Chapter 181: Forming a Squad
The process of selling explosive tags went unexpectedly smoothly. When Onoki learned of the purpose of Masahiko's visit, he immediately dispatched dozens of ninjas from the village to carry the explosive tags back and settled the payment on the spot.
Once the transaction was completed, seeing that Onoki wasn't in the mood to catch up, Masahiko simply told him to have someone build a stronghold along this coast. The Land of Whirlpools might send fleets irregularly to the Land of Earth to sell various goods. After that, the group rested for a while and embarked on their return journey.
The return trip was significantly smoother. After all, the Whirlpool ninjas now had seventeen days of sailing experience, and some of the giant aquatic Summoning Beasts along the route had been cleared out. They returned to the Land of Whirlpools in just fourteen days.
In the days that followed, the Land of Whirlpools used the same method to establish a shipping route connection with the Hidden Sand Village. Although traveling by water took about the same time as by land, it was comparatively safer. Aquatic Summoning Beasts with no intelligence were always easier to deal with than cunning ninjas.
In less than a year, the Land of Whirlpools successfully established trade relations with many large and small countries in the ninja world. Not only did they use the fleet to sell goods, but they could also make purchases.
With this, the foundation for the Land of Whirlpools' development was stabilized; all that was lacking now were population and time.
Having solved the economic source problem for the Land of Whirlpools, Masahiko became idle again. Every day, he taught his two disciples, personally tutored Kushina in sealing jutsu, and practiced the Gentle Fist on the side.
At this point, his Gentle Fist skill was nearly halfway through Level 9. Masahiko felt that in another five or six years, he would successfully possess his first self-cultivated Level 10 skill.
The training of his two disciples had also reached a bottleneck. At their age, they had probably hit a limit. Masahiko decided to take them out on missions to accumulate some combat experience.
There weren't many missions in the Uzunin Village, and the difficulty wasn't very high. After a few messy escort and daily missions, not only did Masahiko find it boring, but even his two disciples felt that continuing like this was useless.
"Let's go. I'll take you to Konoha Village to snatch missions from their ninjas." It just so happened that the time was approaching Year 39 of Konoha. Kakashi would soon be five years old and enrolling in the academy, so Masahiko planned to go leech some Witness Points or something.
Konoha Village squads usually consisted of three members or three members plus a captain. Masahiko planned to form one as well. Kushina had been away from Konoha for two and a half years; forming a squad with her and Masahiko's two disciples would be perfect.
Regarding Kushina going to Konoha this time, Nanako did not object. She even actively proposed that she also wanted to stay in Konoha for a while.
"Why don't you properly act as the Daimyo's wife instead of joining the fun in Konoha?"
Nanako smiled bitterly and shook her head, offering no explanation.
Finally, the group of five headed to Konoha again.
"Kushina, are you happy to see Minato soon?" Masahiko teased on the way.
Kushina blushed slightly and shook her head gently, but her expectant eyes betrayed her true thoughts.
"Minato even asked me to make a wood carving of you for him," Masahiko continued teasing.
As he spoke, Masahiko's expression became slightly more serious.
"The main purpose of taking the three of you to Konoha this time is to train your combat abilities. So I will ask Hiruzen to carefully select some A-rank missions for you. I won't intervene easily, so you must take this seriously."
"Don't worry, Great-Great-Grandpa Masahiko. I'll take care of the two of them." Kushina looked like she had everything under control.
Masahiko glanced at her, shook his head, and dealt a blow. "You aren't necessarily Nagato's match. It's uncertain who will be protecting whom."
"How is that possible..."
The group became lively, and Nanako could only watch with a bitter smile.
Arriving in Konoha, Masahiko was dazed as he watched a small figure run past him.
"Seventeen more households..."
Masahiko's mouth twitched. The one running past was Might Guy, who had just turned five. While starting training at a young age didn't surprise him, what Guy was carrying on his back was a bit hard for Masahiko to accept.
"Ichiraku Delivery? Every time I come to Konoha, there's always a surprise. Guy delivering takeout at five years old... it's not easy..." Masahiko smiled bitterly. He didn't expect that in less than a year after leaving Konoha, Teuchi had really put his suggestion into action and started offering delivery.
"Wait, don't tell me..."
Masahiko had a bad premonition, which later proved correct. Not only Might Guy, but Dai and Kento-kun had also joined in. The three treated this as training and delivered takeout for Teuchi for free.
"Sensei, Kento-kun hasn't changed a bit," Nanako teased.
Masahiko sighed. "It's my fault."
He looked at his two young disciples and breathed a sigh of relief. Both were somewhat introverted and definitely wouldn't become like that.
Although he felt it was a little embarrassing, Masahiko didn't stop them. The three of them probably enjoyed it.
Nanako went to the Senju clan grounds to find Mito, while Masahiko took the three children to the Hokage Building.
Seeing Kushina, the joy on Hiruzen's face could hardly be concealed. When Masahiko made her return to the clan two years ago, Hiruzen had been worrying about the next Nine-Tails Jinchuriki candidate. However, seeing Masahiko glaring at him, he quickly straightened his attitude.
"Elder Masahiko, what brings you here?"
"The Land of Whirlpools is so poor we can't uncover the pot. I brought three children to Konoha to take some missions."
Hiruzen was startled and smiled bitterly.
Not long ago, the Land of Whirlpools had emptied half of Konoha's treasury through explosive tags, and now he was crying poverty. However, Hiruzen had learned to pick out the key points from Masahiko's nonsense.
"No problem, Elder Masahiko. Do the three of them need a Konoha Jonin to lead the team?"
Masahiko paused, then shook his head. "I brought them here to take missions A-rank and above. Are you going to let Sakumo lead the team?"
"A-rank?" Hiruzen showed a slightly difficult expression. Konoha Village didn't have many such missions. He originally thought Masahiko just brought the three children to do some B-rank and C-rank missions.
"Don't worry. I just want to train them. One mission every half year is enough. Also, you can keep half of the mission commission."
Hiruzen breathed a sigh of relief. "One every half year is fine. You can keep the commission."
Masahiko didn't refuse either. "Then it's settled. In a few days, I'll bring the three children to accept a mission. Preferably one with more combat but not too time-consuming."
Hiruzen understood and nodded in agreement.
Masahiko left with the three children and smiled at Kushina.
"Alright, go find Minato if you want. Look how anxious you are."
Kushina suddenly acted tsundere. "I'm not going! I'm going to find Grandma." Saying so, she ran off quickly, but the direction was obviously wrong.
Masahiko turned to Nagato and Konan and smiled. "Let's go too. Let's see how your Brother Nawaki's married life is..."
☆☆☆
-> 30 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
-> https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Hollowborn
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to access patreon normally)
If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that's help the story a lot Thank you