Chapter 826
Of all the food stalls on the street, your Rain Village is the worst.
Konoha Snack Street
Hydrangea stood in front of a newly opened traditional grilled fish restaurant, glanced at the several bustling international snack shops around her, then looked back at the deserted shop in front of her, her brow furrowing slightly.
"Ha~ Welcome, Mr. Hibiscus?"
The waitress, who was dozing off, noticed a rare customer and quickly wiped the drool from her mouth as she sat up. She was about to force a formulaic smile when she realized the customer at the door was an acquaintance.
"Are you guys very free?"
Looking coldly at the somewhat timid Rain Ninja spy, Hydrangea crossed her arms and asked in a stiff tone,
"We're new here, and the projects we chose aren't particularly unique, so..."
The waitress tugged at her skirt, explaining with a pitiful expression,
"Never mind, let's go inside and talk."
Hydrangea gently shook her head and stepped into this secret intelligence post set up by Amegakure in Konoha.
"Oboroko, we finally have a guest, Lord Eight Immortal Flower!"
Hearing someone enter, a middle-aged man peeked out from the kitchen, his eyes full of anticipation. However, like the waitress, his expression changed drastically the moment he saw the hydrangea, and he became incoherent.
"Just the two of you?"
Hydrangea casually glanced at the shop's simple decor and noticed that it was exactly the same as the traditional grilled fish restaurants in Rain Village—too old-fashioned. No wonder there were no customers.
"Yes, for now, this intelligence outpost is just the two of us, Oboroko and I."
The middle-aged Yu Ren, kneeling on the ground, nodded his head and answered truthfully.
"Lady Hydrangea, please have some tea."
The waitress, Longzi, tremblingly handed over a cup of hot tea. Hydrangea glanced at it, instantly losing interest, took a small sip, and casually set it aside.
What era are we living in? Using this kind of old tea to entertain guests is so outdated.
The funding for this base was specially approved by her, and she had thought that the people below could manage it somewhat well. Now it seems that she clearly overestimated it.
"Bring over your revenue figures for this period of time."
"Yes Yes!"
The waitress, startled, nodded repeatedly and dashed to the counter, bringing back a nearly blank sheet of cash showing the sales figures.
"The village has allocated so much funding to you. We don't expect you to make a fortune, but at least don't lose too much money."
Looking at the empty accounts, several large scabbing marks appeared on Hydrangea's forehead, and her voice grew increasingly cold.
"Lady Hydrangea, you don't know this, but this is a situation we didn't want to see either. However, when we were choosing the location, this was the only shop left. The surrounding area is full of barbecue restaurants and deep-sea squid shops, which monopolize all the customers. We just can't compete with them!"
The middle-aged man looked up, his face full of helplessness. He knew very well that the reason he had been chosen to infiltrate Konoha was because he possessed a family-inherited traditional fish-grilling technique.
To his surprise, the traditional grilled fish, which was so popular in his hometown of the Land of Rain, failed to gain traction in Konoha. His carefully grilled fresh river fish couldn't even sell as well as the stale, frozen fish that the Black Prison next door grilled with electricity.
"I don't care about that. I only care about the results. If the turnover is still like this next quarter, you two should prepare to go back to the village and be punished."
"We will definitely work hard to improve and open up sales channels as soon as possible."
The middle-aged Yu Ren wiped the large beads of sweat from his forehead, his head leaving afterimages.
"Alright, enough of this small talk. I need to send a message to the village."
Hydrangea's purpose in coming here was not to demand an explanation, but to send news back to Amegakure that she had successfully become an apprentice and found a way to cure Lord Hanzo.
"Oboroko!"
"Yes!"
Upon hearing this, the middle-aged Rain Ninja gave a signal, and the waitress, Oboroko, immediately pulled out a blank scroll from behind her back.
"Send a message to the Grand Elder, telling him to prepare for battle without worry. My mission is mostly complete, and I have already found a way to cure Lord Hanzo."
Hydrangea nodded and recounted the details of her apprenticeship in detail.
Of course, she deliberately omitted some details that were detrimental to her reputation, presenting the whole process as very smooth.
"Snapped!"
After an unknown amount of time, the waitress swiftly closed the densely packed scrolls, simultaneously biting her finger until it bled.
"Ninja Art: Summoning Technique!"
bang~
"Chirp!"
As the white smoke dissipated, a three-legged bird resembling a crow appeared on Oboroko's shoulder.
"Yatagara, please take this scroll back to the village."
"Chirp~"
The summoning beast named Yatagarasu tilted its head, its long beak lightly touching Oboroko's face, as if reminding her of something.
"The payment, please wait a moment."
"I'll go get it!"
Upon seeing this, the middle-aged Yu Ren immediately got up and went back to the kitchen, returning shortly with two plump, large fish.
"Chirp!"
Upon seeing the large fish, the Yatagarasu's eyes lit up, and it swooped down to swallow both fish whole.
"It's up to you now."
Having received the advance payment, the Yatagarasu didn't renege on its promise. It snatched the scroll from Oboroko's hand, hid it in its beak, and with a flap of its wings, the entire bird vanished from Oboroko's shoulder in an instant, leaving only the curtain in front of the gate swaying in the wind.
"What a convenient summoning beast."
Such a spirit beast capable of transmitting information over long distances is extremely rare; even the Hydrangea couldn't help but exclaim in amazement.
"My Yatagarasu bird can even lay eggs! You'll have to try them later, Hydrangea-sama!"
When talking about her summoning beast, Oboroko's fear lessened, replaced by visible pride. As an ordinary Chunin, the reason she was chosen to infiltrate Konoha was precisely because of the Yatagarasu that had just left.
"No need, I've already eaten."
Even if she hadn't eaten anything, Hydrangea was now saying she was full. The Yatagarasu looked strange; what if it was poisonous?
"That's such a pity, the Yatagarasu's eggs have a really strong flavor."
Upon hearing this, Longzi shook her head with a regretful expression, as if the hydrangea had missed out on some rare delicacy.
"Have you gathered any new intelligence recently? If not, I'll be leaving now."
Hydrangea is already eager to learn new techniques from Lao Yin and doesn't have time to waste here.
"New information? By the way, we have news about Uchiha Gin, whom you asked us to investigate before, Lady Hyakki."
"What news?"
"According to reliable sources, that old pervert got a woman pregnant while he was away, and now she's come here with her family to find him."
Hearing the middle-aged rain ninja's report, the hydrangea, who had initially been somewhat hopeful, suddenly lost her composure. What kind of intelligence is this, a rumor?
"No need for that."
“I’ve heard it too, no, reliable sources say it’s still one mother taking care of two kids.”
Longzi also mysteriously joined in, adding more details with a gossipy look on her face.
"A mother and two kids?"
"That's right, and all three of them have different hair colors. The two daughters have black and white hair, while the mother has purple hair. Hahaha, isn't that funny?"
Sensing a cold gaze, Oboroko instantly fell silent. Not knowing what she had done to offend Hydrangea, she pursed her lips and cautiously spoke.
"Lady Hydrangea?"
"It's not funny at all."
I never expected to become part of this web of rumors. My face turned ashen. Rumors are truly amazing; the more they're passed from person to person, the more outrageous they become.
"Work hard. I'll set targets for you when I get down. If you can't meet them next quarter, your shop will have to close down permanently."
"."
After coldly leaving the stall draped in traditional grilled fish skin, Hydrangea, who was about to turn around and head to the address left by Uchiha Gin, suddenly caught a whiff of aroma and instinctively paused.
"Buy one get one free on giant deep-sea squid!" "Mamba grilled fish, even a big guy like me would eat it!"
"Delicious Wind Snake, the top choice for hair growth, highly recommended by Fengying!"
"Lava barbecue, high-temperature charcoal grilling, let's have barbecue tonight!"
Turning her head to look at the several specialty snack shops with long lines in front, she hesitated for a moment, then joined the queue.
"This is all for investigating competitors."
Silently finding a suitable excuse for her cravings, Hydrangea's face finally brightened, and her eyes were filled with anticipation for the delicious food.
Bang bang bang~
"Come on~ come on~"
Wearing panda slippers, Maitreya skipped ahead of the adults, running to the banging door, tiptoeing to open it, and tilting his little head...
"Are you looking for Sister Hydrangea?"
"I've come to see my master."
With a large squid stuffed in her mouth, Hydrangea nodded and casually handed a skewer to the bewildered Little Maitreya.
"Try it, I waited in line for a long time to buy it."
"Thank you!"
Miroku, holding a squid bigger than his own face, excitedly ran to Reimu, who was sprawled on the single sofa like a corpse, and presented it to her with both hands like a treasure.
"Master! Master! There's something delicious!"
"Hmm? It smells pretty good. Let me smell it for you first~"
Reimu, squinting, sniffed and reached out to snatch the large squid from her little apprentice's hand.
"Snapped!"
I didn't expect that as soon as I raised my hand, it would be slapped away by a greasy little hand.
"You useless witch, don't steal things from children."
"what?"
Reimu raised her head in displeasure, looking at Hydrangea with her eyebrows raised, her lips slightly pursed. She knew that the other was taking revenge for the previous lightning strike.
"It's alright. If Master wants to eat it, let her try it first!"
Although Miroku was reluctant to part with her, he sensibly shook his head, remembering how Reimu usually took care of him (exploited him).
"No need, I bought a lot, there's enough for everyone."
After queuing for so long, it would be a waste to only buy one or two items. As she spoke, Hydrangea opened the large bag she was carrying, revealing a wide variety of specialty snacks inside.
"Great!"
Maitreya raised her hands first, and the giant squid she had been holding in her palms was now stuffed into her mouth.
"Did you finish contacting them so quickly?"
Hearing the commotion downstairs, Uchiha Gin sauntered down from the second floor, glanced at the cheap rich girl student who looked like a little cat covered in dung, and raised an eyebrow slightly.
"There's not much more to say."
Hydrangea nodded and handed the local specialty snack to Uchiha Gin.
"Oh~ there are delicious wind snakes too."
Years later, Uchiha Gin still vividly remembers this specialty snack from the Land of Wind. With a nostalgic expression, he took one out of the bag, pondered for a moment, and then reached into his pocket and pulled out a red envelope.
"It's the Lunar New Year, and I haven't prepared anything. Since this is your first visit, I'll give you a red envelope."
"Uh?"
Looking at the red envelope in Uchiha Gin's hand with a puzzled expression, Hydrangea hesitated, unsure whether to accept it.
"Sister Hydrangea, my master and I have them too!"
Seeing the hydrangea's hesitant expression, Little Maitreya smiled and held up a matching red envelope. Reimu, sitting on the sofa, pouted upon hearing this.
"A red envelope? Heh~"
Only she, the one who secretly opened the red envelope, knew that it actually contained vouchers for various online stores in Konoha.
The discount was tempting, but for someone who was penniless, it was less valuable than a blank sheet of paper; at least a blank sheet of paper could be used as toilet paper.
"Thank you, Master."
Hydrangea ultimately chose to accept the red envelope, but she didn't know that accepting it meant becoming a member of Gin's gang and living in Gin's shadow for the rest of her life.
"Why are you here too? There are no spare rooms available at home right now."
Perhaps awakened by Miroku's lively voice, Uchiha Hikari, who was taking a nap, poked her head out from the second floor. Looking at Hydrangea holding the Uchiha Silver red envelope, a hint of displeasure flashed across her face.
Those who are not of our race, though far away, shall be punished!
"Master sent me to recognize the place, Master's wife."
Hydrangea had figured it out. Since she was going to study diligently under Uchiha Gin, interacting with Uchiha Hikari and the others was inevitable. Rather than having unpleasant encounters with them, it was better to lower her pride; this would help her integrate more quickly.
"Oh? You're pretty savvy!"
The word "Master's wife" instantly transformed Hydrangea's negative favorability towards him into a friendly one, and a faint smile appeared on Uchiha Hikaru's usually cold face.
"If you don't have a place to stay, there is a vacant room upstairs."
"Huh? This is different from what we just said!"
Upon hearing the horn of defection from his teammates, Senju Itama, standing behind Uchiha Hikaru, tensed up. The two had just been secretly discussing whether to give the unsuspecting Hachiman a hard time, so why had they changed their minds now?
"What are you saying? I don't understand."
Uchiha Hikaru looked at Senju Itama, who was rambling on, with a bewildered expression, then turned and gracefully walked down the stairs, standing next to Uchiha Gin and taking his hand.
"Since you are Ah Yin's disciple, it's fine for you to treat this place as your own home."
"Thank you, Madam, but I've already found a place to stay, so I won't bother you any longer."
After enjoying the food at the snack street, Hydrangea didn't hesitate at all and spent a fortune to buy a fully furnished, large-sized apartment in a newly built development nearby, the kind you can move into right away.
Of course, the village will definitely pay for it, as for the reason...
When you submit your expense report, just write it as "espionage expenses."
Amegakure Village
"Chirp! ~Chirp~!"
The Grand Elder, who was working in the Rain Shadow Building, twitched his ears and quickly pushed open the window. A three-legged monster bird landed on the windowsill, its sharp beak wide open, revealing a wet scroll inside.
"We've heard news so quickly?"
With a look of astonishment, the elder took out the scroll that smelled strongly of fish and casually picked up a dried fish from his desk, which he was using as a snack, and threw it into the Yatagarasu's mouth, which showed no signs of closing.
"Chirp~"
Having received the extra reward, the Yatagarasu trembled contentedly twice, then vanished in a puff of white smoke, leaving behind two small, bluish-green eggs by the window before it left.
"Shu~"
However, the Grand Elder did not notice that his attention was now entirely focused on the scroll. As the contents came into view, the doubt on his old face was gradually replaced by excitement. This was probably the only good news he had received during the New Year holidays.
"We have to go out and have a good meal today!"
Having toiled for so long in preparation for the impending war, he hadn't eaten anything other than soldier rations and dried fish in a long time. Stroking his stubble-covered chin, he pondered for a moment, then suddenly remembered the casual conversation his men had had a few days ago.
"Okay, let's go to our usual barbecue restaurant! I heard they just got a new, beautiful, and sweet-voiced waitress, even better than the owner."
Just as the elder was lecherously indulging in his fantasies, the two inconspicuous bird eggs by the window suddenly emitted a scorching light.
"Crack! Snap!"
"Who the hell threw a firecracker into my office?" (End of Chapter)