I Have a Bunch of Relatives Who Want to Be Hokage Chapter 29

"Hmm, it was rare for an Uchiha to say something like that. Did this old man interrupt your good time tonight?"

"What do you think? I'm already off duty."

"If you join Root, you'll have the chance to sample the specialties of other places too."

"Eating and drinking on the public dime is prohibited. Even if it's not year-end yet, I won't let my guard down."

"It's all right. Root has special authorization."

"Whether it's authorized or not has nothing to do with me." Uchiha Shingen remained unmoved. Well, maybe he had budged just a tiny bit, but that was not important. "I can't work for someone who doesn't trust me, Lord Danzo."

"You were never working for anyone to begin with, Uchiha Shingen." Shimura Danzo's gaze was not a pleasant one. In terms of discomfort, it was perhaps even worse than those Sharingan awakened through emotional trauma.

Shimura Danzo rose to his feet, walked to the window, and took in the nightscape beyond it.

"You work for this view, and for yourself. Your abilities can be put to greater use in Root."

"Are you talking about yourself?" Uchiha Shingen looked at Shimura Danzo, making it clear that this act would not fool him. "Nothing you say will work, Lord Danzo. I worked hard all these years to become a jonin precisely to avoid this sort of trouble. If there's somewhere I don't want to go, no one can force me."

"Mm, you truly aren't someone who can be bought off with such petty benefits." Shimura Danzo turned back around. "But I can give you something the Uchiha Clan cannot."

Uchiha Shingen merely gave a dry laugh.

In front of Shimura Danzo, he could not be bothered to keep up appearances.

Otherwise, the bastard would just keep pushing his luck.

"Are you interested in Sage Mode?"

Uchiha Shingen raised an eyebrow.

The Uchiha Clan truly had no senjutsu. They simply did not follow that path.

Neither did the Senju of the Forest. Strictly speaking, this was a matter of individual fortune.

Even though it was the perfect match for descendants of the Sage of Six Paths.

"I'm interested, but I'll find my own way." Uchiha Shingen did not hesitate in the slightest before flatly refusing. "Save your Tongue Curse Eradication Seal for someone else."

"Rest assured, this old man is no demon." Shimura Danzo gripped his cane and lightly tapped it against the floor. "Don't you like deals? Make one with this old man."

The Patron Is Always Right

"Go on." Uchiha Shingen gestured for him to continue.

That was more like it. Business was business. Neither of them was a good person, so why put on an act?

"Recently, an organization called the Hannya Group emerged. This old man needs an expert to wipe them out through unconventional means." Shimura Danzo said, "Root has a limited number of ninja, and we don't have enough manpower to handle this in a short time. But with a jonin, it would be much easier."

"I won't ask why they need to die." Uchiha Shingen said. "But I don't have much time either."

"Listen to this old man before refusing." Shimura Danzo was not angered by the interruption and continued, "The matter began when the Hannya Group claimed to have discovered traces of a hidden senjutsu realm and wished to exchange that information with Leaf Village."

"Oh." Uchiha Shingen immediately lost interest.

Any claim of merely finding traces was definitely fake.

Back in the first cycle, among the entire Senju of the Forest, only Senju Hashirama could use Sage Mode. Yet until his death, no one knew how he had obtained it.

The Three Sannin, meanwhile, each possessed an inheritance tied to a hidden realm, and could at least clearly name those realms.

Take Mount Myoboku, for example. In the manga, the toad named Fukasaku had once said that Mount Myoboku was located in a place called Maze Mountain. It took a month to travel there from Leaf Village, and one had to pass through a secret route as well, otherwise it could not be reached.

Leaving aside the secret route, with Naruto's speed at the time, it only took three days to get from Leaf Village to Sand Village. Mount Myoboku was ten times farther from Leaf Village than Sand Village was.

That Maze Mountain was probably somewhere directly west of the Land of Wind.

And with that so-called secret route added in, even if one could find Maze Mountain, one still could not find Mount Myoboku.

So even if the Hannya Group had truly found a hidden realm, the fact that they could offer it for trade more likely meant that they could not enter it themselves. They were simply using it to bluff people into making a deal.

Still, daring to scam Leaf Village—especially daring to scam Shimura Danzo—was quite bold.

"According to Root's investigation, their information is real." Seeing Uchiha Shingen's unconvinced expression, Shimura Danzo narrowed his one eye. "You know Root's capabilities in this regard, don't you, Uchiha Shingen?"

"Let me guess. Did they trade fake information? Or did they use fake information to trade for Leaf Village's real intelligence?" Uchiha Shingen asked.

"Of course we gave them fakes." Shimura Danzo's expression did not change. "Did they deserve to exchange information with Leaf Village? Still, this old man underestimated them. Not only did they refuse to hand over their information, they even intended to eliminate the people I sent. Quite audacious."

"All right, then how was the authenticity of their information confirmed?"

"This old man sent two teams. The other team confirmed the information's authenticity at the Hannya Group's base, but they were discovered as well. That was the last message they managed to send back."

"Is something wrong with the Hannya Group's heads? Why offend Leaf Village so thoroughly?"

"It is understandable for them to become inflated after believing they have acquired a hidden realm." Shimura Danzo looked remarkably understanding. "Jiraiya has already fully demonstrated the power of Sage Mode."

No, the ones who proved that power were Indra and Ashura.

This world did not have any so-called senjutsu at all.

Thinking silently to himself, Uchiha Shingen had to admit that Shimura Danzo had successfully piqued his interest.

Gentlemen of the Hannya Group, sorry about this. It wasn't that he wanted to be disruptive; it was just that the thing in their hands was a little too hot to handle.

"All right, Lord Danzo. How do you intend to structure this deal?" He looked at Shimura Danzo, whose lips curled into a rather chilling smile.

"It can count as an S-rank mission. Eliminating the Hannya Group will earn you two million ryo. If you can verify the location of the hidden realm and the method of entering it, three million ryo."

"Feeling generous, Lord Danzo. Is it because the Land of Water will be paying a huge sum this time? Two billion—how much will the village get?"

"That cannot be disclosed. There are many places in the village..."

"I know! I know! The Uchiha Clan wasn't the only one to suffer losses!" Uchiha Shingen waved a hand. "I've been to war too. I had comrades. I understand."

"It's good that you understand. So? Will you take this mission?"

"How long?"

"The Hannya Group's latest traces are in the Land of Stone. There is no time limit. If you are not confident, you may simply wipe out the Hannya Group."

"Heh..." Uchiha Shingen shook his head. "No need. I'll take it, but don't send too many people with me."

"Why?"

"I'm afraid they won't be able to keep up and will waste my time."

"Not bad. You are very confident. Don't worry—even if you wanted me to send people, I have no manpower to spare." Shimura Danzo took out a scroll and handed it to Uchiha Shingen. "The location is written on it. Read it here. You only need to go to the Land of Stone alone. The contact will guide you to the Hannya Group's location. The mission has already been filed. Two million ryo will be transferred to the Uchiha Clan's account tomorrow. Of course, if you don't trust me, you can verify it yourself."

"Lord Danzo has always been prompt with payment. Everyone knows that."

Uchiha Shingen opened the scroll, memorized the rendezvous location, code phrases, and other key information, then returned it to Shimura Danzo.

He could not help emphasizing, "Lord Danzo, this doesn't count as me joining Root, does it? I'm merely taking a village mission."

"The Tongue Curse Eradication Seal is only a necessary measure for confidentiality. Other than being unable to speak of my affairs, it will not affect anything else. Root is not the Hyuga Clan." Shimura Danzo finally showed a trace of displeasure. "Its core members all come from your ninja clans. Don't tell me you didn't know?"

"I truly didn't know. After all, I'm not one of Root's people." Uchiha Shingen smiled amiably. Whatever the client said went. "Don't worry, Lord Danzo. I guarantee I'll complete it beautifully."

"Mm. Just one requirement: the secret realm does not matter, but the Hannya Group must die miserably. It must serve as a warning. Use your own judgment." Shimura Danzo stated his final condition.

At the end, he added, "If their deaths are creative enough, I'll pay extra."

"Then just wait and see." Uchiha Shingen mentally ran through the possibilities, considering what kinds of deaths existed on Blue Star but not in the Naruto world. He decided it would not be a difficult problem.

It was not that he had no principles. The Hannya Group had brought this upon themselves, and they had killed Leaf Village ninja.

The ninja world did not value harmony; it valued nuclear deterrence.

"Very well, I have said all I needed to say. We can begin now." Shimura Danzo sat back down and picked up his wine cup.

"Today? Isn't that a little rushed?" Uchiha Shingen frowned. He did not like people pushing his schedule. "If I go alone, it'll take less than three days to reach the Land of Stone."

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Shimura Danzo frowned as well. "I mean the girls. Where are they?"

Uchiha Shingen: "..."

Entering the Land of Stone

Although the Land of Stone had the word "stone" in its name, its main population centers were covered in loess.

On the contrary, the northern Land of Earth had the word "earth" in its name, yet much of its territory consisted of rocky terrain.

This was Uchiha Shingen's first time visiting the Land of Stone.

Previously, he had only heard about the country.

The nation was shaped like a long, curved strip, bordering the Land of Earth, the Land of Wind, and the Land of Rain. Its northern territory consisted mostly of aeolian landforms, with little rainfall and vast deserts. The south, meanwhile, was dominated by loess terrain and received ample rain, but the loose soil caused severe erosion. It was not a country blessed with a good environment.

That was just how the Naruto world was. Using the Land of Rain, Land of Grass, Land of Waterfalls, and Land of Rivers as a dividing line, the farther west one went, the more absurd things became.

Uchiha Shingen entered the Land of Stone from the Land of Rain, arriving in one of the few regions of the country with a relatively pleasant environment.

It neither rained almost every day like the Land of Rain nor suffered severe soil erosion like the western lands. The Land of Stone basically relied on this small stretch of territory to produce its food.

After entering the first town, Uchiha Shingen began looking for the rendezvous point.

Upon arriving in this town, Uchiha Shingen deeply understood why Root ninja looked down on ANBU ninja, even though they were nominally part of the ANBU as well.

Both gathered intelligence, but ANBU ninja had far better working environments. Even when they ventured beyond the border for intelligence work, they operated in countries neighboring the Land of Fire—all allies of the Land of Fire—where ANBU ninja could freely parkour around and show off.

Root ninja, on the other hand, mainly operated on other people's turf. Parkour around and show off? That would get you killed.

The Land of Stone was the dedicated battlefield of the Land of Earth and the Land of Wind. Anyone who could parkour around and show off here was either an Iwa ninja or a Suna ninja.

So Uchiha Shingen did not flamboyantly wear a Leaf Village ninja combat uniform. Instead, he dressed as one of the most common types of wandering ninja in the Land of Stone. Dressing as an ordinary civilian would have made him more likely to stand out.

According to the intelligence, this contact's public identity was that of a teahouse owner.

To be specific, it was a proper teahouse that sold tea, with no suggestive meaning whatsoever.

Uchiha Shingen quickly found the teahouse.

The establishment was small, but business was good. Customers could drink tea on-site or buy tea leaves directly. If the Naruto world had apps, it probably could have run a delivery service too.

But the environment could not compare to the shops on Leaf Village's commercial street. The Land of Stone's natural conditions were far less comfortable. The wind blowing in from the northwest carried ample sand and dust; walk outside for a little while, and one would become the very definition of travel-worn.

After entering the teahouse, Uchiha Shingen first took off his cloak. In the entryway, he shook off large clouds of dust with several puffs, hung the cloak on a rack beside him, then entered the main hall. He ordered a cup of hot tea from the front counter, found a seat inside, and sat down to wait.

Looking around, he saw quite a few customers. There were few ordinary civilians, while energetic members of society made up the majority.

The Land of Stone was a ninja country without a ninja village. Missing-nin and wandering ninja from various nations ran rampant here, public security was terrible, and it was a paradise for bounty hunters. Local gangs were also highly active.

As Uchiha Shingen observed others, the local snakes were observing him as well, their gazes far from friendly.

Naturally, no one would jump out and shout, "Which district are you from?" Everyone was in business, after all, and valued prosperity through harmony.

After all, there was no bounty on Uchiha Shingen at the bounty exchange yet. Even if someone wanted to put one on him, outsiders did not know what he looked like, and Kirigakure did not deal with the bounty exchanges on the mainland.

The local snakes watched for a while, then, seeing that this unfamiliar face had no distinguishing features suggesting he was worth money, they all withdrew their gazes. They had no interest in heads that could not be exchanged for cash.

After a while, the waiter brought the brewed tea to Uchiha Shingen's table.

He slowly finished it, sat for a while longer, then got up to settle the bill at the counter, paying with currency issued by the Land of Wind.

During that process, Uchiha Shingen had already completed the exchange of information with his contact.

By the time he put his cloak back on and left, no one in the teahouse was paying attention to him anymore.

This place is even less welcoming than the Land of Rain.

With a quiet sigh in his heart, Uchiha Shingen headed to an inn in town and rented a room.

He would be staying here for a few days.

Root's money was truly not easy to earn. The main thing was having to hold himself back.

Being stared at so brazenly by a bunch of weaklings—only someone as refined and easygoing as him could endure it. Anywhere else, he would have sent them off to drink with their ancestors long ago.

Over the next few days, Uchiha Shingen stayed in the town like an ordinary traveler.

When the appointed time arrived, he checked out that evening and headed for the agreed location.

Sure enough, someone followed him again.

With a casual sweep of his senses, he found that among the people who had come, not one even possessed chakra at the chunin level.

It seemed he had overdone the act. They had really mistaken him for a wandering ninja at genin level.

Once again realizing just how rare chakra-sensing abilities were in the ninja world, Uchiha Shingen stopped and waited quietly for them to reveal themselves.