Chương 16: Missions!
Tachibana smiled seeing his plan succeed, he calmly descended the building he was standing on top of while listening to the screams of the shinobi who was blinded.
"AAAARRRGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!"
"MMMYYYYYYY EEYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSS!"
*Cough* *Cough* *Cough* *Cough*
"ARRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! IT BURNSSSS!!!!!!!"
The shinobi collapsed to his knees allowing Tachibana to calmly walk over to him and place his kunai on the man's neck.
"I'm done! Is this enough? Or do you want me to-" Tachibana shouted but someone else interrupted him.
"That's alright Tachibana-kun. But what did you do to the shinobi!?" It was a hurried voice that came from the street.
As the man walked into the light of the Hokage tower he was clear for everyone to see.
"Chilli powder."
Hiruzen's muscles tensed as he looked at the shinobi who was already rushing to create water using his chakra to wash out his eyes.
"Did you attach a bag of them to your shuriken?" Hiruzen asked looking at the deflected shuriken that were embedded into the floor.
Tachibana nodded, "I'm sorry shinobi-san. I just did what my Sensei told me to do."
"Maruboshi taught you this?" Hiruzen asked with surprise.
"Yes. Maruboshi-sensei told me to use methods that I know will work without doubt and not experimental techniques-"
Hiruzen gave a wry smile, 'I don't think he meant for you to douse your enemy in a chilli powder.'
"-And I sensed that the shinobi I came across were quite powerful. So instead of taking him down in a fight which I probably would've lost, I decided to take advantage of them not knowing what I could pull off to catch them off guard."
Hiruzen smiled with a sagely look and nodded, "Indeed, the first step to becoming a shinobi is to never let the enemy know your next move. Being unpredictable helps you to trap your enemies in your trap quite easily."
"But wasn't this a little too obvious as a test?" Tachibana asked with some confusion.
"Ah…well-" Hiruzen with shifty eyes thought of the best reason he could come up with, 'It's not like I can outright tell him I was supposed to save him when he was cornered while fighting the shinobi. What can I…ah!'
"Your ability to see if you recognised you were being tested was also a part of the test." Hiruzen explained with a happy smile. "And you passed that too."
'Now all I need to do is divert him and he'll stop thinking about this. I guess doing things this way wouldn't be much different from doing it the other way if I do it right.'
"And for passing the test I set up for you, I have a reward for you, here.", Hiruzen said pulling off his shinobi forehead protector and handing it over to Tachibana.
Tachibana's eyes widened as he looked at what Hiruzen was offering him, "This…I'm afraid I cannot accept this Hokage-sama. It must be very precious to you."
Hiruzen only smiled as he spoke, a gust of wind blew by causing his hair to flutter as he spoke.
"To me this forehead protector signifies my teacher passing me the star-like will of fire that burnt in his heart. And now, I pass it on to you. So that through all that Konoha may go through in the future, you will be there as a silent guardian to protect it."
Tachibana's expression turned into one an awestruck teenager would have if they ever saw their heroes in real life.
He solemnly took hold of the badge and tied it around his own forehead.
Then with a smile, he spoke, "I shall honor your will of fire by making it burn brighter than even the brightest star in the future."
"Good.", Hiruzen said allowing Tachibana to go home.
As Tachibana walked away his thoughts remained hidden in his mind.
'This thing is so sticky…'
'Is it his sweat?'
'Ew…I'll wash it well later.'
'So during the test, I was probably supposed to be cornered by the shinobi after confronting him. Then Hiruzen would probably come out to save me and out of the goodness in his heart give me a forehead protector because I 'saved' the village's secrets by helping stop the 'bad' shinobi by putting my life on the line.'
'He'd probably still give me the will of fire speech and then once he was satisfied he'd allow me to go home.'
'Manipulation at its finest but it's not like I don't understand why he's doing it…'
'Konoha is a militaristic state, questioning orders would be bad for the higher-ups.'
Reaching home, Tachibana cleaned himself and crashed into his bed.
He called out the system in his mind to look at his status.
[ Digestion : 49% ]
'I need to digest my potion quicker…'
'Although the Konoha crush plan doesn't concern me, the village will probably be attacked and during that time I'd feel safer if I was a Sequence 7 or even 6. I'd have enough of a physical enhancement that I'd be comfortable at that point.'
[ Recognising the host's desire to grow stronger. ]
[ Generating an appropriate mission to help the host grow stronger. ]
[ Mission Generated. Would the host like to see the mission? ]
'Mission? This is the first mission the system's giving me.'
'What's so special about the situation that you decided to give me a mission right now? I wished to grow stronger even back when I first got you, why didn't you give me a mission then?'
[ The host received a gift from the System in the form of a Novice starter pack which was deemed sufficient.]
[ The system generated a mission now because it cannot gift something else to the host without him working for it. ]
'You're calling me a leech aren't you..'
[ Would the host not like to see the mission? ]
'Ok, show me what the mission is.'
[ Mission : The host must make a bandit laugh at your jokes. ]
'Is that all?' Tachibana asked with little enthusiasm.
[ The host is being greedy about rewards, but since the System is forced to work for the host's betterment it shall provide the host with an enticing reason to complete this mission. ]
[ Rewards : Slumber charm. (A charm blessed by the goddess of Evernight and can put even a veteran shinobi of the Kage level to sleep for a few seconds.) ]
Tachibana's mouth hung as he looked at the reward.
'Seriously!?'
[ The system does not make jokes. The system is not the one acting as a clown. ]
Tachibana ignored the system's jab at him and became focused on the rewards.
'In the battle of shinobi where each moment can decide who lives and who dies, such a charm can turn the tides of battle very easily.'
'I guess when Maruboshi-sensei takes me on missions, I'll be doing something rather silly…'
'I hope I can come up with an excuse to perform such a silly act too…'
'Perhaps I can infiltrate their ranks by pretending to be a wandering clown who wants to earn some coin by performing for the bandit group?'
'This way after they're done clapping and laughing for me, I can just complete the mission of the system and of a shinobi by slaughtering them?'
'...sometimes my genius frightens even me.'
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