Buy a Piece of Information for Ten Thousand Ryo?
Then he thought of Hankuang from Team 9 receiving a large bathhouse from the Daimyo of the Land of Hot Water.
No wonder!
Opening the intelligence scroll, Hiruzen Sarutobi skimmed its contents.
"Sure enough, the Stone Ninja are about to lose their patience?"
Looking at the information on the scroll, he immediately determined the Stone Ninja's intentions.
Iwagakure was sending more troops to the border outposts. It was clearly preparing to take advantage of the chaos.
"Kakashi, you did an excellent job completing this mission."
Hiruzen Sarutobi looked up at Kakashi and praised him.
"Your Team 9 should get a good rest tonight. You still have another mission tomorrow."
With that, he lowered his head and continued reviewing documents.
Kakashi was somewhat stunned.
He wondered whether the Hokage was too busy and had forgotten the five hundred thousand Ryo mentioned in the mission report.
So he decided to remind him.
"Hokage-sama, regarding the five hundred thousand Ryo our Team 9 paid in advance...?"
"Hm?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi's brow furrowed, and an awkward expression appeared on his face.
"Kakashi, the village's finances are very tight right now. You have to consider the bigger picture."
At the same time, he thought to himself: Your Team 9 has Hankuang, that rich kid. Isn't five hundred thousand Ryo just a drop in the ocean to him?
Team 9 was waiting to split the money.
However.
This time, Kakashi seemed to be taking a little too long to report the mission.
"Could Kakashi have run off with the money?" Obito suddenly blurted out.
"How could that be?" Rin shook her head, refusing to believe it.
"Isn't that him?" Hankuang pointed into the distance.
Sure enough.
Kakashi walked toward them with a troubled expression, empty-handed.
Chapter Twenty-Nine: Hankuang's First Black-Hole-Level Ninjutsu!
Team 9 was furious.
The money itself was secondary. The main issue was that the Third Hokage's actions were unacceptable.
"The village is short on funds, so he could've given us less. But he really didn't give us even a single Ryo?" Obito said angrily.
"I think it's outrageous too." Rin voiced the same opinion.
Five thousand Ryo of it had been hers as well. Now she wasn't getting a single coin.
After listening to the two of them complain, Hankuang remained expressionless and turned to Kakashi.
"What do you think, Kakashi?"
"It feels a little unpleasant," Kakashi replied coldly.
In Kakashi's view, once this matter came to light, the other teams would certainly lose trust in the Third Hokage.
How could the Third Hokage not understand such a simple principle?
"You have to understand, some people are short-sighted!"
Hankuang spoke meaningfully.
He believed that his team had already begun to see the Third Hokage's short-sightedness.
That was enough.
"By the way, the Third Hokage said we're to continue with another mission tomorrow," Kakashi added.
"That soon?"
Hankuang was stunned.
The team had only returned to the village this evening, and they were already continuing missions tomorrow?
Even the donkeys on a production team couldn't be worked that hard.
"We don't even have a rest period." Obito's resentment deepened.
"We traveled for two days. I'm exhausted," Rin complained as well.
Team 9 had rushed back from the Land of Grass and was already exhausted from the journey. And they had to go on another mission tomorrow?
In the end.
Amid Team 9's complaints and curses, the team disbanded.
Hankuang returned home and sat on a wooden chair in the courtyard, gazing up at the night sky.
"I only wanted to enjoy life, but now the missions just keep coming!"
Whoosh!
Suddenly, a figure appeared in the courtyard.
Hankuang acted as though he hadn't noticed and continued gazing at the night sky.
"You're not surprised?" Minato Namikaze asked, somewhat astonished.
He had intended to surprise this student, but he had actually been ignored?
"Teacher, I've been cheated." Hankuang slowly turned his head, an aggrieved expression on his face.
"Oh? What happened?" Minato slightly furrowed his brow.
Hankuang then began embellishing the story, recounting Team 9's arduous journey. At the end, he even claimed that the five hundred thousand Ryo had been all the compensation money left behind by his parents.
"Teacher, I bought the intelligence and brought it back, but the Third Hokage refuses to reimburse me."
"How could the Third Hokage do this?" Minato Namikaze was somewhat angry, feeling that the Third Hokage's actions had been extremely inconsiderate.
Setting aside the expenses Team 9 had incurred after entering the Land of Grass, simply purchasing important intelligence was equivalent to purchasing it for the village. There was no reason to make his student shoulder the entire cost alone.
"I'll ask the Third Hokage about it again tomorrow," Minato Namikaze took responsibility for the matter.
"Thank you, Teacher." Hankuang immediately perked up.
When his teacher took action, he was worth several Team 9s.
But right afterward, his expression turned aggrieved again.
"You have another grievance?" Minato's eyelid twitched.
"The Third Hokage wants us to continue taking missions tomorrow." Hankuang sighed.
"That soon?"
Minato Namikaze found it hard to believe.
He had only just returned from completing a mission himself, and he still had three days of rest.
But Team 9?
They didn't even have a rest period?
"I'll speak to the Third Hokage tomorrow and have him give you a few days to recover." Minato took responsibility for this matter as well.
"Teacher, you're the best!" Hankuang immediately stood up and gave his chair to Teacher Minato.
"All right, nothing else, right?"
Minato Namikaze looked suspicious and confirmed it once more.
"Nope." Hankuang shook his head.
"Since you're done, it's time to talk about my matter."
Minato Namikaze said this in an extremely mysterious tone.
In the courtyard.
Hankuang's eyes widened as he stared at the sphere of Chakra in Teacher Minato's palm.
"Rasengan?"
His heart was utterly calm, but his face put on an expression of shock.
Before you continue