Though a bit hesitant, Aozora was already there, so he went ahead and introduced himself politely to Guy.
When Guy learned that Aozora was also a dead last, he nearly burst into tears trying to hug him.
If Aozora hadn't resisted with all his might, this musclehead would've stolen his very first hug.
Although the hug didn't happen, their shared status as failures created an instant sense of closeness in Guy's heart.
Therefore, when Aozora mentioned admiring Guy's taijutsu and wanting to train with him, Guy readily agreed.
The two made plans to run around Konoha every morning, while weekends would be arranged according to specific circumstances.
After finalizing their arrangement, Aozora hurried home, claiming he had something urgent to attend to.
The next day, Aozora practiced [Dragon Fire Technique] and [Hokuto Flower's Crimson Claw] in the morning, hung out with Guy a bit in the afternoon, and then concluded his two-day break.
On Monday morning, after training together with Guy at dawn, Aozora rushed to Hokage Tower early.
Aya and Jifeng also arrived at the Mission Hall ahead of schedule, sharing the same idea as Aozora.
When Shibi Aburame arrived, Aya impatiently tried to rush forward to queue up for missions, but Aozora rolled his eyes and pulled her back.
"Don't rush to take missions yet. Let's talk first!"
Aya struggled twice without success, then sighed dejectedly and turned around.
The trio found a relatively secluded corner to start discussing.
"First of all, we should reach a consensus—we all don't want to keep doing D-rank missions anymore and are ready for higher-level assignments," Aozora solemnly said, raising his index finger toward the two.
Aya immediately chimed in enthusiastically, "Exactly! We shouldn't waste our time on these low-level tasks like babysitting kids or running errands. Such mundane work doesn't match the dignity of elite ninja like us!"
"Hmm," Jifeng lightly nodded too—he'd grown tired of these tedious chores as well.
Aozora seized the moment, continuing, "However, we can't qualify for advanced missions without sufficient experience from lower-tier ones."
"That's true!" Aya drooped her head like a defeated dog.
White Dog noticed her mood and gently tugged at Aya's pant leg. He barked a couple of times to comfort her.
Aozora continued, "Since there are requirements on mission experience, let's just meet them."
Then Aozora explained his plan thoroughly.
To qualify for C-rank missions, they needed at least fifty completed D-rank tasks.
At the pace they'd handled missions last week, this would take another nine weeks—nearly two months.
This was unacceptable to all three of them.
Therefore, Aozora proposed splitting up to tackle missions more efficiently.
He discovered that among the D-rank missions were many tasks requiring neither much time nor manpower. With superior skill, one person could complete them quickly.
After explaining his strategy, Aozora started assigning roles. "Aya, your scouting abilities are excellent and you're incredibly agile. Hunting cats and dogs or finding lost items should be easy for you and White Dog. You could catch five or six pets per day, no problem?"
Aya immediately nodded enthusiastically, "No problem at all! Just leave all pet-catching and lost item search missions to me and White Dog."
White Dog also gave his assurance, "Woof! Woof!"
Aozora turned to Jifeng and said, "Jifeng, you've got good speed. How about handling message delivery and errand tasks?"
Although delivering messages and running errands were somewhat tiring, they were still easier compared to other tasks like farming.
Jifeng coughed lightly and nodded in agreement.
Seeing both herself and Jifeng assigned tasks, Aya asked, "Aozora, what about you?"
Straightening his posture, Aozora replied, "As the strongest member of our team, I've decided to take on more responsibility."
"I'll handle tasks like cleaning the river channels and keeping the elderly company."
Remembering last week's foul-smelling sewage ditch, Aya and Jifeng couldn't help but give Aozora a thumbs-up in silent admiration.
After assigning their roles, Aozora said, "Before we start these tasks, let's settle how we divide the rewards."
"Since we're splitting up to complete tasks separately, technically each should receive individual payment. However, due to task differences, it might be unfair—for example, if Jifeng takes long-distance deliveries that might take two or three days per mission, while by then Aya might have already completed five or six missions."
"I'm fine with however we split it," Jifeng responded.
Aya also said, "Me too! Whatever allocation Aozora feels is appropriate is okay with me!"
Shaking his head slightly, Aozora thought: What am I discussing mission payments with these two ninja second-generation heirs for?
"Then it's decided—equal distribution of mission rewards."
"Okay, let's go get our missions!"
"Move out!"
Shibi Aburame, who had remained completely 'invisible' throughout, watched his three students adjust their glasses slightly.
This outcome was somewhat different from what he had expected.
Team Three had sufficient strength; they just needed to mature a bit more before taking higher-level missions.
Originally, Shibi had planned to wait until they grew frustrated and started complaining, then he would go along with their request for a C-rank mission. He hadn't expected them to come up with this method instead.
Considering it carefully, since this didn't violate ninja discipline, To Shibi, this showed promising initiative and teamwork—something he deeply appreciated.
After communicating with the office clerk for half a while, Team Three accepted five missions and then parted ways in front of the Hokage Tower.
Aya immediately set out with White Dog to capture an escaped large greyhound.
Jifeng began his task as a messenger carrying two letters.
Aozora created a Bunshin—one went to chat with some elders while the other headed toward the stinky water channel to pick up garbage.
Not even past noon, Aya had already captured the big dog and went searching for a lost kitten.
Meanwhile, after cleaning a section of the river, Aozora returned to the Hokage Tower to take another assignment—cleaning the training grounds.
That evening, the trio returned to hand in their completed missions.
Jifeng had finished delivering messages to two neighboring villages.
Aya completed two pet-capturing missions plus one lost item retrieval.
Aozora finished clearing part of the river, cleaning the training ground, and spending time with the elderly.
By the end of the day, Team Three had completed a total of eight missions—an impressive tally for a single day.
Spending all day chasing after cats and dogs left Aya's clothes quite stained, but she didn't seem to mind at all.
"One, two, three…" Aya counted excitedly, "Haha, there are actually seventy-five mission slips—that's seventy-five thousand ryo!"
Although exhausted from running all day, Jifeng's face carried genuine smiles. "If we keep up this pace, we might qualify for a C-rank mission next week."
Aozora couldn't help but dampen everyone's excitement a bit as he said, "Don't get carried away. We specifically chose these types of missions, and their numbers will gradually decrease later on. These quick and easy missions won't keep showing up forever, so our mission completion speed will slow down eventually."
"Still, we should be able to take on C-rank missions in at most two weeks."
As he said that, he found himself smiling too.
It was indeed something worth smiling about. In addition to the 7,500 taels of silver mission reward, he had gained four droplets of golden gongde in just one day.
The next day, Team Three powered through and completed ten D-rank missions in a single day.
By the third day, suitable missions were getting scarce. Team Three's pace slowed, completing only six missions.
Seeing his gradually bulging wallet and the growing number of golden droplets on his Heavenly Book, Aozora felt twice the joy.
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