After hearing what Hibari said, Shikajin smiled. However, he didn't try to stop him, but instead gave a word of caution: "Although I don't know why you've suddenly gone crazy and started this cult, don't forget that you are a shinobi of Konoha and one of the figureheads of the Senju clan. Every action you take represents Konohagakure and your clan. You must never do anything that would bring shame to either... Heh, but I have confidence in you. I believe you won't do anything reckless."
Hibari smiled and nodded, then fanned himself with his tattered fan and said, "Don't worry, Shikajin-san. I know what I'm doing. Even though our cult's name might sound a little improper, we're only doing good things. One of our core tenets is to ensure everyone has food to eat, work to do, and a life filled with hope!"
Shikajin nodded and then said, "As long as you know what you're doing, I won't delay your 'glorious labor.' I have to rush back to report the situation in the Land of Hot Water to the Third Hokage-sama. Finish what you're doing here quickly, and I'll see you when you get back."
Hibari grinned and said, "Then have a safe trip. I won't see you off, since I'm all dirty and messy..."
"Go back to laying bricks!" Shikajin said with a final laugh.
He then truly didn't delay any longer. After confirming that Hibari wasn't missing, he took his team and returned in the direction of the Land of Fire.
After resting for a while, Hibari went back to laying bricks. However, he was moving heavy, large stones. In his eyes, this was a form of training. He would come out and train his body like this after a period of researching jutsu and other miscellaneous things.
He had to admit, his muscles seemed to have gotten a little firmer.
Life was sometimes this peaceful.
Now that the wars between countries had stopped, the smaller nations were starting to rebuild their strength.
Konoha was more focused on development, so there wasn't much need for the Anbu. Even if there was a mission, there was no need for Hibari to go personally, and with Hiyoko still wandering around Konohagakure, he felt somewhat 'involved.'
Actually, being a shinobi was quite a free profession because, theoretically, they were in the 'mercenary' category. Unless a war broke out, there were generally no mandatory missions.
Although the Hokage would often send shinobi out on missions, they could actually refuse. It was just that almost no one did.
On one hand, doing so would make the Hokage lose face, and their reputation in the village would get worse.
On the other hand, it also represented the Hokage's trust in you. If you kept refusing missions, you wouldn't be able to get any missions in the future. Then you'd have no income and would have to go out and do odd jobs, which would be miserable.
But for shinobi with connections or great strength, it was normal not to take on missions, and it was also normal for them to travel and do their own things.
For example, Jiraiya and Tsunade later on. One wandered everywhere, trying to catch Orochimaru and 'gathering material' for his books, not returning to Konoha for years. The other gambled and accumulated debt everywhere, only to return to Konoha and immediately become the Hokage. They were both good examples.
Therefore, it was normal for Hibari to stay in the Land of Hot Water for over a month. No one would say anything. Who didn't have a private life?
Three days after Shikajin's team left, Hibari was in the church researching some random jutsu in the morning when the construction team leader knocked on the door and came in, saying, "Hibari-dono, a guest has arrived in town. He said his name is Kakuzu, and you called him here..."
Hibari put down the book in his hand and said with a smile, "He's finally here? That guy is really slow. Tell him to come in. I did call him back."
The construction team leader smiled and nodded, then went downstairs.
Not long after, the door to Hibari's room was pushed open again. Hibari looked over and said with some dissatisfaction, "Kakuzu, you're really slow. It's been over a week... huh? Tsunade? What are you doing here?!"
Hibari had expected the door to be opened by Kakuzu, but it was Tsunade who came in. When she saw Hibari, she said happily, "Hibari-nii, what are you hiding here for? You won't even come home? It's so far that I had to come all this way to see you..."
When Hibari heard what Tsunade said, he showed a warm smile and said, "Your Hibari-nii is doing some serious work. What about you? How do you have time to come find me? Didn't you become a shinobi? Aren't you doing missions?"
At these words, Tsunade's face soured. She said, "It's so boring. That guy, the Third Hokage doesn't respect me at all. He always gives me D-rank missions. I'm either looking for cats or dogs, like a handyman. The pay is so little it's not even enough for one round of gambling... I quit. I happened to hear that Kakuzu-san was coming here, so I took leave to come find you, Hibari-nii."
Hibari chuckled and tapped Tsunade on the head, saying, "What's this about 'that guy, the Third Hokage?' You have to call him the Third Hokage-sama or Sensei. He's the Hokage of Konoha, so you need to show him enough respect, got it?"
Tsunade covered her head and stuck out her tongue, saying, "Got it, Hibari-nii."
Then, as if she suddenly remembered something, Tsunade quickly said, "Oh, right, right, Hibari-nii, something bad happened!"
Hibari looked at her and said with a laugh, "What's this 'something bad happened'?"
"That idiot Jiraiya is missing!" Tsunade said with some worry.
Hibari's eyebrow raised, and he asked, "How did he go missing?"
"That idiot has always been jealous of Orochimaru's talent and wasn't serious about learning jutsu. Then he started complaining that the Third Hokage only liked Orochimaru, so he started acting up. The Third Hokage also had a headache because of him, so he taught him a summoning jutsu and told him to go think about what kind of summoning beast he wanted to make a summoning contract with... Ever since then, we haven't seen him again. We've all looked for him. Someone saw with their own eyes that the idiot used a summoning jutsu without a summoning contract and sent himself who knows where. We can't find him... What do we do?" Tsunade said incoherently.
When Hibari heard this, he started to laugh. He then patted Tsunade's head and asked, "You call Jiraiya an idiot and a fool, but you seem to be worried about him?"
Tsunade said with a righteous tone, "It's precisely because he's both an idiot and a fool that I'm worried about him. If Orochimaru went missing, I wouldn't worry... After all, Orochimaru is very smart and does things with a lot of thought. Jiraiya is different. He's always causing trouble. In any case, he's still my teammate, so isn't it normal for me to worry about him?"
Hearing Tsunade's words, Hibari said with a smile, "Tsunade-hime has grown up a lot. You're even worrying about your teammates now? That makes me happy. But don't worry, that kid is blessed with good fortune. It was within my expectations that he would cause this kind of mess. If nothing goes wrong, he was sent to Mount Myoboku by the Toad Sages. He might be there training for a few years, but when he returns, he will surely surprise you."
"Toad Sages? Oh, I know, they're one of the three great summoning lands, right? Mount Myoboku? Speaking of which, Tobirama-jisan made me sign a summoning contract with the Slug Sage not long ago..." Tsunade froze for a moment, then said excitedly.
"The Slug Sage? That's very good. Tsunade loves medical ninjutsu, and the Slug Sage loves it, too. You two will become good friends..." Hibari said as he patted Tsunade's head.
This brought up another matter that Hibari had put on hold for a long time: finding a place to get himself a powerful summoning beast. Although he had already made a trump card as his summoning beast, he still had some regrets.
He also really needed to find a summoning land and see if he could learn Senjutsu. He would skip the Slug Sages, as he was afraid that if he really signed a summoning contract with a slug, it would be less than ideal.
He wasn't very interested in Mount Myoboku. On the contrary, the place he was interested in was the Ryūchi Cave.
"It seems after I've arranged things here, I should go on a journey to find the Ryūchi Cave..." Hibari murmured softly.
After chatting with Tsunade about these random things for a while, Kakuzu's figure finally walked to the door. Hibari looked at him and said helplessly, "Could you have been any slower?"
"I would have been a lot faster if I hadn't been taking care of your little princess..." Kakuzu said grumpily.
If he had come alone, he might have arrived in two or three days, but he had been tangled up with Tsunade. The Senju family had a lot of nerve to trust him with their little princess and let her travel across countries to find Hibari.
However, the trust behind this act made Kakuzu, a person who believed in the supremacy of money, feel a rare warmth in his five hearts.
Kakuzu knew very well that this little princess Tsunade was more than just a 'princess.' She was the apple of his 'employer' Senju Hibari's eye. If anything went wrong on the way, Hibari would likely tear him apart.
So, he didn't dare to go too fast on the journey, protecting Tsunade and slowly making his way here. That's why it took so long.
The two of them, as usual, started bickering and arguing when they met. Then Hibari was suddenly surprised to see a kid hiding behind Kakuzu.
"Who is that?" Hibari asked curiously.
Kakuzu glanced at the kid behind him and said, "I found him on the way. I wasn't going to bother with him, but your little princess is too kind and insisted on bringing this kid along. I thought, since you seem to be gathering refugees and all, I might as well bring him."
Hibari nodded at that. For a guy like Kakuzu, he would never go out of his way for something that didn't benefit him. Let alone seeing one homeless kid on the road, he wouldn't even pay attention to ten.
But Tsunade was very kind, so it was normal for her to do such a thing. Thus, Hibari nodded in understanding.
Just then, Tsunade said excitedly, "His name is Hidan, and he's a civilian. His family got separated during the war, and I felt sorry for him, so I brought him along. I wanted you to help him settle down, Hibari-nii..."
As soon as Tsunade's words fell, Hibari's expression became a little surprised. What did she say the kid's name was? Hidan? Could it really be that much of a coincidence?
Could it be that what you seek when you least expect it is what you find?
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