Halfway through their walk, Kurotsuchi felt that something was off again.
Ōnoki now firmly believed that she and Uzumaki Naruto were deeply in love and had already progressed to… well, that kind of relationship.
Thinking of this, Kurotsuchi stepped forward and took Naruto's hand.
"Huh? What are you doing?" Naruto noticed her action and asked, slightly confused.
Kurotsuchi explained, "Don't overthink it. This is just to keep Grandpa from getting suspicious."
"And… I just remembered—if, in Grandpa's eyes, your identity is my… that…"
"He might directly give you the method for practicing Dust Release."
"So we should discuss the price of Dust Release beforehand."
Naruto thought about it for a moment and agreed.
Then he asked, "How much do you think is appropriate? Also, don't forget about the Tailed Beast Chakra."
Hearing this, Kurotsuchi rubbed her forehead with a headache. "Dust Release is fine, but the matter of Tailed Beast Chakra is too important. You'll have to discuss that with Grandpa."
"As for Dust Release, you can only practice it yourself and cannot teach it to others. That will be fifty million ryō."
"In other words, what you're buying for fifty million ryō is only the right to practice Dust Release."
"As for how far you can develop it, we won't interfere. If you truly succeed, we'll have nothing to say."
"But you absolutely cannot allow others to practice Dust Release."
Naruto felt the price was reasonable, so he nodded. "I understand."
"What?" Kurotsuchi looked at him in surprise. "You really understood what I just said?"
That was fifty million ryō!
Originally, Kurotsuchi had even left room for Naruto to bargain.
In her mind, as long as the final price didn't fall below thirty million, it would already be a profit.
She never expected Naruto to agree so readily.
The deal went too smoothly, leaving Kurotsuchi momentarily stunned.
She even suspected that Naruto didn't actually intend to pay.
Naruto, however, looked surprised as well and asked, "What's wrong? Did I misunderstand something?"
Kurotsuchi fell silent.
After repeatedly confirming that Naruto really would pay, she suddenly felt how outrageous it was.
Fifty million ryō.
What kind of person could casually agree to that amount without even blinking?
This Uzumaki Naruto was becoming more and more mysterious.
The two continued holding hands, just like a real couple.
Along the way, they attracted a great deal of attention.
Kurotsuchi was well-known as Iwagakure's village beauty, after all.
Soon, many ninja began to notice them.
Earlier, when rumors spread that Kurotsuchi and Uzumaki Naruto were engaged, most people hadn't believed it.
After all, Naruto also seemed to be engaged to Temari of Sunagakure.
But now…
It actually seemed to be true!
Their Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, was really willing to marry his granddaughter to an outsider—one who already had another engagement!
Naruto ignored the envious gazes from all directions.
Soon, the two entered the Tsuchikage Building and arrived at the Tsuchikage's office.
Before going in, Kurotsuchi shot Naruto a look.
Naruto raised an eyebrow in response.
Kurotsuchi raised an eyebrow back.
Naruto raised his eyebrow again—
Kurotsuchi suddenly whispered, "You don't understand what I mean at all, do you?"
"Of course I don't," Naruto replied matter-of-factly. "We're not really—"
He stopped halfway through his sentence.
After all, Ōnoki was a powerful ninja. If the act were exposed, getting Dust Release or Tailed Beast Chakra would become much more troublesome.
Kurotsuchi shook her head slightly and reminded him, "Don't expose it. Improve your acting—Grandpa is very hard to fool."
Naruto: "…"
Kurotsuchi stepped forward and knocked on the door. "Grandpa, it's me."
Immediately, an old man's voice came from inside. "Hmm, come in."
To be honest, Ōnoki's voice was somewhat similar in style to Hiruzen Sarutobi's.
Both sounded aged, yet carried a sense of calm benevolence.
Unfortunately, Naruto understood politicians far too well to be fooled by that surface kindness.
After entering, the two sides exchanged pleasantries.
This wasn't Naruto's first time "meeting the elders."
And since it was fake anyway, he wasn't nervous in the slightest.
Ōnoki, however, quickly grew more animated and began speaking freely.
He even mocked Hiruzen Sarutobi as a fool for failing to win over such an excellent Jinchūriki, choosing instead to morally pressure Naruto.
He went so far as to say that Hiruzen Sarutobi's death was good—wonderful, even excellent.
Kurotsuchi stood there with dark lines all over her face.
Listening to Ōnoki and Naruto chatting enthusiastically, she suddenly felt completely unnecessary.
Naruto, on the other hand, felt that Ōnoki was far more straightforward than Hiruzen Sarutobi, and couldn't help developing a bit of goodwill toward him.
After all, it was hard to dislike an old man who was both honest and amusing.
Soon, the topic turned to Dust Release.
Just as Kurotsuchi had predicted.
When Ōnoki heard that Naruto was interested in Dust Release, his face immediately lit up.
"Good! Very good!" Ōnoki exclaimed. "Our village has finally produced a genius interested in Dust Release!"
His old face flushed with excitement.
He immediately declared, "Naruto, since we'll be family from now on, I certainly won't be stingy with Dust Release!"
"Kurotsuchi, quickly organize the materials and give them to Naruto so he can try right away."
"If it works, we'll finally have a successor!"
Mentioning a successor reminded Ōnoki of a certain troublesome brat.
"That idiot Deidara!" Ōnoki grumbled. "Why did he have to obsess over explosions… sigh."
Hearing Deidara's name, Naruto immediately shut his mouth.
In truth, Deidara was already dead.
He had even been turned into a puppet by Sasori.
But very few people knew this.
So neither Ōnoki nor Kurotsuchi was aware that Deidara's death was related to Naruto.
Soon, Kurotsuchi finished organizing the Dust Release materials.
She stepped in front of Naruto, turned her back to Ōnoki, and gave Naruto a subtle wink.
Naruto understood immediately.
After accepting the materials, he said to Ōnoki, "Old man, this is our first meeting, and you're already giving me such a generous gift. I really don't know how to repay you."
"Please take this money to buy some tonics. Consider it a junior's filial respect."
As he spoke, Naruto reached into his pocket.
Ōnoki laughed loudly and waved his hand. "No need, no need, little Naruto. As long as you stay in Iwagakure in the future, as one of our people, what's one Dust Release?"
"Besides, as an elder, how could I accept your—huh?"
Under the dumbfounded gazes of both Kurotsuchi and Ōnoki—
Naruto had clearly reached into a very small pocket.
Yet when he pulled his hand out, it was holding an enormous stack of green banknotes.
And just how enormous was it?
A rough estimate put it at several tens of millions of ryō.
Ōnoki's unfinished words were swallowed back down, his eyes widening in shock.
Ōnoki: Everything I just said… doesn't count.
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