Chapter 103: Suddenly Wanting to Play Matchmaker
"Yes, yes, I will speak to Lord Hokage..." The Nara Clan Head nodded repeatedly, a look of bitterness on his face.
Turning to enter the Hokage Building, he looked helplessly at Masahiko, who was lounging behind the desk.
"Acting Hokage-sama, this is already the sixth one."
"It's fine. Get used to it. There will be more in the future."
A month had passed since Masahiko became the Acting Hokage, and he had just received his sixth complaint.
"Damn it, someone actually dares to complain about the Hokage. Something feels wrong..." Masahiko said it was fine, but he muttered inwardly, "Being Hokage is hard."
The Nara Clan Head sighed, having no other recourse. "Acting Hokage-sama, please be at least a little polite to the dignitaries of the Land of Fire."
Masahiko glared and sat up straight. "Can you blame me? He keeps wanting to visit the Land of Lightning. Isn't that just seeking death?"
"But you could at least be polite..."
"I'm the Hokage. Do I have to care about their feelings?"
"The ninja world isn't peaceful right now. In case of war, we still rely on their funding."
Masahiko shook his head. "Relying on others forever won't do. Can't you develop Konoha's economic construction?"
"Economic construction?" The Nara Clan Head looked blank.
"Just... er, pretend I didn't say anything." Masahiko had just come up with two ideas, only to realize he didn't know how to execute them.
"Should I say 'get rich by raising pigs'?" Masahiko smiled bitterly inside. After so many years, he had long forgotten how protagonists in other stories developed economies. Besides, he never paid attention to that stuff anyway.
"Acting Hokage-sama..." The Nara Clan Head sounded helpless. "I hope you..."
"Alright, I got it!" Masahiko waved his hand, interrupting with a helpless look.
Inwardly, however, he thought: "Just watch me knock his teeth out if he comes again!"
"One more thing. Sunagakure's war reparations have arrived. Should we start mobilizing the blacksmiths now?" The Nara Clan Head continued.
Masahiko nodded with a smile. "Mobilize them. So Sunagakure gave in? They know when to bend and when to stretch... They're probably stepping up research on the Shukaku Jinchuriki."
Almost a month ago, Masahiko sent an alliance treaty from Konoha to Sunagakure. Of course, to demonstrate the "friendship" of the alliance, Sunagakure was required to provide Konoha with a large amount of various minerals.
Although the Land of Wind had the largest land area, its resources were the scarcest among the Five Great Nations. Otherwise, they wouldn't have eagerly come to demand resources upon seeing the standoff between Kumogakure and Konoha.
Masahiko's letter nearly angered the Second Kazekage to death; the injuries Mito left him almost flared up again.
However, the situation was stronger than the man. The Second Kazekage eventually sent back an alliance treaty, but he had halved the amount of resources listed, hoping to bargain with Masahiko.
Unexpectedly, after reading it, Masahiko added another 50% on top of the original amount and sent it back. He thought they would haggle for a while, but the Second Kazekage simply gave in.
"Acting Hokage-sama, do we really not need to worry about their One-Tail?" The Nara Clan Head hesitated for a moment before speaking with concern.
Masahiko shook his head. "Not everyone is Mito. They can't bring out the full power of a Tailed Beast."
"Anything else?" Masahiko lay back down again. Lately, he felt that lying in the Hokage's chair was more comfortable than being at home.
The Nara Clan Head paused, then remembered. "The students at the Ninja Academy are about to have their graduation exams."
"Oh? Any geniuses?"
"There is a child, only seven years old this year, who has applied for the graduation exam, and he is expected to pass," the Nara Clan Head replied.
"Oh? A genius. What's his name?" Masahiko remained lazy. In two or three years, the Sannin would graduate at six, so a seven-year-old graduate didn't really impress him.
"He's from the Hatake clan, a genius boy named Hatake Sakumo."
"Who?" Masahiko sat up straight instantly.
"Hatake Sakumo. Is there a problem?"
"No, no problem." Masahiko replied and lay back down, his thoughts racing.
"How could I forget him? The White Fang of Konoha..." Masahiko murmured. "Are there any other acquaintances in this era?"
"By the way, Nara Clan Head, is there a student named Might Duy in the Ninja Academy?"
"Might Duy? I'm not sure..."
Masahiko frowned. Kakashi's father and Guy's father should be about the same age. Should he go look for Might Duy?
"Forget it. Gold will always shine eventually."
Masahiko didn't say more, but the Nara Clan Head murmured in his heart, thinking he should pay attention to this Might Duy.
"Grandpa Masahiko!" A girl's voice came from outside, and a look of helplessness appeared on Masahiko's face.
"Yuna-chan, you skipped class again..."
The visitor was named Uzumaki Yuna, seven years old this year. She was Yiko's daughter. After Uzumaki Ashina died in battle, Masahiko doted on her out of guilt. And because of Yiko, Masahiko simply had her call him Grandpa. Thus, this seven-year-old girl became one of the people with the highest seniority in Konoha, second only to Masahiko.
The Nara Clan Head smiled bitterly. Being in the same generation as a seven-year-old girl was uncomfortable. "Then, Acting Hokage-sama, I'll take my leave if there's nothing else."
Masahiko waved his hand and watched Yuna walk up to him. He asked again, "Why did you skip school again?"
Yuna pouted. "Grandpa Masahiko, I've already learned all the knowledge taught in school back in the clan..."
"Consolidating the basics, you know," Masahiko said with a smile, feeling a sense of déjà vu from third-rate cram schools in his past life.
Saying this, he almost laughed out loud himself. He sighed and said, "Fine, don't go if you don't want to. Why didn't you apply for the graduation exam this year?"
Yuna had perfectly inherited Yiko's talent. At only seven years old, she already had the strength of a Genin.
Yuna shook her head. "Grandpa Masahiko, teach me a few powerful ninjutsu moves... My mother always says I'm still young and refuses to teach me. But there's a hateful white-haired boy in my class, and I can never beat him. I want to beat him before I graduate!"
"White-haired?" Masahiko paused. "Hatake Sakumo?"
Yuna nodded. "You know him too?"
"The Nara Clan Head just said he applied for graduation."
"What?" Yuna shouted. "That hateful Whitey! I want to apply for graduation too!"
With that, she ran out like the wind.
Masahiko froze for a moment, then shook his head with a wry smile. "This girl is nothing like Yiko when she was little. But it seems she has walked out of the shadow of losing her father. As expected, telling Yiko to send her to the Ninja Academy was the right choice!"
Masahiko scratched his head. "It seems Yuna and Sakumo have a pretty good relationship."
A thought struck him, and he suddenly wanted to play matchmaker.
"If Yuna and Sakumo get together, will the child born still be Kakashi?" Masahiko hesitated.
"Who cares? The plot is already different. Hatake Kakadong (East) is fine too."
"So, should I manufacture a chance encounter first? Or stage a 'hero saving the beauty'?" Masahiko scratched his head.
The old-fashioned matchmaker, Uzumaki Masahiko, was online.
☆☆☆
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