For a moment, Minato Namikaze really felt that he was hallucinating.
——Perhaps Ms. Ugetsu meant, is there anyone who wants to go on the investigation together?
"Ms. Ugetsu just mentioned escort...right?"
"That's right."
Ugetsu nodded, confirming Minato Namikaze's question.
Namikaze Minato: “…”
This is...
For a moment, the blond young man didn't know what expression he should use to face it.
Escort the Uchiha, escort the Sannin...
Then your word "escort" is very spiritual.
For a moment, Minato Namikaze didn't know whether he should explain that these people did not need an escort.
I'd better start by complaining 'Why would anyone want to hire ninjas to escort these people'.
This sounds just like saying to other small animals, "It's too dangerous for tigers/lions to go out alone, let's protect them." Anyone with a normal mind would probably be filled with question marks when hearing this request.
After all, this is really a commission whose meaning is completely unclear.
"I know you may think that this team doesn't need to be escorted, but being able to fight doesn't mean we have to fight. If they still need to do everything along the way, then what's the difference between this vacation and work?"
You can't say that just because you are a driver, it means you have to drive if you sign up for a group tour, right?
Yu Yue said righteously.
"Since it's called a 'vacation tour', then of course everything should be arranged according to the standards of a 'vacation'. Besides, no one has ever said that a powerful ninja must not accept the escort of other ninjas, right?"
“This is stereotype and occupational discrimination.”
——Of course not, after all, Ying still has guards.
You can't say that Shadow needs protection because he's too weak, right?
But if it were other ninjas, most people wouldn’t think so.
"Ninjas also have the right to travel and relax, and not work!"
Now that things have come to this.
How could Minato Namikaze refuse?
There are legitimate reasons for the commission, and the reward for the task is sufficient - the next headache is how to choose the people and who to choose.
Of course this is also the biggest problem.
Let’s not talk about whether those people need escort (in terms of military strength) or not.
Just say this protection
The people to be sent - he certainly couldn't just send some ordinary Genin and Chunin.
But when it comes to the jonin - eight out of ten of the escorts are stronger than himself, and if there is any disturbance, he would be the last one to notice it.
It is even possible that the other party killed the person before the seal was completed on your side.
How embarrassing is that?
Let’s not talk about whether or not there is dereliction of duty.
Just talking about the personal blow, it is not something that ordinary people can bear.
Just think about it, every day along the way there are people hitting you in the very things that you are most proud of.
I have to remind you every day that your most proud insight and fighting ability are actually nothing...
Not everyone can bear this.
So this person has to be carefully selected.
...No matter what, you can't let people go out and come back crippled, right?
Oh, what a dilemma.
It's so difficult.
Meanwhile, at the Yuyue Store, people are immersed in the joy of traveling.
Although everyone is dissatisfied with their current work and life.
But who wouldn’t look forward to traveling far away to a completely different country?
Just by looking at how excited those people are who come to Konoha to play, you can tell how joyful traveling is.
In the past, I always saw others happy, but I never expected that this happiness would come to me now.
Moreover, Miss Yu Yue said that she had arranged all matters related to the journey, and he only needed to bring the personal luggage he needed.
——How can there be such a happy journey in the world!
Among them, the one who was most accepting and positive was probably Jiraiya.
Although it was a little different from what he had imagined, with all the wine and women... no, it was a hot spring trip full of scenic spots.
But it’s okay, it’s not a big problem.
After all, it’s a country of water, so there are beaches!
Beach! Sunbathing! Bikini!
That's not the same as just wine and meat... a brand new place to get the material!
Delicious, delicious.
As he daydreamed, he kept stuffing his bag with things he thought he would need.
For example, must-haves for the beach, must-haves for the beach, and must-haves for the beach...
"Why did you bring a women's swimsuit?"
A suspicious and threatening female voice sounded.
From
He said without even thinking:
"Of course I wear it."
Are you kidding? Swimsuits are meant to be worn by people. Are they meant to be displayed for viewing?
"You wear it?"
"How is it possible, I'm alone... Tsunade?"
Halfway through his words, Jiraiya finally noticed the figure with the word "danger" written all over his body.
"Hey... why are you here?"
He tried to change the subject.
"How is your lab arrangement going? There are so many things in the lab, I'm afraid it's hard to arrange."
"Then you don't need to bother."
Tsunade, however, had no intention of changing the subject.
"So, who are you planning to give all those women's swimsuits to?"
Of course it's you, Tsunade, Ms. Yukino, Ms. Yakushi Nono, and the other female employees of Ugetsu store.
——But I can’t say this in front of Tsunade.
After all, he still wants to live to see tomorrow's sun.
“Just… in case someone forgets to bring their stuff, right? Ahahaha, ahahahaha…”
Jiraiya quickly collected everything he could see, and then played dumb in front of Tsunade.
Tsunade snorted coldly and gave the other person a look that said 'Do you think I'm a fool?'
Then, she walked towards Jiraiya step by step.
Every step he took seemed to be stepping on Jiraiya's heart.
Jiraiya: "Wait a minute Tsunade, please tell me if you have something to say - Aaaaaaa!"
A wailing sound was heard in a corner of Konoha late at night.
But since it was not the first time, people around him had become accustomed to it.
It didn't cause any commotion.
After throwing a big problem to the Hokage, Ugetsu cleaned up the mess himself.
Although it’s not the first time traveling.
But 'vacation mode' is a first.
Moreover, it was the Water Kingdom that she had always been looking forward to - this was the place where several VVVVIP big customers were born.
Even if there is no gold everywhere, there should be endless business opportunities.
"Ms. Ugetsu is looking forward to it."
Seeing Yu Yue collecting this and touching that, obviously in a good mood, Uchiha Shisui couldn't help but smile and said.
"Yeah, it's the Water Country after all."
They are all famous and wealthy people
The Water Kingdom is extremely wealthy.
And it is specifically named after water, so it should be a world full of water customs.
Yu Yue was really curious about this place.
After all, this is the only ninja village that rejected me.
Although she still doesn't understand why the Hidden Mist Village had the confidence to reject her back then.
——I hope we can find out the truth this time.
Although the doubts of the past are no longer so important now.
But Ugetsu still really wanted to know the answer to this mystery from the past.
"The Water Country?"
"It's just a fat...water country with a lot of big customers."
Yu Yue counted on her fingers.
"The beach and coastline offer opportunities for sea fishing, cruise ship patty, diving... there are so many fun activities to do no matter how you think about it."
"I was in such a rush last time that I didn't get to experience anything. It's rare that someone would come to visit me, so I must have fun this time."
Uchiha Shisui: ...
Then he felt that 'that water country' might be different from what Miss Ugetsu imagined.
At least that's Uchiha Shisui's impression.
There may not be so many "entertainment projects" in the Water Kingdom.
But there are definitely projects that are related to blood.
In particular, the Water Kingdom has always been closed and strict.
In the past few years, the defeat was blamed on the bloodline limit holders.
At one point, there was a frenzy in the Water Country to purge the owners of Kekkei Genkai.
If Miss Uzuki had not asked Jiraiya-sama to publish "Young Heroes", which also wrote a lot about bloodline limits, and if it weren't for the activity of searching for bloodline limit owners, all the bloodline limit owners in the Water Country (except those in the Hidden Mist Village) would probably have died out.
——Just like what happened to Ms. Yukino and Shiro.
But there is no need to tell Miss Yu Yue about this bloody and desperate story.
The boy thought.
I guess the people in the Water Country wouldn't put this side of them in front of Miss Ugetsuki.
Since you won't experience it, there's no need to spoil the fun by talking about it.
The young man thought of this and smiled again.
"There are so many ways to play? It's really exciting."
"Yeah, I'm really looking forward to it."
Because it's 'tourism'.
Rainy Moon is special
Several horse-drawn carriages were rented for transportation, and one of them was used specifically as a luggage cart.
This scale can be called a medium-sized business group, let alone a "tourism" group.
Hatake Kakashi watched from afar and was stunned.
Although he knew that Miss Yu Yue's trip would cause a lot of noise, this was too...
Rather than traveling, it is more like 'moving' or 'caravan shipping'.
"Oh! Kakashi!"
Might Guy, with a look of anticipation and excitement on his face, seemed to have a radar installed on him and he could immediately spot Hatake Kakashi far behind the crowd.
"Are you traveling here too? No, you're not an employee of Ugetsu Store anymore..." The boy with the pot-cut hair scratched his head in confusion, and then a light bulb went off in his mind, and he slammed his hand, "I understand! You're the ninja who came to escort us! Right!"
Hatake Kakashi: “…” Although that’s indeed the case.
But there's no need to say it so loudly.
Hatake Kakashi had mixed feelings.
Although I don't feel envious or angry when I see my 'old boss going out to play'.
After all, this is his own choice and he will not regret it.
But all my former companions went out to have fun, but I have to run around for them... I don’t know how to describe the feeling.
However, Might Guy was unable to detect the other party's complex and indescribable mood changes, and just patted Kakashi's shoulders generously.
"Great, we can work together again!"
"It's a rare opportunity, and I can have a few more!"
——Forget it then.
Whether it's personal or professional, it's weird, right?
How can there be a competition between an 'employer' and an 'employee'?
So who will do all the work along the way?
You can't say that when one of the employers is in real danger, he rushes out and calls out to the employees behind him, "Come on, let's compete to see who can defeat more enemies!"
It doesn't sound right anyway.
Hatake Kakashi said nothing.
Might Guy took it for granted and thought that he agreed.
Not only did he agree, he also called out to Daisuke:
"Daisuke! Kakashi wants to compete with me! You will be the referee then!"
After so many years of nurturing and subtle influence, Daisuke no longer considers himself an outsider.
"Okay, no problem!"
Not only did he agree, he also had a look of surprise and nostalgia on his face:
"It's been a long time since I've seen you two competing and fighting together."
So you miss it quite a bit?
How to say it.
Speaking of the "volume".
If several top employees of Yu Yue Store dare to claim to be second, then no one dares to claim to be first.
In addition to Hatake Kakashi, there are many other familiar faces among the escorts.
For example, Genma Shiranui, Leidoh Bizu, and... Asuma Sarutobi.
In addition to being avid fans of "Young Heroes", the first two are also the guards of the newly-minted Fourth Hokage.
Although it stands to reason that the Hokage's guards should not easily leave Konoha or act alone without the Hokage.
But this time is an exception.
In order to express that he attached great importance to this "commission", the Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze sent out the two of them.
Although he may not be as strong as the 'employers' who need escorts, his status as a 'Hokage guard' is enough.
In addition, there is another very special person.
The man wearing small black sunglasses and a hooded cloak that hides most of his body is called Aburame Ryoma.
In addition to being a member of the famous 'Aburame Clan', he also has another identity, that is, he was once a member of the 'Root' ruled by Danzo.
As an elite of the root, his strength is unquestionable.
Just because of Danzo's actions, the status of the Root Ninjas became increasingly embarrassing.
The reason why he was included in the guard team this time.
In addition to being a sign of importance, it is also a new 'signal' to the Root Ninjas to put them at ease.
After all, the direct leader is gone (because he made a serious mistake), so it is inevitable that people at the top are in panic.
Minato Namikaze hoped that through this action, the Root ninjas would understand that they were not abandoned and were not excluded from Konoha's work.
Aburame Ryoma also understands that his work this time is of great significance.
So he also put 120% of his energy into preparation.
Trying to make sure there are no problems with this mission... and also prove the strength of the Root Ninjas.
I hope to get a few more chips for my fellow root members.
Aburame Ryoma is not a talkative person.
His long career as a ninja also made him accustomed to hiding in the shadows.
Shadow, a way of life that is not discovered by others.
So it’s a bit unfair to say this.
...But in fact, deep down he hoped that something would happen on the way so that he could prove himself.
Of course, this dark idea is also based on absolute strength.
Aburame Ryoma looked at the object of this escort and the ninjas who were participating in the escort.
Not to mention dealing with the battle.
It is enough to attack some small and medium-sized ninja villages.
Aburame Ryoma even had some admiration for the Hidden Mist Village.
He actually had the courage to entertain ninjas of such standard and number at once. Apart from anything else, this broad-mindedness was worthy of his status as one of the five major ninja villages.
It's really admirable.
——Of course, what he didn’t know was that the people in the Hidden Mist Village were already in chaos because of the information provided by Ugetsu.
"We know that they came to the Land of Water and the Hidden Mist Village for inspection. I don't know if you think they came to attack the Hidden Mist Village!"
The elders of the Hidden Mist Village were all numb.
Look at who these people are.
Two of the 'Three Ninjas' have already arrived - the last one might come some day.
Not to mention the series of Uchiha one, two, three, four, five...
Even if they are all young Uchiha.
But that's also Uchiha.
If you look down on them just because they are young and don't have (maybe they don't have) the Sharingan, then the ones who will suffer will definitely be the ones who looked down on them.
"Mr. Mizukage! How could you agree to such an outrageous request!"
An elder said with a broken expression.
Fourth Mizukage: ...I had no idea this would happen!
In the past, Miss Yu Yue would only travel with three or five people!
At most there is just one Uchiha (Uchiha Shisui) and two of the Three Ninjas.
How did he know that Miss Yu Yue could take advantage of the situation and send off all her employees on a trip?
What’s even worse is that he himself sent out the invitation together with the great nobles.
This matter involved the nobleman's face, and now he had no room for maneuver, let alone refusing.
After all, they are the ones who want to invite people.
I didn't say no at the beginning.
However, the elder did not notice the ugly expression on the Mizukage's face and was still heartbroken:
"Lord Mizukage, you can't agree to this! If they really come, I
Our Kirigakure is in danger."
Do I look like a fool?
The Fourth Mizukage's baby face turned blue.
But after all, he was the elder of his own village, so he couldn't just stand up and point his finger at him and curse him. So he could only take a few deep breaths and then said quietly:
"Then why don't you explain it to the noble yourself?"
The elder immediately shuddered as if his tail had been stepped on and stopped talking.
“This…this…”
The nobles of the Water Kingdom are not easy to talk to.
Especially in the Ninja World War in the past few years, the Hidden Mist Village failed to become the winner, which has made the nobles of the Water Country dissatisfied several times.
If it weren't for the geographical location and isolation of the Water Country, which is so far away from other ninja villages, it would be difficult to entrust tasks to it.
Maybe they are even thinking of destroying the Hidden Mist Village.
If we tell him now, 'Although we have asked you to jointly invite them, there are problems with the number and composition of the guests, and we think we need to discuss it further,' I'm afraid the budget of the Hidden Mist Village next year... no, the budget of the next few years will be in jeopardy.
How dare he?
"Isn't that enough?"
The Fourth Mizukage spread his hands.
"Since we can't refuse, we might as well give you a nice reception."
The Mizukage, who had a baby face and a body like an underage boy, stood up and said this.
"At least this way you can have a good reputation."
To be honest, he was also worried about what the elders said.
But given the current situation in the Hidden Mist Village... he felt that it was not their turn to worry about this or that.
Compared with other ninja villages, missing the earliest opportunity to cooperate with Ugetsu Shoten has already put them one step behind.
The isolated geographical conditions of the Water Kingdom make the transportation of various commodities slower than other places.
One step slow, every step slow.
Whether it's economy, strength... or even reputation.
The Hidden Mist Village is now far behind the other ninja villages.
In the past, the Sand Village was at the bottom.
But what about the Sand Village now?
Not talking about strength, just talking about economy.
...It's not an exaggeration to say 'get rich overnight', right?
The overall combat power of the ninjas has fallen behind? They can just hire ninjas from other ninja villages or talented people to help them do the work.
Not the whole world
When the world was plunged into chaos.
There are many ninja villages willing to earn this money and favors, okay?
Although the holding of the Chunin Exam cannot be said to be the "last straw" for the Hidden Mist Village, it can definitely be said to be their only means to change their declining situation in a short period of time.
So don’t say that Yu Yue brought a Yu Yue store.
Even if she moved half of Konoha and half of the Sand Village.
They could only smile and nod in agreement.
Compared to this possibility, it seems acceptable that Miss Ugetsu only brought the store employees here for an "inspection".
No, it would be better to say that Miss Ugetsu brought the employees of Ugetsu Store with her this time.
It also expresses trust and the meaning of "I will be responsible".
Otherwise, she could just bring two or three people with her, take a look around and leave.
It would take at least a week to travel back and forth with so many employees.
Besides, even if it was just for fun - she couldn't let her employees stay in a boring, bad place for a week, right?
Such a long time, even if we deduct the entertainment activities, should be enough for her to inspect and give her opinions.
——Even if it’s not enough, they can prepare more projects and let people leave later.
Thinking of this, the Fourth Mizukage actually felt that this was a good thing.
Finally, he placed his hands on the table and looked around with a serious expression:
"... Let's not talk about this anymore. Whether the village can keep up with the changes of the times and succeed depends on this Chunin Exam. In order to ensure that the Chunin Exam hosted by our Kirigakure Village can be completed beautifully, we will mobilize the power of the entire ninja village to ensure that this reception is foolproof!"
Seeing that the Fourth Mizukage had made up his mind, the elders naturally would not go against him at this critical moment. They all bowed their heads:
“…Yes, sir!”
On the other side, the group from Yuyue Store also arrived at their first destination after their trip - Tansho Street.
Everyone is familiar with this place.
Whether it was for work (ninja) or team building before Ugetsu Shoten, people had come here before.
Naturally, arrangements had already been made for food and lodging.
Yu Yue specially booked the entire hotel this time.
In the evening, everyone’s dinner was prepared by a famous restaurant and delivered directly to the hotel.
For the employees of Yuyue Store, it is really all self-service - carry your bag into the hotel, and someone will take you to your room.
.
After cleaning up and washing up, you can eat.
After dinner, there is free time.
If you want to rest, you can go to bed directly. If you are energetic and want to go out and play, you can also do so.
Of course, the premise is that it does not delay the departure time the next day.
Because the destination is the distant Water Kingdom, the departure time the next day is quite early - although you can actually catch up on some sleep in the carriage, after all, you have to get up early, so people still have to arrange their activities for tonight reasonably.
At least make sure you can get up.
The employees of Yuyue Store all have more or less experience in such group activities, so it's okay.
The ninjas who had never experienced such a scene were very shocked.
I was stunned just by seeing the food coming in continuously - especially since this restaurant is really famous and is known for its high prices and lack of take-out service.
Anyway, until the delicious food was served to the table, Genma Shiranui was still in a state of shock.
A ninja of his level is certainly not poor.
But this kind of treatment has never been seen before.
"…Are you guys always like this?"
He couldn't help but ask the pharmacist Kabuto beside him.
Compared with the later Uchiha and external employees like Bai, he still has some friendship with the 'old employee' Kabuto Yakushi and they can talk to each other.
After all, we have had a cooperative friendship in the past.
"Oh, that's not the case."
Upon hearing this, Yakushi Kabuto shook his head.
——That’s what I said.
Even though it has nothing to do with me.
But Genma Shiranui was relieved to find that his 'common sense' was not wrong.
He just said it.
How can someone be so exaggerated every time he goes out?
At this moment, Pharmacist Dou pushed his glasses and said slowly:
"Before, we would call the chef to come and cook the food on the spot."
Genma Shiranui: “…”!