Time passed quickly for the Genin. Daily they did D-rank mission after D-rank mission. Kurenai was also more serious than Kakashi, occasionally teaching the Genin ninja techniques such as walking up walls or on water. Saul kept up his afternoon visits with Yakumo as well, although he was at a small loss on how exactly to handle the girl. 

She seemed willing and even reciprocated his advances at times. However, she was not Hinata. The girl was a traditionalist at heart. In her view, the man should pursue the woman, and the two would become a married couple. Something like friends with benefits was too scandalous for her. 

Saul's more forcing options were limited in this case. He could not use Genjutsu for obvious reasons. If he officially propositioned her like she wanted, he would have to abandon Hinata. Yakumo was not in a desperate enough position to agree to do something she saw as 'wrong' either. After all his plans with her were disrupted heavily by the early awakening of Id. 

Unless he wished to risk a complete fallout with her, for now Saul merely had to play the long game. Eventually he'd see progress of some kind that would give him more insight on the best way to proceed. 

Hinata on the other hand, was starting to seem much more comfortable with the sight of him around other women, or at least with Yakumo in particular. He'd always end up coming home to her after all. In addition to progress in their relationship, she had also picked up archery at his suggestion. Saul had no idea why the clan in possession of the best eyesight in the ninja world were so fixated on melee combat.

There were three technological 'tiers' of hand-held weapons. The first most basic tier, relied on basic physics to increase the force exerted by the body. Kunai, Swords, Spears, even something like a Pen were all under this category. All of them used the concept of leverage to multiply the basic force exerted and then focus that force onto an edge or point. 

Even this extremely simple change in application could double or even triple the effective strength and lethality of its user. This type of weapon however, could only multiply strength as long as the weapon itself could withstand the strength of its user. But this was not as good as a weapon could get.

The second tier of weapons introduces storage of the body's strength, and then exerts that stored force through the basic tier of weapons. This includes weapons like slings, bows, crossbows, etc. These weapons could have a much more destructive effect than tier one weapons at much further ranges, meaning their users could be much safer than their counterparts. 

These weapons however, since they relied upon storing the body's strength and releasing it in a burst, were innately much slower to use. They were also more reliant on the material, because the weapon not only had to withstand the total strength of the body, but also had to withstand that same strength multiplied and stored many times over. 

The third and final tier of hand-held weapons did not rely on the body's strength directly at all. Rather the only constraining factor to such weapons was whether or not the body could withstand the operation of said weapon. Railguns were a good example of this constraining factor; they were not held by people because the weapon accelerated bullets up to about a tenth of the speed of light. The kickback from such a force could tear apart steel, nevermind the human body. Guns, grenades, etc, most modern weapons fell under this category.

For Hinata in particular, her gentle fist essentially used chakra to categorize her palms as a tier one weapon when used with her Byakugan. But because her palms had the least range of all weapons, she would be at a major disadvantage even when faced with merely a common Kunai.

Weapons did not have Tenketsu. Her palms were only as effective against them as those of an unarmed man. She could not parry them, they would always reach her first. She'd always be the one forced to close distance, to risk her life for a fighting chance. This was a huge glaring flaw.

The Byakugan had an unparalleled sight advantage. To fight a Byakugan user with range would be akin to fighting someone with wallhacks in a computer game like Counterstrike. The only thing you could do was hope the cheater was ridiculously terrible because otherwise, you'd be prefired the instant you turned a corner before you could react. This would result in an almost instantaneous loss. 

Hinata had shadow clones to help speed things up, and she didn't train Archery with her Byakugan active. Yet even after a few weeks of training, she was still a beginner. There weren't many resources to actually help with learning archery in Konoha.

Still even Hinata could see the potential this new fighting style could bring. Equipped with a recurve bow normally meant for hunting large game such as moose or deer, a clean hit would be more than capable of killing any ninja. She stood next to Saul with her bow slung around her shoulder, listening to Kurenai sensei as she explained today's mission.

"Today we were hired to capture a group of 'bandits'. Although unlikely, there is a possibility of the group containing an infiltrating ninja. Therefore a Jonin-Genin team is most suitable for this mission."

Kurenai pointed to herself. "My job will be to investigate the group and root out any possible hidden ninja. This will be your first C-Ranked mission, so you are not authorized to engage in combat with any enemy using chakra. Immediately retreat and call for me. Do you all understand?"

"Yes!"

"Before we engage, Kiba, Akamaru, I'll be counting on you two to locate their scent."

"Arf!"

"Hinata, after we get their scent, I'll need you to scan for their positions and possible traps before we arrive. Once we engage, your job will be to prevent any escapees and stay hidden."

"En!"

"Saul, Kiba, you two will be the main strike force. You must intimidate the bandits and in the unlikely scenario of combat, quickly subdue anyone who resists."

"Got it."

"Yea!"

"Then let's move."

By the afternoon, Team Eight had arrived at the requester's estate. The man was dressed in formal attire and wore a long, tall, cylindrical hat adorned with the kanji for 'Fire'. Saul had to do his best to stop himself from immediately laughing. The man was basically wearing a bucket on his head!

He nodded his head in greeting. He was not overbearing, nor was he servile. Rather as one of the fire country nobles who wielded ninja as a tool - his voice was emotionless. He went straight to the point.

"I believe the bandits to be refugees from the Land of Grass. As they passed through the land, they picked from the crops the people of fire have grown freely, without paying. The people have cried out to me in grievance, and I have heard. You shall show them my wrath. They should be crushed and brought to me, alive, to await a decision under my discretion. Understood?"

Kurenai sensei bowed. "As you command, Lord Duke."

He waved his hand and walked away to attend other matters. A servant quickly ran up to the ninja and bowed.

"Please follow me. I will take you to the fields where they passed and rested. You can track from there, yes?"

Author's Note: Alright the discord got a brand new update. It now supports reaction roles in the rules and roles channel. Assign yourself a role to be pinged for updates related to the novel! And if you haven't already, join the discord!

discord gg YwperMGsBq ("." before gg and "/" after it, no spaces)