Teammates

At nine the next morning, in the Hokage Office.

Tianyun Hyuga had planned to talk to the Third Hokage about his graduation, but the Third Hokage brought Hinata Hyuga and a girl he did not recognize over to him with a broad smile and said:

"Tianyun! With your current strength, keeping you at the Ninja Academy wouldn't be right. I've already arranged two teammates for you. Get along with them, and you'll be doing missions together from now on!"

"This is Hinata Hyuga. I won't bother with much of an introduction..."

"This is Kimura Kokomi, age nine. She's an elite genin. Make sure you all get along from now on. You're teammates already..."

Having finished, the Third Hokage smiled at Tianyun Hyuga, making Tianyun want to pound his wrinkled old face.

Tianyun Hyuga had finally gotten some freedom, only for the Third Hokage to saddle him with two burdens that would interfere with his money-making plans. How could he possibly be happy about that? He said disgruntledly, "Old man, are you deliberately making trouble for me?!"

The Third Hokage's mouth twitched. He had known Tianyun Hyuga would react this way, but the boy would not even give him any face in front of the two girls. Annoyed, he slapped the desk and said firmly, "I don't care whether you like it or not. You have to take them with you, or you won't be allowed to leave the village!"

"Damn old man. You win..." Knowing the Third Hokage had made up his mind, Tianyun Hyuga could only mutter to vent his frustration.

The Third Hokage could not be bothered to argue with Tianyun Hyuga anymore and simply ordered, "The three of you, go out and get acquainted. At nine tomorrow morning, your squad leader will be waiting for you at Konoha's main gate..."

Still irritated, Tianyun Hyuga said bluntly, "Give me my money first. Otherwise, I don't care who the teacher is. I'm going on strike tomorrow!"

The Third Hokage waved a hand helplessly. "Go get it from Tiesheng yourself. I've already given him the weapon funds for the next three months..."

"Shit, that bastard Tiesheng didn't even tell me right away! I'm going to teach him a lesson..." With that, Tianyun Hyuga vanished from the Hokage Office in a wisp of smoke with a pop.

Left behind in the Hokage Office, Hinata Hyuga and Kimura Kokomi exchanged a glance, then could only stare at the Third Hokage, waiting for him to tell them what to do now.

Nursing a headache, the Third Hokage said, "You two should go straight to Tianyun Hyuga's house. He'll come home sooner or later. Get to know each other first..."

Hinata Hyuga already knew Tianyun Hyuga very well. After receiving the Third Hokage's orders, she told Kimura Kokomi, "Let's go walk around first! That guy won't be home until the afternoon..."

Kimura Kokomi was young, but she was no ordinary ninja. She was one of the children specially trained by the Anbu. Before joining Hinata Hyuga and Tianyun Hyuga's team, she had already been thoroughly briefed on their backgrounds.

Naturally, she had also learned about Tianyun Hyuga's and Hinata Hyuga's personalities.

At Hinata Hyuga's invitation, Kimura Kokomi merely nodded and followed her out.

After sending the three of them away, the Third Hokage suddenly began to feel sorry for Kakashi. He wondered whether Kakashi could rein in that infuriating brat. The more he thought about it, the more helplessly he shook his head.

With someone as crafty as Tianyun Hyuga, Kakashi was far more likely to be the one who suffered. The Third Hokage began to observe a moment of silence for him.

Tianyun Hyuga reached Tiesheng's Ninja Tools Shop from the Hokage Building in just five minutes and rushed inside excitedly to find Tiesheng.

As the owner of the Ninja Tools Shop, Tiesheng's job was to oversee the work and negotiate deals. Naturally, he did not stay in the Blacksmith Shop with the workers. Instead, he remained in the Ninja Tools Shop to receive customers.

Over the past nine months, Tiesheng and Tianyun Hyuga had become very familiar with each other. Naturally, the shop assistant also recognized Tiesheng's big source of income.

As soon as the assistant saw Tianyun Hyuga, he politely escorted him to the Reception Room behind the Ninja Tools Shop to meet Tiesheng.

Tiesheng, who was drinking afternoon tea, knew why Tianyun Hyuga had come the moment he saw his excited face.

After waving the assistant away, Tiesheng said somewhat helplessly, "Young Tianyun, I know what you've come for, but I really haven't received that much money. The money Lord Hokage gave me is only enough to buy materials. If I give it all to you, I won't be able to complete the task he assigned me!"

Tianyun Hyuga's excited expression immediately froze.

On his way over, Tianyun Hyuga had thought about the Third Hokage's claim that he had given Tiesheng three months' worth of funds.

At an average of twelve million a day, three months would come to roughly a billion.

Tianyun Hyuga had been thinking that the Third Hokage was being generous for once, paying a billion in one go.

Now it seemed the Third Hokage had merely been stringing him along to get him out of the office.

After a moment of silence, Tianyun Hyuga asked Tiesheng irritably, "Then exactly how much funding did you get? Let me hear it..."

Tiesheng immediately answered, "Only four hundred million. As for the remaining six hundred million, Lord Hokage said he'd pay once the funds from Sunagakure arrived..."

"Fuck... damn old man..." Tianyun Hyuga could not help muttering before telling Tiesheng bluntly, "Hurry up and bring me two hundred million. The remaining two hundred million is enough for your materials. Don't try to pull one over on me..."

Tiesheng was speechless. Two hundred million would indeed cover the materials for those weapons, but it would not be enough once labor and other miscellaneous expenses were included.

But since Tianyun Hyuga wanted it now, he could only give him two hundred million first and temporarily cover the shortfall with his own savings. He would only recover that money once the Third Hokage paid the balance.

Having made up his mind, Tiesheng answered without hesitation, "All right, I'll go get it! Tianyun, wait here for five minutes..."

He could only get two hundred million, and a hundred million of that still had to go toward the enhancement fee. Thoroughly displeased, Tianyun Hyuga waved Tiesheng away.

The ninja world's currency included ten-thousand-denomination notes, so two hundred million did not actually take up much space. Tiesheng came out carrying a leather case with all two hundred million in banknotes packed inside.

With a wave of his hand, Tianyun Hyuga deposited the two hundred million in banknotes into the system, then stood and said, "All right, send the finished weapons to my house. I'll refine them for you bit by bit when I have time. Just come collect them once a month. My mother will give you the weapons."

With that, Tianyun Hyuga walked out of the Ninja Tools Shop without looking back, leaving Tiesheng looking helpless, yet also somewhat delighted.