At those words, the Third Hokage and Iga Kawaji exchanged glances.
Iga Kawaji said quietly, "Lord Hokage will judge the value of the intelligence. Tell us what happened first."
Gong Yi wasn't offended. He recounted the information he'd learned, word for word.
"I saw Kitsuchi from Iwagakure meeting secretly with a Sunagakure ninja!"
The Third Hokage's hand clenched abruptly.
Kitsuchi was Ōnoki's own son.
He could speak for Iwagakure, and he was in contact with Sunagakure.
If they were plotting against Konoha, it could indeed threaten the village's survival.
"Sunagakure proposed working with Iwagakure to ambush Konoha ninjas on missions!"
Iga Kawaji drew in a sharp breath. No wonder Rasa had later led a team to pursue them.
Gong Yi had actually come into possession of intelligence like this.
Neither the Sunagakure nor the Iwagakure side would want this information to get out.
The Third Hokage tapped the table. "Missions are the lifeblood of the village. They're a source of income, and the higher our mission success rate, the more support we receive from the Land of Fire. If two ninja villages joined forces to ambush our mission teams, the consequences would be obvious."
"If missions failed on a large scale, our success rate would fall, our income would shrink, and the Land of Fire would reduce its support. The resources available to train our ninjas would dwindle as well. It would become a vicious cycle. If they achieved their goal, our village's strength would be slowly eroded."
Hatred had never been the root cause of conflict and war!
The idea that dispelling hatred and helping people understand each other could prevent war was a ridiculous joke.
It was self-interest that lay at the root of every dispute!
The First Shinobi World War had broken out because Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama wanted to pacify the Shinobi World, giving their clansmen a chance to recover and prosper.
But after founding Konoha, Senju Hashirama had decided that was enough.
If he had followed Uchiha Madara's wishes and the two of them had united the Shinobi World, peace might have lasted for centuries. The Second and Third Shinobi World Wars would never have happened.
The Second Shinobi World War broke out because Konoha's growing strength threatened the other ninja villages and encroached on their interests.
The same was true of the Third Shinobi World War, except Sunagakure had been the one to start it.
And wasn't one reason that Konoha ninjas had taken so many missions away from Sunagakure that its ninjas could barely make a living?
Just look at Sunagakure after the Third Shinobi World War. Even the mighty Fourth Kazekage Rasa had to extract gold from the sand himself just to cover the village's expenses.
It showed how dire their situation was.
The Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi had also judged the matter from the village's perspective.
He soon reached a decision.
"This is certainly intelligence that affects the village's interests, but it's not a threat to our survival."
The Third Hokage smiled faintly. "Konoha's strength is far greater than it appears. Gong Yi, you're worrying too much."
Gong Yi remained silent. He had no reason to argue, and no need to.
The Third Shinobi World War was already beginning to take shape. All that was missing was a spark to set it off.
He didn't believe the old man before him couldn't see that. The Third Hokage had probably said this to reassure the younger generation of ninjas.
"All right, I've heard the intelligence. I'll have someone verify it. Iga Kawaji, take your team downstairs and report that this mission is complete. As for the information Gong Yi brought back, I'll consider a separate reward."
The Iga team's mission had been to gather intelligence on the distribution of ninjas in the Land of Rain.
The information Gong Yi had brought back was an unexpected bonus. The two achievements would be rewarded separately.
That afternoon, Iga Kawaji had already received the mission reward as the team leader.
It was an A-rank mission with a C-rank danger level. Taking into account the difficulties they'd faced, it had been almost as challenging as an A-rank mission. It had even cost Iga Kawaji a hand.
The total reward came to two million ryo!
Hyuga Senso and Ogawara each received 150,000 ryo.
Gong Yi received 700,000 ryo, instantly making him rich!
The remaining million went to Iga Kawaji.
It wasn't just because he was the team leader. Part of it was compensation for his injury.
Having lost a hand, Iga Kawaji would no longer be able to leave the village on missions. He would have to settle down in the village.
He could become a teacher, go into business, or open a shop.
A million ryo, together with his previous savings, would be enough to support him for the rest of his life.
That evening, the mood was subdued as they ate grilled meat.
Iga Kawaji's injury meant the team would have to disband.
For the young ones, it was heartbreaking.
Hyuga Senso and Ogawara especially had already been through this three times.
Iga Kawaji, however, took it in stride. Anbu missions had a high death rate, and he'd seen plenty of things like this.
"Let's raise a glass to Gong Yi's safe return!"
Iga Kawaji drank wine while Gong Yi and the other two drank juice. Gradually, the mood began to lift.
They were also enjoying a long-awaited break, so everyone relaxed and ate grilled meat until they couldn't manage another bite. Then they each headed home.
As they were parting, Iga Kawaji suddenly called out to Gong Yi.
"That mission of yours was extremely valuable. It could even reduce the number of deaths on the village's future missions. Lord Hokage won't give you a small reward, so you should prepare in advance and decide what you want."
"Please give me some advice, Captain!"
"If you get the chance, I recommend becoming one of the Sannin's disciples. You have plenty of talent, but you lack a good teacher. I'd originally wanted to teach you myself, and Lord Hokage felt the same way, but now I..."
"Captain..."
"Let's not talk about that. Anyway, becoming one of the Sannin's disciples would be the best outcome. But it's not just up to you and Lord Hokage. Those three have a say in it too, so you should have a backup plan. Maybe ask for powerful Ninjutsu, a large sum of money, or try to join the Anbu and win Lord Hokage's favor!"
"The Anbu?"
"With my recommendation and guarantee, and your strength, it shouldn't be a problem!"
"Mm, I'll think it over carefully when I get back. Thanks for the advice, Captain!"
PS: I can't post in the comments, so I'll briefly address a few readers' questions.
The system only provides skills to assist with research. The protagonist has simply found a way to use them to train and grow stronger.
Actual research requires research targets, materials, and the like. The protagonist isn't very strong early on, has no secret base, and has no way to acquire materials, so it's difficult for him to conduct in-depth research.
But as things develop, he'll be able to work on more concrete research projects.
Take Orochimaru, for example.
He only began researching after he'd grown powerful and established his own influence. He also slowly gathered research materials, such as First Hokage Cells, the Sharingan, and the Sage Curse Mark, through his connections.
Later, Orochimaru even defected from Konoha so he could conduct research without restraint.
Readers who are confused should think about it: if the protagonist tried to do this kind of research early on, wouldn't that be asking for trouble?
Mm, my advice is to keep reading. He'll gradually develop the system's abilities later on. I'm definitely not the kind of handsome guy who advertises one thing and delivers another!
Before you continue