Chapter 20: Major Discovery in a D-Rank Mission!

Central Street in Konoha.

Chewing on a rice ball, Hanako ran all the way to the entrance of "Joyful Bathhouse." His expression became complicated as he saw the tightly shut doors and the four words "Closed for Renovation" posted on them.

"The good news is that this bathhouse will be mine from now on."

"But the bad news is that reopening it will require a considerable amount of money."

"Labor, utilities... It all costs money."

Thinking about this, Hanako felt a bit sorry.

Because, last night's dinner? Yeah, he was the one who paid for it.

Leaving the central street, he gathered the members of Team 9 and, amidst Obito's complaints, made their way to the Hokage's office.

"Hey, Hanako, we're supposed to be on a break. Why are you bringing us here to take missions?"

"Are you still my good friend? You're doing this as soon as you become the team captain?"

"Say something!"

Obito expressed his dissatisfaction all the way, almost as if he had a megaphone.

It wasn't until they entered the Hokage's office that he finally quieted down.

Mission room.

After looking through the available missions, Hanako rubbed his chin.

"If you think these missions are too low-level, you can go to the Hokage's office to receive higher-level ones," the ninja in charge of recording reminded them.

After all, all the missions here were D-rank.

In the end, Hanako chose a mission to "Clean an Old House."

As soon as they left the Hokage's office, Obito exploded.

"This is cleaning? Hey, aren't you usually smart? Did you catch a contagious green bean in your brain?"

He was really letting loose.

The prestigious Team 9, actually going to clean an old house?

If the other teams found out, they would surely mock them, especially Anko Mitarashi.

Not only Obito couldn't hold back, even Kakashi had objections.

"Hanako, instead of doing these meaningless missions, it's better to focus on training," Kakashi expressed his dissatisfaction.

After giving these two dissenters a glance, Hanako turned to Lin.

"I actually think this mission is quite good." Lin pondered for a moment and stood on the side of justice.

Hanako smiled.

As long as Lin agreed, he wasn't afraid of the others not joining.

"Well then, let's just go with Lin and me for this mission." Hanako shrugged.

"How can that be?" Obito took the bait.

Kakashi didn't say anything but didn't leave either.

Half an hour later.

Team 9 stood in front of a dilapidated old house, holding brooms with blank expressions on their faces.

Two crows cawed a few times and flew out of the broken roof.

The overgrown grass reached over a meter high in the yard, almost filling the entire house.

But that wasn't the main issue.

The main issue was that the wooden beams of the old house were crooked. It felt like the house could collapse at any moment.

"What... What's the point of cleaning this? Why don't we just knock it down and rebuild it?" Obito started to panic.

"Indeed, there's no need to clean it anymore." Kakashi also shared the sentiment.

"It's strange. Given the current condition, why bother with cleaning?" Lin voiced her doubts.

Hanako also found it strange.

Normally, no one would bother cleaning such an old house. They could simply knock it down and rebuild it.

"The mission is issued by the village, maybe they don't want to invest money." After pondering for a moment, Hanako guessed the general reason.

With such an abandoned old house, not cleaning it would somewhat affect the village's appearance. But if they were to rebuild it, they would need to invest a sum of money. So, the village issued a low-cost D-rank mission.

Since they were here, Team 9 could only grit their teeth and start cleaning.

Obito rolled up his sleeves and pulled out the grass in the yard.

This grass had a well-developed root system and strong vitality.

However, after struggling for a while, Obito couldn't pull it out.

"This is too hard to pull out, isn't it?"

As soon as he finished complaining, his eyes widened.

Only to see...

Hanako, not far away, easily pulled out the weeds as if he didn't exert much effort.

"How is that possible? Is the soil on his side looser or something?"

Scratching his head, Obito approached Hanako and grabbed the grass.

"Hmm!!!"

His face turned red from straining, using all his strength.

Thump!

He sat on the ground, with two red marks on his hands from the effort.

The grass remained firmly rooted.

"Hanako, why can you pull it out while I can't?" Obito couldn't understand.

"Hmm? Did you forget to eat?" Hanako casually replied and effortlessly plucked out a piece of weed, making it look as easy as picking mushrooms.

Obito fell silent.

He suddenly realized that this simple D-rank mission had actually stumped him?

"There must be a trick!"

Obito began observing Hanako's movements closely.

And he wasn't the only one.

Kakashi, Lin, and even the usually composed Naruto were observing Hanako's actions with keen interest.

Kakashi was also secretly observing Hanako, gaining a new understanding of his strength.

"His strength is even greater than mine."

Kakashi was shocked.

Because he couldn't effortlessly pull out the weeds like Hanako did.

In fact, in this short period of time, Hanako had already pulled out almost half of the yard, while Kakashi had only managed a few.

The difference between them was enormous.

After a while, all the grass in the yard was pulled out.

Hanako had pulled out ninety percent of it, while Kakashi and the others had only managed to pull out ten percent.

"You guys clear out the grass in the yard, I'll go inside the house."

As the team leader, Hanako exemplified the spirit of hard work and perseverance, walking alone into the old house.

In the yard.

Kakashi, Obito, and Lin gathered together.

"Have you noticed that Hanako has incredible strength?" Obito spoke first.

"Obito, you've been with him for two years, and you didn't know?" Kakashi couldn't understand.

"How would I know? He used to be lazy all the time, how would I know?" Obito replied.

Compared to the two of them, Lin thought of something else.

"With such great strength, why did Hanako only score 21 points on the graduation physical test?"

Yeah.

With such strength, how could he only score 21 points?

"Could it be that he was always taking care of you, afraid that you would be last, so he helped you out?" Lin's words hit like a critical strike.

"You're saying that Hanako has been helping me out?" Obito's face turned incredibly ugly.

"I think what Lin said makes sense." Kakashi strongly agreed.

Lin's words were clear.

The real last place was not Hanako, but you, Obito.

Inside the house.

Hanako stood in front of a wall, staring at a peeled-off piece of wallpaper, lost in thought.

Because underneath, a detonation tag was revealed.