Chapter 267: Let Heaven's Will Decide
Tearing the letter to pieces through gritted teeth, Masahiko took action.
Since Ameyuri Ringo had contacted him, she had probably successfully joined Akatsuki. Although he was very displeased with her letter, Masahiko wasn't a petty person. He still had to make the medicine he promised, though spitting a couple of times into the medicinal ingredients was unavoidable.
"No, saliva..." Masahiko paused. "I feel like I would be the one losing out if I did that."
Masahiko pondered for a moment, looking at the dozen or so small brown pills in front of him. He then turned and brought the Fat Cat out from his space.
"Here, take a couple of licks." Masahiko handed a pill over.
The Fat Cat leaned in, its little nose twitching up and down, and then... chomp.
"Can you not eat properly? Don't cats usually lick their food first? Who swallows it whole?"
Masahiko hurriedly pulled the pill away. If the Fat Cat swallowed it, it would probably be unable to handle such a strong tonic.
"Meow!" Biting empty air, the master was displeased.
"Eat, all you know is eat. Whose cat grows to 20 catties?" Two years had passed, and the Fat Cat was already a ball...
Throwing it back into the space, Masahiko started to worry.
"Forget it, consider her lucky. Even adding some dirt would be giving her an advantage. I will just let it go."
Masahiko waved his hand, and a medicine bottle appeared in it. The dozen or so pills flew into it one by one, after which he vanished from the spot.
On a barren mountain southwest of Konoha Village, Masahiko met Ameyuri Ringo again.
"Yo!" The greeting method Masahiko had learned from Nagato.
The woman opposite him revealed a smile; a smile that would make a hundred flowers... wither.
Masahiko frowned. He noticed she was wearing an all-black cloak. It would only be right if it had red clouds on it.
"Do peripheral members of Akatsuki not wear red clouds?" Masahiko guessed inwardly.
"Great Elder Uzumaki, does one's speed also slow down when they get old?"
Masahiko ignored her provocation. "You sought me out—have you successfully joined Akatsuki?"
"You could say I joined, and you could say I didn't."
Masahiko was startled. What kind of logic was that?
"What I found should only be a peripheral organization. The name is indeed Akatsuki, but the members are generally not strong. Even the leader is no match for me. However, I found out the leader has a mysterious master, who should be a member of the Akatsuki organization you want to investigate."
Masahiko frowned. "Akatsuki is actually expanding its scale through master-disciple relationships? Makes sense, after all, it is not the Akatsuki from the original story."
"So what about the information on the leader of this branch organization and their objective and location?"
"The leader is named Yahiko, and the objective is to occupy the Land of Rain..."
"Who is the leader?" Masahiko hurriedly interrupted.
"Oh? You know him. It seems he is an important member of the Akatsuki organization. That is right, he is called Yahiko!"
Masahiko took a deep breath, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. Could he not be important? That was the founder of the Akatsuki organization.
"Orange-yellow hair? The objective is to bring peace to the Land of Rain?" Masahiko confirmed once again.
"Orange hair. As for peace..." Ameyuri Ringo sneered, "It is just a laughable excuse!"
Masahiko ignored her. "Yahiko is still alive. As expected, I just didn't find him back then... As for the master, Jiraiya probably stayed in the Land of Rain previously to teach him. This is good too."
Masahiko took a few glances at Ameyuri Ringo opposite him and shook his head. "You haven't truly joined them yet, have you?"
Ameyuri Ringo nodded. "If I join them, I am afraid I won't be able to get away easily. Right now, I have just gathered some intelligence from the periphery."
"However, it is very easy to join. They recruit 'like-minded' comrades and accept almost anyone who comes."
Masahiko sighed. He always felt like he had found a fake spy whose IQ wasn't quite sufficient.
"Hasn't she ever considered that it might just be two organizations with the same name?" Masahiko thought, suddenly frowning.
"That Akatsuki, although they used the Six Paths of Pain before, they haven't made any moves these past few years. Coupled with the fact that they controlled the Mizukage, could it be that their leader wants to play Obito's trick from the original story? If so, on Yahiko's side..."
Masahiko took the medicine bottle out of his pocket and threw it to Ameyuri Ringo.
"This is the medicine for you. Just take one pill a month. As long as you do not train anymore, your lifespan won't be much different from an ordinary person's. Once you manage to join the official Akatsuki organization, I will give you the remaining amount so you can continue training..."
...
In the end, Masahiko didn't tell Ameyuri Ringo that she had found the wrong Akatsuki. Instead, he told her to perform well in the branch organization. In particular, if the leader encountered danger, she must save him, and strive to become an official member of Akatsuki as soon as possible.
After all, no matter what, Yahiko was also Jiraiya's disciple. He couldn't let him die at Hanzo's hands again. Ameyuri Ringo would likely be able to successfully save his life...
"The spy I sent out has turned into a nanny... I hope she can turn back into a spy in the future." Masahiko muttered. Maybe Yahiko's side was truly a breakthrough point.
When he returned to the shop, Masahiko saw Tsunade waiting for him with a radiant smile.
"Great-Great-Grandpa, where is the old place? Is the date over?"
Masahiko thought of Ameyuri Ringo's appearance, and his face darkened. "I would have to be completely blind to go on a date with her!"
Tsunade showed a strange expression. "The one who asked you out was actually a girl?"
"Get out of here!" Masahiko gave her an exasperated look. "You are so idle, running over here to mess around!"
Tsunade's expression became slightly more serious. "There is one matter that requires your approval. I want to teach the Yin Seal jutsu to Rin Nohara."
After all, this was a special sealing jutsu unique to the Land of Whirlpools. It was one thing for Mito to pass it on to Tsunade, but Rin was neither a member of the Uzumaki clan nor the Senju clan.
Masahiko was startled. "It is fine. Just like Katsuyu, what was passed on to you belongs to you. You can teach it to whomever you want later."
Tsunade nodded, showing no surprise on her face.
"There is a second matter. Teacher is already intending to select the Fourth Hokage. The person he favors is clearly Minato. What about you?"
Masahiko smiled. "Are you, as his older sister, canvassing for Nawaki?"
Tsunade sighed. "Becoming Hokage is, after all, Nawaki's dream."
Masahiko pondered for a moment. He took out a sealing scroll from his coat. After unsealing it, a worn-out dice cup appeared in front of the two.
Tsunade was stunned, then slowly took out an identical dice cup from her sleeve.
"You really carry it with you at all times?" Masahiko nodded. "These are two dice cups I made back when your grandfather pestered me to teach him gambling techniques. I gave one to Hashirama and kept one for myself."
Tsunade nodded. "I remember. Speaking of which, I even beat you once back then!"
"Ah, the day Hashirama passed away."
Masahiko fell into reminiscence. After a long while, he finally continued, "Let us do it one more time. If you win, I will support Nawaki. If you lose, I will support Minato."
This was very unfair, but Tsunade agreed without hesitation.
"Let Heaven's will decide!"
☆☆☆
-> 30 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
-> https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Hollowborn
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to access patreon normally)
If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that's help the story a lot Thank you