However, the teary eyes in Ling's mask made Nakamura Hirohiko wonder if he had really been too heavy-handed.
"Hahahaha, just kidding! How about that? My disguise class scores have always been the highest! Am I amazing?!"
Ling stood up, looking rather smugly at Nakamura Hirohiko, whom she had tricked, while Ling's former classmates also had an 'as expected' expression.
People who met Ling for the first time would think she was a cool girl like a pure white moonlight, but after getting to know her, they would realize her neuroticism and playful nature.
"Hey, everyone was startled today. Teacher Nakamura, aren't you going to let everyone leave school early? Maybe they need to go home and cry in their mothers' arms?"
Ling, Purple Rhino, and the other two led the Ninja Academy Students out of the shelter, while suggesting to Nakamura Hirohiko that if the students were dismissed, she could also get off work.
Well, even though she had only worked for less than half a day, isn't work all about looking forward to getting off work? There couldn't possibly be any workhorses who liked working and even actively wanted to work overtime, right? No way, right?
Ling's words also stirred the thoughts of those Ninja Academy Students; they also wanted to leave school, so they all looked up at their teacher.
These Ninja Academy teachers were extremely speechless; were they the kind of people who could decide whether to dismiss school with a single word? It had to be personally approved by the principal, who was the Third Hokage.
"Don't talk nonsense. Go about your work properly. Don't think I don't know what you're up to. When I was in Anbu back then, I wasn't as unprofessional as you."
Nakamura Hirohiko had no way to deal with Uchiha Ling. He couldn't beat her, couldn't win an argument with her, and she even had connections behind her.
"Hmph, anyway, the Third Hokage is outside. I'll suggest it to him later, and I believe he'll agree."
Ling had already sensed the Third Hokage rushing to the Ninja Academy. He also valued the Ninja Academy highly, as it had produced a large number of geniuses and countless cannon fodder.
Stepping out of the underground passage, Ling saw the old man, the Third Hokage, smoking his pipe and wearing the Hokage's hat.
"Hokage-sama, there were no casualties at the Ninja Academy!" Several Ninja Academy teachers responsible for administration stepped forward to report.
"Hmm, Kyōri, you did very well. I was watching." The Third Hokage walked up to Ling, first encouraging her for encountering such a major task on her first day.
Then he looked at the Ninja Academy Students who were still teary-eyed, immediately revealing a benevolent smile, which had a surprisingly good effect. These little brats who were about to cry immediately stopped crying and looked at the Third Hokage with admiration.
"Everyone was very brave today. To reward everyone, how about we all leave school early?"
The Third Hokage indeed knew how to calm people's hearts. When Ling was in elementary school in her previous life, early dismissal usually only happened when there was some kind of situation at school.
"Yay~! Long live the Third Hokage!"
"Great, we only had half a day of school today."
Looking at the jubilant students, Ling also became happy. Her mission was simply to guard until the students were dismissed.
The Ninja Academy Students were dismissed, but Ling and the four of them, including Purple Rhino, were called to the Hokage Office by the Third Hokage.
"Hey~! Teacher Sarutobi, I'm off work now. If you're going to occupy my off-work time like this, shouldn't you give me some compensation? And I captured that Iwagakure Explosion Release Ninja alive today, shouldn't that count as an S-rank merit for me?"
Ling wasn't going to buy into the Third Hokage's verbal rewards. If he didn't give her some tangible benefits, she would just stay there and not leave.
"You, ah~ you, you really can't stand to lose even a little bit. I'll count it as an S-rank mission merit for you, and for you, Purple Rhino, it'll be A-rank. Is that satisfactory?"
The Third Hokage indeed intended to reward Ling and, by extension, her teammates. If it weren't for Ling, that Explosion Release Ninja would probably have succeeded.
If the Ninja Academy had been blown up, all the Ninja Academy Students in the four grades currently being trained would have died, and Konoha would have directly lost its Genin replenishment for four years.
At the beginning of the current war, this would undoubtedly be a heavy loss. Furthermore, capturing the Explosion Release Ninja alive was also beneficial for Konoha to obtain intelligence and research on the Explosion Release Bloodline Limit.
"Thank you, Teacher Sarutobi. I knew you were the most fair and just Hokage I've ever known."
Listening to Ling's words, the Third Hokage felt completely embarrassed. You're a little brat less than six years old. Besides me, have you ever met any other Hokage? And you say I'm the most reasonable Hokage you've ever met.
Purple Rhino and the other two also lowered their heads awkwardly, trying to recall all the miserable things in their lives to suppress their laughter.
"Thank you, Hokage-sama, for the reward!" The three thanked the Third Hokage simultaneously. An A-rank mission merit wasn't something they could easily obtain, so this was a bargain.
"Teacher Sarutobi, let's use this S-rank merit to settle the debt. Didn't I previously freeload your Five Release Great Combination Barrage and Super Beast Imitating Drawing?"
Ling knew the principle of 'too much is as bad as too little.' She decided to settle the accounts first; anyway, she wasn't lacking Ninjutsu now.
"Cough cough, alright, I didn't expect you to remember? I thought someone was going to default on their debt."
The Third Hokage comfortably held his pipe, as his efforts all morning had finally dealt with all the official business. Now, all that remained was how to rebuild the intelligence system and arrange for the pursuit of Sasori of the Red Sand.
"Hmph, am I the kind of untrustworthy person in your heart, Teacher? To do what I say, that's my Ninja Way."
Ling didn't have any Ninja Way of her own, but that didn't stop her from plagiarizing Kushina's son's Ninja Way to use it, especially since she had even plagiarized Sasuke's sword-sheathing posture.
"Teacher, if there's nothing else, I'll head back first. I still need to go back and research my S-rank Ninjutsu."
Ling directly opened the door and slipped out. How could life be wasted on idle chatter? If she didn't leave soon, the Third Hokage would probably assign her another mission.
Ling happily rushed home, opened the courtyard gate, and saw the Shadow Clones separately contacting Dream Butterfly and Cicada, as well as practicing the Nine Styles Illusionary Sword Technique. Seeing that they weren't slacking off, she felt relieved.
"Everyone, you've worked hard, keep it up." Ling encouraged the Shadow Clones filling the courtyard, but she received their Byakugan and middle fingers in return.
Ling didn't mind these. She went directly to her laboratory, took out Danzo's accumulated family fortune, and began to examine it.
Upon unlocking the first seal, a puff of white smoke appeared, revealing a scientific research instrument. After careful identification, it was determined that this thing was a life support culture device.
The large jar on top contained nutrient culture solution, and there was also a piece of white flesh inside. After careful identification, it was surprisingly discovered to be Hashirama cells.
Subsequently, Ling extracted a complete set of scientific research equipment sufficient for two laboratories, which included Hashirama cells and some failed embryos that had been implanted with Hashirama cells.
In addition, there were some Ninjutsu and Forbidden Technique scrolls. The rest were some Ninja tools and supplies that Danzo had embezzled, as well as the experimental logs of Danzo's research team.
Danzo was a great person, ah. Ling was just about to trouble the Ninja Cat clan to purchase a complete set of laboratory equipment for her, but she didn't expect to have collected them all now.
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