Chapter 52:
"This recent batch of missions is so boring. They're all trivial neighborly disputes—stuff like removing wasp nests and breaking up drunk fights. Is this really what we're supposed to be doing? Mitsuki, you think so too, right?" Boruto looked over at Mitsuki as he spoke.
"As long as I'm with you, no matter what we're doing, I'll be happy," Mitsuki replied with a cheerful smile, his gaze fixed on Boruto.
"...Whatever. Next time, I'm picking a mission where we can really show off our skills! Let's go, Mitsuki!" Boruto declared.
Mitsuki immediately followed as the two of them vanished using the Body Flicker Technique.
"Hey! Boruto! Mitsuki! Where are you two going?!" Sarada shouted, chasing after them. She was already used to Boruto's impulsiveness. The three of them—Boruto, Mitsuki, and Sarada—soon arrived at the Konoha Mission Hall.
The Mission Hall of the Hidden Leaf Village was a four-story building. The first floor handled C-rank missions, and with each ascending floor, the mission rank increased, up to S-rank missions at the top.
"I already said, I want a flashier mission—something like the kind my stupid old man would do. A mission that proves our strength, got it?" Boruto said, standing in the C-rank reception hall and speaking to the staff member in charge.
"Seems like you still don't understand what it means to be a ninja these days," said Shuyu as he walked up beside Boruto. "Let's put the past aside. In this peaceful era, cool, action-packed missions aren't so easy to come by."
"Shuyu!" Sarada's face lit up with a surprised smile when she saw him.
The more missions she did with Boruto, the more reliable Shuyu seemed in comparison. As for Mitsuki—while he never caused trouble, he acted more like Boruto's sidekick, always going along with his reckless ideas.
"Ugh, are we really stuck doing grunt work forever?" Boruto complained, looking frustrated.
"Don't say that. Every mission contributes to the village's livelihood. And besides, the role of a genin is to gain a grounded understanding of the ninja world and the village through real work."
Trust Sarada, aspiring Hokage, to have that kind of conviction—something ten Borutos couldn't match.
"Man, this is lame. If I'd known, I probably wouldn't have become a ninja in the first place." Boruto turned and left, with Mitsuki silently following.
Sarada watched them go and muttered, "Such a brat. Total idiot."
"The truly dangerous missions are all handled by adults," Mitsuki said as he followed Boruto.
"I don't want to just be some background character standing behind the grown-ups. Missions like that don't excite me at all. If people can't see what I'm capable of, what's the point?" Boruto said, then suddenly froze mid-sentence as if something had just come to mind. "Oh yeah, Mitsuki—remember that time we went to see Denki's dad, and we ran into that guy being chased by the Leaf's Anbu?"
"Yeah, what about it, Boruto?"
Please don't say we're going after that guy, Mitsuki thought to himself.
"Even though my stupid old man showed up just in time, judging by the way he talked when he got home, I don't think he caught the guy."
"Mitsuki, let's go to the Hokage's office and ask my stupid old man to give us the mission to catch that guy!"
Getting more and more excited, Boruto didn't even wait for a response before bolting toward the Hokage's office.
"Hey, stupid old man! Give me the mission to catch that yellow sponge guy from the other day!" Boruto barged into the Hokage's office like he owned the place—as the Hokage's son, it really was like walking into his own home. "Huh? Uncle Sasuke, you're here too."
"Boruto, S.H.I.E.L.D. is not something you can handle," Naruto said seriously as he looked at his son.
"Oh, so that yellow sponge guy's part of an organization called S.H.I.E.L.D., huh?" Boruto replied casually.
"Damn it..." Only then did Naruto realize he had unintentionally leaked confidential information to Boruto.
"What an idiot," Sasuke muttered under his breath. He didn't want to call Naruto an idiot outright in front of his son, but he clearly couldn't hold it in.
"All we ever get are weed-pulling and cat-finding missions—it's so boring. Isn't there any mission where I can really shine in front of everyone?" Boruto complained.
Looking at Boruto's disgruntled face, Naruto couldn't help remembering his own days as a genin—he used to gripe about boring missions all the time, just like Boruto.
"Ahem. Anyway, Boruto, if you're really that bored, then how about this—you and your team can have a sparring match with Shuyu."
"In two months, the Chūnin Exams will be held. If you can pass, I'll make sure you get some more exciting missions."
Naruto didn't actually believe Boruto could pass. After all, he'd only been a genin for three months, and the upcoming exams were going to be co-hosted by all five great villages, making them more difficult than ever.
"Chūnin Exams? This is the first I've heard of them." Boruto looked confused. Naruto had never been one to share village plans with him.
"We were going to announce it soon anyway, so I figured I could tell you early," Naruto explained. Then he turned to Sasuke. "Sasuke, I'll leave it to you to take Boruto to fight Shuyu. You've been training Shuyu for a month now, so I'm sure you're curious about how much he's improved."
Sasuke nodded, then turned to Boruto and Mitsuki. "Let's go find Sarada."
Sarada and Konohamaru were both surprised when Sasuke showed up with Boruto and Mitsuki.
"Boruto, don't tell me you got into trouble again," Sarada said, getting right in his face—her thick glasses frames nearly touching his.
"I didn't get into any trouble! In fact, you should be thanking me. My stupid old man agreed that if we pass the upcoming Chūnin Exams, he'll assign us some real missions—not the boring kind," Boruto said as he took a step back.
"Is that so?" Sarada adjusted her glasses, then turned to Sasuke. "Dad, why are you here?"
"I want you to have a sparring match with Shuyu. It's a good chance to see how much he's improved over the past month, and to evaluate your own strength—so you'll understand what you're lacking and be better prepared for the Chūnin Exams."
Over the past month, Sasuke had been training Shuyu in actual combat alongside Uchiha Itachi. To keep his true identity hidden, Itachi had been carefully suppressing his power during their sessions.
And Sasuke had also been holding back during his sparring with Shuyu, to avoid injuring him.
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