A Thorn in the Side (Seeking Recommendation Tickets!)

After comforting the old man for a long time, Elder Yamashita seemed somewhat relieved and made various assurances that he would repair the Hokage Rock as quickly as possible and that there would be no further mistakes.

Originally, Elder Yamashita should have taken his leave at this point.

But after hesitating for a moment, he gritted his teeth and said, "Actually, that child Qingyu might have just acted on impulse. Although he did something unforgivable, I still ask Lord Hokage to be lenient..."

He then told Minato everything about how Qingyu had been learning stone carving from him these past few days, and all the impassioned words Qingyu had spoken to him.

Minato then realized that the brat actually had such ideas.

"Not only does he want to become the Fifth Hokage, but he also wants to carve his own likeness onto the Hokage Rock with his own hands..." Minato couldn't help but smile.

Then he began to imagine Qingyu's original intentions and reasons for doing all this.

No matter how loudly the slogans were shouted, becoming Hokage was still an unattainable dream for the vast majority of people.

Perhaps this guy was worried that he wouldn't be able to achieve it, so he used this method to gain attention and strengthen his resolve.

Otherwise, why would he have voluntarily exposed everything on a day like today?

Then Minato couldn't help but recall the decision the brat had made earlier and the words he had spoken.

"It seems Konoha has really gained a remarkable little scoundrel."

Minato, who had already made up his mind, first saw Elder Yamashita out, then turned and went to the adjacent room, where he once again met the stern-faced Jonin Mikawa and Qingyu, who was carelessly eating an orange...

"Just now, Chief Engineer Yamashita came to plead for you. Also, I've thought about it carefully, and perhaps the punishment just now was a bit too harsh, so I've decided to change the penalty."

As soon as he entered, Minato's words stunned Qingyu.

Elder Yamashita came to plead for him?

This made him feel a complex mix of emotions. In this matter, he had completely taken advantage of the old man and even caused such a big trouble.

Yet Elder Yamashita was willing to come and plead for him. This favor was truly immense!

"What penalty?" Qingyu wasn't happy; instead, his mood became even more dejected.

"First, you need to personally clean up the mess you made, and then apologize to the villagers house by house. Can you do that?"

Qingyu nodded. "And then?"

"Then, considering your good attitude in admitting your mistake, and the significant contribution you made by submitting the medicinal bath formula to the village, all the conditions you proposed last time will be halved. Do you have any objections?"

Qingyu shook his head again. Just paying this price to avoid three to five years in prison was already enough for him.

If it were someone else, they might have completely erased his contributions and dismissed him with a simple "merits and demerits cancel each other out."

Being able to keep half of the benefits was already a sign of Minato's consideration.

However, this cut still made him wince!

But Minato's next sentence made his eyes light up...

"Finally, you need to make a guarantee that you will never do anything similar again, unless you truly become Hokage. If that's the case, I can decide to have the halved resources still be distributed on time, considered as a loan from the village, and then when you have the ability to repay it, it will be converted into money and repaid through missions."

Qingyu's spirits immediately lifted.

Minato's actions were essentially a light punishment, just changing the name and going in a big circle to let this matter pass.

And there was an explanation to the outside world; the penalty of over a million ryo per month was enough to offset his wrongdoing.

And this money, once he became a ninja, if he worked hard and took on more missions, he could repay it in no time, without any pressure.

Of the punishments imposed on him, the only thing he truly lost was some future wealth, but he had successfully escaped a disaster!

It couldn't be more perfect!

Why would he possibly refuse!

Upon hearing this, Jonin Mikawa relaxed completely, likely letting out a sigh of relief.

At the same time, he began to consider whether he should supervise him more strictly, lest this brat sneak out and cause trouble again.

"Alright, that's all for this matter. I have a lot of official duties to attend to, so I won't delay Jonin Mikawa's child-rearing."

Minato left, but his parting words left Qingyu dumbfounded!

Watching Jonin Mikawa, whose smile was gradually becoming more sinister, stretching his limbs and approaching him, Qingyu couldn't help but shout in his heart, "Damn it! Minato, you tricked me!"

"I was wrong, I really know I was wrong, don't~ want~ it~!"

"Shi! mi! ya! Ao! ba! I've tolerated you for a long time! You better not run!"

Minato, who was working in the adjacent office, couldn't help but reveal a happy smile as he listened to the commotion next door and someone's miserable cries. He even remembered to tell others not to disturb them.

"Ah, the weather outside the window is so nice~"

After emerging alive from the Hokage building, Qingyu was very grateful for his tough life, which had saved him from being beaten to death by the brutal Jonin Mikawa. It was just a pity for his handsome face, alas!

"Why the long face! Hurry up and go while I still have time!" Jonin Mikawa, who looked much more refreshed, urged him immediately.

Unable to resist, Qingyu could only follow closely behind him like a defeated rooster.

They were now going to the Hokage Rock to quickly clean up the eyesore masterpiece left by someone, and also to apologize to all the craftsmen. Especially Elder Yamashita, Qingyu felt very guilty and could only find ways to make amends in the future to repay this kindness.

After the Hokage officially announced his punishment, they would also have to go door-to-door tomorrow to apologize to the villagers and to the shop owners who were inexplicably dragged into trouble...

Once all that was done, Jonin Mikawa would guide him in writing a concise letter of guarantee and... an IOU.

With that step completed, this 'Fifth Hokage Rock Incident' would finally come to a true close.

Of course, this was all assuming no further complications arose, such as him "courting death" again, or some brain-dead individual like Uchiha Han showing up to cause trouble.

This wasn't paranoia; it was a necessary precaution.

However, what Qingyu didn't know was that with Shisui, who was both a mentor and a friend, Itachi was no longer blind or deaf. He often learned about the outside world through Shisui, most of which concerned a certain person.

So, even though he couldn't go out, Itachi did his part.

At the cost of revealing his Sharingan, he successfully 'convinced' his father not to add insult to injury in this matter.

In truth, Fugaku had almost forgotten about Shimiya Aoba, but the incident had indeed become quite significant...

Furthermore, he wasn't as bad as Itachi feared; in fact, he was somewhat inexplicable!

Even at this point, Itachi didn't know that the clan member who attacked Qingyu had acted on his own initiative, and it wasn't Fugaku's true command.

After all, there had always been a lack of open and honest conversations between father and son.

Itachi feared hearing the answer he couldn't accept, while Fugaku had a clear conscience and was unaware that Itachi had misunderstood him because of this.

It could only be said that misunderstandings formed bit by bit like this.

PS: Old Faceless is asking again. I heard that all the friends who vote for this book are handsome and beautiful. Old Faceless doesn't believe there are that many people handsomer than me.