The next day, at noon.
The group rested at the inn for the night, returned to Konoha, and came back to the village once again after submitting their return permit.
"You guys head to the barbecue restaurant first, I'm going to the Hokage Building to submit the mission!"
"Today's get-together is on me."
With that said.
Takada Fujiwara flashed toward the Hokage Building, while Uchiha Jin and the others headed to the Akimichi House's barbecue restaurant first.
In the Hokage's Office.
Sarutobi Hiruzen's gaze was deep, blowing smoke rings from his pipe while quietly listening to Takada Fujiwara's report, pondering for a long time before asking seemingly casually, "How are you getting along with the three little ones?"
"Pretty good!" Takada Fujiwara started.
Kneeling on one knee, his gaze flickered as he recalled the bits and pieces of getting along with them.
Of course he knew what Sarutobi Hiruzen wanted to know, but thinking of the huge fortune tucked in his pocket, and the families of the people here who had nearly become empty and desolate nowadays just to support him in becoming a ninja...
Without hesitation, he chose to conceal it!
Yes.
Civilian ninjas had it too hard.
You had to know the Ninja Academy only taught the most basic Chakra Refining Technique and Three Body Techniques, and apart from those, just minor tricks like kunai throwing, traps, reconnaissance, counter-reconnaissance, and battlefield survival and slaughter, while actual ninjutsu in the true sense wasn't taught at all.
If you wanted to acquire ninjutsu, there were only two ways.
If the jounin instructor found you pleasing to the eye, perhaps they might teach you a thing or two.
Or else, buy it!
Take the common-as-dirt C-Rank Great Fireball Technique for instance; you needed to complete 200 C-Rank missions just to be eligible to buy it, and then you still had to spend 300,000 taels of silver.
B-Rank ninjutsu required completing a corresponding amount of B-Rank missions.
Aside from reaching the baseline corresponding mission volume, A-Rank ninjutsu also required stricter review standards, and things like money turned out to be secondary instead.
As for S-Rank ninjutsu and forbidden jutsu, those weren't things a civilian ninja could consider!
Precisely because of this reason, despite Takada Fujiwara already being a jounin, he actually knew very few ninjutsu that he could master. Moreover, due to reasons like purchasing ninjutsu, ninja tools, and family expenses, he wasn't actually well-off right now.
Now with such a huge sum of money, along with that speech from Nara Shikaichi, his mindset began to undergo some changes.
Although relationships forged through profit would also scatter because of profit, Takada Fujiwara, who had been bound to the chariot in a short time, chose to proactively conceal the truth for the sake of benefits even though Uchiha Jin hadn't made any request.
"Is that so? Good!"
"You may dismissed."
Sarutobi Hiruzen didn't say much, merely waving his hand simply.
As Takada Fujiwara bowed and left, Danzo entered the Hokage's Office right after: "Takada Fujiwara is no longer trustworthy, they..."
Saying this, he couldn't get the words out!
Because the matter of the Root stronghold was Root's private secret, he couldn't possibly let Sarutobi Hiruzen set his sights on his own Root just because of a mere pittance of wealth.
Sarutobi Hiruzen's expression remained as usual.
"Danzo, you're too harsh."
"I know Takada Fujiwara definitely pocketed a bit of money, but who in the entirety of Konoha can achieve true integrity?"
"How much money could a mere robber hideout possibly have? Usually, I never see you voice opinions on this kind of matter?"
"Thinking about it this way, it's still for the sake of the Uchiha, right?"
"Put away those petty thoughts of yours. Right now Sunagakure and Konoha have already gone to war, Iwagakure and Cloud Village are also beginning to stir restlessly, and Kirigakure, which looks inactive, must also be guarded against. Konoha at present cannot withstand any turmoil."
"Before the war ends, you are not allowed to make a move against the Uchiha!"
As for this old friend before him, Sarutobi Hiruzen knew him inside and out; the moment the other person dropped his pants, he knew what kind of fart he was going to release.
But just as he said, internal strife must never happen during wartime!
Not to mention that although Uchiha Jin possessed a bit of strength, he still had quite a gap compared to a genius like Kakashi. Since when did this old friend of his have such low standards?
What kind of value did an Uchiha of this level have to be recruited?
Meanwhile, on the other side.
Danzo was infuriated by Sarutobi Hiruzen's "contemptuous" gaze. How could he, the leader of Root and an elder of Konoha, possibly take a fancy to a mere little genius?
The crux of the problem was that that sum of money was Root's operating budget!
Even though a mere eight million or so wasn't much, he, Danzo, didn't want to swallow this loss, yet the problem was he didn't know how to phrase it.
If he truly wanted to pursue this matter, he would have to tell the truth.
However, Root's covert arrangements outside the village were something he definitely couldn't let Sarutobi Hiruzen find out about, given that he hoped to run for Hokage. Therefore, naturally, he was currently so choked up he felt like going crazy.
After struggling with it for a long time, he still forcefully reined it in.
After all, a war would most likely break out next, and he would have plenty of opportunities to retaliate against Takada Fujiwara's squad. Thus, in the end, he simply spoke coldly: "Hmph, Hiruzen, you'll regret this!"
"Danzo, I am the Hokage!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen blurted these words out directly without thinking.
Nothing else, he was just used to it!
This kind of dialogue between the two of them happened almost every time they met.
Meanwhile, on the other side.
At the Akimichi House's barbecue restaurant, Takada Fujiwara's squad booked a private room.
Because of the act of splitting the spoils earlier, even though this squad had just been established, apart from that guy Kakashi, everyone already vaguely shared the feeling of being "one of us."
The atmosphere was naturally quite lively, and as everyone ate and chatted casually, they quickly grew familiar with one another.
"This is really great, it's so delicious!"
Uchiha Jin expressed his emotion with a sigh, then continued to stuff his face with food frantically.
To be honest...
If this taste were compared to his previous life, it was actually quite ordinary, but alas, what he had transmigrated into this lifetime was an Uchiha. Due to the awkward relationship between the Uchiha and Konoha, it was Uchiha Jin's first time coming to Konoha to eat barbecue.
Nara Shikaichi's eyes narrowed slightly: "Jin, this performance of yours really opens my eyes!"
"Just knowing it is enough, remember not to spread it." Uchiha Jin ate his barbecue while saying with a smile, "Out there, I am still that cold and arrogant Uchiha."
Uttering these exact words, he had also gone through careful consideration.
On one hand, having gone through the incident of splitting the spoils, everyone had vaguely formed a small interest group, making him feel there was a necessity for further contact.
The team in front of him was actually quite good.
An instructor who managed to reach jounin, coupled with a brainy Nara, and a genius ninja like Kakashi—if they could truly piece this squad into shape, the possibility of surviving the Third Shinobi World War wasn't low at all.
Although there were still numerous problems within the team, the spoils-splitting incident had made a pretty good start.
Conversely.
If things were left unchecked and Kakashi let him ruin this squad, he probably wouldn't encounter better teammates in the future. After all, during wartime, unless one belonged to the core of the major ninja clans or the elite of Konoha High Command, the possibility of becoming cannon fodder was even greater!
"So--that's how it is!"
Nara Shikaichi's gaze flickered.
Takada Fujiwara was also deep in thought, with only Kakashi remaining silent, acting like a straw scarecrow in his walking-corpse state.
Before you continue