"Understood, Master Rin."
Danzo's response was perfunctory, bordering on dismissive.
Rin, hearing the tone, chose not to continue lecturing. Everyone walked their own path, some people simply refused to heed advice, and no amount of talking would change that.
Hiruzen's heart sank slightly. As someone who spent nearly every day with Danzo, he understood exactly what that answer meant.
From that moment on, Hiruzen became noticeably more cautious.
After Izuna departed, Garfield finally climbed out of the bathtub. Only when dinner was ready.
His body trembled once, shaking off the remaining water in a single motion. Perhaps it was because his fur was too dense, or too oily, but not a single drop clung to him afterward.
"Meow."
After dinner, Garfield took a leisurely walk through the forest paths.
Along the way, he happened upon the contemporary Ino–Shika–Chō trio, all enthusiastically performing what could only be described as a seaweed dance.
"What a magical sway."
"So comfortable."
"It's cooling us down."
"I'm getting hungry."
"Let's do it again."
"Let's go!"
Watching them stagger about with blissful expressions, Garfield shook his head and continued on, eventually arriving at the entrance of the Senju household.
Inside, the Senju family had just finished dinner.
Hashirama was cheerfully playing with his granddaughter Tsunade alongside his wife, Uzumaki Mito.
Tsunade clutched a small stopper in her hand, laughing delightedly.
In her world, this was the best game imaginable.
She could play with Grandpa.
And then Grandpa would disappear.
That was what she missed most.
"Hashirama, Lady Mito. Tsunade," Garfield greeted.
"Garfield!" Hashirama replied warmly.
"Good evening," Mito said with a smile.
At that moment, Tsunade tossed aside the stopper, pointed excitedly at Garfield and the small fox accompanying him, and shouted, "Cats! Two cats!"
Danger.
A feral child had locked on.
Garfield decisively dodged the several bear-like swipes Tsunade made toward him, moving with astonishing agility.
"Hashirama." Garfield said quickly, "Hold your granddaughter. I need to talk to you."
Understanding it was business, Mito picked up Tsunade and soothed her gently. "Come on, little Tsunade. Let Grandma take you to play."
"No! I want the cat! I want the cat!"
Mito cast Garfield an apologetic look. Garfield thought for a moment, then calmly lifted Shōkyū up and held her out.
"What." Shōkyū asked, bewildered.
Garfield said solemnly, "Raise a fox for a thousand days. Use the fox for one moment. This is destiny."
"What…"
Before Shōkyū could finish, Garfield wrapped her up and tossed her neatly into Tsunade's arms.
"Go play nicely."
Tsunade hugged Shōkyū happily and followed Mito away. From a distance, Garfield could hear Shōkyū's furious voice.
"Just you wait! I'll have Sister Pandora teach you a lesson!"
Garfield snorted. "It's just Pandora Godzilla. I'm not afraid of her."
Instantly, a sharp pain exploded in Garfield's soul space. His face visibly swelled.
Hashirama patted him on the shoulder sympathetically. "Brother… I understand."
"You don't." Garfield replied bitterly. "That's a fundamental difference."
"Is your washboard made of iron?" Hashirama asked cautiously.
"…" Silent contemplation.
Garfield sighed. "Brother Hashirama, if you can't take it anymore, you can come with me. You're a big shot too, status at home and all."
Hashirama almost nodded… then he felt a murderous aura behind him.
He immediately shrank his neck and shook his head. "No, no. I'm doing great. My knees don't hurt, my back isn't sore."
Pitiful.
Even Pandora, watching from within Garfield's soul space, frowned. 'That's just sad, stinky cat. Look at him, then look at you.'
'What's wrong with me?'
'Look at Hashirama. How warm and happy they are.'
'He has a granddaughter.'
…
Pandora fell silent, momentarily unsure how to respond to that emotional nuclear strike.
Awkward silence followed.
"Cough." Garfield cleared his throat. "Business. Let's talk business."
"Go ahead." Hashirama said.
Garfield steadied himself, touched his still-swollen face, and looked directly at Hashirama.
"Brother." He asked seriously, "Do you know where the ninja cats and ninja dogs live?"
"I don't know the exact locations," Hashirama admitted. "Those places are rather mysterious. Even, I've never visited them personally."
"However, you could use summoning techniques in reverse to trace them. Why do you want to find them?"
Garfield answered without hesitation, "I want to recruit a group of ninja cats and ninja dogs."
"They'll guard the house and catch mice."
"…That's all?" Hashirama blinked.
"Yes." Garfield replied calmly. "In two days, I'll need to buy a large quantity of dried fish and big bones."
Hashirama frowned in confusion. "Why dried fish and bones?"
"Dried fish for cats. Bones for dogs," Garfield said matter-of-factly. "Recruitment requires compensation, doesn't it?"
Hashirama paused, then nodded. "That makes sense."
Thus, Garfield's procurement plan centered on dried fish and bones, was formally approved.
Acting on the principle of mutual benefit, Hashirama personally contacted the ninja cat and ninja dog clans, while Garfield entrusted the purchasing operation to Konoha's logistics system, led by the specialists.
The scale of the purchase was staggering, more than five times Konoha's current reserves.
The village treasury alone could not cover the initial costs, let alone the labor and transportation fees, all of which needed to be paid upfront.
As Garfield's primary sponsor and strategic partner, Konoha extended special treatment.
From that day on, the left and right sides of Konoha's forehead protector would officially bear Garfield's distinctive cat-claw insignia.
Once both parties reached an agreement, Garfield casually pulled out a stack of gleaming cat-claw gold bricks and handed them to Hashirama.
Hashirama, equally casually, transferred them to the Nara–Yamanaka–Akimichi financial collective, which handled village accounting.
Procurement began immediately.
As Konoha's strongest ally, the Land of Fire was the first target.
However, due to limited productivity and the constraints of the era, it could not fulfill the entire order.
Attention therefore shifted to other countries, particularly the Land of Water, which was rich in aquatic resources.
With large-scale trade requests, generous payments, and Senju Hashirama personally appearing as Konoha's representative, the most notorious 'cheating-level' ninja in the world, no nation dared refuse.
In fact, many scrambled to accept, fearing that offending Hashirama would be far worse than missing the profit.
Privately, many suppliers were deeply curious.
Just who was backing Konoha so completely?
Through whispers and negotiations, rumors began to spread of an orange cat, a master of time and space, a godlike existence operating behind Konoha.
Meanwhile, Hashirama successfully opened talks with the ninja cat and ninja dog clans.
Initially, both clans were hesitant.
Splitting their forces and leaving their traditional territories to follow Garfield was not a decision they took lightly.
Then the news arrived.
A purchase order for dried fish so large that, by conservative estimates, it could feed the entire cat clan for five years.
Possibly more, if divided carefully.
Cats drooled.
Dogs swallowed hard.
Food security was the foundation of survival, reproduction, and expansion. With such overwhelming sincerity in the hiring fee, resistance collapsed almost overnight.
After internal discussions, both clans agreed. Their representatives were dispatched to Konoha without delay.
Naturally, both groups were arranged to meet Garfield personally.
By coincidence or fate, a ninja cat and a ninja dog arrived in Konoha almost simultaneously.
꧁𓊈𒆜༺⚜༻𒆜𓊉꧂
PhantomDream