Chapter 244: Talking Business
"Elder Masahiko, didn't you say cost price?" Hiruzen looked anxious.
Masahiko kept a deadpan expression. "The cost has increased, and this also includes my mental compensation fee."
"Meow?" The fat cat finally got tired of biting and began to act spoiled, rubbing its big fat face against his foot, asking for food.
"Eat, eat yourself to death." Masahiko gritted his teeth inwardly, but dried fish still appeared in his hand. Ever since he got this cat, he had stored an entire scroll full of dried fish, enough for it to eat until the end of its days.
Hiruzen watched Masahiko start feeding the cat. He exchanged a glance with Danzo, not knowing what to say.
"One bite for you, one bite for me, one bite for me..." Mentally breaking down, Masahiko started snatching the dried fish back from the fat cat.
Hiruzen shuddered and hurriedly said, "This price is fine, it is perfectly fine."
Masahiko sighed. "Treat that tree as a free gift. Send the money to me later."
Saying so, he waved his hand, picked up the reluctant fat cat, turned, and left. He didn't want the tree either. As for the spatial nodes... he could just jump around for fun when he had nothing to do. He had plenty of time and would figure it out eventually.
"Ever since I got Space Ninjutsu, I feel like my whole being is unwell. Is this what I've been looking forward to?" Masahiko lamented.
"I should master the Space Ninjutsu first, and teach Nagato Dust Release along the way, to see if he can learn it!" Masahiko took several turns and returned to the Senju clan grounds. His four disciples were waiting for him.
"Teacher, did Kushina return to the clan?" Nanako asked.
Masahiko paused, just remembering he hadn't told her the news.
"With you guys away, Yoriko is the only one in the clan. I was a bit worried, so I had Kushina go back to keep an eye on things."
"Then I will go back too, Teacher." Nanako, ever the doting grandmother, spoke decisively.
Masahiko nodded and looked at Kento.
"I'm going to find Guy."
Masahiko was startled. "Guy didn't go to the battlefield?"
Kento shook his head. "From their graduating class, only Kakashi went to the battlefield. The others didn't go. But Dai went. Guy should be training on his own right now."
"I see. Go ahead."
Masahiko wasn't too surprised to hear this. He hadn't seen any children under twelve on the battlefield; they probably didn't go. Kakashi was an exception, of course.
"Obito is probably furious. He must be training desperately somewhere right now."
The two older disciples left, leaving only the two young disciples in front of Masahiko.
Nagato looked expectant, while Konan looked envious.
Just as Masahiko was about to speak, a faint snoring sound came from his arms. The fat cat had fallen asleep again.
"Sleeping right after eating, what a blissful life."
Masahiko was full of envy and jealousy. He formed a spike out of Wind chakra and poked its butt.
"Meow!" With a miserable shriek, the fat cat jumped right out.
Only then did Masahiko smile in satisfaction. He directly stored it back into the Bagua Space, letting it rebel inside as much as it wanted.
The two disciples witnessed the fat cat being ravaged by their teacher. They dared to be angry but didn't dare to speak.
"Nagato, I will now teach you Dust Release."
Nagato revealed a look of pleasant surprise. "Which training ground are we going to?"
Masahiko shook his head. "No need to go to any training ground, right here is fine."
"Dust Release is a Kekkei Tota that surpasses Kekkei Genkai. It is formed by fusing the nature transformations of Wind, Earth, and Fire attributes... Well, the point is it's very powerful."
"First, you need to practice the nature transformations of the Wind, Earth, and Fire attributes. You have no problem with Earth and Fire, but your Wind attribute needs strengthening."
Because the Rasenshuriken would harm both the user and the enemy before learning Senjutsu, Masahiko still hadn't taught it to Nagato.
Pondering for a moment, he suddenly had an idea. "Did you see how I poked the fat cat just now? Just practice like that, do you understand?"
"Yo!"
"As long as you understand." Masahiko kept a deadpan face, cursing Killer B's ancestors to the eighteenth generation in his heart.
"Teacher, what's next?"
This question made Masahiko's face stiffen. He didn't know what to do next either.
"Then you connect the three attributes into a triangle, and that's it."
Nagato wore a "Killer B question mark face." How to connect? How to practice?
Masahiko sighed and patted Nagato's shoulder. "Work hard, brat! Konan, you are responsible for supervising his training!"
Afraid that Nagato would press for more details, Masahiko turned and left. Although he had used Dust Release for so many years, it was entirely the system's credit. He still didn't really know the principles of Dust Release himself.
"It's fine, Nagato is highly talented." Masahiko comforted himself like this.
With his disciples settled, Masahiko made a trip to Nawaki's house.
Ever since Itachi was born, Masahiko had been delayed by various things and didn't have much time to visit him.
"Elder Masahiko." Mikoto, holding Itachi in her arms, nodded in greeting.
"Just like Nawaki, call me Great-Great-Grandpa. No need to be so polite."
Masahiko was fairly familiar with Mikoto, being a plot character, but Mikoto had only seen Masahiko a few times from start to finish.
"Oh, you still kept this carving?"
It had been a long time since he visited Nawaki's house. He didn't expect the carving he made for their wedding to still be there.
Before Mikoto could answer, the baby in her hands was taken by Masahiko into his arms. But the moment Masahiko took him, the sleeping Itachi started to show off his vocal cords.
Looking awkward and without time to look closely, Masahiko handed him back to Mikoto.
Watching Mikoto coax the baby, Masahiko felt helpless. Itachi was still too young, just past seven months old. No matter how much of a genius he was, he couldn't possibly walk, run, or talk yet.
While coaxing the baby, Mikoto looked at Masahiko apologetically. "Great-Great-Grandpa, Itachi hasn't really seen strangers."
"Take him out for a walk on the streets sometimes. You aren't worried your clan will come and snatch the child, are you? Don't worry, they wouldn't dare."
Mikoto smiled embarrassedly. She was indeed a bit worried. Her second grandpa, being older and not on the battlefield, would come over to look at Itachi whenever he was free, eager for a chance to snatch him away.
Seeing it took a long while for Itachi to quiet down, Masahiko cursed inwardly, "It must be the smell of that damn fat cat that scared the kid. When I held Tsunade and Kushina in the past, they were very well-behaved!"
In the space, the fat cat, who had fallen asleep again, sneezed, scratched its face with its hind paw, and continued sleeping...
The child was still too young to show any extraordinary traits, so Masahiko could only leave helplessly. He told Mikoto to make sure to inform him when Itachi could call "Mom," and he would come visit again.
With everything arranged, Masahiko transformed back into Hagoromo's appearance and went to Ichiraku Ramen to say hello to Sara.
During this time, Sara had successfully become the "head chef." The taste of the ramen she made was basically indistinguishable from Teuchi's. After all, she had been learning for over a year.
Life returned to peace. Masahiko went back to the Taobao Shop to devote himself to studying Space Ninjutsu. It wasn't until three days later that Hiruzen found him.
"Did we win the war?" It had been so long with no news from the Land of Rain, making Masahiko a bit puzzled.
Hiruzen shook his head. "The Rock Village has entered the war. I came to discuss a business deal with you. I want to buy the Rock Village's weapons and provisions. The price is negotiable."
Masahiko: "..."
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