Konoha Drunkard

Grandma Chiyo rolled her eyes at him and said.

"Haha! Of course I know that. We in Konoha have everything except money. Aunt Chiyo, look, my grandson has gone to deliver food to Rasa's eldest daughter again. Sigh! My grandson is a bit lazy, but he's smart and talented. He's just too infatuated, which is a lot like me."

It has to be said that the appearance of the small version of Skyrocket was too coincidental. Before Shanks could even think of how to speak, he saw the small version of Skyrocket appear not far away with a basket of food. Although there was a reason for his coercion, Aunt Chiyo didn't know about it.

"Hehe, it's really not easy to snatch food from the notoriously lazy Nara clan. Tell me, what are you planning to do? I know that Rasa has been preparing a dowry for Temari for many years."

Grandma Chiyo looked at Shanks with a smile and said that although she was old, she was not senile. Temari might be considered a great beauty in their Sunagakure, but in Konoha, she could only be considered average. Moreover, she did not inherit Rasa's bloodline limit. The only thing that could make someone like Shanks mention her so actively more than once was the dowry that Rasa left for Temari. She couldn't think of anything else that someone like Shanks would covet.

"Look at what you're saying. Money is just an external thing. Am I the kind of person who would neglect my grandson's life for material things? It's just that I feel sorry for the young couple who love each other so much that they can't eat or sleep if they don't see each other for a day. So this time, you can just let Temari stay with the Nara clan. That's what I made a promise with Rasa back then, but it was just a verbal promise. Now that Rasa has died young, I have no proof to show you."

Shanks looked quite helpless. Anyway, Rasa was dead, so there was no way to verify anything. Whatever he said was the truth.

"...Although Rasa is gone, Temari is still the Kazekage's daughter. I haven't been involved in things for many years, so you should talk to those guys about this matter."

Grandma Chiyo shook her head and said that if this matter hadn't been so important, involving their Kazekage, she probably wouldn't have come out to negotiate with Konoha. She didn't want to cause trouble for herself over such a trivial matter. Once she agreed, those guys in the village would bother her every day, and she wouldn't be able to have any peace and quiet.

"Tch! With your status and position, Aunt Chiyo, and your word, who dares to say anything? Do you really have the heart to watch a young couple in love be separated like this?"

Shanks looked so compassionate, he was practically smearing wasabi on his eyes, but in this situation, the absence of tears was still a bit lacking.

"Your mouth could bring the dead back to life with your words. I'm here to make a deal with Konoha. As for whether Temari will stay in Konoha, that depends on your abilities, Konoha Shanks. With your abilities, it shouldn't be too difficult for you to forcibly keep her here. Why waste your breath on me?"

Grandma Chiyo wouldn't believe his nonsense. Besides, whether Temari and the Nara brat were truly in love or not, deep down she was unwilling. How could the daughter of the Kazekage of Sunagakure marry into the Nara clan of Konoha? It wasn't a matter of mismatched status, but rather, what would others think of Sunagakure if this were to happen? Although Sunagakure was weaker than Konoha, it was still one of the Five Great Villages and couldn't be spineless.

682. Negotiations concluded.

Shanks was helpless when he saw that Grandma Chiyo resolutely shook her head no matter what he said. He had watched the art of deception dominate the ninja world for so long, and it was only Grandma Chiyo who had frustrated him, and not just once or twice. It is true that having an elder in the family is like having a treasure. If it were a young man like Rasa, he would have been fooled long ago.

.......

"You lazybones, while they're still away, you need to be more proactive these next few days. Ideally, you should make that girl with the big fan completely devoted to you. If you can get her into bed with you, that would be even better. That way, we'll have a reason to keep her in Konoha, and then Rasa's dowry..."

Shanks, one of the Four Emperors, is not someone who gives up easily. If one plan fails, he will naturally come up with another. Since he couldn't get through to Grandma Chiyo, he could only try to find a solution through his grandson. That very evening, he immediately went to Nara's house to freeload and casually gave the little guy a lesson.

"Father, what kind of 'it's done is done' sounds so awful. Shikamaru is still so young."

Big Mom gave her father a Tenseigan. Although she promised him that Shikamaru could flirt with that Sand Ninja girl, she didn't want a grandson so soon.

"It's just an analogy. Paying attention to these details is not important. The key is to win over Rasa's eldest daughter. Shikaku! When you have time, teach Shikamaru a couple of moves. You'll get a share of the dowry too."

Shanks' murderous gaze swept over the indifferent giant rocket launcher who was sipping his drink.

Shanks found it strange. Logically, a smart guy like him should be quite skilled at flirting with girls. Back then, that big-shot guy had his daughter smitten, determined to marry him. Why is it so difficult for Shikamaru to flirt with Rasa's eldest daughter? It's been over two months, and progress is still slow. This won't do. If the girl with the big fan misses her chance when she goes back, who knows if someone else will beat her to it? He's messed up the plot so much now; anything is possible.

"........Hi! Hi! Got it."

The large, towering man, sipping his drink, broke out in a cold sweat under his gaze and quickly nodded in agreement. But honestly, he had no real flirting skills; his approach to wooing the Yonko's mother was just standard procedure...

"...Oh, Grandpa, if it doesn't work out, then forget it. Our family is quite wealthy."

The guy with the small cannon (referring to a nickname) is so miserable he's practically dying! Lately, this delinquent grandfather has been forcing him to flirt with that girl with the big fan. He's been teased a lot in front of his friends, and now he wants to be even more proactive. Does it have to be this complicated?

"So you little brat don't know the value of firewood and rice when you're not in charge of the household. Who would complain about having too much money? Besides, Luo Sha is a human money-printing machine. Do you know how much dowry he gave his daughter? It's a huge amount. If I didn't know, that would be fine. But now that I know, we can't let it go. Rather than letting others have it, we should get our hands on it first."

Shanks lightly patted the little guy's head a few times, giving him a lecture.

"Why......!"

The little guy with the big fan lowered his head helplessly. He wasn't interested in the girl with the big fan, or rather, he wasn't old enough to have such thoughts. But his grandfather was right about one thing: rather than having to go through the trouble of pursuing another girl later, it was better to settle things now while he had the time. Marrying anyone was the same. But he hadn't expected that even a girl would be so troublesome. For the past two months, he had been going to see that girl every day to chat and discuss life. Even her painted-face younger brother was calling her "brother-in-law" all the time, but the girl's attitude remained unclear.

..........

A week has passed in the haggling between Grandma Chiyo and Minato, one of the three giants of Konoha, and today they finally reached an agreement.

The reason the two sides couldn't reach an agreement at the beginning was that Granny Chiyo proposed that Sunagakure was willing to compensate Konoha with a large amount of money, but Konoha had to hand over the murderer of their Kazekage in exchange for releasing the controlled Sunagakure ninja. They had to deal with the murderer themselves. Granny Chiyo's request was reasonable, since their Kazekage was already dead, so asking for the murderer back was justifiable.

If the murderer were someone else, Konoha would have agreed. But since the killer of Rasa was Hiruko, it's a different story. Putting aside how valuable Hiruko's inherited bloodline limit from Rasa is, they couldn't possibly agree to it just because of Hiruko's forbidden technique that allows him to devour others and gain his own bloodline limit. After all, this forbidden technique is too dangerous; if it gets out, it could cause chaos in the ninja world at any time. Even Danzo approached Hiruzen Sarutobi countless times because of Hiruko, but Hiruzen Sarutobi always shook his head and refused. Konoha already has enough trouble with just one Danzo, while Sunagakure has many Danzos. If Hiruko were handed over to them, the Fourth World War wouldn't be far off.

So, regarding the issue of Hiruko, the two sides engaged in a battle of wits for a week. Chiyo was the first to lose patience, after all, her little brother was still being held captive there, and their village's Kazekage hadn't been chosen yet, so they didn't have time to waste here. Therefore, both sides compromised. Sunagakure was willing to pay to ransom their man, but Konoha couldn't ask for an exorbitant price, so they could only let Chiyo buy her little brother back at a price that was relatively fair to Sunagakure.

As for Hiruko, who has already been turned into an idiot by Shanks, there's no need to send him away. However, Hiruzen Sarutobi is still a little heartbroken. He originally planned to create a huge mess, but because of that idiot Hiruko, he's lost everything now.

.......

"Aunt Chiyo, are you really not going to reconsider? My Shikamaru is a perfect match for Rasa's daughter in terms of both status and bloodline. We're all so close to each other, wouldn't it be better to have a marriage between relatives?"

When bidding farewell to Grandma Chiyo, Shanks was still unwilling to give up. Seeing that the best opportunity had passed, he wondered if the little rocket launcher and the big fan girl would ever be together again.

"Let the children decide their own affairs. I'm an old man, how can I worry about so much? Besides, Temari's father's body is barely cold, how could she agree to stay in Konoha?"

Grandma Chiyo looked at the girl carrying a large fan not far behind her and said.

"Well... in that case, let's wait until they're destined to meet again. Grandma Chiyo, have a safe journey!"

Shanks rolled his eyes, sighed, and pretended to regretfully bid farewell to Grandma Chiyo. What she said made sense; her father was dead, so she had no time for romance. No wonder, with the Nara clan's flirting skills, this little version of Skyrocket hadn't been able to win her over for so long. In that case, he could just wait a while and then take the little Skyrocket to Sunagakure for a "chance encounter."

683. That bastard can actually fight!

The matter of Sunagakure has come to a satisfactory conclusion, and Yamanaka Inoichi has also used his family's secret technique to extract Hiruko's forbidden technique.

Through this incident, the ninja world learned that the bastard Shanks from Konoha was actually still capable of fighting, managing to turn someone who could easily defeat Hiruzen Sarutobi into an idiot. They also witnessed Konoha's strength once again. The Fourth Hokage, the "Yellow Flash," truly lived up to his name, single-handedly intercepting a large number of Sand Ninjas on the outskirts of Konoha and trapping them all outside the village. Garp, the heir of the Senju clan and the Konoha tyrant, chased a group of Sand Ninjas for thousands of miles with his iron fists. Maki, the captain of the Fourth Kazekage Rasa's guard, was instantly killed by him with a single punch.

And then there's that mysterious Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. Konoha's Jinchuriki can really control the Nine-Tails' power. This time, when the Sand Village attacked Konoha, even Konoha's White Fang and the violent Tsunade didn't have a chance to make a move before they were defeated. You can imagine how powerful Konoha is.

But the most important one is that guy with the red hair in Konoha. He's so old, yet he's still so good at fighting. This makes many villagers who thought that Konoha's double-flower red sticks would be about the same strength as them when they get old feel very upset.

Among these people, Onoki, with his red nose, was the most prominent. When he heard his underlings report that Rasa had led his men to ambush Konoha during the Chunin Exams, Onoki almost burst out laughing. This was the happiest moment for him since Deidara's betrayal. Then, when he heard that the cunning Hiruzen Sarutobi was utterly defeated by the guy impersonating Rasa, he almost wanted to throw a village-wide celebration. However, when he heard that the guy who had defeated Hiruzen Sarutobi was beaten into a pulp by that bastard Shanks with a few punches, Onoki's face turned ashen, and he almost wanted to vomit. The underling who reported the situation was killed. Was that bastard deliberately trying to provoke him? And that red-haired bastard, he's still so good at fighting. It's not surprising that Hiruzen Sarutobi was beaten so badly by Onoki. After all, Hiruzen Sarutobi is old. Moreover, that guy who impersonated Rasa can absorb other people's ninjutsu and make it his own. This ability is a natural counter to these great mages. As for taijutsu, it's okay for them, who are old and faded, to beat up weaklings. If they really want to fight head-on, they have to rely on ninjutsu. Even he wasn't confident that he could deal with someone who has multiple bloodline limits at the same time.

That bastard Shanks is only about ten years younger than Hiruzen Sarutobi, and he relies on his physique for his livelihood. Although the Uzumaki clan is naturally blessed with strong vitality that slows down aging, they should still experience some decline, right? How can he still be so strong? Konoha's White Fang's ultimate attack is a prime example. Before Shanks, White Fang had tried to forcefully break through that barrier with his ultimate attack. Based on his underling's description of White Fang's ultimate attack, he was certain that White Fang's strength had decreased somewhat. He had fought White Fang at his peak back then, and he still vividly remembered White Fang's ultimate attack. If he couldn't fly, he would have been instantly killed by White Fang at his peak. Since even White Fang's strength had declined, how could Shanks, who debuted at the same time, not show any signs of decline? This made Onoki, who always considered Konoha his number one enemy, quite upset. It was bad enough that his generation was suppressed by Konoha, but was his precious granddaughter's generation going to be suppressed by Konoha as well? This time, the Senju clan's heir chased a large group of Sand Ninja for over a thousand miles! He's become infamous throughout the ninja world. Although Onoki hates Konoha, he has to admit that Konoha has a lot of geniuses. Leaving aside the distant past, just the Senju clan heirs of the last decade or so, and that popular Uchiha Itachi who single-handedly wiped out his own clan a few years ago, are far beyond what the kids from their village can compare to. Deidara originally had a chance, but that brat actually went off to have fun. Given his personality, there's been no news of him for the past few years; he might even be killed off.

When Itachi Uchiha destroyed his own clan and became a rogue ninja, Onoki was overjoyed. He drank with his son for three days and three nights straight. But now that Itachi Uchiha is gone, Konoha still has a Senju clan heir. Why doesn't this heir destroy his own clan and run away like Itachi Uchiha... Onoki felt a tightness in his chest just thinking about it.

"Grandpa! What are you thinking about? Your nose has turned black."

Just as Onoki Akane felt a tightness in his nose and chest, a strong woman's voice rang in his ear, interrupting his thoughts.

"Nonsense, how could my nose turn black! I was thinking about Konoha. I didn't expect that bastard Shanks to still be so good at fighting. And Konoha lost Itachi Uchiha, yet Garp Senju has appeared. What a bastard!"

After glaring at the girl beside him, Onoki said to her, while explaining the situation in Konoha to her. He was old, several years older than Hiruzen Sarutobi. Hiruzen Sarutobi had already retired and was enjoying his retirement, but he was still stuck in the Tsuchikage position because his son was not Tsuchikage material. His granddaughter, however, was as quick-witted as him and was a candidate for Tsuchikage.

From now on, I'll be handing the village over to her. Of course, I need to let her know who the village's biggest enemy is. Stop foolishly chasing after celebrities all day. What's so great about that Uchiha Itachi? He's just a rogue ninja everyone hates. So what if he's a little handsome and a little strong? Anyway, just because he's a disciple of that bastard Shanks from Konoha, there's absolutely no way he could be Onoki's grandson-in-law...

"Is he the old man carved in the center of the village? He doesn't look that old, so it's not surprising that he can fight. Besides, he's Itachi's teacher."

When the girl talked about Itachi, she acted like a little fangirl, a stark contrast to her previous tomboyish image.

"Uncle..."

Onoki's red nose felt like it had been hit in the chest with a thousand points of damage. One hand clutched his chest, while the other trembled as he pointed at the girl. "That red-haired bastard could be your grandfather... ugh! He could be your maternal grandfather! And you call him 'uncle'? Am I really that old?"

And that brat Itachi Uchiha, Onoki Red Nose really doesn't understand what's so good about Itachi Uchiha that he could bewitch his precious granddaughter to such an extent.

Ever since Itachi massacred his clan and left Konoha, his popularity has skyrocketed throughout the ninja world, and this momentum has continued for several years without any sign of slowing down. It's now commonplace for ninja girls to be obsessed with Itachi. Ōnoki's beloved granddaughter, after hearing the legend of Itachi and seeing his portrait, is completely smitten. She even confronts Ōnoki directly if he dares to speak ill of Itachi in front of her. She might not need her grandfather, but she only has one idol.

684. Deidara under Itachi's halo

Inside the Rain Country's Akatsuki, Pain, with his circling eyes, is holding an emergency mobilization meeting.

This meeting is very important; even Kakuzu, a pharmaceutical tycoon in the ninja world who earns hundreds of thousands per minute, showed up with his underlings.

You can skip the regular monthly meeting, but you must attend this mobilization meeting.

After years of quietly developing their power, the Akatsuki have finally made their debut. Before their debut, Pain, as the big boss, naturally had to give his underlings a pep talk. After all, they had kept a low profile for so many years, who knows if they would still be able to hold their own when it came to a real fight.

Orochimaru has already switched to an administrative role, so whether he can fight or not is not important. However, Sasori, who is competing with Orochimaru in a nerdy showdown, is still a combatant. After playing with toys for so many years, who knows if that talented Sasori is still online.

"You should have heard the rumors by now. Hiruko, a rogue ninja from Konoha, killed the Kazekage and impersonated him to attack Konoha. Although he didn't cause any damage to Konoha, the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki has now appeared. So we need to go to Konoha to investigate who this Nine-Tails Jinchuriki is. However, Konoha is very strong. In order not to alert them, we can only send two people. Who do you plan to go?"

Looking at his underlings, who were all posing with their pants on, Payne with his round eyes thought, "These pants are certainly nice, but hopefully they're not useless."

What concerned him most was still that Konoha Shanks. Having fought him once before, he knew how formidable Shanks was, like a lump of iron. Although neither of them used their ultimate moves, that iron lump truly countered his circle-eye ability. He had initially thought that after so many years, Shanks, unlike Kakuzu who possessed forbidden techniques, would inevitably have his strength affected by age, even with the Uzumaki clan's bloodline. However, it now seemed his initial assessment was inaccurate. This Shanks was still quite strong, though he didn't know how many layers of his peak he had retained. A few punches had rendered Hiruko, who possessed multiple bloodline limits, senseless. Such strength was rare in the ninja world. He had even heard of Hiruko; he had once considered recruiting him into the organization, but his underlings thought he was too ugly and lowered the organization's overall appearance, so he didn't take action...

"Tch! I think that scoundrel was too useless. He was knocked senseless by a few punches from an old geezer. It's a good thing we didn't add him to the group, otherwise it would have been too embarrassing... um."

A blond-haired boy next to Little Scorpion gave a strange, disdainful look and then provocatively glanced at the silent Itachi.

This blond-haired boy is Deidara, Onoki's beloved disciple and a natural artist. However, this natural artist is full of hostility towards our popular idol, Itachi.

It's safe to say that few newcomers these days aren't hostile towards the rising star Itachi. Everyone's in the business for fame or fortune, and artists like Deidara naturally crave fame. Deidara is undeniably handsome and has mastered the most dangerous forbidden technique from Iwagakure, showcasing his immense talent. If it weren't for Itachi, he might very well be the rising star. Unfortunately, it's Itachi's era now, and under Itachi's shadow, he's like a firefly in the dark—present, but not bright enough.

Moreover, he was defeated by Itachi in a flash, which is why he agreed to join the Akatsuki. As Itachi's teacher, Shanks of Konoha, he naturally didn't have any good feelings towards him. Furthermore, having grown up in Iwagakure, he had spat on the large statue in the center of the village countless times, so he had never had any good feelings towards Shanks.

"Let me go with Kisame. I'm more familiar with Konoha, so it will be easier for me to gather information."

Itachi ignored Deidara's provocative gaze and looked at Pain.

He had experienced Deidara's gaze far too many times, not to mention that Deidara was just a little kid a few years younger than him. The more attention he received, the more arrogant he became.

He hadn't been back to Konoha for many years, so it would be good to go back and see him. Besides, he didn't know what had happened to his younger brother in Konoha. He heard that in the end, it was his younger brother who fought the Jinchuriki of the One-Tailed Beast in a one-on-one battle and injured the Jinchuriki, which caused the One-Tailed Beast to emerge. He didn't know if his younger brother was injured.

"...Alright, leave the task of finding out about the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki to Itachi and Kakuzu. You two are only going to gather information this time, so try not to take action unless necessary. The time is not right yet."

After giving his instructions to Itachi and the others, Pain announced the meeting was over and everyone should go home.

"Hey! Itachi Uchiha, do you dare to accept my challenge again?"

No sooner had Pain left than Deidara jumped out, pointing at Itachi with high spirits and shouting.

"...I have something to do, maybe next time."

Itachi swore that he absolutely did not look down on Deidara; he was just in a hurry to get to Konoha and had no intention of fighting Deidara one-on-one.

"Haha, Deidara, you should play in the mud for a few more years first, you're not ready yet!"

Hidan, who is immortal and loves to stir up trouble, jumped out to continue provoking Deidara as soon as Itachi finished speaking.

Although he didn't mean to look down on Deidara, his indifferent tone and indifferent gaze made Deidara feel that Itachi was looking down on him, especially with Hidan, who was immortal, constantly making sarcastic remarks on the side.

Seeing Itachi's handsome silhouette, Deidara, with his short temper, couldn't stand it anymore. He reached into his ninja tool bag, took out a lump of mud, and kneaded it in his palm for a while.

"Go to hell!"

"Hey! Stop it! Are you going to blow this place up, you little brat?"

"Brother Kakuzu, what are you doing? You bastard Deidara, stop right now!"

Just as Deidara threw the two centipedes he had conjured at Itachi, Kakuzu reacted quickly, grabbing the immortal Hidan and throwing two exploding centipedes at him.

Hidan, who wouldn't die, was caught off guard and entangled by two exploding centipedes. He wasn't afraid of dying, since he wouldn't die anyway; the problem was the pain. Deidara's bombs were incredibly powerful, and besides, who wouldn't want to be blown up for no reason?

"Hey! Kakuzu, why are you stopping me?"