The Village's Intentions

Carrying ten thousand ryo, Rinto returned home in high spirits.

Money gave a man courage. With money in hand, Rinto felt like there was a breeze in every step he took.

Moreover, he had already made an agreement with Hiruzen Sarutobi. In another week, he would be able to attend the Ninja School.

Going to school was not the important part. The important part was that after receiving training at the Ninja School, he would rightfully become a member of Konoha's ninja ranks.

Though the necessary precautions would not be lacking, Rinto would at least gain the opportunity to leave the village on missions. At the same time, being able to openly use ninjutsu would be a great help for his future plans.

Over the next week, Rinto forged iron every day. He produced quite a few finished products, and also accumulated plenty of iron scraps.

Refusing to waste them, he melted down those scraps, ground them into iron powder, and stored it inside his body.

This was the weighted training method Rinto had used at the Jashin Cult base. Back then, he had hidden dirt and other miscellaneous materials inside his body. Now, it was iron powder.

Iron powder was far heavier than dirt, and its weight could be distributed more evenly. As weighted gear, iron powder was simply far superior to dirt.

Thus, even though his entire body ached, Rinto still enjoyed it immensely.

He was lazy. He could not be bothered to set aside time specifically to train his physical fitness, so he could only improve himself through this method of carrying weight around twenty-four hours a day.

Before even a week had passed, Rinto discovered that this training method worked remarkably well.

With roughly two hundred kilograms of iron powder evenly distributed throughout his body, he was in constant, agonizing pain, but his body was being trained whenever he walked, sat, or lay down.

Looking at his faintly darkened palms, Rinto could not help but sigh.

"Hidan's greatest lack isn't strength or intelligence. It's imagination!"

There were too many things an immortal body could be paired with—the Eight Inner Gates Formation, Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tag, Flying Thunder God, and so on.

Given the chance, Rinto even wanted to try the Reaper Death Seal, or get himself a Tailed Beast to play around with.

Ever since he had become impossible to kill no matter how much he messed around, there were simply too many tricks he could pull. Rinto hardly dared imagine it.

If he got all of that working, forget Madara-sama—even if Kaguya showed up, she would have no choice but to lie down and whimper.

Of course, fighting wars was out of the question. He would never fight a war in this lifetime. He would just earn a few hundred million to get by.

The person Rinto admired most was Hōjō Saburō, the jeweler's son from the show.

His Money Release, the prince's Talk no Jutsu, Uchiha Sasuke's Show-off Release, and Ōtsutsuki Ichiraku's Face Release were collectively known as the four strongest release techniques.

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, a week had passed. It was time for Rinto to start school.

"Rie, wake up." After getting dressed, Rinto shook little Rie, who was sprawled out beside him in every direction.

Rie mumbled, rolled over, and continued sleeping soundly.

"Rie, wake up. Your brother is taking you to school!"

Rinto was in no hurry. He kept shaking the chubby Rie, as though kneading a round little ball of dough.

"Brother! I wanna sleep!" Rie finally grew annoyed from being shaken and scrambled up angrily.

"Sleep for what? What decent person sleeps? Only good-for-nothings sleep!" Rinto did not need sleep himself, so he was especially jealous of children like Rie who could never seem to get enough of it.

Seeing that force would not work, Rie pouted and plopped down on the bedding, rubbing her eyes with her chubby little hands.

"Brother, I... I want to go to the Senso-ji Festival with Aunt Kyoko today."

"Where is Senso-ji Temple? Why haven't I heard of it?"

"Um... Aunt Kyoko said Senso-ji Temple is a branch temple of the Temple of Fire. It's right in the village."

Seeing Rie's pleading expression, Rinto sighed.

"You don't want to visit the festival. You want to use the chance to stuff your face, don't you?"

Still, Rinto did not stop Rie.

Obviously, the Konoha High Council had made its move.

The method was simple, yet Rinto found that he could not bring himself to hate it at all.

Rinto had many reasons for coming to Konoha. One of them was to give Rie a happy childhood.

And Konoha, as the strongest village among the Five Great Nations, not only had excellent climate and surroundings, but more importantly, its atmosphere was fairly good.

In this era where human lives were as cheap as grass, the Will of Fire truly protected a patch of pure land.

The village higher-ups' intentions were simple as well. By influencing Rie, they hoped to further influence his decisions.

Clearly, they were overthinking it. Even without Rie, Rinto would cooperate with Konoha.

Even if Rie became a Konoha ninja and inherited the Will of Fire, so what? Would she be unhappy? What did this little fool know?

With that thought, Rinto simply stopped thinking about it. Let her do as she pleased. The carefree lived without burdens.

"But you still have to get up! Keep sleeping, and I'll beat you up!"

Rie paid no attention to Rinto's threat. With a delighted expression, she grabbed his sleeve, her beautiful eyes opening wide and round.

"Brother! You agreed!"

Rinto nodded. The little girl immediately wriggled around happily in the bedding like a fat grub.

"Alright, get dressed."

At that, Rie obediently nodded.

Before long, Rinto led Rie into the dining room.

Uncle Ippongi was sitting at the low table, yawning sleepily. When he saw Rinto enter, he immediately twisted his hips in a childish huff and turned his back on him.

He was still unhappy about Rinto attending the Ninja School. In his view, ninjas were not respectable; only making money was respectable.

Aunt Kyoko, who was setting out the dishes, smacked him irritably. Then she smiled and waved Rinto and Rie over.

"Rinto-kun, Rie-chan, come quickly. Today's breakfast is Tomato Omelette Rice~"

At those words, Rie's eyes lit up. She tugged Rinto toward the dining table.

After they sat down, it was the same as usual. Uncle Ippongi leisurely drank tea, Aunt Kyoko picked Rie up and placed her on her lap, and the little brat Dan Katō kept his head down as he ate.

Rather than looking at the tempting omelette rice on the table, Rinto took an envelope from his clothes and placed it on the table.

"Aunt Kyoko, I'm going to the Ninja School today. Rie said you're taking her to the Senso-ji Festival. Please use this money for her expenses along the way."

As he spoke, he pushed the envelope toward Kyoko.

Seeing Rinto's solemn expression, Kyoko unconsciously began speaking more formally. She repeatedly shook her head and hurriedly refused.

"No, no, Rinto-kun. I really like Rie. Besides, we're only going to look around the festival and enjoy the excitement. It won't cost much."

Rinto shook his head slightly, and the hand pushing the envelope forward remained firm.

Though he was still young, when he frowned, he naturally carried an air of mature sharpness that made people afraid to meet his eyes.

Perhaps he had not noticed it himself, but his past experiences had given his every word and action a seasoned, mature air. Those who spoke with him would occasionally forget that he was only seven years old.

Kyoko could not out-stubborn him and could only sigh softly before accepting the envelope.

It was not particularly thick, but it felt substantial in her hand.

Kyoko, who often dealt with money, immediately guessed what it contained.

There were bills inside the envelope, each worth one thousand ryo. There were probably eight to ten of them.

She could not help but marvel at how much Rinto-kun cared for Rie. He had casually taken out ten thousand ryo.

To her, ten thousand ryo was not much, but for a child who had just arrived in a new place with his younger sister, ten thousand ryo was truly a huge sum of money.

What an extraordinary child!

After breakfast, Rinto led Rie back to their room.

"Rie, keep this safe. You haven't forgotten the characters I taught you, right?"

Rie blankly accepted the scroll Rinto handed her and shook her head. "Brother, I haven't forgotten."

"Good." Rinto patted Rie's little head in satisfaction, then continued.

"This scroll records the Chakra Extraction Technique. You're a big girl now, so study it yourself whenever you have time. Don't make your brother urge you to learn everything."

Rie obediently nodded.

"Brother, does having Chakra make you a ninja?"

"No, but Chakra is the foundation of a ninja. The scroll explains everything. You can read it yourself."

As he spoke, he gently pinched Rie's chubby cheek.

Rie silently hugged the scroll to her chest. Her large eyes shone with excitement as she declared loudly.

"Don't worry, Brother! I'll definitely train hard and become your reliable helper as soon as possible!"

Looking at the sparkling look in the little girl's eyes, Rinto shook his head helplessly.

"Rie! I don't need a helper. I gave you the scroll only to give your future another option. After all, being a ninja isn't the only path in this world."

Rie shook her head.

"Brother, Rie doesn't understand, but Rie will definitely work hard!"

"Forget it. Do whatever makes you happy." Rinto sighed, gently pinched Rie's plump little cheek, then turned and left for school.