“So, I’ve decided to assign you a mission first…” Orochimaru handed a mission scroll to Chen Fan.
“Remember to finish it quickly.
You still have today’s training when you get back.”
He sounded somewhat reluctant.
During the Jonin meeting, the Third Hokage had nearly lost his temper.
They had already prepared to invite other nations to participate in the exams, while Orochimaru had completely forgotten about their plan?
Then why had he gone to watch the graduation exam in the first place?!
Fortunately, Orochimaru quickly assured him that a mere Chunin Exam was nothing to worry about, barely managing to calm him down.
Of course, the necessary training still had to continue.
Especially since the Third Hokage had already spoken…
“Your strength has already reached the required level, but battles aren’t determined by strength alone,” Orochimaru said calmly.
“At the same time, a ninja’s battles aren’t limited to what happens openly.”
“So go complete this mission.
The Third Hokage specifically selected it for you.”
“Oh?” Chen Fan looked at the mission scroll in his hand with some curiosity.
Orochimaru had already told Chen Fan about the Chunin Exams.
Chen Fan didn’t care about the Third Hokage’s plans.
But the chance to beat up a whole group of people was extremely appealing to him.
Although Orochimaru summoned a group of snakes every day to serve as Chen Fan’s opponents, the stronger snakes among them were usually the same few.
According to the system’s requirements, after he defeated someone three times, they would no longer provide Experience Points unless they had made significant progress.
Unfortunately, summoned beasts didn’t improve very quickly…
Although Chen Fan was still earning a decent amount, it was always better to plan ahead.
He was already thinking about other ways to obtain Experience Points.
The Chunin Exams were obviously one such opportunity!
And the participants would all be talented young shinobi from other nations.
Their strength definitely wouldn’t be weak!
“Specifically selected by the old man…
A B-rank mission to suppress bandits?” Chen Fan opened the scroll and looked at the mission details.
“And gather any intelligence that may be hidden among them,” Orochimaru added.
Suppressing bandits was one of the most common missions for ninjas.
Bandits and highway robbers had never disappeared from the shinobi world!
There were bandits in the Land of Lightning, the Land of Earth, and the Land of Fire…
And in reality, besides genuine bandits, there was also another group of people who appeared to be bandits but were actually intelligence operatives planted by enemy nations.
They all had someone backing them.
That was why bandits appeared endlessly throughout the shinobi world and could never be completely eliminated.
As for who exactly was backing them, every nation had its own suspicions.
For example, people from the Land of Lightning suspected Shimura Danzo, while people from the Land of Wind suspected Shimura Danzo, and people from the Land of Water also suspected Shimura Danzo…
There were only a few likely suspects.
Konoha’s side was harder to determine, mainly because there were considerably more suspects than in the other nations.
However, the particular bandit group Chen Fan had been assigned to suppress had left behind traces that exposed them, and it had already been confirmed that they were spies planted by the Land of Earth.
This B-rank mission required Chen Fan’s team to wipe out the bandits, kill any Iwagakure shinobi who might be among them, and cut off the intelligence being gathered by the Land of Earth…
“Got it.
We’ll leave right now!”
Chen Fan immediately grabbed Kurenai and Rin and headed out.
If they hurried, perhaps…
he could still farm a wave of snakes after coming back!
Orochimaru simply watched the three of them leave.
He still had his own research to conduct and had no intention of accompanying Chen Fan.
“I really don’t understand what my teacher is thinking…” Orochimaru muttered.
“There’s no need to worry so much.”
In reality, this mission had been forcibly assigned by the Third Hokage.
The reason was simple.
“Teacher says Chen Fan is too reckless and needs to become more composed, so he arranged an intelligence-gathering mission to temper his personality…
But if his strength is sufficient, what’s wrong with being a little reckless?”
“If this mission didn’t involve an actual ninja battle, I really wouldn’t want Chen Fan wasting his time on it.”
“Being a little reckless is nothing.
A few targeted words should be enough.”
“Why does he need dedicated training for it?”
Orochimaru shook his head, completely unable to understand.
Apparently, in Chen Fan’s previous life, there had been a wealthy young man who had just gotten a beautiful girlfriend but was afraid she was only dating him for his money.
So he lied to her and claimed that he only had an Audi A6, a house of a little over a hundred square meters, and several hundred thousand in savings…
He figured that if someone could be considered poor, they probably couldn’t be much poorer than that.
As a Kage-level powerhouse, Orochimaru had seen plenty of powerful individuals.
The most reckless one…
“No matter how reckless someone is, they should only be as reckless as Jiraiya.
What’s there to worry about?”
With that thought, Orochimaru calmly returned to his laboratory.
…
B-rank missions generally required Jonin to carry them out.
At the very least, they needed to be led by a Chunin.
However, this wasn’t exactly a high-level mission.
Although it was quite dangerous for Genin, Orochimaru didn’t believe Chen Fan was incapable of completing a B-rank mission.
It was just that…
Chen Fan and the other two had set out during the day, yet the sky was gradually darkening and they still hadn’t returned.
“What’s going on?
Did they run into some trouble?” Orochimaru raised his head.
The mission site was very close to Konoha Village.
At a ninja’s speed, the journey there and back shouldn’t have taken much time.
“Could he have been unlucky enough to encounter a powerful opponent?”
An intelligence outpost planted in an enemy nation naturally wouldn’t have any truly powerful fighters stationed there.
Based on past experience, having a squad of Chunin in a bandit stronghold was already quite impressive.
At most, there might also be one person with Jonin-level strength.
They might be formidable, but they shouldn’t have been strong enough to kill Chen Fan…
That was also why Orochimaru had been comfortable letting the three of them go alone.
However, nothing was absolute.
“If the enemy nation happened to send an expert to retrieve the intelligence, then it wouldn’t be impossible for them to encounter an Elite Jonin…”
An Elite Jonin was already the strongest level of combat power below the Kage level!
Destructive power, intelligence, experience…
They had almost no obvious weaknesses.
Although Chen Fan’s physical abilities were extremely powerful, he was still a young man with limited experience.
Being killed by an Elite Jonin was not impossible.
Then…
“Hm?” Orochimaru was just about to stand up when he suddenly froze.
Creak.
The door opened.
“Sensei, I’m back to report.” Chen Fan swaggered inside.
His clothes were torn and tattered, yet there wasn’t even a trace of blood on him.
Instead, he looked full of energy.
Behind him, however, Kurenai and Rin looked utterly exhausted.
They were panting heavily, their legs trembling, and their faces flushed from the exertion.
Orochimaru: “???”
So…
what exactly had you three been doing?
“Report the mission first,” Orochimaru said.
If Chen Fan had simply been distracted by fooling around with the girls and wasted all this time, Orochimaru might have to remove Kurenai and Rin from the team!
After all, Chen Fan’s team needed to be strong enough to complete the intimidation mission during the Chunin Exams.
Although Kurenai and Rin were quite talented, they had only recently graduated.
Compared to properly trained elites, they were still lacking.
Originally, considering Chen Fan’s feelings and the fact that the three of them had a good relationship and could trust one another, Orochimaru was willing to let them remain teammates.
But if their presence was also delaying Chen Fan, then they would truly have no value!
“Yes, Sensei.” Chen Fan became serious.
“First, we located the bandits’ hideout.”
“Mm.
And then?”
“Then, following standard ninja procedures, we prepared to infiltrate the hideout and steal their intelligence.”
“And then?”
“Then we accidentally got discovered.”
Orochimaru remained calm.
Ninja infiltration was never foolproof.
During the Chunin Exams in the future, even Sasuke would be able to discover Orochimaru when he personally disguised himself as Naruto, so Chen Fan failing an infiltration was perfectly normal.
“And then?”
“After that, a huge group of bandits came rushing out after hearing the commotion.
There were about two hundred of them.”
“Just tell me everything at once.” Orochimaru was becoming impatient.
All of this was perfectly normal.
What he wanted to know was why they had taken so long to return!
“Facing the enemy’s encirclement, we fought while retreating.
In the end, we fought our way into the bandits’ stronghold, wiped out all 217 bandits, killed six Iwagakure shinobi hiding among them, and successfully obtained the intelligence.”
“According to the intelligence, we discovered seventeen more similar bandit strongholds within the Land of Fire that had been planted by Iwagakure.”
“Afterward, we decided to search for those bandits and eliminate them one by one, completely clearing out the Iwagakure intelligence network.”
“Unfortunately, we ran out of time.
We only managed to wipe out eight nearby strongholds and kill fewer than 1,500 people.
We haven’t finished the mission yet, so I’m planning to go back tomorrow…”
Chen Fan’s voice was filled with regret.
Orochimaru slowly raised a question mark.