I Just Wanted to Slack Off, But I Was Forced to Become Hokage

Chapter 24: The Twelve Guardian Ninja!

The deer cart traveled at the very front of the merchant caravan, with a long, narrow queue trailing behind it like a dragon, gradually moving away from Konoha.

Yamanaka Inoichi, with his powerful sensory abilities, led the trio of Sarutobi Asuma, Yūhi Kurenai, and Tobitake Tonbo, running swiftly along the front-right flank of the formation. The trio of Shiranui Genma, Ebisu, and Might Guy was staggered along the rear-right flank, while the more defensively capable Akimichi Chōza held the very end of the caravan. The nine ninja from Konoha formed a special defensive formation, protecting the merchant caravan in the center.

Feeling the cool breeze blowing gently against his face, Nara Keisuke couldn't help but narrow his eyes in comfort. He had initially thought that when it came time for an out-of-village mission, he would have to rely on his own two legs to run back and forth. He had even considered using Ōkaku for this purpose.

But now? Although the comfort of the deer cart couldn't compare to a horse-drawn carriage, it was still countless times better than running on foot!

'It's just that yesterday, I didn't anticipate that today's mission would be an out-of-village one.' Nara Keisuke leaned against the giant scroll next to him. Made of a special material, it was even softer than the wooden frame of the deer cart. 'Otherwise, I would have prepared some ink materials for the [Super Beast Scroll] last night. At the very least, I would have made a flying ink-beast.'

Nara Keisuke's preparations for the A-rank mission triggered this morning were somewhat insufficient. The ninja tools he carried, aside from the standard kunai, shuriken, paper bombs, flash bombs, and smoke bombs, consisted of only a billion Military Ration Pills. Other than that, there were just the two small scrolls Nara Shikano had given him.

However, with the "off-generation Ino-Shika-Chō" team providing security and the [Shadow Doppelganger] trump card hidden up his sleeve, Nara Keisuke didn't feel too nervous.

"Did you understand the mission commissioning process back in the Hokage's office, Keisuke?" Nara Shikano's aged voice was carried over by the cool mountain wind.

Sitting in the back, Nara Keisuke knew the clan head was answering his earlier question about how Nara Shikano could simultaneously be the mission executor and the mission client. Nara Keisuke wanted to do the same, but the "Lazy System" wouldn't allow him such "self-entertainment."

'Perhaps after returning from Kyoto, I can try to replicate the Clan Head's operation...'

'Although I can't be the one to issue the mission myself, I can insert a proxy in the middle to guide the proxy to issue a mission to me...'

This thought flashed through Nara Keisuke's mind and was gone. He didn't forget to respond to the clan head's question. "Yes. Our mission is to head to Kyoto, and you added an extra mission to go to the Fire Temple. At the same time..." Nara Keisuke turned his head to look at the front right, where an excited Sarutobi Asuma was leaping between the forest trees. "Lord Hokage also added two extra Chunin squads performing other missions."

This kind of operation wasn't hard for Nara Keisuke to understand. As long as one had the ability, accepting all missions along the way was the most correct choice. This was just common sense.

"That's right. The ninja squad on the right accepted a B-rank mission, [Bounty Hunter]," Nara Shikano said, frankly disclosing the mission information of their fellow ninja. "And the ninja squad on the left accepted a B-rank mission, [Caravan Guard]. Myself, Inoichi, and Chōza will step in to help them complete their missions if the six of them find themselves struggling."

So the B-rank mission I speed-ran yesterday was taken by Sarutobi Asuma's squad... Nara Keisuke understood instantly, but he still had a small question. "But in that case, couldn't we also accept both of these B-rank missions at the same time?"

"Unless it's a special situation, a ninja will not accept two missions at once, no matter how much the client pays." Nara Shikano knew a little money-grubber was sitting behind him, and his explanation carried a hint of teasing reminder. "Besides, haven't we already accepted an A-rank mission? Also, if we do intervene in those ninjas' missions, the village will add a record of a B-rank mission to our respective mission logs when we return."

Nara Keisuke asked curiously, "Can I get that too?"

"You?" Nara Shikano turned around with an amused look. "Keisuke, your current status is that of a mission client. A ninja's freelance activities outside the village are not included in their official mission records."

Nara Keisuke nodded with some regret. He had been hoping to get two free B-rank missions; at the very least, he could have gotten two B-rank [Shinobi Secret Scrolls]!

'Isn't an A-rank mission good enough?' Nara Keisuke comforted himself. 'What's more, I got this A-rank mission for free, too.'

Konoha had clear classifications for mission ranks, and ninja of different ranks could accept missions of different ranks. For a "Genin" (his official rank) like Nara Keisuke, the highest-level mission he could accept was only C-rank. He was only able to get a B-rank mission before by piggybacking on Tsunade's status. But no matter how much he piggybacked, he couldn't get an A-rank mission.

Nara Keisuke speculated that the main reason he was able to get this A-rank mission ["Tribute"] for free was because of his Nara clan status. The Nara clan initiated a mission request, Konoha accepted it, and then assigned the mission back to the Nara clan. He was exploiting this "status loophole."

'But speaking of which, piggybacking on missions? That seems like a worthwhile direction for triggering missions to explore.' Nara Keisuke's thoughts began to wander. 'It's just that the specific operation of this piggybacking model is much more difficult than the proxy model I just thought of...'

In the midst of Nara Keisuke's casual chat with the clan head, the caravan slowly made its way over the large mountains surrounding Konoha and arrived in a wide-open plain. All around them, the sky was blue with white clouds, the fields were green and lush—a scene of fine natural beauty.

The deer cart ambled forward leisurely. Nara Keisuke scanned the surrounding scenery with great novelty. But after looking for a while, he grew somewhat tired of it and retracted his gaze, half-leaning, half-lying on the giant scroll next to him.

The scientific development of the ninja world was very strange, one might even call it "deformed." Biotechnology had advanced at a frantic pace, almost leaving other types of scientific research completely in the dust.

'Electrical wires, idyllic fields, thatched huts... what kind of ninja-punk is this!'

Just then, Nara Shikano, who was driving the deer cart up front, suddenly straightened his back. He turned his head, about to say something to Keisuke, but saw the latter's bored expression.

"After you've done a few more missions outside the village, you'll discover," Nara Shikano changed the subject, stroking his beard with a smile, "the ninja world is so big, but Konoha is still the best."

Nara Keisuke nodded subconsciously. In his eyes, Konoha, as a semi-military ninja settlement, was not a good place. But everything suffered by comparison. Konoha was indeed not great, but it couldn't stand up to the fact that other places in the ninja world were even worse!

Nara Keisuke was about to say something when he suddenly noticed the clan head's tightly straightened posture and frowned. "Clan Head, did something happen?"

"Yes, Inoichi just sent me a message with the Mind Body Transmission Technique—his Yamanaka clan's advanced secret technique," Nara Shikano said, turning his head to look towards the front-left. "He said he sensed several ninja quietly approaching the caravan. They are probably some bounty hunters. Inoichi is leading those ninja to deal with... oh, it's over."

The tension that had just risen in Nara Keisuke was completely wiped out by that short sentence. "It's over already? I didn't even feel anything..."

"Keisuke, don't overestimate the skill level of those bounty hunters." Nara Shikano switched back to his relaxed, leisurely old-man demeanor. "Konoha is the strongest ninja village in the world in terms of overall power! No one can deny this point. While there may be a few individual rogue ninja among the bounty hunters with particularly outstanding skills, their average skill level is probably lower than that of our Konoha's Academy students."

Nara Keisuke silently listened to the clan head's earnest teachings. As a very experienced elite ninja, Nara Shikano's understanding of the "great secrets of the ninja world" might not compare to Nara Keisuke's. But in terms of overall knowledge of the ninja world, ten Nara Keisukes couldn't compare to the clan head!

"If nothing unexpected happens, we should be able to reach Kyoto by tomorrow morning," Nara Shikano said, looking up at the sky and estimating the travel time. "At that time, we will go to the Daimyo's office together to meet the Daimyo."

"The Daimyo..." Nara Keisuke thought of his "who's on top" question from the Hokage's office. "Clan Head, will the Daimyo accept our Konoha's request?"

"He will," Nara Shikano said with great certainty. "Konoha and the Land of Fire are one and the same. The Daimyo is the supreme leader of the Land of Fire; he won't hold us back on a critical issue like war."

"Then I have another question," Nara Keisuke pressed on. "Between the Hokage and the Daimyo, whose status, well, or rather, who has more say?"

"More say? That's a very good phrase." Nara Shikano nodded with a smile. "Regarding that question, I can only say this: When our opinions are the same, we listen to the Daimyo; when our opinions are different, we listen to the Hokage."

Is this some kind of battle for family status? Nara Keisuke was a little speechless. But Nara Shikano's answer certainly didn't exceed his expectations. Regardless of how much of an advantage the Daimyo of the Land of Fire had in terms of identity, status, reputation, and funds, Konoha's power could always pin the Daimyo to the ground and rub him in the dirt!

"Since we're on this topic, let's talk about the first special reward I mentioned earlier. Keisuke, do you know of an organization called the 'Twelve Guardian Ninja'?"

(Author's Note:)

The "Twelve Guardian Ninja" is an organization from the original work. The manga didn't cover it much, but the anime created a storyline about an "internal split and conflict within the Twelve Guardian Ninja."

(End of Chapter)