Chapter 34: The Bitter Taste of Duty
Upon hearing Ren Arakawa say he was going to live off a woman, Hiruzen Sarutobi felt his worldview was about to collapse. Since its founding, Konoha had produced many geniuses. Among them were exceptionally talented individuals like Minato Namikaze and Sakumo Hatake. But there had never been anyone as shameless as Ren. Live off a rich woman? How can he even say that?
"This child has exceptional talent, but he is unruly and will not amount to much if he is not tempered and disciplined!" Hiruzen Sarutobi silently evaluated Ren in his mind, then cleared his throat and said, "I happen to have a mission here. Do you want to take it?"
"A mission? Is it just for me?" Upon hearing the word "mission," Ren's eyes lit up.
"Of course not!" Hiruzen Sarutobi said in a serious tone, "This mission was originally intended for an Anbu squad, but I happen to be short-handed, so you can come along!"
Ren was taken aback and said, "An Anbu mission? But I'm not in the Anbu?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi said, "You can follow along as an intern Anbu member first to familiarize yourself with Anbu missions. If you are interested in the Anbu position when you return, we can then discuss training at the Anbu base."
Damn you, old bastard! Looks like you're still not going to let me go! Forget it. Let's solve the problem of food and clothing first. If things don't go well, we can always just run away! Screw you!
Ren silently cursed Hiruzen Sarutobi's ancestors in his heart, but on the surface, he calmly asked, "I wonder what task the Hokage-sama wants me to do?"
"Protect the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki!" Hiruzen Sarutobi picked up his opium pipe, took a couple of puffs, and then said, "The specifics will be explained to you tomorrow. Although this is an internship mission, we can't let our guard down, understand?"
"Can I say no?"
"No."
"Could I know a little about the reward for the mission?"
"No!"
"Then I'll go find a rich woman!"
"Take this, and remember, don't tell anyone..."
"No, unless you give me some more."
"Get out..."
...
After some haggling, Ren ultimately received an advance of 50% of the mission reward from Hiruzen Sarutobi. It had to be said that the reward for this covert mission was really good. He only received 50% of the task reward, but when calculated, it was equivalent to the full reward of several C-rank missions!
After swindling the reward from Hiruzen Sarutobi, Ren hurriedly left the Hokage's office. He originally intended to use the money to buy some household items at a ninja tool shop. As soon as he ran out of the office, he bumped into someone in the hallway. That person was quite strong and actually knocked him back several steps.
"Damn it, are you blind? Didn't you see me, young master...?" Ren raised his head, cursing, but when he saw the old, gloomy face wrapped in bandages in front of him, he swallowed back the words that were about to come out of his mouth. Damn it, it's Danzō, that old schemer! He cursed the other person in his heart!
That's right. The person he had bumped into in the hallway was Shimura Danzō, known in the ninja world as the number one scapegoat and the most cunning old fox.
"You seem to be rushing around the Hokage Building. Is there something urgent you need to take care of?" Danzō had a perpetually expressionless face; anyone who didn't know better would think Ren owed him a lot of money.
"If there's anything urgent, it's not that I don't have one. I haven't pooped since I woke up today, and I was just thinking of going to take a dump. Would you like to come with me, Lord Danzō?" Ren said with a smile. Facing a cunning old fox like Danzō, he knew he had to put on a shameless act, just like Might Guy. Otherwise, it was easy for the other party to target you.
"No need, I don't want to go for the time being." Danzō responded expressionlessly, then continued walking towards the Hokage's office, leaning on his cane.
"Phew~ I've finally gotten rid of that cunning old man!" Seeing Danzō leave, Ren couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. In the ninja world, being targeted by this cunning old fox was definitely not a good thing!
[Uchiha Shisui: Danzō... that bastard!]
At this moment, Uchiha Shisui, who had been lurking in the live stream, suddenly jumped out!
[Tobirama Senju: Hmm? Uchiha brat, why are you suddenly insulting my disciple?]
[Uchiha Shisui: Replying to the Second Hokage, I was dutiful to the village back then, even at the cost of my own clan's interests, but this old schemer secretly attacked me. Not only did he severely injure me, but he also stole my Mangekyō Sharingan!]
[Tobirama Senju: What did you say? My disciple would steal the Sharingan from your Uchiha clan?]
The Second Hokage clearly couldn't believe that his disciple would do such a thing!
[Uchiha Shisui: If I'm not mistaken, the eye under the bandage on Danzō's left eye is my Sharingan!]
[Uchiha Fugaku: Shisui, so you were killed by Danzō back then. It seems everyone misunderstood Itachi; we thought he killed you.]
[Uchiha Shisui: Clan leader, I jumped into the Naka River to commit suicide for the sake of the village's stability. However, before jumping into the river, I met with Itachi and entrusted him with my other Mangekyō Sharingan, imbued with Kotoamatsukami.]
[Uchiha Fugaku: I see. It must have been tough for you and Itachi because of the conflict between the village and the Uchiha clan.]
[Uchiha Shisui: Clan leader, please don't say that. The entire burden rests on Itachi's shoulders. He carries far more than I do.]
[Uchiha Fugaku: Sigh~ Itachi, that child, loved sweets since he was little, but I never imagined he would suffer so much as an adult. As his father, I am truly ashamed!]
[Uchiha Mikoto: The father of my child...]