Notes:
The Land of Rivers is a country that borders between the Land of Wind and the Land of Fire.
The Land of Rain is a small country that sits between Land of Earth, Land of Fire & Land of Wind
The Great Elder’s beard trembled in excitement, and he returned to his seat looking ecstatic. “This is good, very good… you’re truly an Uchiha genius. Sharingan innately has copy ability. But because most of the clan members are limited by chakra attributes, they can’t display the full potential of this ability.”
“You’re different. You’ve all five attributes. As long as you have the time to grow, I believe you can even surpass Sarutobi Hiruzen, who is known as The Professor.”
Uchiha Tonan nodded with a smile. He picked up the teapot, and pouring tea into the Great Elder’s cup, he said, “Oh, I almost forget to inform you. I was fortunate enough to be promoted to chunin some time ago.”
The Great Elder calmed down and looked at the courteous Tonan. The more he saw, the more he increased Tonan’s evaluation in his mind. Soon after, he laughed and said, “I know about this, but since you had chosen ninjutsu not long ago, I thought I should let you train those for some more time before letting you choose again. However, I didn’t expect you to have all five attributes.”
“Since that’s the case, you can learn as many of the low-ranked ninjutsu the clan has, as you want. As for advanced compound ninjutsu… Did you learn Flicker Clone Technique?”
Tonan shook his head and lightly answered, “I’m still studying it but it won’t be long before I succeed.”
The Great Elder nodded. “Don’t be too impatient. After all, practicing the Flicker Clone Technique is extremely strenuous. Though with your talent, I believe you’ll be able to practice it successfully. I’d suggest don’t learn any other superfluous advanced ninjutsu before you master it so you can conserve energy.”
Tonan smiled and said, “I’ll comply with the Great Elder’s suggestion.”
“Alright, wait for a bit.” The Great Elder got up and walked into the storage room. After a while, he returned to his seat and handed a sealed scroll to Tonan.
“This scroll records all low-ranked ninjutsu in the clan but other than lightning and fire style, the other attributed ninjutsu are relatively fewer.”
Tonan smiled and said, “It doesn’t matter. This is already enough. By the way, Great Elder, there’s one thing I wanted to ask you. I want to buy some property with beautiful landscape in the village and build a welfare home.”
“Welfare home?” The Great Elder frowned. Tonan nodded and explained, “The welfare home will include both orphanage and old-age home.”
The Great Elder thought for a while and realized Tonan’s plan. Although he didn’t think this method would work, he chose to respect Tonan’s decision. “How big a place are you thinking?”
“Let’s begin with something as big as the Ninja Academy. We’ll just expand it later if it’s not large enough.”
When the Great Elder heard this, he frowned as if he was thinking about something. After a long time, he sighed deeply and said with an embarrassed look, “Tonan, you know that although I control the clan’s finances, the other clan elders also review the monthly financial reports.”
Tonan shook his head and clarified, “I didn’t intend to ask the clan to pay for it. I’ve inherited Senior Motoyoshi’s properties and it’s about 20 million Ryo.”
After Tonan finished speaking, the Great Elder looked even more awkward.
“Is that insufficient?” Tonan asked in confusion.
The Great Elder nodded, “If it was twenty years ago, it would’ve been enough. But now, Konoha’s land price is becoming much more expensive. Your money is not enough even to buy land in the suburbs.”
“How much do I need then?”
The Great Elder raised two fingers hearing his question and said, “200 million, and that’s just to buy the land in the suburbs.”
Tonan inhaled a sharp breath and remained silent for a long time. He then stood up and bowed to the Great Elder, “I understand. I’ll return to train now. Farewell.”
At home, Tonan carved a wooden statue of Motoyoshi. He then came to a secret room and spread open the sealed scroll. While browsing through the ninjutsu, he mulled over his future course of action.
Tonan wanted to build a welfare home to adopt Konoha’s orphans and the lonely old people. This way, he could gain their acknowledgment and then, quietly harvest them in secret. He planned to harvest one batch after another in a steady cycle, just like crops.
Orphans would replenish his chakra and spiritual energy, while the old people would provide him with various experiences and ninjutsu. He never expected Konoha’s property price would reach such exaggerated levels that it would bring his plan to a grinding halt.
The guaranteed minimum reward for an S-ranked mission was just one million Ryo. With this as a benchmark, he calculated he needed to perform at least over a hundred S-ranked missions to collect 200 million Ryo.
It looked like he had to shelve this plan for the time being.
……..
In the coming days, Tonan followed Namikaze Minato and Hatake Kakashi to execute some ordinary C-ranked missions. Most of the time though, he either learned new ninjutsu or trained with Kakashi.
Since he was in the golden age of physical development, his strength grew rapidly every day. As for to what extent he had reached, Tonan himself was not sure because he had no target to test his strength. After all, it was not wise to display his true strength in front of Kakashi and the others.
It was also worth noting that Tonan would often encounter Sarutobi Shinnosuke in various places by coincidence. Every time they met, Shinnosuke taught him ninjutsu and inquired about his well-being. Tonan sensed Shinnosuke was intentionally showing goodwill towards him, trying to draw him to his side.
In addition, every time Tonan followed Minato to the Hokage Residence to report mission completions, Hiruzen would mention Shinnosuke by accident or by design. Konoha’s considerate green sprout this and cherishes villagers that and so on. It was like introducing a blind date!
That being the case, Tonan also didn’t resist getting closer to Shinnosuke. Hiruzen was after all still in power. But peaceful days were always short.
On this day, Minato received an emergency alert, and his team gathered at the Hokage Residence again. Hiruzen didn’t take out the mission sheet but explained its content in a solemn tone.
“This is a sub-mission of an S-ranked mission, set to be A-ranked for the time being. Not long ago, there was a coup d’état in the Land of Rivers, which its daimyo suppressed. However, many participants in the coup were wandering ninjas. After the coup failed, they kidnapped Land of Rivers’ Princess Haruka and fled to the Land of Rain. The Land of Rivers’ daimyo was furious and issued an S-ranked rescue mission to Suna, Ame, Iwa, and Konoha, all at the same time.”
“Because of this, the nature of the mission also changed. Whichever village rescues Princess Haruka will prove its ability and success in completing missions. Hatake Sakumo, captain of an Anbu unit, and Aburame Torune, captain of Root, have already set off. I believe with their strength, they will be able to rescue the princess.”
“As for your mission, go to the five towns at the Land of Fire border respectively and stay there as reinforcement. After receiving the hostage, you’ll escort the hostage together from the Land of Fire to the Land of Rivers. In this mission, saving the hostage is the top priority.”
“As for your other two teammates, they are already waiting at the village’s gate. When the time comes, you can just follow their instructions.”
“Yes.”
Team Nine responded in unison and left the Hokage Residence, heading towards the village gate.
