Chapter 55: Single Dogs
"Wow... is that ninjutsu? It's so magical!"
"Look, they've split into several people! Are they training?"
"If I knew that jutsu, that would be awesome! No, if my wife knew that jutsu, that would be even more awesome for me."
"Hehehehehe."
A knowing laughter, understood by all the men, spread through the caravan. Ito, afraid that his guards' lewdness would offend the young ninjas, lifted the curtain of his carriage and roared, "What are you all shouting about?! Do your work quietly!" The caravan immediately fell silent.
Ito looked at the young ninjas who were training and couldn't help but sigh with emotion. "Lord Senju Tobirama's disciples are truly hardworking, to be training ninjutsu even while walking."
Tobirama also nodded. "To become an excellent ninja, diligent training is a must. But please rest assured, only their shadow clones are training. Their main bodies are still on alert."
Ito laughed heartily. "I'm not worried about safety. Who would dare to attack a Konoha ninja within the borders of the Land of Fire? Not to mention, with Lord Senju Tobirama himself present, how could I be worried about safety?"
A few hours later, the sky gradually darkened. The group prepared to find a nearby river to camp and rest for the night.
Sarutobi Hiruzen formed hand seals and slammed his palms on the ground. "Earth Style: Mud Wall!"
Several earthen walls rose from the ground and joined together, forming a simple house. The members of the caravan who were setting up tents watched with wide eyes.
No wonder everyone wants to learn ninjutsu. It's so convenient!
Ito, snapping out of his daze from seeing the house rise from the ground, saw his men still staring blankly and roared, "What are you all staring at?! Hurry up and set up the tents! Do you want to sleep in the open?!"
The caravan members immediately came to their senses. Working together, they quickly set up the tents and prepared to cook.
Seeing that the food was almost ready, Ito ran to Tobirama's side. "Lord Tobirama, please come and eat with us."
Tobirama looked at the caravan's food, which looked like pig slop, and instantly lost his appetite. "No, thank you. When we ninjas are out on a mission, we cannot eat food prepared by others. My apologies."
"I see. Then I won't disturb you, Lord Tobirama." Ito retreated.
A short while later, Yamamoto Ryusei and his teammates returned from hunting. They had caught a wild boar that was two meters long and over a meter tall in the forest. Akimichi Torifu carried it back by himself, while the others had gathered some firewood, wild vegetables, and mushrooms.
Torifu ran to the river by himself to butcher the pig. Ryusei said to Uchiha Kagami, "Kagami, take out the things."
Kagami took a scroll from his bag, opened it on the ground, and after releasing the seal, a collection of pots, pans, bowls, and seasonings like oil, rice, salt, and vinegar appeared.
During their last mission, they had eaten grilled meat or fish for basically three meals a day. Although it was delicious, they couldn't stand eating it every day, for every meal. So, they had all agreed to pool their money to buy a storage scroll to keep tableware, cookware, and food inside.
Torifu carried the butchered and cleaned wild boar back, threw it on a rock, and Ryusei created several shadow clones to start cooking.
Half an hour later, Ryusei had used half the pork to make a large piece of honey-roasted meat, stir-fried a few vegetable dishes, and made a wild vegetable soup. He planned to seal the other half of the pork into the storage scroll to use the next day.
"It smells so good!" The people in the caravan, although they had already eaten, felt hungry again just from smelling the aroma.
Ryusei and the others sat down to eat. Turning his head, he saw that everyone in the caravan was staring at them. He exchanged a glance with his teammates and said, "Uncle Ito, why don't you come and eat with us? And tell everyone to come and take the half of the pork we didn't use and grill it for themselves."
"Alright! Bring out our wine!" Ito didn't stand on ceremony. He immediately had his men take the other half of the pork and came over with a jug of wine.
Ito sat down, took the bowl and chopsticks Komiya Yuki handed him, said his thanks, and then said to Tobirama, "Lord Senju Tobirama, how about we have a few drinks?" Seeing that Ryusei and the others were all minors, he didn't ask them.
Tobirama refused directly. "No drinking during a mission."
Hearing this, Ito didn't drink either and began to taste Ryusei's cooking.
"Delicious!" Ito was instantly conquered by the food. "This dish tastes so good! The only thing that can compare is the food from the newly opened 'Konoha Hotel' in the capital of the Land of Fire."
The 'Konoha Hotel' was the restaurant chain opened with the investment of all the ninja clans of Konoha plus the Daimyo, under Ryusei's proposal. The moment the store opened, it caused a sensation and quickly became a hit, directly becoming the most high-end hotel in the Land of Fire. Even the Daimyo held his banquets there.
Ito ate for a good while before stopping to catch his breath. Taking this opportunity, Ryusei asked, "Uncle Ito, do you know where in the Land of Artisans I can buy the best chakra metal?"
Ito shook his head. "You won't be able to buy the best chakra metal. Basically, the moment it's produced, it's bought up by the blacksmiths of the Land of Artisans. Only the second-best chakra metal is available on the market, but it's good enough for making weapons."
Ryusei wanted to forge a divine weapon comparable to a Kusanagi sword, so of course, he didn't want to settle. "Is there nowhere else that sells it?"
Ito thought for a moment. "There is one family that has a lot of top-grade chakra metal. They own the mines. Because of this, they're not short on money, so ordinary people can't buy from them. Unless you're an acquaintance."
Ryusei nodded. He would go to their house first and try to buy it with money. If they wouldn't sell... well, there was a saying about forcing a sale. By the time he came back to his senses, a third of the honey-roasted pork had already been eaten by Akimichi Torifu. "Wait, Torifu, leave some for me!"
Tobirama seemed to have seen through Ryusei's thoughts, but he just smiled slightly and said nothing.
Half an hour later, after they had finished eating, the group lay on the grass, looking at the stars. Ito and Tobirama were drinking tea off to the side. Shimura Danzo looked at Ryusei and Torifu and said, "Ryusei, why do you eat more than Torifu but are still thinner than him?"
Torifu also stared intently at Ryusei's face, clearly wanting to know the answer.
"It's probably because my exercise volume is large," Ryusei said with uncertainty. In truth, he didn't know why his appetite was getting bigger and bigger either. It was probably because of that chakra nourishment; his body was getting stronger and more agile, and his appetite was growing along with it.
"It's probably because of his constitution," Uchiha Kagami interjected. "Everything Ryusei eats is converted into his own physical strength. Everything Torifu eats is converted into fat."
"That's right." As the Sarutobi clan had the closest relationship with the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, they had the most right to speak on this. "The Akimichi clan's secret technique is to store chakra through fat and then release it in times of crisis. Especially when they use the Butterfly Mode, that's when they're really cool."
Hearing Hiruzen praise him, Akimichi Torifu smiled with some embarrassment.
After chatting for half an hour, the group assigned their night watch shifts and went to rest.
At night, Ryusei and Yuki were on watch. Ryusei looked at Yuki's sullen face in the firelight and said, "Yuki, is something bothering you? Tell me about it."
Yuki was silent for a long time before saying, "Ryusei, am I particularly stupid?"
Ryusei was puzzled. "How could that be? What makes you think you're stupid?"
Yuki said with some dejection, "But my strength is the weakest! I'm the only one in the team holding everyone back. I couldn't help at all in the last battle."
Ryusei hugged Yuki. "Of course you're outstanding. After all, you passed the early assessment and became a disciple of Teacher Hashirama and Teacher Tobirama. But Hiruzen and the others are different. They are all young masters from prestigious clans. Their starting points are higher than ours."
Yuki nestled in Ryusei's arms and pouted. "But you're a commoner just like me, yet you're so strong."
Ryusei thought for a moment. "It's different. From the beginning, I had Teacher Hashirama, Teacher Tobirama, and Teacher Madara to guide me. Strictly speaking, I'm not a commoner."
After thinking carefully, Yuki said, "Ryusei, after this mission is over, I want to ask Lady Mito to be my teacher. What do you think?"
Ryusei nodded in agreement. "That's great. After all, Lady Mito is so powerful."
Yuki looked troubled. "But what if Lady Mito doesn't accept me?"
"Don't worry," Ryusei said, patting her shoulder. "We'll go together. I guarantee Lady Mito will accept you."
"Mm-hmm." Yuki hugged Ryusei. "Ryusei, you're so good to me."
Ryusei looked at Yuki's face in the firelight and couldn't help but want to kiss her. Just as he was slowly leaning in and Yuki had already closed her eyes, just as he was about to kiss her cheek, a coughing sound came from nearby.
"Ahem. Time to change shifts." Sarutobi Hiruzen emerged from the simple house with a lecherous grin, followed by a motherly-smiling Shimura Danzo. Yuki covered her already bright red face and ran back to her room in a flash.
"SARUTOBI HIRUZEN!" Ryusei shouted through gritted teeth. He rushed up, grabbed him by the collar, and said, "Couldn't you have come a few minutes later?!"
Hiruzen chuckled. "But it's time for the shift change. I can't take advantage of you, can I?"
"Hmph..." Ryusei let go of Hiruzen and went back to rest.
Shimura Danzo rolled his eyes at Hiruzen. "I told you not to come out. Now you've ruined the good show for me."
Hiruzen said indignantly, "Watching a show? More like being fed dog food. Damn it, I'm so jealous that Ryusei has a girlfriend, unlike us two single dogs eating dog food here."
"Hey, hey, hey! If you want to curse yourself, don't drag me into it," Danzo said, annoyed. "I just don't want to find someone. If I wanted to, with my handsome looks, I could find a girlfriend in a few days. But you're so creepy, you'll probably be a single dog for the rest of your life."
Hearing this, Hiruzen shot Danzo a fierce glare, thinking, One day, I'll beat your handsome face until it's bruised and swollen like a pig's head.
Hehehe. Hiruzen couldn't help but laugh at the thought of Danzo's face beaten like a pig's head. The laugh made Danzo's skin crawl. Has Hiruzen gone stupid? It seems I can't call him ugly anymore. His mental fortitude is too weak.