Chapter 98 What kind of black businessman is that? He is a kind person

What Black-Hearted Merchant? That's a Great Philanthropist!

This guy...

Naruto raised an eyebrow, seeing the somewhat arrogant, drunken old man.

Tazuna, Land of Waves, Zabuza Momochi—the gears of fate began to turn.

The new Seventh Team still accepted the escort mission assigned by Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Although the mission rank was C, the remuneration was not much because it did not involve Ninja.

Setting aside time costs and travel expenses, and then splitting the payment between the instructor and the Seventh Team members, there wasn't much money left in the end.

Naruto opened his frog wallet and rummaged through it, finding only a few silver coins, and couldn't help but sigh, feeling like he was still toiling like an ox and horse despite being reborn twice.

Although Naruto received aid from the Third Hokage for his daily life, food, drink, and general expenses were not an issue, becoming immensely wealthy was clearly impossible.

In the Goblin Slayer World, Naruto had basically achieved financial freedom, but in Konoha Village, Naruto was not much above the poverty line.

"Now, the opportunity to get rich has arrived."

"I remember Gato from the Land of Waves; he was a big fat sheep, wasn't he?"

Gato was ostensibly the president of a shipping company, one of the world's few extremely wealthy individuals.

In reality, he committed all sorts of evil deeds behind the scenes, using the mafia and Ninja to smuggle drugs and contraband.

This C-rank escort mission, in its essence, also originated because of Gato.

Gato wanted to use his financial power and violence to control all maritime transport in the Land of Waves.

For an island nation like the Land of Waves, controlling the maritime transportation lifeline meant controlling all of the country's wealth, politics, people, and everything else.

However, as soon as the bridge in the Land of Waves was completed, his plan would fall through.

Therefore, Gato hired Zabuza Momochi and other Ninja to assassinate Tazuna, the engineer responsible for building this bridge.

To others, Gato was undoubtedly a complete black-hearted merchant.

But to Naruto, who had no money in his pocket, what black-hearted merchant? That was a great philanthropist!

After packing their bags and stuffing miscellaneous items into a sealing scroll, Kurenai Yuhi led the Seventh Team on their way.

They walked out of Konoha Village's main gate.

Naruto, Hinata, Ino Yamanaka, and the others all turned their heads to look back simultaneously.

Konoha Village's gate was as massive and grand as an ancient city gate, with the iconic Konoha symbol imprinted on the stone header, and the character for 'Ninja' written on both sides.

And the city walls surrounding the Village were even more magnificent, with a series of vermilion 'Kai' character torii gates inserted outside.

Naruto knew that, in reality, the entire Konoha Village was enveloped by a massive sensory barrier, where even a single fly flying in would be immediately tracked.

Even a powerful figure like Pain had to use one of his Six Paths clones to actively expose himself to attract attention when facing the sensory barrier that enveloped Konoha Village like a dome.

Uchiha Itachi, however, entered openly through the main gate.

"Hahahaha, this is your first time leaving the Village, isn't it?"

"It's alright, you'll have plenty more opportunities to leave the Village in the future. Most high-level missions require leaving the Village."

Seeing this, Kurenai-sensei couldn't help but say with a smile,

"Tch, a bunch of brats. Are you really Ninja? Can you protect me?"

Tazuna habitually lowered his head, letting his oval glasses slide down so he could look at people between the frames and his brow bone, then he raised his head and took another swig of sake.

"Hey, drunken old man, who are you looking down on?!" Ino Yamanaka put one hand on her hip, pointed at Tazuna with the other, her apricot eyes wide with anger.

Tazuna said calmly, "Then prove yourself. Escort me safely to the Land of Waves."

"Who wants to escort you to the Land of Waves? You're so arrogant! Damn it, I'm going to hit him with a Mind Body Switch Technique!!"

Ino Yamanaka was ignited by Tazuna's pretentious and condescending attitude, her high ponytail swaying wildly behind her head in anger.

If Naruto and Hinata hadn't timely grabbed her arms, one on each side, Ino Yamanaka would have used the Mind Body Switch Technique on Tazuna.

"Ino, calm down, please calm down."

"Did you forget what we learned at the Ninja Academy? You must be calm."

Hinata advised softly.

"Hinata, let go of me! I'm going to kick this drunken old man flying."

Ino Yamanaka's eyes were as wide as copper bells, her petite body suspended in mid-air, her feet kicking the air a few times.

Naruto calmly advised, "Alright, he's just a client. After the mission is complete, we go our separate ways and don't bother each other. We might not even see him again in this lifetime, so why bother caring about him?"

"Hmph—you're right."

Ino Yamanaka actually listened to Naruto's words, her anger mostly subsided. She crossed her arms and turned her head with a light hmph, intending to ignore Tazuna for the rest of the journey.

Tazuna, however, looked indifferent.

He only needed to be escorted alive back to the Land of Waves by the Seventh Team.

"I didn't expect you, a young brat, to be quite insightful."

Tazuna looked at Naruto with some surprise.

In Tazuna's eyes, people were like bridges, and bridges were like people. He could tell what kind of bridge and what kind of person they were at a glance.

But unexpectedly, Tazuna misjudged Naruto.

Naruto was too lazy to bother with Tazuna.

He was only thinking about Gato, that big fat sheep.

"Clap, clap."

Kurenai-sensei clapped her hands and said, "Alright, everyone, stop arguing. Let's get going. Considering Mr. Tazuna's walking speed, it will take us many days to walk to the Land of Waves."

The group left Konoha Village and headed for the Land of Waves.

Not long after they started walking, Naruto suddenly said to Hinata, "Hinata, activate your Byakugan. You're responsible for scouting the surrounding environment to prevent Ninja ambushes."

Kurenai-sensei put her hands on her hips and said with a smile, "Naruto, what are you afraid of? C-rank missions don't involve Ninja."

Naruto gave Tazuna a deep, meaningful look and said, "I'm just afraid someone might deliberately conceal information and not tell us the truth."

"Pfft—"

"Cough, cough, cough!"

Tazuna, who had just taken a sip of sake, spat it out.

He coughed, raised his hand to wipe his mouth and beard, and awkwardly turned his head to look elsewhere.

Kurenai Yuhi also noticed that Tazuna might be hiding something, and her brows furrowed.

But she still chose to temporarily trust the client, explaining, "The Land of Waves is a small country without Ninja. We'll just escort Tazuna and leave. We shouldn't encounter any Ninja."

Naruto thought to himself, "In the original story, Kakashi faced Zabuza Momochi. Now it's Kurenai-sensei. Will she be a match for Zabuza Momochi?"

Zabuza Momochi suffered from appearing too early; otherwise, with his strength, he wouldn't have become known as the Jonin's disgrace.

If it came to a fight with Kurenai Yuhi, Naruto didn't think Kurenai Yuhi had a very high chance of winning.

Hinata activated her Byakugan, blue veins bulging near her temples. Her vision instantly expanded, extending through layers of ancient trees, ignoring the lush foliage, and covering the entire forest for several kilometers around.

Soon, she noticed two suspicious Ninja.

They were ambushed on the only path from Konoha Village to the Land of Waves, creating a puddle on the dry, yellow ground and hiding within it.

"6..."

Hinata saw all of this clearly and then relayed it to Naruto, Kurenai Yuhi, and Ino Yamanaka.

The Demon Brothers, assassins sent by Gato.

"According to your description, they seem to be Ninja from the Hidden Mist Village."

Kurenai Yuhi's heroic and refreshing face immediately became covered in frost, her wine-red eyes sharpened, and she stared directly at the drunken old man: "Don't you want to explain, Mr. Tazuna?!"

"Don't tell me this is all just a coincidence."

That powerful aura, only possessed by Jonin, was far beyond what ordinary people could compare to.

Tazuna took half a step back, his eyes twitching, and fine cold sweat breaking out on his forehead.

After all, he was just an ordinary person.