Therefore, money was still very important for ninja, especially for those in the middle and lower tiers. They needed financial support.
"Poor in literature, rich in martial arts"—this saying held true in the ninja world as well.
During this C-rank mission, Team 7 encountered no unexpected incidents. It was an ordinary escort mission. On the way, they did encounter some robbers and bandits, but these people were a joke in front of ninja.
They escorted the merchant caravan to the capital of the Land of Fire safely and steadily.
This marked the successful completion of Team 7's second C-rank mission.
For Menma, Sasuke, and Naruto, completing this mission didn't evoke much feeling. But for Sakura Haruno, it was extremely meaningful. At the very least, it allowed her to relax and not be as completely tense as before.
This was also part of Kakashi's deliberate arrangement.
Although Sakura didn't hold a very important position in this squad, she was his subordinate, after all. And judging by her Academy grades, she had value and significance worth cultivating.
In the previous chakra control training, Sakura had displayed her unique talent. Training that took others several days to complete, she broke through in just one day.
This, too, was a superb talent.
In terms of chakra control talent alone, Kakashi admitted he couldn't compare to Sakura. Since she had talent and value worth nurturing, and was his subordinate, Kakashi naturally wouldn't leave her to her own devices. He would pay attention where attention was due.
Under the special system of the ninja village...
Apart from the master-disciple bond, the relationship between a team leader and their team members was the most solid.
Watching Sakura gradually relax and adapt to the rhythm of a ninja, Kakashi nodded secretly to himself.
Adaptability.
This was one of the basic abilities a ninja must possess.
Many freshly graduated young ninja chose to retire and end their ninja careers after just one mission because they couldn't adapt to the true rhythm of a ninja and the cruel reality they had to face. This wasn't shown much in the original story...
But it absolutely existed.
Even some of Kakashi's peers back in the day suffered mental breakdowns and had to give up their ninja careers after going to the front lines once, witnessing the tragic deaths of comrades and scenes of bloody hell.
Initially, during the Land of Waves mission, Kakashi had similar worries about Sakura. looking back, while this little girl had quite a few flaws, her adaptability wasn't a big problem.
Looks like she is indeed a good seedling worth cultivating...
Kakashi thought silently.
In fact, the original story illustrated this point well. "Sakura the Annoying" was really limited to that initial period. Her later growth was obvious to all—not just in terms of ninja ability, but also in terms of mindset and capacity.
At this stage, Sakura was indeed still immature and green. One could even say she had significant issues in various aspects, especially her attitude, which was truly terrible and atrocious right after graduation.
But precisely because of this, the magnitude of her growth was visible to the naked eye.
When you're already in a valley, climbing up even a little bit is significant progress.
Most importantly.
As long as a ninja had talent, they were worth cultivating.
A C-rank mission that transitioned smoothly in the truest sense allowed Sakura to begin feeling a bit like a real ninja.
Kakashi also gradually got a handle on the foundations of his four subordinates—or at least, so he thought.
In the days that followed...
Team 7 periodically took on different types of C-rank missions: escorting merchant caravans, exterminating fierce beasts, patrolling designated areas, protecting VIPs, and stealing confidential documents.
All fell within Team 7's hunting range.
For a ninja, the standard for executing a mission was only "can or cannot," not "should or should not." Again, things like justice were forever alien to ninja. In a ninja's eyes, there was only the mission.
This was the education Kakashi had received since childhood, and now he was imparting similar thoughts to the four members of Team 7.
Under Team 7's high-efficiency harvesting, the number of missions they executed accumulated at an exaggerated speed.
Far exceeding the upper limit acceptable for an ordinary freshly graduated squad.
In just two or three short months...
The number of C-rank missions Team 7 had executed and completed was already comparable to some veteran Genin squads that had graduated two years prior.
For them now, C-rank missions—let alone Menma, Naruto, and Sasuke, who could handle them easily long ago—even Sakura could face calmly and handle with ease.
This was the confidence brought by the improvement of personal strength and the accumulation of experience.
And after the number of C-rank missions accumulated to a certain extent...
Kakashi led Team 7 to take on their first true B-rank team mission.
Although it wasn't a high-difficulty B-rank mission and the opponents were just some wandering ninja, it clearly brought a certain degree of tempering to Team 7. Fighting ordinary people or wild beasts only accumulated mission execution experience at most.
Missions of B-rank and above...
Were the true beginning of training a ninja.
Unknowingly, Team 7 had far surpassed other squads, including those led by Asuma and Kurenai, who were only just starting to handle C-rank missions, let alone other more ordinary squads.
Solely in terms of completed missions...
If they continued at this frequency, in a while, the four members of Team 7 would probably be qualified for promotion to Chūnin.
Amidst these repeated missions...
Time gradually moved toward the predestined plot events, entering the height of summer.
One morning.
Hidden Leaf Village.
Hokage Residence.
In Hiruzen Sarutobi's private office, dozens of ninja wearing standard Leaf flak jackets had gathered. Among them were Chūnin and Jōnin, but the one thing they had in common was that all were currently squad leaders guiding Genin teams.
Kakashi, Asuma, and Kurenai stood among them.
Iruka and several other Academy teachers were also present.
The reason Hiruzen Sarutobi had summoned this group to his office at this time was simple.
"That's the situation. This Chūnin Exam will be jointly hosted by our Leaf and the Sand Village. Participating teams from various countries have already arrived one after another. Our Leaf also need to finalize our participant list. Apart from the personnel previously reported, do any team leaders of this year's freshly graduated squads wish to recommend their teams?"
Hiruzen sat in his main seat, puffing on his pipe as he spoke.