31: Kimono

Kimono

A month later, team Jiraiya had successfully completed a large number of D-rank missions. They took care of anything, ranging from cleaning dogs to pulling out weeds on a farm. 1

This constant cycle of labor brought them closer to each other, but Jun was starting to get annoyed. On his own, he continued getting stronger, but he was stuck doing these insulting missions.

'Like I said… Peace can sometimes bring unforeseen circumstances upon us…'

Jun sighed... As of right now, there was nothing he could do about it.

In the past thirty days, his strength had made tremendous leaps. His physical training finally showed results, as he noticed the first traces of muscle pop out. Not to mention that his chakra levels were also steadily increasing.

At this point, he had mastered both the great fireball and the flicker. He took the latter to such a level that it literally seemed like he could teleport, leaving no trace behind.

The most important thing was his Sharingan's awakening. After so much training, it finally felt like it was about to appear.

Of course, Jun only knew this because of his extensive knowledge of the eyes. He could feel his brain getting stimulated, showing signs of awakening... It wouldn't be long before it finally happened.

On the other hand, Aito was also progressing well. Although he couldn't form a perfectly spherical fireball, the size was decent. Unlike his older brother, it seemed like he was born with better talent.

At this rate, he would graduate from the academy in just his second year.

As for Jun's teammates, they were also improving. Jiraiya seemed to have taken Minato under his wing, becoming his master.

Anyways, today was an important day. Finally, they would stop going on D-rank missions…. Instead, they would meet the Hokage and personally receive a C-rank from him.

While Minato and Nozomi were excited to see the Hokage, Jun found it amusing. He wondered how the monkey would react if he knew of his identity.

Once there, Jiraiya knocked on the door to announce his presence.

"Old man! We're coming in!"

Not waiting for a reply, Jiraiya simply opened the door and strode in as if he owned the place, like usual. Seeing him, Hiruzen sighed, creating a cloud of pipe-smoke around him.

"So your team is ready for a C-rank?"

"Yeah, they've been progressing fairly well."

'To tell you the truth, they've been ready since the first day... If I told them that though, they'd witch-hunt me.'

Hiruzen smiled, reaching into his cupboard. Taking out a red scroll, he threw it at Jiraiya, who opened it to check its contents.

"An escort mission, huh? Typical for the land of tea… Hm, hm."

Reading through it, Jiraiya smiled. This mission was just perfect.

"Where's the client?"

"Yamanoue-san, you may also enter."

"Greetings, Hokage-dono. Are these four great shinobi my escorts? If so, yours truly must say that I am infinitely grateful, degozaru"

'Great shinobi…'

Hearing the man's praise, Jiraiya rubbed his nose. He liked the way this man spoke.

"Of course, we always treat people from Cha No Kuni[1] with the utmost sincerity. Jiraiya, this is Yamanoue Sōji-san, a famous tea merchant from the land of tea. He also happens to be your client."

"Pleased to make your acquaintance, degozaru. I've heard great things about you, Jiraiya-dono!"

Yamanoue walked over to Jiraiya and bowed. He had a small build, and his hair was tied up in a man-bun. He wore a kimono, with a large Haori[2] that had the land of tea's symbol engraved on it.

The symbol was a white, upside-down arc, with three squiggly lines over it. It literally looked like a cup of hot tea.

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[1] 'Cha No Kuni' Literally meaning: Land of Tea.

[2] Here's kinda what he looks like, without the swords: bit.ly/2RkyW07

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