The team assembled for the second time, and nothing was gonna delay them this time. And the four immediately went to the Hokage Building.
"Huh? Why is Danzo also here…" Masahiko frowned slightly, sensing that Danzo was also there with Hiruzen.
"Elder Masahiko, you're here." Hiruzen greeted him, "Do you… do you want to take another mission?"
Masahiko nodded and glanced inside, "What are you two discussing?"
Hiruzen hesitated, "According to the intelligence, Kumogakure has just selected the Fourth Raikage."
Masahiko was startled, but there was no surprise. Since that battle ten years ago, Kumogakure has kept a low profile, and even though they didn't have a Raikage, they let the Hashibi's Jinchuriki take charge of the village, but the latter was never named a Raikage. Ten years later, they were ready to stand on the stage again and return to the Shinobi World.
"So Ay's little son Ay has grown up, and he's now in his 20s?" Masahiko muttered, feeling a bit awkward calling Both father and son Ay…
Seeing the opposite side's hesitation, Masahiko smiled, "Don't pretend, you two didn't want me to know, fearing that I would go, but you should have known better… That will only make me more excited to go."
Hiruzen smiled wryly, "No, no."
Finally, Danzo came from the inside and stood beside Hiruzen at the door, and the latter's face seemed to be finally at ease.
Masahiko glared, "What are you two hiding?"
Danzo went back…
Hiruzen helplessly said, "Please come in."
Masahiko walked in with the three children, smiled, and said: "Don't worry, I won't go to Kumogakure. They haven't cut off the supplies in the past ten years. As long as things remain as before, the stronger they would be, the better for us."
"Elder Masahiko, we are just worried that if Kumogakure recovers…"
Masahiko waved his hand, interrupting Hiruzen's words.
"It's okay, I won't go to Kumogakure for the time being, because if I do, they will have to find another Raikage," Masahiko recalled the temper of Ay in the original and thought it was better if he doesn't go.
"I brought my small team here to pick a mission. It's September now, so don't you dare give me that speech about how the National Day is approaching, and there aren't enough missions."
(T/N: China National Day, Date: October 1, 2020)
"National Day?" Hiruzen looked confused.
"It's okay, hurry up and give me a task. Can't you see how my team is eager to go?"
Hiruzen picked up a stack of papers, looked at one, then at Masahiko, shook his head, and put it down.
Masahiko's face darkened; what is that supposed to mean?
Manipulating the gravity, the paper on the table floated over.
"Procurement task?" Masahiko was taken aback.
Hiruzen nodded, "This mission isn't suitable, it takes a long time, and basically, there are no battles."
"Hmm, why do I feeling like you've deliberately wanted me to see this task?" Masahiko isn't stupid. These kinds of purchases between villages are usually dispatched directly; why would he put such a task in that pile.
Masahiko put his hand on his chin like Detective Conan, "This task has details about the purchasing materials. It seems like Konoha is about to purchase a lot of iron and rare metals, which means that you're trying to inform me indirectly that the Shinobi World has entered a state of war readiness, and Konoha has spent a lot of materials to buy metal."
"Next, you're gonna cry and ask me to sell you the Explosive Tags of the Land of Whirlpools at a low price, and if that didn't work you will try to convince me that now isn't the right time to sell to other countries. After all, they may become the Uzumaki and Konoha's enemies soon."
Hiruzen's face stiffened, and looked at Danzo…
Masahiko clicked twelve likes for his enormous IQ, then turned to look back at the three children.
The unexpected admiration of Nagato and Konan made him very pleased.
But…
"Kushina, what do you mean by that expression that seems to be saying: is this my Grandpa?"
"Sorry, Grandpa… I was just surprised by your reasoning."
After a long while, Hiruzen smiled bitterly and said, "Elder Masahiko, you're just overthinking. The explosion tags we bought before is enough."
"This procurement was only released in the form of a task because it takes too long, and there aren't any suitable candidates to take it."
Masahiko glanced at him with a smile, he didn't believe his claims, but he still took the pile of mission in Hiruzen's hand and randomly drew out one.
After two glanced, Masahiko looked at Hiruzen and smiled.
"What a coincidence, it's another procurement task!" This time it was medicinal materials.
Masahiko quickly looked through a few. Except for one escort mission, all were procurement tasks. The purchased materials were varied and coincidentally, they were all A-level missions.
Danzo tried to cool the situation down, and came over, "Elder Masahiko, it's just happened that when we needed to purchase these supplies, you came over to take a mission. Yes, it's all a coincidence."
Compared with Hiruzen, Danzo had the ability to sell his lies.
Masahiko smiled, "It's okay, I'll take a procurement task, so bring the money."
At that moment even Danzo's expression froze on his face. He regreted everything, and started to feel uneasy about sending Masahiko to purchase the goods.
Hiruzen quickly emphasized, "Elder Masahiko, these places are very far away, and there is basically no combat."
"It's okay, I'll just take them to relax. It's not good to practice blindly."
Masahiko made his choice, "I'll take this one, the medicinal materials, I haven't been in Nanakusa Island before."
"It just happened that it's quite troublesome for you to cross the sea, and I'm the only flying ninja here." Masahiko stretched out his hand as if he's hurriedly asking them for the money.
After a long while, Hiruzen sighed, "I'll get it for you later. Are you sure you want to take this task, though?"
Masahiko looked behind him, and the three excitedly nodded.
"Combat isn't always important. Such a task will yield them useful knowledge for the future."
"I'll take it."
"Okay, the herbs you need to bring are the Energy Carrot, the Hell Valley, the Mandra Grass, the Giant Mato…"
Masahiko's face stiffened; he never knew these things because he never needed them.
"Sensei, I know them all." Konan behind him said, "Tsunade-Sama taught me these things, some are good for making pills, and others are used for antidotes…"
Masahiko smiled; he just dodged Hiruzen's final shot.
Sure enough, with a slightly darkened face, Hiruzen placed the money and a map on the table.
"These should be enough. In addition to the supplies you're gonna purchase, the island itself should be filled with wild herbs. With this map…" Hiruzen suddenly sighed; he knew now why Masahiko took the medicinal task; he won't buy anything with the money.
Masahiko waved his hand, "Don't worry, I will bring you enough herbs."
With that, Masahiko turned and left, followed by the three children, "Let's go, I'm taking you out for a trip."
He obviously didn't take this mission seriously; to him, it was just a special spiritual journey.
When the four of them walked away, Hiruzen breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Danzo.
"That's okay, even if he takes the money. At least we know Elder Masahiko would take care of this one."
Danzo shook his head, "I'm afraid we've made a mistake. We should have written more materials, knowing him, Elder Masahiko will bring most of the herbs back to the Land of the Whirlpool."