Naruto: Starting from Eating the Gold Fruit

Chapter 201 Ancient Loulan Exploration Team

"Number 1, prepare. Target has reached the relevant area..." A calm and steady voice rang out.

"Received on the 1st, target identified."

"Check equipment number 2."

"Number 2 received. Equipment inspection complete. Ready to move in at any time."

"Number 3 is blocking the way."

"Received on the 3rd, already in place."

"action!"

As the sound faded, three figures darted out from the bushes on both sides of the road and pounced on a dark figure by the roadside.

After a chaotic scene, Minato Namikaze, with his blond hair, covered his cheek, which had been scratched hard, and threw a white cat into the cage prepared by Yoshino in Nara.

"Can't you control this cat with Shadow Imitation Technique?" Minato Namikaze asked Yoshino Nara.

Nara Yoshino rolled his eyes: "I don't waste my chakra on things like this."

Minato Namikaze remained silent, while Kushina took out a blade of grass and began teasing the kitten in the cage.

"So cute~" Kushina exclaimed from the bottom of her heart.

"Meow!"

With a "smack," the kitten seemed startled and slapped its paw against the cage.

"Okay, that's not cute anymore." Kushina tossed aside the foxtail grass and looked at the figure walking towards her.

"Mr. Fugaku, do we have any other tasks?"

Fugaku Uchiha, holding a scroll in his hand, nodded: "This afternoon we're going to the farm north of the village to help the farmer weed."

Kushina's face immediately scrunched up: "No way... We were the top two graduates from the Ninja Academy last year... Why are we still stuck on cat-and-dog catching missions after three months...?"

Fugaku waved his hand: "Everyone has been through this. In such simple tasks, you have to learn to apply chakra in actual combat. Yoshino did a good job. Chakra is not used for trivial things like catching cats and dogs."

With a sigh, Kushina stuck out her tongue and had no choice but to accept the fact.

"By the way, Minato, after we finish the mission, come with me to the Hokage's office. He needs to see you."

Minato Namikaze looked puzzled. "What's wrong?"

A slight smile appeared on Fugaku's serious face: "Don't worry, it's not a bad thing."

……

Konoha Village Mission Hall.

Because this place is an officially designated area, it is located in the northern part of the city.

Moreover, the decoration is very nice.

Although Yua dislikes sending Konoha ninjas to take on missions from other villages, the fact is that Konoha ninjas are number one in mission completion ability.

After all, if it's a large-scale mission, if all else fails, the elite Jonin who goes to scout can simply send a report to Yua, and Yua will approve the use of the fifth-generation chakra cannon—which is detachable, transportable, lightweight, and powerful—to help complete the mission. Once the mission is completed, they can simply bring the equipment back.

With Yua helping out from behind, there are basically no missions that can stop the Konoha ninjas.

This has led many people outside Konoha to recognize Konoha's capabilities and prefer to entrust their missions to Konoha.

Even though Youya has repeatedly increased the rewards for the missions, it's still the same.

Helpless, Youya could only let this situation continue.

He genuinely disliked having Jonin involved in missions. As he always said, one Jonin doing construction work is equivalent to an entire construction team. Konoha's basic infrastructure is in place, but the transportation network radiating in all directions is still not complete.

Leaving aside the small countries, the roads to the major powers on the other three continents are not yet completed. If all the Konoha ninjas on missions went to help, they should be able to finish the roads within three years.

Unfortunately... we're short-staffed.

"Oh my little darling~" A plump noblewoman wearing a large gold chain and jewels on both hands hugged the little white cat and kept rubbing the kitten with her fat face.

Kushina seemed to understand why the cat was so desperate to escape and why it didn't want to go back...

That's terrifying...

"Thank you so much. Konoha Village is truly full of talented people~ Ah, this must be a member of the Uchiha clan..."

The fat woman looked at Uchiha Fugaku.

Fugaku Uchiha, who had maintained a calm expression, finally couldn't help but change his expression.

"I wonder if this gentleman is married..." The plump lady licked her lips, her eyes filled with aggression as she looked at Uchiha Fugaku.

Fugaku Uchiha shuddered, then quickly chuckled awkwardly and said, "Ah, no, I'm already engaged..."

The plump lady immediately looked regretful.

After the fat woman left, Fugaku Uchiha's three students burst into laughter.

After some playful banter and winking, Fugaku Uchiha led Minato Namikaze to the Hokage's office.

Kushina and Yoshino Nara, meanwhile, were peering through the door, trying to eavesdrop.

The ninja guarding the door kept his eyes straight ahead, pretending not to see anything.

The Hokage always had a special kind of magnanimity towards children, which was evident in the fact that when Kushina splashed paint on his statue, he not only didn't get angry but also laughed heartily.

This is also reflected in the fact that he often secretly went to arcades to play games incognito.

In short, children should not be treated harshly.

Inside the office, Fugaku looked at Yua: "Hokage-sama, as you instructed, I have brought Minato here."

Yuya nodded, then looked at Fugaku and asked, "Minato's chakra level should have already surpassed Chunin, right?"

Fugaku nodded: "Even ordinary Chunin can't compare to him."

You Ya then handed over a piece of paper.

Fugaku took it and saw that it was a stamped pass that allowed him to enter Konoha's treasure vault and choose a treasure or a ninjutsu scroll.

"This..." Fugaku was somewhat surprised.

It's not that this thing is particularly precious; every year, some people in Konoha obtain this pass and then go to raid the treasure vault.

However, because new things are added every year, the treasure trove is becoming increasingly rich in contents.

Fugaku was surprised as to why he was giving it to Minato Namikaze.

Yuya spoke softly: "You forgot, he protected Kushina before, holding off such a powerful enemy for a minute, and that was before he even graduated from school. That achievement is enough for him to get this pass."

Fugaku nodded in understanding.

Indeed, if Minato Namikaze hadn't held her off for a minute, Kushina would have already been taken away by Setsuna Uchiha.

However, it seems that Yua didn't send Minato Namikaze because he didn't have enough chakra to be considered a minimum Chunin.

Fugaku then took the pass and handed it to Minato Namikaze, raising an eyebrow and giving a frantic hint before coughing and saying, "Hurry up and thank the Hokage."

Minato Namikaze blinked and bowed to Yua.

You Ya grinned.

The little blond guy was quite polite back when he was a kid.

Just then, there was a loud knocking on the door.

Fugaku was taken aback, then turned around and prepared to leave with Minato Namikaze.

Youya wasn't planning to stop them, but then he suddenly heard an impatient voice from outside:

"Why don't you just push the door open and go in? You're here to report intelligence, what are you afraid of!"

"Wait! No!"

With a "bang," Kushina slammed open the office door and then performed a 720-degree mid-air spin for Yua, landing on her knees.

Yuya looked speechlessly at Kushina kneeling on the ground: "Your knees must hurt, right? Kushina, what are you doing?"

Kushina gritted her teeth, enduring the pain in her knee, and stubbornly said, "It doesn't hurt! It just doesn't hurt!"

Yua looked speechlessly at the boisterous Kushina, ignoring her and turning to Hatake Sakumo standing at the door: "Come in, is it... news from the Land of Grass?"

Hatake Sakumo nodded, then walked in and hesitated whether to take out the intelligence scroll directly.

Yuya glanced at Kushina beside him and knew what Sakumo Hatake was worried about.

It seems to be news from Orochimaru's side in the Land of Grass.

Ultimately, it is an indisputable fact that Orochimaru was kicked out of Konoha by Yua.

It's best not to let the children know about this.

"Uncle Naruto!" Kushina slammed her hands on the table and stood up abruptly.

Then she looked at Youya with a sincere expression: "Uncle, please give us a mission of B rank or higher!"

Yuya blinked, looking at Kushina with a somewhat bewildered expression.

Fugaku Uchiha quickly grabbed Kushina, then looked apologetically at Yua: "I'm sorry, Hokage-sama, Kushina was very rude."

Yuya waved his hand. He was very tolerant of children, let alone Kushina.

Putting aside the fact that she is a character in the story, the Nine-Tails inside her is also a strategic weapon of Konoha Village, and should therefore receive more attention.

Yua looked at Kushina: "So... you think the mission is too easy?"

Kushina nodded emphatically.

Rank D tasks are all menial and require little skill; their team is perfectly capable of handling Rank B or even Rank A tasks.

You Ya touched his chin, feeling that this scene seemed somewhat familiar.

However, Yuya didn't think much of it and nodded to Kushina: "Okay, I'll arrange a mission of B rank or higher for you guys tomorrow."

Kushina left with a joyful cheer.

Fugaku looked at Yua with a hint of helplessness: "You're spoiling Kushina a bit too much..."

You Ya waved his hand: "It's okay, children should be lively."

"Take Minato to choose the reward. I'm really looking forward to seeing what he picks."

Fugaku left with Minato Namikaze, and even closed the door behind him.

It was only at this moment that Yua unwrapped the scroll that Orochimaru had handed him.

The contents made Youya squint.

……

The current time is early March of Konoha Year 40.

In late October of Konoha Year 39, Kushina Uzumaki and Minato Namikaze, along with their group, graduated from the Ninja Academy. After a month-long break, the three members of the team reunited in December, with Fugaku Uchiha becoming their captain.

The entire month of December consists of basic training and some precautions for genin (lower-ranking ninja).

They officially started their jobs after the Chinese New Year in January, and have been working on their tasks for more than two months now.

As for Yuya, aside from the annual tradition of having envoys from other villages come to sign new year's business contracts at the beginning of the year, the rest of the business consisted mainly of the Hokage's trivial matters.

Youya now has ample time and manpower to work.

Yes, this refers to Yuya issuing orders and then having others do the work.

But how will the people below complete the task...?

Hmm... then that has nothing to do with Yua.

Therefore, Yuya actually doesn't lack manpower.

As for the annual competition among those below for graduates, as is customary...

You Ya: I don't understand. What are you talking about? What do you mean by "competing"? It's clearly these people arranging jobs for these graduates. That's a good thing.

The main reason is that, apart from a few special individuals, it is indeed not easy for You Ya to assign students.

Unlike the original Naruto history, the research department and the factory's R&D department under Yua's control are departments that urgently need high-end talents—referring to "high-end talents" who have received relevant education and have a strong foundation in mathematics.

It's not good for Yuya to be biased towards either one; the other one will have complaints.

Therefore, You Ya could only pretend to be deaf and dumb. As for these students...

Sigh, you guys can go and snatch it yourselves using all sorts of tricks, I promise I won't blow the whistle unfairly.

In fact, if Kushina and Minato Namikaze had chosen not to be ninjas and instead joined the research and development department of Konoha, any research department would have been very happy to have them as interns and learn on the job.

However, one of them has a nine-tailed fox inside him, and the other has all sorts of strange and unusual research ideas (not scientific research ideas, but some weird biochemical weapons and the like), so they definitely wouldn't want to go to a proper research lab.

Being a ninja means freedom, high wages, and good benefits; aside from some danger, there are basically no other problems.

Moreover, the future of ninjas lies in the highest management level of Konoha.

Although Yuya didn't want to say it, all the high-ranking positions in Konoha Village were held by ninjas, and powerful ones at that.

This means that if you want to climb up, your strength absolutely cannot be lacking.

Of course, if you want to relax, that's fine too. No one will rush you or anything; you just need to take responsibility for yourself.

The final situation is now. The Fugaku Squad has completed more than fifty missions in two months. Generally speaking, Konoha Village will take half of the reward for these missions. The higher the mission level, the lower the percentage taken by Konoha. For S-rank missions, Konoha will symbolically take 10%, and the rest will be divided among the squads.

Therefore, the profession of ninja is actually very promising in Konoha.

Yes, both the future prospects and financial prospects are excellent.

The families of the Fugaku Squad are naturally very supportive.

Orochimaru has been in communication with Yua for the past few months.

There is no other reason.

This guy came to Youya asking for money.

After all, research requires money. The original work doesn't mention how Orochimaru managed to get so much money, so many bases, and so much equipment, but it must have involved deception, fraud, or outright robbery.

In reality, this is extremely inefficient.

Because Orochimaru was a wanted criminal in the original work, he couldn't rob wealthy places due to their tight security, so he had to target smaller targets instead.

My small goal doesn't involve much money...

Therefore, in the original work, Orochimaru took a huge risk to kill the Fourth Kazekage, who was Gaara's father. We don't know if there were any economic reasons behind this, and we dare not ask.

Gaara's father painstakingly used his abilities to pan for gold in the sand. Logically, he should have left some gold, but he didn't.

Not at all!

Even after Gaara came to power, Sunagakure was still as poor as a ghost.

Where did all the money Gaara's father painstakingly earned from panning for gold go?

As I said before, it's not something we can say, and we can't ask.

He was just a hardworking knight who toiled away to mine for gold. Not only was he killed and his identity stolen, but his hard-earned gains were also taken away...

To be honest, this is going too far if you just think about it.

However, Orochimaru in this world doesn't have this problem.

Because he has big thighs.

No money?

A letter was tossed to You Ya: Big brother! I'm hungry, time for food.

Then, if you casually spend a little time helping Youya solve some communication problems or network transmission issues, Youya will give you billions of dollars.

This time was no exception; Orochimaru came to ask for money.

Because he discovered something very interesting.

It was at the ruins of the ancient Loulan Kingdom that his assistant discovered fluctuations in spacetime.

There might be an alternate dimension there!

You Ya narrowed his eyes the moment he saw the news.

It's obvious he thinks...

This is Orochimaru's excuse for deliberately teasing himself to get funding.

Another dimension...

Why don't you just say parallel universes?

but……

I looked at the experimental data and case studies related to upgrading 2G networks to 3G that were included with the letter…

You Ya sighed.

Give it to me, give it to me.

This technology alone is worth that much money.

but……

According to the intelligence report, Orochimaru stated that he had sent people to investigate that alternate dimension, and that the older people there were, the greater the resistance they faced.

He sent several children in there and found that the alternate dimension posed little resistance to them; in fact, it was easier for younger children.

However, when adults enter, the flow of chakra slows down considerably.

Therefore, Orochimaru wanted Yua to send a newly graduated ninja squad here.

As for safety, there's no need to worry. He assured You Ya that there would be absolutely no problem with the future funding.

Youya nodded. "Hmm, this oath is too serious. To swear on future funding, there must be no problem with safety."

That being the case...

Yuya thought of Kushina, who had just caused trouble...

I've decided on you!

……

The next day, the entire Uchiha Fugaku squad gathered in Yua's office.

Yuya, with a serious expression, handed Fugaku a scroll:

"The mission difficulty is B-level. The objective is to investigate an alternate dimension, but..."

Looking at the four figures—one large and three small—in front of him, You Ya slowly said, "The level of secrecy is S-level."

Kushina gasped in shock.

It's an S-level classified mission?!

She was excited.

This means that this task is definitely worthwhile!

Then, as she traveled by train to the farthest point of the railway now built in Konoha, in the central region of the Land of Fire, she transferred between freight trains, tractors, handcarts, and wheelbarrows, and walked for eleven days...

When she saw the pale-faced man with an effeminate smile looking at her at the destination, she understood why this mission was classified as S-level...

Sigh, Orochimaru, well, we really can't let everyone in Konoha know about him, but...

Everyone knows you're in contact with him!

You're his older brother, the whole village knows that even though you drove him away, you must still be in contact with him.

Honestly, I thought it was some big secret, but it's just this?!

Regarding the connection between Orochimaru and Yua...

No one in the entire Hidden Leaf Village thought there was anything wrong with it.

After all, Orochimaru is the Hokage's subordinate.

Our illustrious and noble Hokage is kind-hearted; even when his subordinate makes a mistake, he doesn't cover it up but instead expels him and continues to support him.

So kind!

He really made me cry so much, waaaaaah!

That's roughly how it's viewed.

(End of this chapter)