Chapter 5: 3rd Simulation - Part 1
{Training Ground 21, Konohagakure}
{7:48 PM, 2 March 78 Yrs}
"Uh- Tora-san what are you doing here?" Hiroshi tried hard to suppress the vigilance in his voice but his words still came out a little accusatory as he was a little surprised at his sudden arrival.
"Uh-" Tora hesitated and a complicated expression came over his face, he rubbed the back of his head in an exaggerated manner before continuing, "Uh, actually I took a mission for the team earlier today, I was going to inform everyone later but then I got a message that you decided to withdraw from the team?"
By now Hiroshi had gotten his expressions back under control, "Yeah, it's been two years now, I was hoping to take part in the chunin exams later in the year. Even if I don't pass, it's still better to gain some experience for future attempts. So I'm going to take a break from missions for the next three months and practice to get a little bit stronger."
"Of course," Tora nodded politely before he continued his performance and he asked, "Can you do me a favour though, I already accepted the mission on behalf of the team, and I can't seem to find a replacement that would allow us to take the mission, it's a short patrol mission for just a month, you would be back in the month and still have two left to practice and it would really help us out..." apparently seeing no emotion on my face he hastily added, "We already accepted the mission and if we cancel it would go on in our file and hurt us later on, I could even help you out with some pointers during the mission?"
'one month eh?' Hiroshi thought the lies unravelling and the plot at his life was as clear as day. Along with the thought that 'what was the connection between Tora and the Clan' another thought clearly popped out in his head.
'I can't say no can I, not without sounding unreasonable... the simulation would help me avoid most dangers but still, should I take the risk? But at the rate at which I am improving, it would be easy for me to get a lot stronger in a month when the attack happens in 20-25 days. In 10 simulations I should at least have the strength of a chunin so I can escape if it comes down to it.'
"Okay, when are we leaving?" Hiroshi asked.
Tora had a bright expression on his face as he thanked him, "Thanks man, I'll make it up to you promise, we'll all meet at the north gate at 6 AM tomorrow, pack for a month, see ya!" Tora's hand slowly formed the tiger seal and after sending a smug smile his way, he disappeared in a puff of smoke.
'Alright... now what, the countdown on the simulator is still 1 and a half days away, I would need to be careful in the next two days but thankfully in 2 days of travel time, we would only be halfway there so Tora and his accomplice should not be so reckless.
'I need to buy weights just in case I get another perk like hard worker... maybe it's time I stop avoiding the main cast too.'
Knowing the disadvantages Hiroshi always maintained a certain distance from the main characters of Naruto, there was no need to gather extra attention on himself when he could get by just fine. This time though his needs forced him to go to Ishikawa's Weapons shop, one of the higher-end shops located in the trading district of Konoha. Looking at it from the outside there was no hustle-bustle in the shop.
~Ting~
The bell rang as he opened the door and looked at the empty shop, Ishikawa's shop was run by Ishikawa Kayo, a blacksmith famous for making high-end swords with chakra metal and one of the few merchants in Konoha who can work on the most expensive material. Everything here was pricey and even the price of kunai and shuriken made from normal iron was 1.5x higher than anywhere else. So unless someone was looking to buy quality swords or other equipment with longer shelf life, most ninjas don't prefer to shop here.
And looking at Ishikawa Kayo, Hiroshi would guess he preferred it that way, the man was massive, easily crossing the 6 ft barrier which was rare in the elemental nations, and with muscles peaking through his clothes he perfectly fit into the mould of a burly blacksmith.
"Wattcha- want kid?" A gruff voice broke Hiroshi's observation as he quickly replied.
"A pair of Chakra weights, something with adjustable weights for my legs."
A raised eyebrow and an eye scan later, Ishikawa Kayo leaned back in his chair and replied in his gruff voice, "200,000."
Hiroshi winced at the price before he quickly pulled out his wallet and dropped 2 bills of 100,000 on the table, the money was equivalent to that of him doing 15-20 C rank missions but over the past couple of years, he had at least saved that much. After another raised eyebrow and some shuffling to get to the weights, he was proud owned of two straps of cloth with metal interwoven in it like a chainmail.
"Pour chakra through the two seals to increase or decrease the weight..." the man lazily exclaimed before he leaned back into his chair seemingly going back to resting. Having accomplished his goal, Hiroshi went back to his apartment.
After a quick shower and a change of clothes, he wore the two straps of legwarmers that practically weighed nothing. On each of them, there were two seals with red and blue coloured boundaries. After a few minutes of fumbling, he got both weights to be set at 2 kg each. Although he had improved his physique there was no need to put burden on his body to try and accelerate his growth.
'Now how would you think the simulation would change, the mission duration was shorter now, will Tora directly plot and attack me or will he go back to the same plan?'
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{Somewhere in the Land of Fire}
{10:07 AM, 3 March 78 Yrs}
[Simulation Cooldown - 0:00:00:05]
Four Shinobi with Konoha forehead protectors were dashing through the trees, It's been 1 day since they started travelling and they had just a couple of hours ago left the outermost patrol routes surrounding Konoha. Hiroshi felt the tension in his shoulders rise as he thought about the fact that his team leader was involved in some plot against him, but at least he watched the countdown timer hit zero. With a relieved sigh he clicked on the Start Simulation button and the familiar screen appeared before him.
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[Random Trait Drawn: Genius Scientist (Gold) - To unearth the mysteries of chakra is your goal, your sharp mind tries to perfect and figure out ways to improve everything. INT+100, 100% Probability of skill evolving once they reach max Level.]
[Simulation Starts]
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'Okay, I have got to figure out some way to get a B or greater rating.'
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AN: See ya tomorrow, same time!!
P.S:
From the first official handbook, written by Kishimoto, missions have the following fees.
S Rank— more than 1 million Ryo (>1000,000).
A Rank— 150,000–1000,000 Ryo.
B Rank— 80,000— 200,000 Ryo.
C Rank— 30,000— 100,000 Ryo.
D Rank— 5000–50,000 Ryo.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone