Sealing Scrolls and the Thirst for Ninjutsu!

"Destroy this place first. The details of this mission must not be leaked. Once we return, I'll personally report to the Hokage!"

Minato Namikaze laid out how they would handle it.

It seemed he already knew just how deep the waters ran behind this.

Ninja tool smuggling combined with collusion with the Hidden Mist—if mishandled, the consequences could be as severe as they got.

During the battle just now, he had learned more details from the enemy.

When it involves the village, all you think about is covering it up?

Tang Ping felt somewhat disappointed.

He did not believe Minato Namikaze could not see the shady dealings involved.

And silencing everyone before reporting to the Hokage alone clearly meant he intended to bury the matter.

"Yes, Teacher Minato!"

Though disappointed inside, Tang Ping naturally obeyed on the surface.

Soon, they set the valley ablaze.

Only then did Tang Ping learn something the anime had never shown.

Spoils of war!

No wonder mission rewards were so low, yet plenty of people were still willing to take on this kind of job.

The spoils seized during a mission would be divided among the ninja who carried it out. The village would not interfere.

Of course, that was an unspoken rule.

If it really was something important, the village had the right to requisition it anyway. After all, the village had the final say in interpreting the rules.

Several hundred thousand ryo!

That was their direct haul this time, and the three of them each received tens of thousands of ryo.

As for that batch of ninja tools?

Naturally, Minato Namikaze packed them into a Sealing Scroll and brought them back.

Even a single kunai started at ten thousand ryo. Each crate held over a hundred kunai, and there were dozens of crates in all. Their value was obvious.

Only Minato Namikaze, who had been PUA'd by the "Will of Fire" since childhood, would do something like that.

If it were a transmigrator like Tang Ping, driven mad by poverty, there was no way he would honestly bring them back to the village and hand them over.

Still, it was not all bad news. Turning in those spoils would earn them Contribution Points.

Contribution Points!

They had plenty of uses in the village.

Whether for exchanging supplies or ninjutsu, they could be used for anything.

Of course, the prerequisite was being able to see the Hokage. Otherwise, they could forget about it and go to sleep.

For civilians, exchanging for Contribution Points was harder than climbing to heaven. The system was a complete scam. Otherwise, some chunin among the civilian ninja would not even know a C-rank ninjutsu.

As Hiruzen Sarutobi's "grand-disciple," Minato Namikaze definitely would not have trouble exchanging Contribution Points, making it an invisible benefit of Team 3.

Once the valley had burned to ashes, Minato Namikaze prepared to lead Team 3 away.

During this time, Tang Ping had gained quite a lot.

He had continuously gathered large quantities of materials unavailable in the village.

Previously, his range of activity had been limited to Konoha, and he could not even collect materials openly.

Now that he had left the village, he was like a mouse that had jumped into a rice bin.

Plants, animals... they were all his targets.

As for how he would explain his actions?

There was no need!

As their team leader, Minato Namikaze definitely knew his background and understood that Tang Ping was the one who had made the Healing Potion.

As a researcher, it was perfectly normal for him to collect materials, right?

"Tang Ping, if you don't mind, you can use this Sealing Scroll!"

Seeing Tang Ping carrying a pack larger than himself, Minato Namikaze pulled out a Sealing Scroll and tossed it to him.

A Sealing Scroll!

It was absolutely a scarce item.

Even a single Sealing Scroll like this started at one hundred thousand ryo.

That was the market price!

And it was the kind of item no one even sold.

"Thank you, Teacher Minato!"

Tang Ping caught the Sealing Scroll with some excitement.

Naturally, he knew why Minato Namikaze could casually take one out.

Kushina Uzumaki!

His girlfriend was an Uzumaki Descendant, from the strongest clan in the field of Sealing Technique.

With a girlfriend like that, it was no surprise he could casually produce a Sealing Scroll.

After examining it, Tang Ping discovered that it contained roughly three cubic meters of space, and it would collapse after being used for only a limited time.

With this, Tang Ping could definitely bring back a large amount of materials.

A few days later!

Team 3 returned to Konoha once more.

"...!"

Yamaa Koji stared blankly at the village.

"Don't block the road!"

Tang Ping reminded him.

It was a busy time, with plenty of people and carts entering the village. Standing in the middle of the road really was blocking traffic.

There was a procedure to complete before entering the village.

Registration!

Only after Minato Namikaze finished registering did he announce their dismissal.

"Dismissed!"

With that, he vanished from the spot.

Because this mission involved ninja tool smuggling, he had to report to the Hokage immediately. Naturally, he had no time to accompany them.

"I'll be going!"

Yamaa Koji hurried off as well.

Kakashi silently headed toward the Training Ground.

The Hatake Clan had only him left. He had nowhere to go, and training instead allowed him to forget the passage of time.

Thinking about it now.

The reason the future Kakashi could become a jonin at the age of twelve, setting an unprecedented record, might have been this robot-like diligence in training.

As for Tang Ping, he naturally returned to the laboratory first thing to organize his materials.

The materials he had brought back this time were enough to last him for a while.

If he was lucky, he might be able to create quite a few good things.

Most importantly, he had acquired special materials.

Lizards!

But they were not ordinary lizards.

They were a type with astonishing regenerative abilities.

Thinking of lizards reminded him of the mysterious Shuzaki Lizard from the anime.

But after asking around, he discovered there was no Shuzaki Castle.

How depressing!

If he could find it, he would strike it rich.

The Shuzaki Lizard's combat power was at least on the level of Manda or Gamabunta, while its upper limit rivaled that of a Tailed Beast.

Still, it was fine. If he looked through more information, he might find some clues.

And the special lizards he had obtained could allow him to create potions with even stronger healing effects.

Of course, he was not researching them for anyone else, but for himself.

As a ninja, getting injured or crippled was basic routine. He did not want to become one of them, so he naturally had to prepare early.

At the same time, he began planning how to obtain the two types of ninjutsu he wanted most.

One of them was Medical Ninjutsu!

It held enormous appeal for him.

Medical Ninjutsu was merely decent in terms of combat power. Even Tsunade, its creator, did not have a particularly high combat ceiling.

But in biological research, it was a godlike technique.

Of course, the other ninjutsu Tang Ping wanted was an extremely special kind of ninjutsu.

Sealing Technique!

It was an exceptionally unusual type of technique.

Its lower and upper limits were worlds apart.

At the low end, it was nearly useless. At the high end, it could even seal Kaguya, making it utterly heaven-defying.

Both types of ninjutsu possessed limitless potential.

But they were not something just anyone could learn.

Restricted knowledge!

Both categories of ninjutsu were tightly controlled by the Hokage's faction.

Just consider this: neither the Hyuga Clan nor the Uchiha knew either of these two types of ninjutsu. That showed how tightly they were guarded.

Of course, it was another matter if a ninja clan possessed its own Sealing Technique.

For example, the Hyuga Clan's Caged Bird and the Uchiha's Four Red Yang Formation were special Sealing Techniques.

But the Sealing Technique Tang Ping wanted to learn was not that kind. He wanted systematic sealing and medical knowledge.

And that kind of knowledge was simply unavailable in the academy library.

Now, with Minato Namikaze as his team leader, things were different.

Through him, Tang Ping could learn this knowledge from others.