You Are Not Empty-Handed

"Fuyou, you're back?" Minato looked at Fuyou slowly getting down from the carriage with the guards supporting him, and could not help but sigh inwardly. Fuyou really was getting further and further away from being a ninja.

Of course, everyone had their own path, just like ninjas had their own ninja way.

It was a pity, but Minato could not really say anything.

Still, he was quite happy that Fuyou had returned.

"It's far too chaotic outside right now, so I came back after arranging everything." Uchiha Fuyou smiled faintly, his smile elegant and unhurried, as he looked at Minato's team. "Are you heading out on a mission?"

"Yeah! They've received their training, so it's time for them to start taking missions outside the village."

"Is that so?" Uchiha Fuyou sighed sentimentally, then stretched out a hand and rubbed Obito's head with the smile of a loving father. "It's pretty chaotic out there right now! Be careful, kid! Don't make your father worry!"

"Who's your son?!"

Obito immediately shouted.

He hated this guy most in the entire village. He was even worse than Kakashi. He had tricked him from the start and even wanted to be his father. He was utterly awful.

"You're only a few years older than me!"

"Age isn't the issue!"

"Is that the point, you bastard?!"

However.

No matter how much Obito kicked up a fuss, Uchiha Fuyou, as his father, did not get angry. Instead, he said earnestly, "Remember this: you are not empty-handed. Even if you can't become a ninja, you still have your father's ten-billion inheritance to inherit. So don't worry if you can't complete the mission. If you run into danger, just run away!"

Although I'm only a few years older than you, and even if you died, I might still be alive, that doesn't stop me from taking you as my son and giving you the chance to inherit my estate.

"Bastard! I'm going to become Hokage!" Obito was so furious that he even pulled out a kunai, but as a ninja, he could not harm a civilian in the village for no reason.

That would violate the ninja code!

Once this great man became Hokage, he would ban milk tea shops from Konoha. Let's see what he did then!

"Fuyou, you..." Minato smiled helplessly and shook his head. "Stop teasing Obito!"

"I'm sincerely acknowledging him as my son!"

"..."

Was that what I meant?

Minato shook his head speechlessly, but he still told Obito and the others, "It's true. You should remember Fuyou's words. If you encounter danger, protect yourselves first!"

The two nodded to show that they understood. Only Kakashi stood with his arms crossed, saying nothing.

Thinking about it, really.

If someone told him Bonds were the most important thing now, who would believe it?

First his father died, then later his best friend and girlfriend... friend died, then his teacher and teacher's wife died. If not for Icha Icha Paradise giving him a way to vent, Kakashi would have gone dark right away!

But Obito was different.

He only had a heart for helping others, with no other hobbies or interests. He had no way to vent, kept everything bottled up inside, and after losing his first love, he despaired of the entire world.

So bottling things up was no good!

Having a hobby was so important!

For the peace of the ninja world, and so he could do business, Fuyou patted Obito on the shoulder. "Find yourself a hobby when you have time. If that doesn't work and the pressure gets too much, tell your father. Your father will take you out to have some fun!"

"..."

Four faces full of black lines.

But Uchiha Fuyou did not care. He directly took a stack of Explosive Tags from his clothes, probably over a thousand of them, and stuffed them into Obito's hands. "Here, take these! Don't worry when you encounter enemies, just throw them at them! Don't stupidly rush in!"

"Who wants these?! And stop randomly claiming people as your sons, bastard!"

"..." Minato and Kakashi, standing nearby, both twitched at the corners of their mouths.

What ninja would use that many Explosive Tags on a mission?

Usually four or five were enough to make do. If necessary, they would use ten or twenty to set a trap. But this many... Wasn't he afraid of failing to recoup the cost?

"Don't be embarrassed!" Fuyou shoved them directly into Obito's hands, then greeted Minato. "Then I won't disturb you anymore. There are still plenty of matters in the village that need handling!"

After saying that, he greeted the other two before heading toward the shops with his guards.

Minato watched Uchiha Fuyou's retreating back, smiling helplessly as he shook his head. Then he looked at the stack of Explosive Tags in Obito's hands and said with feeling, "Your father treats you pretty well!"

"Minato-sensei!"

"Hahaha, I'm only joking!" After laughing, Minato said seriously, "Keep those Explosive Tags safe. Some guy has been buying up Explosive Tags like crazy lately, and their price has gone up several times over!"

One was almost as expensive as a bowl of ramen with an extra serving of chashu.

At that price... He lowered his head and looked at the Explosive Tags. Could Fuyou have been the one doing it?

After his usual son-collecting routine, Fuyou arrived on Konoha's streets.

Actually, if Fugaku were not his older brother, he would have wanted to take Itachi as his son too. His dream was to take every person with something wrong in their head as his son, let them inherit his estate, and turn them into wastrels.

Although...

They might die before he did!

But that did not stop him from being their father!

What a pity.

If he took Itachi as his son and raised him into a wastrel, his brother might go mad and hit him with a Great Fireball.

When he arrived at Fuyou Grill and saw that its premises were three times larger than the milk tea shop, he nodded in satisfaction before heading toward Fuyou Milk Tea.

The moment he entered, he saw Uncle Sato hard at work.

"The boss is back?" Uncle Sato called out happily.

"I'm back." Fuyou smiled faintly as he looked at Sato. "Looks like it's busy today too!"

"It is pretty busy. Because of the war, things outside have become more and more tense. Many ninjas want a cup of milk tea to relax after coming back." Uncle Sato sighed. "A lot of ninjas returned during the recent rotation, so there have been a few more orders these past few days."

Of course, average daily orders had also dropped.

"Ah, war..." Uchiha Fuyou let out a long sigh. "Are they even going to let people do business properly?"

Just as he finished speaking.

"Fuyou!" Suzune's voice came from nearby. She ran over happily and looked at Fuyou. "You're back?"

"I just got back." Fuyou looked at the hands holding documents and the unique pride of the Hyuga Clan, then nodded. "Nothing happened recently, right?"

"No!" Suzune smiled faintly. "Everything has been proceeding according to your instructions, and the grill's premises are already finished. We were just waiting for you to return."

"Is that so? Then we'll open in a week!"

With his current status, he at least needed a ribbon-cutting ceremony!

If it were not wartime, he would have invited the Third Hokage to cut the ribbon with him, to show that he was a businessman of the Will of Fire. If that did not work, he could only invite the Hokage's wife—Sarutobi Biwako.

Although they did not meet every day and were not that familiar yet, back when he was still a student, he had written an essay titled "On the Third Hokage's Lofty Presence and the Hokage's Wife's Elegant Beauty." According to Sister Kushina, the Hokage's wife already thought very highly of him.

Of course.

They still needed to plan the opening event.

Uchiha Fuyou pondered for a moment, then suddenly spotted a sneaky, heavily wrapped figure at the entrance. Startled, he frowned. "Jiraiya-sensei, you... mmph mmph!"

Before he could finish.

A flash of light suddenly swept past, and then...

His mouth was covered.

Leave some votes and comments, will you? It's getting so quiet here, like everyone's gone. Is anyone still around?