Naruto (SI) Starting With Glint Glint Fruit

Ever since finishing the last D-rank mission, AI-chan hadn't given out any new ones.

During that time, Naruto stayed focused on doing missions for the Konoha Village, so he hadn't been paying much attention to AI-chan.

But unexpectedly, taking on this C-rank mission triggered it again.

Forget about the transformation jutsu for now—

That 50,000 ryo sounded pretty tempting.

After all, even a regular C-rank mission only gives about 50,000 ryo total—and that's split among four people.

"It's getting late, and we still need to prepare. Is leaving the day after tomorrow alright, Mr. Tazuna?" Kakashi glanced at the time and asked.

Tazuna checked the time too and nodded. "I'm fine with that."

He wanted to get home as soon as possible, but he also knew how important safety was.

If the ninjas weren't ready and they got attacked by Gato's men along the way, it'd be game over.

"Then we'll meet at the Konoha Village gate at 7 a.m. the day after tomorrow."

Kakashi confirmed the meeting time with Tazuna, then turned to the others. "Team 7, dismissed!"

"Wait a second!"

Naruto interrupted, "We haven't collected the reward for our two D-rank missions yet!"

"..."

The two missions paid a total of 12,000 ryo—10,000 of which came from Lady Shijimi's mission alone!

That was the highest payout for any D-rank mission!

As expected from a daimyo's wife!

She was seriously generous!

...

The next morning,

Naruto arrived at the village gate right on time, and was a little surprised to see Kakashi and the others were already there.

"Huh? Kakashi, you're actually not late?"

Kakashi: "..."

"I thought the same thing," Sakura joked. "Maybe the little tiger got caught yesterday, so there was no cat blocking his way today?"

"Alright, that's enough from both of you!"

Kakashi rolled his eyes. "Did everyone pack everything? We're heading out!"

"All set, Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura replied.

Naruto gave a thumbs-up.

Sasuke nodded.

"Good."

Kakashi nodded as well, then looked at Tazuna. "Mr. Tazuna, you good to go?"

Tazuna shook his head and took a sip of his drink. "I'm fine. Let's get going. I'd like to finish the bridge in the Land of Waves as soon as possible."

"Then let's head out early and try to reach the Land of Waves before nightfall!"

Kakashi looked up at the sky. It was clear and blue—good weather. There probably wouldn't be any weather issues along the way.

...

"Um... Mr. Tazuna?"

"What is it?"

"Your home country is the Land of Waves, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Does the Land of Waves have a ninja village?"

Sakura and the others had never left Konoha, so they didn't really know anything about other countries.

"The Land of Waves doesn't have a ninja village,"

Kakashi answered on behalf of Tazuna. "Even though most countries have different customs and ways of life, most of them still have ninja villages."

"For those countries, ninja villages are like part of their military power. They also use their villages to build relationships with other countries."

"Ninja villages are closely connected to their countries, but they aren't directly controlled by them. They just share the same interests."

"But there are countries like the Land of Waves that don't have ninja villages. There are many reasons, but it's mostly because they're small overseas nations that aren't as easily influenced by bigger countries."

"That's exactly why they don't really need ninjas."

"If they don't need ninjas, then why did Mr. Tazuna come all the way to Konoha to hire some?" Sakura interrupted.

"Tazuna's a private person with a personal need. But ninja villages aren't built just to meet the needs of a few individuals."

Kakashi glanced at Sakura and said, "A ninja village needs a lot of money to keep running. Without support from the Daimyo or rich families, it wouldn't last long."

"Ohhh~"

Sakura nodded like she understood, even though she didn't really get it.

She didn't know that with how expensive things were in the ninja world, just doing missions wouldn't bring in enough money to keep a whole village running.

Even if a ninja risks their life to complete an S-rank mission, the reward is only between one million to ten million ryo at most!

And the number of ninjas who can do S-rank missions is very small—they're the elites in any big village.

Besides, it's not just S-rank missions that are dangerous!

For a Jonin, even A-rank missions need to be taken seriously.

B-rank missions are already life-threatening for Chunin or lower.

And missions of all ranks can have unexpected dangers.

No ninja village can afford to keep sending people to their deaths just to make money.

After all, raising a ninja takes a long time.

It takes at least five or six years, sometimes more than ten!

That's why big villages like Konoha rely on support from the Daimyo, wealthy families, and clans to cover most of their expenses.

As for the mission rewards given by clients, those usually go entirely to the ninja who completes the job.

This kind of policy keeps the ninjas loyal and also allows Konoha to support more of them.

"In the bigger countries, the five with the largest lands and strongest power are the Land of Fire, Wind, Earth, Lightning, and Water. These are called the Five Great Nations."

Kakashi went on, "And their top ninja villages are: Konoha in the Land of Fire, Kirigakure in the Land of Water, Sunagakure in the Land of Wind, Iwagakure in the Land of Earth, and Kumogakure in the Land of Lightning. The strongest ninja in each of these villages is called the Kage—they stand above tens of thousands of ninjas!"

"Huh? Hokage-sama is *that* strong?" Sakura looked amazed, though deep down she wasn't too sure about Hiruzen Sarutobi's actual strength.

'That skinny old guy… is he really that powerful?'

"Don't underestimate Hokage-sama."

Kakashi seemed to read her thoughts. "Even though the Third Hokage looks weak, he's actually the strongest ninja in Konoha."

"He knows every jutsu in the village and is known as the 'Professor of Ninjutsu.'"

"He knows every jutsu in Konoha? Professor of Ninjutsu?"

Sakura was starting to believe him, even though it all sounded a bit too good to be true.

"Yeah right. That old guy probably just knows a bunch of normal jutsu," Naruto said, holding up a glowing finger. "I bet he doesn't know this one I made!"

"..."

"Kakashi-sensei?"

Sakura looked at Kakashi with suspicion, waiting for him to explain.

But Kakashi said nothing. He just kept walking silently.

Seeing that, it was clear even to little Sakura that what Kakashi said about the legend wasn't reliable.

Maybe Hokage-sama really did know a lot of jutsu, but saying he had mastered *all* of Konoha's jutsu was just not possible.

He didn't even know Naruto's jutsu!

What kind of jutsu professor is that?

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