Chapter 89: Is This Kind of Operation Even Possible?
Inside the foundry, Masahiko was swinging a sledgehammer for the first time in years.
"What exactly am I doing?" Masahiko sighed, looking at the hundreds of defective shuriken and kunai beside him that needed to be re-forged. He felt conflicted.
"Why did I have a brain cramp and get sent here as a laborer? Sure, it lets me stay in Kumogakure... but with this workload, staying here is useless."
"Did I come all the way to Kumogakure just to do volunteer work? As expected, infiltration isn't my forte... or maybe I just haven't found the right method?" Masahiko was gradually losing his patience. He was preparing to sneak away. Right now, not many people knew "Namikaze Minato," so leaving now would mean less trouble later...
"Hm? Why is he here?" Masahiko sensed a familiar chakra approaching.
"I have a bad feeling about this..."
The visitor was B, who had fought Masahiko earlier. "Namikaze Minato, come with me..."
Masahiko sighed but didn't refuse. He figured he had nothing to lose at this point. If worst came to worst, he'd just "fire a shot" and leave. He could fly, after all.
B didn't speak along the way, and Masahiko didn't ask. They arrived at the Raikage Building in silence.
Masahiko saw the Second Raikage again. The last time was at the Five Kage Summit, where the Raikage had attended as the First Raikage's guard. However, he obviously didn't recognize the transformed Masahiko.
Masahiko clearly sensed many ninjas lying in ambush nearby. The weakest were Elite Jonin. It seemed the Raikage had mobilized all the elites who weren't out on missions.
"Looks like I might really have to unleash an ultimate move in Kumogakure this time... I hope the Great Ninja War doesn't start because of me," Masahiko sighed inwardly.
The Second Raikage didn't speak, just stared intently at Masahiko.
"Too bad Kinkaku and Ginkaku aren't here, or I could kill them right now..." Masahiko frowned, already preparing to fight.
However, the subsequent events exceeded Masahiko's expectations.
The Second Raikage pulled out a samurai sword from behind his desk and threw it to Masahiko. It was the one Masahiko had mortgaged at the casino.
"Namikaze Minato, I redeemed your sword for you. I also paid off the one million ryo you owed. So, I am your creditor now... I heard from B that your skills are good. You need to perform missions for Kumogakure for one year to repay the debt. Of course, you can choose to return to the foundry."
Masahiko was stunned. Such a good thing? He had been wanting to infiltrate Kumogakure all along and thought the chance was gone, but now there was unexpected hope... He was about to agree, but then realized something was wrong.
"What are the surrounding ninjas for?" Masahiko sighed inwardly. "This guy takes me for a fool... If I agree immediately, won't that prove I came specifically to infiltrate Kumogakure?"
Masahiko blinked and rubbed his fingers together. "Lord Raikage, hiring a ninja like me for a year... two million ryo might not be enough..."
The Second Raikage froze. He had considered many reactions from Masahiko and prepared countermeasures, but what was with this money-grubbing attitude?
"Then how much do you want?" The Second Raikage was silent for a moment before speaking calmly.
"At least... two million five hundred thousand (250) ryo..." Masahiko paused, then said.
The Second Raikage frowned and muttered, "That's not too much..." He actually gave Masahiko another 500,000 ryo.
Masahiko sighed. "Doesn't even know the '250' (idiot) joke. Boring." He took the bills.
"Then you have established an employment relationship with Kumogakure. You will officially start taking missions tomorrow!" the Second Raikage said.
"No problem." Masahiko left with a chuckle.
After Masahiko had walked far away, B spoke up. "Big Brother, this person..."
The Second Raikage waved his hand to interrupt. "I know he cannot be trusted!"
"We can select some difficult but unimportant missions to test him. If he really is a wandering ninja... he can be used to restrict those two brothers. Their whereabouts have been uncertain lately, and they haven't appeared in the village for a long time. I'm worried."
B nodded in agreement, and the two began selecting missions for Masahiko. However...
Half an hour later, just as the two finished selecting, Masahiko returned with an excited look on his face. "Lord Raikage, thank you for the 500,000 ryo support! It gave me the chance to win back my capital. Here is three million ryo, keep the change!"
Masahiko laughed. "Now the employment relationship is dissolved, and I'm free again! Goodbye, you two!"
Masahiko didn't wait for them to speak and walked out on his own, muttering in his heart: "Hmph! Trying to play me? I was born before you were weaned! Er... something feels wrong about that saying."
Inside the Raikage Building, only the two dumbfounded brothers remained. If they were transmigrators too, they would probably say in unison: "WTF? Is this kind of operation even possible?"
After a long while, they recovered. B said, "Big Brother, I think I overthought things."
The Second Raikage nodded and sighed. "I think I overthought things too..."
Masahiko hummed a little tune all the way back to the inn, feeling smug. After days of frequent accidents, he had finally found some fun.
"Eh? Wait, I seem to have missed a perfect opportunity to infiltrate..." Returning to the inn entrance, Masahiko realized his mistake.
"Forget it. Using the name Namikaze Minato is a bit inconvenient anyway. I'll come back after changing my identity..." Masahiko sighed and was about to go in when Chūsuke walked out.
The two stared at each other for a moment. Then Chūsuke said joyfully, "Big Brother! You're back! I heard you were sent to the foundry because you owed gambling debts?"
Masahiko's face darkened. Although he lost on purpose, hearing Chūsuke say it was still embarrassing...
Just as he was about to make an excuse, Chūsuke untied the bundle on his back and took out several bills. "Big Brother, I borrowed this from the President. Take it to pay off your gambling debt..."
Masahiko fell silent for a moment. He took the bills and counted them briefly.
"Two million ryo. Not a penny more, not a penny less. For this kid, he probably had to sell himself into servitude to get this..." Masahiko sighed inwardly.
A moment later, Masahiko smiled and said, "Didn't you think about your Big Brother's strength? There are plenty of people rushing to pay my debts; I don't need help from a kid like you. Take it back. We'll return to the Land of Hot Water early tomorrow morning, and I'll teach you a couple of ninjutsu moves then."
"Really?" Chūsuke looked surprised and happy, then started chattering endlessly again.
It took a long time for Masahiko to send Chūsuke away. He returned to his room and slumped into the hot spring again.
After lying there for a while, he revealed a wry smile. "This kid... he almost moved this old man's heart."
He thought for a moment, then sighed. "This kid is good everywhere, except his mouth is too loose... Still, I've basically taken on another half-disciple. If there's a chance, I'll bring him to Konoha. Although the Land of Hot Water is peaceful, it's too comfortable... I feel like that's not good."
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