The Will of Fire Had a Problem; Report! Danzo's Letter Arrives! [Double Chapter]

Sasuke would follow through on things he'd agreed to do himself.

The fish he'd caught earlier were just enough for him and his teacher. With another adult there, they'd need to catch a few more.

Under Naruto's envious gaze, he picked up his kunai and kept spearing fish, one with each throw.

Jiraiya watched Naruto use a worn-out kunai to gut a fish and felt a pang of sympathy.

It was an old kunai Naruto had managed to save up enough money to buy.

Chapter 63: The Will of Fire Had a Problem; Report! Danzo's Letter Arrives! [Double Chapter]

Uchiha Gin took out a scroll and unrolled it, then selected the seal marked with the character for "food" and released it.

Around a dozen kinds of seasonings appeared on the scroll, items stored using a space-time Sealing Jutsu.

"That's amazing!"

Naruto had never seen anything like it. He stared in shock.

Even Jiraiya was surprised. A scroll capable of sealing things like that wasn't cheap. And Gin was using it to store seasonings!

"Try them out. Pick whichever flavor you like and sprinkle it on your fish."

Uchiha Gin gestured to Naruto.

At the same time, he started preparing the fish Sasuke had caught. He was much faster than Naruto. A few casual swipes with his kunai removed the scales and gutted the fish.

Sasuke came back with another five fish, and Uchiha Gin prepared those too.

Naruto was very careful with the seasonings, but when he tasted the Uchiha Special Sweet and Spicy Sauce, his eyes widened. He'd never tasted anything so delicious. He carefully brushed the seasonings over the fish he'd caught.

They listened to the firewood crackle and watched as the fish gave off an increasingly appetizing aroma.

Sasuke and Naruto both stared intently at the fish. One had trained for a long time and was starving, while the other had spent all his money and couldn't afford food, so he was famished too. Neither had any interest in talking.

Jiraiya sat nearby, drawn in by the fish's aroma as well. He knew it wasn't the fish itself that made it smell so good, but the seasonings.

"All right, dig in."

Uchiha Gin said.

In his eyes, the fish had cooked to perfection.

Sasuke and Naruto immediately pulled up the fish they'd caught and started eating.

Uchiha Gin picked up a fish and savored it slowly. Jiraiya casually took a skewer and ate too, without the slightest embarrassment. For a while, no one said a word as they focused on their meal.

Naruto quickly finished his two fish, but still felt a little hungry. Or perhaps the delicious aroma coming off the fish was tempting him. Sasuke saw Naruto looking like a greedy kitten and scoffed, but still picked up a fish and handed it to him. Naruto looked surprised, as if asking, Is this for me?

Sasuke simply rolled his eyes. Naruto immediately grinned at him and started eating.

"Thanks. I thought I'd be going hungry today."

Watching Naruto, Jiraiya felt bitter, relieved, and sad all at once.

But he hadn't come just to keep an eye on Naruto. He also wanted to get to know Uchiha Gin and assess how dangerous the man was.

"Mister, you're a wandering street performer, right? Are you so bad at it that you couldn't make any money in the village?"

Before Uchiha Gin could say anything, Sasuke asked curiously.

"Huh? A street performer?"

Naruto looked surprised, then eyed Jiraiya with curiosity, wanting to see what kind of act he could do.

"?"

Jiraiya was completely baffled.

"I'm a powerful ninja, one of the Konoha Sannin, and the Toad Sage of Mount Myōboku! I am Lord Jiraiya!"

After being looked down on by a child, Jiraiya dropped the act and struck a series of exaggerated poses, as if showing off his authority.

"Clap, clap, clap!"

"Those moves look really impressive!"

Naruto applauded enthusiastically.

Sasuke, meanwhile, wore an expression that said he'd known it all along. He thought the performance was pathetic.

Jiraiya nearly stumbled. He looked speechless, then turned to Uchiha Gin, hoping he'd back him up.

"Yeah, he's telling the truth. He's powerful."

Uchiha Gin said dismissively.

He had no interest in chatting with a lecher. After speaking, he yawned. He planned to take a nap at noon. That was part of the Turtle Hermit Style: train when it was time to train, and rest when it was time to rest.

Jiraiya was annoyed, feeling like Gin had brushed him off.

"Wait, you really are a ninja?"

Naruto trusted Uchiha Gin, of course, but still eyed Jiraiya with suspicion.

"I'm a very powerful ninja!"

Jiraiya said earnestly, stressing every word.

"All right, that's enough for today. Hurry back and take a nap. We'll continue tomorrow morning."

Uchiha Gin said to Sasuke.

Sasuke nodded. He was feeling exhausted, and after eating his fill, he really wanted to sleep.

Then Uchiha Gin left with Sasuke.

Naruto watched them go enviously.

"What's wrong? Are you jealous that the boy gets to train?"

Jiraiya crouched beside Naruto and asked.

"Yeah, of course!"

"If I start training early, I can become a ninja sooner!"

Naruto said.

But what he envied most was Sasuke's relationship with Uchiha Gin.

"How about this? If you roast fish for me from now on, I can teach you to train too!"

Jiraiya said in a coaxing voice.

Naruto's face lit up with excitement, but the expression quickly faded. He eyed Jiraiya suspiciously.

"You really are a ninja, right?"

Naruto asked again.

"Then I'll show you what I can do!"

Annoyed, Jiraiya stood up and held out his hand. A ball of blue light appeared in his palm. Naruto stared, dumbfounded.

"This technique is called Rasengan!"

As he explained, Jiraiya slammed the Rasengan into a nearby tree, easily breaking it in half.

"That's amazing!"

Naruto's eyes sparkled with excitement.

"Can you really teach me ninjutsu?"

Naruto couldn't help asking.

"Of course!"

"Under my guidance, you'll become even stronger than that kid from the Uchiha Clan."

Jiraiya said confidently.

And just like that, he succeeded in talking Naruto into training with him.

He wasn't very interested in whether Naruto became Hokage or not, but Minato and Kushina's child... he had to take good care of him!

Uchiha Gin, who had already left, had no idea what was happening between Jiraiya and Naruto.

That afternoon, his Shadow Clone still had to patrol, then visit the Ninja Tool Development Department to choose the first batch of Scientific Ninja Tools for mass production. In the end, he chose two Chakra Blades, one with a Fire nature and one with a Lightning nature.

Their chakra conversion rate was less than fifty percent, and under continuous combat, they could be used for at most fifteen minutes. Their price was set at 150,000 yen, far below the previous one million. The material cost was under 50,000 yen, and the labor costs for development and production would drop as the production volume increased.

Once this plan was laid out, quite a few people understood the reason for it. The difference between one million and 150,000 was huge, making the blades affordable for many who couldn't have bought one before. They estimated they could sell several thousand in a year, earning around 100 million yen after deducting all costs.

Many of the researchers were willing to use their salaries to buy one, especially the Lightning-style model. The Military Police Force within the Uchiha Clan would buy some too, and Orochimaru would use Root's funds to purchase them as well. That alone would account for the first few hundred blades.

But all of that depended on selling only within Konoha. If they could sell to some of the smaller ninja villages outside, they'd make even more. And there were other Scientific Ninja Tools that hadn't been manufactured yet. Seeing that there was hope of getting their money back, Fugaku grinned so broadly that wrinkles creased his face.

The next morning, Uchiha Gin brought Sasuke to training bright and early.

The morning was for warming up and doing physical exercises. They started at six.

He had Sasuke cling upside down to a branch with chakra while doing pull-ups, with five-pound weighted wrist guards on each arm. It trained both his body and his ability to maintain chakra adhesion.

When Jiraiya arrived with Naruto, this was what they saw.

"He's already doing this much at such a young age?"

Jiraiya looked surprised at Sasuke's training.

At that age, he'd still been slacking off. He hadn't even learned to extract chakra yet.

"?"

Uchiha Gin looked at the two who had suddenly appeared, puzzled.

He quickly understood what Jiraiya was up to: teaching Naruto to train and using Sasuke as a goal.

It was a dull method, but it really worked.

Uchiha Gin ignored them and focused on Sasuke. His main body hadn't stopped training at home either; as a Shadow Clone, he was only responsible for carrying out the tasks his main body had assigned him.

"Master, how long will it take me to get to that level?"

Naruto asked Jiraiya excitedly on his first day of training.

"Uh... you'll probably need to train for a while first. Today, we'll start with the first step: learning how to extract chakra..."

Jiraiya felt that what he'd said the day before might be hard to deliver on. This Uchiha kid seemed like a genius, just like Orochimaru.

"Okay, so how do I train?"

Naruto nodded, like a curious little kid.

After half an hour, Sasuke climbed down from the tree. Then, under Uchiha Gin's guidance, he began training in Lightning Style: Lightning Ball. Sasuke listened carefully to Uchiha Gin's instructions, memorizing the Hand Seals as well as how to circulate his chakra.

Then Sasuke began trying it out, asking Uchiha Gin whenever he didn't understand something or didn't know how to do it.

About an hour later, Sasuke successfully released a Lightning Ball. But to complete the technique, he needed to release at least three at once.

"Good job."

Uchiha Gin praised him.

Sasuke smiled too. Every morning, he trained with his teacher. He rested in the afternoon, and after his older brother came home, Itachi practiced Shuriken with him.

Although these days were tough, he could keep going.

"Rest for half an hour, then we'll start practical training."

Uchiha Gin arranged the next exercise.

"Okay!"

Sasuke replied, still going over Lightning Ball in his mind.

When the rest period ended and Uchiha Gin was about to start training Sasuke, Jiraiya walked over.

"As thanks for the fish you shared with me yesterday, I can be your sparring partner. What do you say?"

Jiraiya volunteered.

He actually wanted to get a feel for Sasuke's abilities and see how he compared to Naruto, so he could plan their training accordingly.

Uchiha Gin saw right through Jiraiya's shameless plan.