground.
Instead, he took a turn and went straight toward the Hokage Building.
The department responsible for issuing and accepting missions in Konoha was located inside the Hokage Building. The source of this chapter is g.com.
Every single mission even had to be personally reviewed by the Hokage.
No wonder Naruto had eventually been so overwhelmed with paperwork after becoming Hokage that even an army of Shadow Clones couldn’t keep up with the workload.
As for whether this system was reasonable, Kuroda Ren had no interest in worrying about that right now.
He wasn’t completely confident that he could secure first place in the next monthly examination through training alone.
Therefore, he intended to spend most of his savings and buy himself a little “insurance.”
Of course, he wasn’t planning to hire a ninja to assassinate Hatake Kakashi, who posed a threat to his position.
Instead, he wanted to find a way to maximize his strength before the next monthly examination.
“Hello.
I’d like to ask about commissioning a mission.”
Kuroda Ren arrived at the mission hall and approached a shinobi.
“I’m a student at the Ninja Academy.
I’d like to hire a shinobi who specializes in Konoha-Style Taijutsu and shuriken throwing as a sparring partner.”
“I’d also like them to create a customized training program for me in those two areas.”
“What rank of mission would that be?
And how much would it cost?”
“Hiring a sparring partner?”
The receptionist seemed to have encountered requests like this before.
Without hesitation, he explained:
“Although this involves shinobi combat, there isn’t any real risk of death involved in sparring, so this kind of mission would normally be classified as a C-rank mission.”
“Of course, depending on your additional requirements, it could be upgraded to B-rank or even higher.”
“For example, the required strength of the sparring partner, the duration of the mission, and so on.”
The receptionist searched through a large pile of documents on the desk for a moment before handing Kuroda Ren a form.
“This is the pricing schedule.”
“If you want to specify a particular shinobi, the price will increase somewhat.
It will also depend on whether that person is willing to accept your mission.”
Kuroda Ren looked at the price list.
Taijutsu Sparring Partner — Ordinary Chūnin:
10,000 ryo/day.
30% discount for ten days or more.
50% discount for one month or more.
Taijutsu Sparring Partner — Elite Chūnin:
20,000 ryo/day.
30% discount for ten days or more.
50% discount for one month or more.
Taijutsu Sparring Partner — Special Jōnin:
…
Ninjutsu Sparring Partner:
…
Additional Charges:
…
Kuroda Ren had expected that hiring a shinobi to spar with him and provide guidance wouldn’t be cheap.
He simply hadn’t expected it to be this expensive. Read this novel at g.com for the best experience.
Kuroda Ren had only begun living independently at the age of three, relying on the fixed living allowance provided by Konoha.
After all sorts of miscellaneous daily expenses, he could save at most one or two thousand ryo each month.
After subtracting the money he had spent on chakra paper earlier, Kuroda Ren now had only a little over 60,000 ryo in total savings.
At most, he could hire the cheapest ordinary Chūnin as a taijutsu sparring partner for five or six days.
After thinking about it, Kuroda Ren tentatively asked:
“Can you make it a little cheaper?”
“I only have 60,000 ryo in total.”
“You’re a Ninja Academy student?”
The receptionist looked at Kuroda Ren.
After thinking for a moment, he said:
“The village has a subsidy policy for Academy students.”
“I can give you a 40% discount.”
“That is the lowest price.”
“Regardless of how many days?”
Kuroda Ren confirmed the terms.
After receiving an affirmative answer, Kuroda Ren thought for a moment, took out his wallet, counted out a stack of bills, and handed them over.
“I’ll first hire a Chūnin as a taijutsu sparring partner.”
“The requirements are that they specialize in Konoha-Style Taijutsu and shuriken throwing.”
“Preferably, they should also be able to design a training program for me.”
“As for the schedule…”
“For now, six days.”
“Starting this week, on the weekends over the next three weeks.”
Six days.
At 10,000 ryo per day, the 40% discount brought the total down to 36,000 ryo.
That immediately wiped out more than half of Kuroda Ren’s savings.
But if it could significantly improve his taijutsu and ensure that he secured first place in the upcoming monthly examination, then it would be worth it.
After all, the reward for first place was a ninjutsu.
Even if it was only a C-rank ninjutsu, it wasn’t something that could simply be learned for a few tens of thousands of ryo on the open market.
“Three weekends, six days in total.”
“That comes to 36,000 ryo.”
“This falls under the scope of a C-rank mission.”
“However, this is a special mission, so only one shinobi will be assigned to it rather than an entire team.”
The receptionist pulled out a mission form and quickly filled in Kuroda Ren’s requirements.
He then handed it over.
“Sign here.”
“And show me your student identification.”
Kuroda Ren took out his student ID and handed it over.
He then signed his name on the mission form.
After completing the commissioning procedures, Kuroda Ren left the mission hall and headed toward the training ground to continue his training.