"What did you say?" Ryuji stared at Pakura in astonishment and asked, "Who did you just say wants to see me?"
"Gato."
"Which Gato?"
"The one who operates the water transport company, the world-famous billionaire!" Pakura patiently explained.
"This... What does he want with me?"
Confirming he hadn't misheard, Ryuji showed a look of utter bewilderment.
It had been a month since the Mechanical City's triumphant return. Various matters were proceeding in an orderly manner under arrangement.
The women of the Kagero Clan... Except for the elderly who didn't want the hassle, including Kana's mother, all had undergone the surgery and happily went looking for men.
Yes, the fundamental reason the Kagero Clan agreed to join Sunagakure wasn't that Ryuji could help them solve their clan's destruction crisis but that they could have normal romantic relationships and find men.
In fact, with Kana, who had already undergone the modification surgery, the clan destruction crisis was already resolved. They could have lived safely in seclusion in the mountains.
But as they put it, as women, living most of their lives without even experiencing romance would be a great regret.
So, after listening to the envoy sent by the Third Kazekage, they immediately agreed.
When Ryuji later learned the truth, he was speechless.
Additionally, under the leadership of Karura and her siblings, reforms were launched at Sunagakure Hospital and the Shinobi Academy.
The main reforms targeted the training systems for Medical-nin and ordinary Shinobi, changing some outdated concepts and systems from the past.
The Uzumaki Clan also changed or concealed their surnames, integrating into Sunagakure's daily life.
To ensure their safety, Sunagakure didn't announce within the village that they were the Uzumaki Clan, only saying they were new villagers joining the village.
With the precedent of the collective immigration of the Land of Whirlpools' people, most didn't think much of it. Some were just curious why the newcomers all had red hair.
However,
Living in the Land of Wind in the western part of the Shinobi Continent, many in Sunagakure had never even heard of the Uzumaki Clan, let alone knew their characteristics. Even if they noticed, they wouldn't make the connection.
Only a very few Shinobi who had undertaken missions in the Land of Whirlpools roughly guessed something.
Then, respecting their wishes, all nine Uzumaki children were enrolled in the Shinobi Academy, becoming the first batch of students under the reformed academy system.
Three of these children were originally from the Uzushiogakure Shinobi Academy.
The other seven, after witnessing their hometown destroyed, clan annihilated, and loved ones killed in the tragedy, urgently desired the power to take revenge or protect what they now had.
Finally, Chiyo also returned a week ago.
She, along with craftsmen and workers from the Daimyo's palace, successfully constructed an infinite water circulation system in the capital of the Land of Wind.
Moreover, through this project, Chiyo taught the manufacturing method of the Infinite Water Circulation System to the Daimyo's craftsmen. Future cities wouldn't require her personal supervision.
Because the Infinite Water Circulation System's effectiveness was unexpectedly good, the elderly Daimyo, to thank Sunagakure, not only privately paid two years' worth of the Mechanical City project funds in advance but also bestowed upon Ryuji a treasured artifact hidden in the Daimyo's palace.
—The Tea Kettle of Bunpuku.
This was the artifact the Daimyo bestowed upon Ryuji.
This was the original artifact that sealed Shukaku. Like Itachi's Sword of Totsuka, it possessed powerful sealing effects but lacked active sealing capability. It required someone to defeat the entity to be sealed before it could be contained within.
During the Warring States Period, Shukaku's mischievous nature caused fear among the Land of Wind's populace.
The Daimyo's palace hired Shinobi to seal Shukaku, then placed it in a temple for safekeeping.
The artifact that sealed Shukaku was this tea kettle.
After the First Five Kage Summit, when the First Hokage proposed the Tailed Beast Balance Strategy, Shukaku was sealed by Sunagakure from this artifact into the body of a monk named Bunpuku in the temple and brought to Sunagakure to be held in the dungeon.
Because the original sealing vessel for Shukaku resembled a tea kettle, and Shukaku was later sealed into Bunpuku, people called it 'Bunpuku's Tea Kettle', and the Daimyo's people took it back.
As for this item, Ryuji directly tossed it to the scanner, hoping to analyze the sealing technique on the kettle for mass production.
Sunagakure's affairs progressed orderly; naturally, the Mechanical City's development also advanced rapidly.
With the Daimyo's private financial aid, subsequent construction naturally developed vigorously.
The Mechanical City's housing sales advertisements also reached various parts of the Shinobi World via messenger hawks.
Ordinary people needed to pre-purchase with money. Shinobi Clans or Shinobi with special abilities or strength could obtain a house for free by joining Sunagakure as a condition.
Then, Pakura, who had just returned from submitting a mission report at the Kazekage's Office, came back saying Gato was looking for him.
"How would I know?" Pakura rolled her eyes helplessly, collapsing onto the sofa, saying weakly, "This mission lasted a month; I'm exhausted."
"Then rest. I'll go to the Kazekage Building to see."
...
Kazekage Building.
Reception Room.
Ryuji looked at the man sitting in the chair opposite… tall, slender, wearing a suit and trousers, with small round-framed sunglasses, a handsome face that wasn't strikingly so… and briefly wondered if he'd made a mistake.
'Was the short, stubby old man with the mustache from the original work, who looked utterly sly and treacherous, actually this handsome?'
'Could time be so cruel?'
Gato was also somewhat bewildered.
'Why has this person been staring at my face since entering?'
'Though I know I'm handsome, for a man to stare so openly isn't good, right?'
'I'm not into that.'
Considering his purpose for coming, Gato thought for a moment and proactively asked, "Cough, Ryuji-san, is there something wrong with my face?"
"Oh~ Nothing wrong."
Ryuji came back to his senses and asked, "Gato-san is a world-famous billionaire, so you're surely very busy. What business do you have with a Shinobi like me?"
Hearing this, Gato's face broke into a crafty merchant's smile.
Rubbing his hands together, he said, "I've come to bring Ryuji-san a gift."
"A gift?"
Ryuji looked at Gato strangely and asked, "Gato-san, are you my long-lost son?"
"Ah?"
Gato's mouth fell open. "Ryuji-san is so young, yet already has a long-lost son?"
"Ah?"
Ryuji's mouth also fell open.
'This guy, a world-famous billionaire managing a large mafia, amassing wealth comparable to a nation through various underworld strong-arm tactics... Could his brain be so dull he couldn't understand the implied meaning?'
Gato blinked his eyes and asked, "Did I say something wrong?"
"Nothing wrong."
"Then why is Ryuji-san looking at me like that?"
"It's my phrasing that was problematic."
"Your phrasing was problematic?"
Gato thought carefully, immediately understood the phrase's meaning, and couldn't help but feel anger rising. He slammed the table and stood up, shouting angrily, "Senki Ryuji, what do you mean?"
…
(T/N: The part about Bunpuku's Tea Kettle is from Shukaku's original early setting. Later, Kishimoto retconned, changing Shukaku from a vengeful spirit amalgamation to a Tailed Beast, and being sealed in a tea kettle to being sealed in a human.
Mentioning this part is simply to provide the protagonist with a treasured artifact, preparing for future major battles.)