Chapter 116: When a Ninja Meets an Armored Warrior
In the Hokage's office inside the Hokage Tower of the Hidden Leaf Village—
"Naruto, the Daimyō refused to provide financial support?" Shikamaru asked Naruto, who had just finished a phone call.
"Yeah. And not just that—moving forward, the village's budget will also be cut." Naruto's expression darkened slightly.
"Seems like the Daimyō is showing his dissatisfaction with us keeping the Holy Grail a secret," Shikamaru speculated.
While the current Fire Daimyō was considered a wise ruler, even a wise ruler wasn't immune to the temptation of something that could grant any wish. It was understandable—Naruto himself had entertained the idea of obtaining the Holy Grail.
Everyone had desires they'd give anything to fulfill. The simplest, of course, would be bringing back a loved one who had already passed away.
"Shikamaru, how much funding do we still have available in the village?"
"I've done some rough calculations—just barely enough to handle the repairs." Shikamaru handed Naruto a thick stack of mission reports and continued, "But fortunately, the other four villages have provided us some aid by transferring certain ninja missions over to us."
"Bandit group? Why does this one offer such a high reward? This is on par with an A-rank mission," Naruto said, looking over one of the reports. In his memory, bandit suppression missions were usually only C-rank at most.
"Yeah, the leader of this bandit group is extremely mysterious. No one knows his appearance, name, age, or even what kinds of jutsu he uses. And any member who tries to leave the group is executed." Shikamaru's tone turned grim. "I suspect this organization is connected to S.H.I.E.L.D."
Naruto's expression also grew more serious upon hearing Shikamaru's theory. "I see… Where's Sasuke?"
Naruto had decided Sasuke should handle this mission.
"He's already left the village with Team Taka to investigate Ōtsutsuki Urashiki."
"Huh? Why wasn't I told about this?"
"Because we figured you'd make up an excuse to keep him in the village, so we didn't tell you."
"Looks like this mission can't go to Sasuke after all," Naruto said with a wry smile. As Hokage, he couldn't just leave the village on a whim, and with the village still recovering from the damage, many ninjas were tied up with reconstruction efforts.
"What about Uchiha Shuyu? I heard from the Anbu that he performed exceptionally well during the Holy Grail War." Shikamaru proposed, "According to our intel, the second-in-command of this bandit group—Kuro—has already been captured. He's currently being held in Hōzuki Castle in the Land of Grass. He's agreed to reveal information about the bandit group's leader only if his life is guaranteed."
"If it's Hōzuki Castle, they should be able to keep Kuro safe," Naruto said.
Even though the Land of Grass was a small country, it was still a nation. If they couldn't even protect a single prisoner from a bandit group, that would be utterly ridiculous.
"Since this bandit group only operates within the Five Great Nations, the Land of Grass has stayed out of it, claiming it's not their concern. They've ignored Kuro's request. We even proposed transferring him to the Hidden Leaf for protection, but they refused, citing interference in domestic affairs. Even just processing the prisoner transfer would take a month."
Everyone was taking advantage of Naruto's easygoing nature. If this had been during the Second Hokage's time, a small country acting this brazenly would've been made an example of.
"Looks like we'll have to send ninjas to stay in Hōzuki Castle for a month to protect Kuro until the transfer goes through." After thinking it over, Naruto said, "Shikamaru, summon Uchiha Shuyu, Boruto, and Sarada to the Hokage's office."
...
"Five thousand years ago, the cosmic dark forces known as OMG launched an invasion on the ninja world. To protect this world, the Sun God sent five Light and Shadow Stones to Earth."
"Back then, what we now know as the Five Great Nations were just five villages. Only those with the blood of all five villages could use the Light and Shadow Stones to summon Light and Shadow Armor. In the end, five young villagers used the power of the stones to defeat the cosmic dark forces and went on to found the Five Great Nations."
Everyone was seated near the ruins of Konoha, listening to the Jar Merchant tell this story of the distant past.
"Seriously?"
Sarada eyed the Jar Merchant skeptically.
"This is all documented in Hydra's internal archives—100% legit! But over time, the Light and Shadow Stones vanished."
"Sarada, it has to be true. Hydra's an organization that can rival S.H.I.E.L.D., after all," Boruto replied, then turned to the Jar Merchant. "Hey, what's Light and Shadow Armor exactly?"
"The Fire Nation's Light and Shadow Stone is the Flame Shadow Stone. It allows the user to summon the Flame Dragon Knight. The Wind Nation has the Wind Shadow Stone, which summons the Wind Hawk Knight. Water Nation has the Water Shadow Stone, summoning the Black Rhino Knight. The Lightning Nation has the Thunder Shadow Stone, summoning the Snow Mastiff Knight. As for the Earth Nation—"
"I know, it's the Earth Shadow Stone. Cut the nonsense—just tell me what it summons already!"
"Earth Tiger Knight," the Jar Merchant replied slowly.
"Jar Merchant, can I become an Armored Warrior?"
The Jar Merchant shook his head. "Only those who carry the bloodline of all five original villages can use the Light and Shadow Stones to become Armored Warriors."
"So basically, only the Daimyōs of today's Five Great Nations and their descendants can become Armored Warriors," Sarada concluded.
"Correct." The Jar Merchant nodded.
"Boruto, Sarada, the Hokage is looking for you."
An Anbu ninja suddenly appeared, then vanished just as quickly.
"Huh? That idiot old man's looking for us?" Boruto looked confused.
Even though he had come to acknowledge and believe in Naruto's strength, Boruto still called him "idiot old man" out of pride.
"Probably has a mission for us. Let's go, Boruto."
"Yeah." Boruto nodded. "Jar Merchant, we'll be back later."
...
"What! You're sending me to prison?! You really are my dad, huh? Does Mom know about this?"
In the Hokage's office, Boruto shouted at Naruto after being summoned by the Anbu.
"Ahem, can you just let me finish, Boruto? This mission is extremely important—based on its difficulty, it qualifies as a Chūnin-level mission."
"So what? Doesn't change the fact that you're sending me to prison," Boruto muttered, turning his head away in protest.
"I understand. I'll complete the mission." Unlike Boruto, Shuyu, who had read through the mission report with Sarada, nodded calmly.
"Hey! You're okay with this just like that? We're being sent to prison!"
Thanks to modern education, Boruto saw being sent to prison as something shameful. But Uchiha Itachi would've thought nothing of it.
"I never question the reasons for a mission. I only ask when, where, and who."
All Uchiha are born to act cool—and Shunhi was no different. The only reason he hadn't been able to until now was that his strength didn't back it up.
"...Fine, I get it." Boruto sighed. With Shuyu reacting like that, what choice did he have? If he kept resisting, wouldn't that make him look weak by comparison? Boruto looked at Naruto and said, "When I get back, I want a raise in my allowance!"
"No problem. Oh, and Boruto—whatever you do, don't let Hinata find out about this," Naruto added. But all he got in return was a snort from Boruto.
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