Posting a Mission

The weather was clear, the sun bright.

Even in the frigid winter, Konoha's streets remained bustling with prosperity.

Inside the Hokage's office, the Third Hokage, who should have been comfortably enjoying his office chair, was now standing with a headache as he looked at the small figure before him.

Early that morning, this little fellow, who had just been discharged from the hospital, had come to the Hokage Building with a stack of banknotes, crying and clamoring about posting a mission.

If he had merely wanted to post a mission, it would not have given him such a headache. This brat had previously posted missions through others to collect strange and unusual items, but this time was different.

"You want to go to the Capital of the Land of Fire? Why?"

The Third Hokage looked at the small figure before him and could not help asking.

If anyone else in the village wanted to leave, the Third Hokage would not bother with it. Konoha had too many daily matters to handle, and subordinates could approve such trivial matters directly.

But this brat was different. As the link between Naruto and the others, if anything happened to him, things the Third Hokage very much did not want to see might occur.

Samu Kokaze, standing in the Hokage's office, suddenly sighed. He raised his head to look at the Third Hokage and said, "Lord Hokage, you should know who wants to kill me, right? Since he wants to get rid of me, I naturally don't want to let him off easy either. I hold grudges very strongly."

As he spoke, he clenched his little fist.

The Third Hokage's eye twitched, his expression slightly awkward. Saying he did not know who it was clearly would not fool this clever brat, but if he let him leave... Thinking of Naruto, the Third Hokage rubbed his brow with a headache.

After some thought, the Third Hokage put on a threatening expression. "You're a clever little brat, so I won't feed you empty words. You know your current situation. If you stay in Konoha, it's fine. I can guarantee that nothing like last time will ever happen again. But if you leave..."

As he spoke, the Third Hokage lowered his head and glanced at Samu Kokaze, who had clearly treated his words as water off a duck's back and did not take the matter seriously. He sighed.

"Even if you want revenge, I recall that the Tanaka Clan's contact in Konoha has already given you the materials, right? Why not carve it in Konoha and send it to him afterward? Why take the risk of going out yourself?"

Listening to the Third Hokage's persuasion, Samu Kokaze looked at him strangely. "Lord Hokage, are you sure the things I carve can be successfully delivered to the Capital of the Land of Fire?"

The Third Hokage's old face reddened. He had only been focused on discouraging Samu Kokaze from leaving the village and had clearly not considered that. Yet his expression did not change in the slightest as he said, "As long as you hire Konoha ninja, there will absolutely be no problem."

Samu Kokaze raised his head and eyed him suspiciously a few times before finally putting on a conflicted expression and shaking his head. "Forget it. Big Brother Yoshikado helped me a great deal when my shop had just opened. Now that he has a problem, I can't stand by and do nothing when I'm able to help."

"This is two hundred thousand ryo! Please, Lord Hokage, post an escort mission." As he spoke, he placed the banknotes clenched in his hand on the desk. Looking seriously at the greatly troubled Third Hokage, he added, "The ninja who takes the mission should preferably be Mr. Guy."

The Third Hokage lowered his head to look at the money on the desk, then looked at Samu Kokaze walking out on his two short little legs. His face was full of conflict. He slammed his fist on the desk in frustration. "Not a single one of you can give me any peace of mind."

"Someone!"

Whoosh...

A figure abruptly appeared in the Hokage's office.

"Go call Guy."

The Anbu nodded, and his figure instantly vanished.

"Fresh, free air."

After walking out of the Hokage Building, Samu Kokaze took a deep breath, his eyes full of enjoyment. After enduring examinations from the nurse sisters at the hospital, who had kept taking advantage of him, his body had finally recovered enough for him to be discharged today.

After bidding farewell to the nurse sisters, whose favor he had maxed out in just two days with nothing more than sweet words and a handsome, adorable face, Samu Kokaze, who had spent two days lying in the hospital, felt itchy all over.

After running around Konoha's streets with abandon for a while, he used Nanobugs to thoroughly repair his body.

Aside from still not having a trace of chakra in his body, Samu Kokaze was completely healthy.

Today was the third day since Tanaka Keishi had come looking for him. Two days ago, after seeing that the intelligence Shikamaru gave him matched what Tanaka Keishi had said, he decided to help the Tanaka Clan this once.

Samu Kokaze was not doing this solely to vent his anger. There were benefits for him as well.

Tanaka Yoshikado, the current head of the Tanaka Clan, had a very good relationship with Samu Kokaze. They exchanged letters every month. Given Tanaka Yoshikado's personality, if Samu Kokaze risked his "life" to help him overcome this crisis, he would definitely regard him as a real brother afterward.

Of course, with the exceptional perception granted by the Nano Core, and Guy, who could crush Uchiha Madara after opening the Eight Gates, protecting him at his side, any danger to his life was nothing more than a joke.

Once the Sato Clan was knocked down and the Tanaka Clan was lifted into power, even Konoha would no longer be able to completely disregard Samu Kokaze, relying on the Tanaka Clan's influence. At the very least, even if he did some outrageous things, as long as he did not go too far, Konoha would simply turn a blind eye.

What was more, being assassinated had left Samu Kokaze with a bellyful of anger. Since coming to this ninja world, ever since obtaining the Nano Core, he had never been forced into such a state by anyone. Never!

If he did not take revenge, Samu Kokaze felt that he would not even be able to eat two fewer bowls of rice in the future.

"Feng! You're really not being fair!"

A familiar voice rang out beside Samu Kokaze as he walked down Konoha's streets. His thoughts interrupted, he looked up ahead and saw Naruto, dressed in earthy yellow clothes, running toward him with shining eyes.

Most of the surrounding pedestrians frowned when they saw Naruto and moved away to avoid him. Seeing Samu Kokaze walking beside Naruto without caring in the slightest, they began whispering among themselves.

Naruto, who had run over, looked somewhat dejected, but Samu Kokaze did not care at all. Compared to those worthless passersby, Naruto before him was far more valuable. The more they mocked Naruto, the more Naruto would feel indebted to him. Samu Kokaze would not care no matter how much they said, as long as those words did not harm him in the slightest. Well, he swore on the Nano Core that he would only write it down in his little black book.

"Yo! Naruto!" Samu Kokaze greeted him calmly.

Seeing that Samu Kokaze had not been affected by the others at all, Naruto broke into a grin. He complained happily, "Why didn't you wait for me to come pick you up this morning? When I got there, they actually told me you'd already been discharged."

"Well, it couldn't be helped. My time is tight right now. After leaving the hospital this morning, I first sorted through the things Shikamaru had delivered to me, then went to Lord Hokage to post a mission. Sorry about that! I made you come all that way for nothing again."

"Why are you apologizing?" Naruto waved a hand, shaking his head. Recalling what Samu Kokaze had just said, he reacted and asked, "You just said you went to Grandpa Hokage to post a mission?"