Therefore, Nawaki had no objections to Li Anshi leading them on assassination and protection missions.
In fact, in his mind, only ninjas who carried out such missions were true ninjas.
This also fit the image of a ninja in the minds of many children.
Who wouldn't want to make an entrance where, regardless of whether they were friend or foe, everyone would suck in a cold breath and say, "Oh no, it's XXX with the title of XX, everyone, run!"
Or, "That's great, it's XXX, we've won this battle!"
Who wouldn't feel a thrill at such a scene?
However, perhaps only those who had truly become "ninjas" knew that the greatest among them were the intelligence personnel who didn't even have names.
Without the intelligence they gathered, how could the village have so much accurate mission information to give to the ninjas to carry out?
Especially in times of war, sometimes, a single piece of intelligence could determine the outcome of a battle.
Of course, with the support of intelligence, one also needed a powerhouse who could fully utilize its value.
For example, if an intelligence officer passed on the location of an enemy ninja encampment, but there was no powerhouse, and the ninjas sent to take it down were not strong enough, they would just be adding to the enemy's battle merits.
As for Mikoto, she had no objections to any of this.
In two years, she would retire, then marry Fugaku and become a housewife.
Therefore, what she needed to do was to survive these two years of missions.
With her understanding of Nawaki and Rin, in the future, they would definitely become great ninjas.
At that time, even if she didn't have much of a bond with Sensei Li, just being their former teammate would be enough to give her more favorable treatment in her clan.
The clan head's wife who was just a vase, and the clan head's wife who could bring about better relations for the clan—these were two different treatments.
If she were just the clan head's wife, she might be confined to the clan grounds for her entire life, unable to go out.
But the one who could bring better development to the clan would not be restricted from going out. In fact, the clan elders might even hope that she would go out more often, to get in touch with other famous ninjas and make a few more allies for the Uchiha.
Even if these ninjas couldn't advance and retreat with the Uchiha, just not targeting them on certain issues would be considered a contribution she had made to the clan.
…
"Lord Anshi."
On the first floor of the Hokage's building, the ninja registering missions hurriedly stood up upon seeing him and took out a mission slip from the table.
"Lord Anshi, are you here to post a mission to collect softwood again today?"
Although he was a little puzzled as to why he had come again today when he had just posted a mission the day before yesterday, the ninja's code still made him prepare to register the mission.
"No, I'm not here to post a mission today."
"Huh?"
The ninja looked at him in surprise, and then his expression changed.
He was just a Chunin who had gotten here through seniority.
In terms of strength alone, he was not much stronger than an ordinary Genin.
He quickly realized that he was a Jonin, and whatever he did was a village secret.
With his status, he couldn't take the initiative to inquire.
And he had been preparing to create a mission for him based on his usual habits. Was he trying to show his understanding of the Jonin's intelligence?
For a ninja, any of their own intelligence could become a breakthrough point for the enemy.
Therefore, ninjas were very averse to any situation where their intelligence was being sought.
Even the village would not collect a ninja's intelligence data openly. Most of it was just a record of what they had shown in public.
Those things that were considered their "trump cards," unless they had already been exposed by the enemy or the ninja had registered them themselves, would not be recorded in their personal file.
Fortunately, what made the ninja relax was that the Jonin was not dissatisfied with his private speculation.
In fact, he was overthinking it.
Li Anshi didn't care whether his own intelligence was leaked or not.
In any case, for him, who practiced the Little Li's Flying Dagger, unless he had no daggers in his hand, there was no one who could make him feel "danger."
Especially after completing the training of the Flying Thunder God Technique, he felt that he could take on the entire ninja world by himself.
This was his confidence!
Furthermore, his own strength was still improving with the passage of time.
Before the start of the Fourth Great Ninja War, there was no one in the current ninja world who could take a single blow from him.
"Please show me what C-rank missions are available that require leaving the village."
"Bandit suppression or escort missions are fine."
A C-rank mission, in the mission ranking description, was a mission that would involve combat.
In most cases, the enemy was a samurai who had not refined their chakra, or a bandit made up of ordinary people.
If the intelligence was wrong and there was a ninja among the enemy, then the rank of the mission would be raised to "B."
A B-rank mission had the largest difficulty span.
Because, in a B-rank mission, whether the enemy you encountered was a Genin or a Chunin, it was all within the scope of a B-rank mission.
Only when you encountered a Jonin-level enemy would the rank of the mission be raised to "A."
An S-rank mission was a mission that posed a great threat to the village.
The ninjas who carried out S-rank missions were either a team of multiple Jonin, or an Elite Jonin, and even then, there was no guarantee of completion.
Because the target of an S-rank mission was usually also blocked by the Elite Jonin of other villages, or even a Kage-level powerhouse.
At such a time, it was a competition of the two sides' resources.
Of course, for him, let alone an S-rank mission that threatened the village, even a super S-rank mission that threatened the entire ninja world, as long as it involved combat, he was not incapable of completing it.
However, the main person to be trained now was still Nawaki.
With his understanding of the three of them, although their strength was not bad, because they had never left the village, they were naturally all fledglings who had not yet seen blood.
He didn't know what their first reaction would be after they had personally taken someone's life.
If they had an overreaction, or felt discomfort physically or mentally, such a situation would be very dangerous in battle.
Although the physical condition of a ninja, even a twelve-year-old child, was far from what an ordinary person could compare to after being amplified by chakra, a ninja who was nauseous, vomiting, or having a mental breakdown would most likely just stand there in a daze.
In such a situation, even an ordinary person with a sharp blade could kill them.
So, even he did not dare to let them fight with ninjas from the very beginning.
Because of their strength, they could make mistakes in front of ordinary people.
But if their enemies were all ninjas, even if they were just Genin, they could easily kill them in the instant they were distracted.
Even if he were to act and kill the enemy before they could harm them, the stimulation for them would not be very effective.
People learn from people, they learn nothing.
People learn from experience, once is enough.
In fact, in his mind, the best result would be for them to be dazed after killing someone, and then get injured during that period, and finally recover their senses in the pain and wipe out the enemy.
"Alright, Lord Anshi."
The ninja registering missions put down the mission slip in his hand and hurriedly searched through the slips on the side.
"Found it, Lord Anshi."
"There's a mission here."
He pulled out a slip from the pile and handed it to him.
"Lord Anshi, recently, there have been many bandits appearing on the border between the Land of Rain and the Land of Fire, causing considerable casualties to the passing travelers."
"This mission requires the removal of all three bandit strongholds on this road. The time limit is two weeks."
"Three strongholds?"
He took the slip, glanced at it, and nodded.
This mission was indeed more suitable for novice ninjas.
First of all, a mission with three bandit strongholds was still classified as C-rank, which meant that the village had already completely figured out the intelligence on these three strongholds, and there were no ninjas involved.
The number of strongholds in the mission was large, and the reward was not low.
The reward for a C-rank mission was over thirty thousand Ryo.
The reward for this mission was a full seventy-five thousand Ryo, which was quite good even among C-rank missions.
"Very good, this one will do."
"Alright, Lord Anshi, I'll register it for you right away."
After getting his confirmation, the ninja immediately registered the mission.
"Lord Anshi, this is your proof of leaving the village."
After registering, the ninja handed him the proof that came with the mission.
He glanced at the time of departure and the time of return, and his eyebrows raised slightly, but he didn't say anything.
Speaking of which, ever since he had made a name for himself in the ninja world, the "proof of leaving the village" that Hiruzen had issued for him didn't even have a time of return, let alone a time of departure.
For Hiruzen, the Hokage, as long as he admitted he was a ninja of Konoha, then even if he was not in the village, the other villages would not dare to have any ideas about Konoha.
He was sure that if he were to leave Konoha with this ninja's proof, Hiruzen and the other high-ranking officials would probably panic in the next second.
After all, according to the village's regulations for managing ninjas, if a ninja left the village on a mission and did not return within the time limit, they would be suspected of "defecting."
Even if they returned to the village later, they would have to go through the interrogation department to prove that they had not betrayed the village and become a spy for another.
But if it were him...
If he were to return late, who could restrict him?
Who would dare to interrogate him?
It would be fine if nothing came of the interrogation, but what if something did?
The restrictions on other ninjas were great because the village had determined that even if they did betray the village, the village could accept the cost of their defection.
But if it were him, what if he really defected?
Who could stop him?
So, rather than making him dissatisfied and forcing him to leave Konoha because of the village's restrictions, it was better not to place any restrictions on him and use the power of "bonds" to deepen his connection with the village.
It had to be said that this approach of Hiruzen and the others had indeed earned his approval.
If, after knowing his power, Hiruzen had been as disgusting as Danzo, then he might have really left Konoha.
Even worse, a bloody purge of the high-ranking officials was not something he couldn't do.
It could be said that if he were to really use this proof to leave the village, Hiruzen and the others would have to start fabricating reasons for why he hadn't returned within two weeks.
"Nawaki."
"This is the target of your mission this time."
"You will lead the team from now on."
"On the way, unless you are in mortal danger, I will not intervene, even if you lose a hand or a foot."
"And you should be aware that among the three of you, I only care about your life and death. You are responsible for the safety of Rin and Mikoto."
At this point, he paused.
"If you're not confident, I can complete this mission myself and then give you a few D-rank missions to give you more time to adjust."
"That's not necessary."
After glancing at Rin and Mikoto, Nawaki took the mission slip from him.
"Sensei, I will protect them!"
"Rin, Mikoto, let's go and prepare now. We'll meet at the gate in an hour!"
"Mm."
…
An hour later.
Li Anshi looked at the backpack on Nawaki's back and smiled.
Indeed, he is a smart kid.
He knew the time limit for this mission was two weeks, so he had brought a lot of drinking water and food in his backpack.
For an ordinary person, there was nothing wrong with such a preparation.
But unfortunately, they were not ordinary people, but "ninjas"!
For a ninja, once a battle began, everything except their weapons was a burden.
However, he didn't say anything about this.
Even he had only had a harder time in the year he had fought with the Sand Village.
At his level of strength, he could already choose his own lifestyle according to his own preferences.