After finishing the instructions, Yamato went back to rest. As for Jokichi, after warming up the room with Fire Release, he also tucked himself into bed and went to sleep.
Compared to the tranquility of Tazuna's home, in an especially luxurious ancient palace-like building in the suburbs of the Land of Waves.
Gato, wearing small sunglasses and leaning on a cane, was swearing loudly in anger.
"He can't even assassinate a bridge builder. What Demon of the Hidden Mist, he's just a stray dog."
"I originally thought hiring a missing-nin could save a lot of money, but I didn't expect him to be such a useless thing. I'd better go to a regular ninja village to hire ninjas!"
However, despite this plan, at the thought of the high hiring costs of a regular ninja village, Gato felt a pang of heartache. Even though he was a world-famous billionaire, the more money he had, the stingier he became, only thinking of income and not expenses.
Seeing his boss's pained expression, among the subordinates, a bald man in a samurai robe stepped forward.
"Boss, I know of an extremely powerful mercenary organization with very low fees."
"There's such a mercenary organization?" Gato was very skeptical.
To become a top world billionaire, he was no fool and didn't believe in good things falling from the sky. Moreover, a mercenary organization itself exists to make money. The more powerful it is, the higher the fees. How could it be the other way around? Are they doing charity?
"Boss, you don't know," the bald samurai explained flatteringly.
"That mercenary organization is called 'Akatsuki'. Its core members are all S-rank missing-nin from various villages. They are powerful and are often hired by war-torn countries to participate in wars."
"Missing-nin..." Gato looked enlightened, then questioned, "It won't be like that Zabuza again, will it? That guy was also an S-rank missing-nin."
"Rest assured, Akatsuki is a mercenary collective that specifically roams through wars. They are absolutely professional."
"Then go contact Akatsuki. Have them send one, no, two core members over. We must kill Tazuna this time."
"Yes."
...
The next day, when the sky was still dim, Jokichi was woken up by Naruto knocking on his door.
"It's light out, get up!"
Jokichi pulled back the quilt and felt a trace of coldness. Although it was nearly May, the early morning in the sea-surrounded Land of Waves was still very cold. He quickly put on his clothes and felt a bit warmer.
After tidying up the bedding, Jokichi opened the door and saw a high-spirited Naruto.
"So early?"
"Yamato-sensei and Sakura have already followed to build the bridge. You're the only one who hasn't gotten up yet."
"I see." Jokichi rubbed the back of his head and whispered softly, "Tazuna is quite diligent!"
"I understand. Captain Yamato told me last night to help guide your training. You came for that, right?"
"Mhm!" Naruto nodded like a chicken pecking at rice, his big azure eyes looking at Jokichi full of expectation.
"I also want to become as strong as you, Jokichi. So, please teach me powerful ninjutsu!"
Saying that, Naruto gave a ninety-degree bow to Jokichi.
"Learn the basics first," Jokichi rubbed his nose.
"Let me wash up first and have some breakfast. Let's meet in the forest ahead later!"
"Mhm!"
...
The back of Tazuna's home faced the sea, while the front was a forest. Crossing this forest led to the town, where the bridge was also being built.
After Jokichi finished eating, he went to the forest in front. To prevent the enemy from attacking their base, he didn't go far, staying in the clearing about a dozen meters outside the house.
"I remember Captain Yamato told you, right?" Jokichi said while looking at Naruto.
"Your attacks have redundant movements, and using ninjutsu causes a waste of chakra."
"Mhm!" Naruto nodded and said, "I'm already working hard to correct the non-standard taijutsu movements. But regarding the chakra waste issue, I can't even sense myself wasting chakra so far, let alone know how to correct this flaw."
"Therefore, the content of this training is to let you improve your chakra control."
Next, Jokichi told Naruto about the tree-walking training and demonstrated it personally once before letting him practice on his own.
As for himself, he made a fishing rod and went to the pier in front to fish. This kind of guarding mission was even more boring than the chore missions in the village. If he didn't find something to do, he'd die of boredom.
However, he didn't know if his fishing skills were lacking, his bait wasn't salty enough, or the fishing rod was poorly made, as no fish bit for a long time.
After some unknown time, a child's voice suddenly sounded behind him.
"You won't be able to catch any fish here."
Jokichi turned his head at the sound and saw Inari standing not far behind him, head lowered, the brim of his hat obscuring his face and making his expression unreadable.
"Fish also have survival instincts. If you want to fish, it's best to find a place where there's no one."
Jokichi didn't care. "It doesn't matter, I'm just passing time."
"Then what's the point of doing such a thing?" Inari shouted as if he had been triggered. "The guy in front who's buried in training and covered in wounds—no matter how he trains, he won't be a match for Gato. And you, who are destined not to catch any fish—why are you doing this?"
"Just like how you would accept the mission to protect Grandpa. Since you're not a match for Gato anyway, why come and die so foolishly?"
"Why?" Jokichi tilted his head slightly, seemingly confused by the question.
"There aren't that many whys."
"When people see ants moving, some will laugh and move on, some will build bridges and pave roads for them, and some will burn them with a fire. Have you thought about what meaning there is in them doing so?"
"Eh!" Inari was stunned.
"Let me tell you!" Jokichi gave a contemptuous laugh.
"There is no meaning. Everything is done according to one's own preference."
"For preference, can you even disregard your life?" Inari questioned loudly.
Hearing this, Jokichi burst into loud laughter.
"Inari, you're stupider than a fish!" Jokichi ignored Inari's darkening face and continued, "A fish still knows to stay away from places with a lot of movement. Why would you think someone would disregard their life for a preference?"
"Then, then you guys..."
"When a person encounters ants moving, they will stay and watch. If they encounter a big fire, they will scream and run away. I accepted this mission because of my mood, and of course because Gato is just an ant-like character in my eyes. If I'm unhappy, I'll just step on him and kill him."
"This, this..."
"You don't think we accepted this mission out of kindness, do you?" Jokichi chuckled. "Maybe that's the reason for Naruto and Sakura, but Captain Yamato definitely has the mindset of training Naruto and Sakura, while I..."
Before he finished his sentence, Jokichi felt a movement on the fishing rod. He gave a fierce pull and hauled up a plump, large fish.
Jokichi happily put the fish into the bucket and continued, "I'm just doing it for myself, and to see if I can run into any unexpected gains. Look, in a place where I'm destined not to catch any fish, didn't I just catch one?"