Nara Luming stood up and took the hot water kettle. He poured some tea leaves into the teapot, then slowly added hot water. After two seconds, he poured it out, added hot water again, put down the kettle, and covered the teapot.
Then, he sat on the sofa and looked at Uchiha Ryun. Uchiha Ryun smiled. "Luming, your tea brewing skills are getting more and more refined."
"After all, the Hokage himself demonstrated it. I'm just good at learning." Nara Luming chuckled.
"By the way, Hokage-sama, what brings you to the Hokage's office today?" Nara Luming asked with a smile. He didn't believe Ryun was just here to see him. He said that every time, and every time he ended up assigning him work.
"Come on, Luming, what's our relationship? Isn't asking like that a bit distant? This kind of behavior really pains me!" Uchiha Ryun quickly covered his chest.
"Enough, stop pretending. Whatever it is, say it. I might consider agreeing." Nara Luming said slowly.
Uchiha Ryun hesitated a bit, but finally spoke. "It's like this, Luming. I, I want to retire."
Nara Luming shot up, looking at Uchiha Ryun with disbelief. "What? Bro, you want to retire? You're not even thirty yet, what are you retiring for? And I'm almost pushing 50, if anyone should retire, it should be me."
"No, no, Luming, you, you sit down first, keep your voice down." Uchiha Ryun pulled Luming's arm, trying to get him to sit down. Luming rolled his eyes.
"Eighty percent of the work in this Hokage's office is handled by me. You don't have to be very busy all day, we just need your title as Hokage to deter the other four nations, and you're telling me you want to retire? Don't even think about it!" Nara Luming sat down angrily.
Uchiha Ryun didn't dare make a sound. He then poured a cup of tea for Nara Luming and another for himself. "Luming, you know me. Nowadays, Konoha is relatively stable in all aspects. Plus, with my wife's condition, you see..."
Uchiha Ryun's voice was pleading. Nara Luming gave him a look. "I know, Lady Tsunade is about to give birth, and you're feeling restless. Alright, I'll give you a year and a half of paternity leave. Except for matters of war and alliances, I'll handle the rest. But don't mention retirement again!"
"Okay, Luming. Let's drink to this tea, we're brothers forever!" After saying this, Uchiha Ryun drank the tea in his cup in one gulp, placed the cup on the table, then used the Flying Thunder God Technique to instantly escape the scene, afraid that Nara Luming would change his mind.
Nara Luming was stunned. Seriously, buddy? You came here just for time off? Not for retirement? Alright, alright, using negotiation tactics on me, are you?
Nara Luming was a bit speechless. He drank his tea in one gulp, then continued drinking tea by himself. Although Uchiha Ryun was unreliable, his strength was genuine, without any dilution.
Having such a human-shaped nuclear bomb around made Nara Luming feel much more at ease. After all, truth only exists within the range of the sword. And Uchiha Ryun's sword could shatter the enemy's will and destroy their ambitions at any time.
It allowed the Five Great Shinobi Nations to maintain a delicate balance. It also allowed Konoha Village to develop its economy, technology, production, and more without restraint, improving the village's happiness index.
The Next Day
Namikaze Minato had just left his house. The war was over, but the daily life of a shinobi had to continue. He gathered Team 7 to go pick up a mission with him.
After all, they couldn't just laze around forever, right? In the early morning, Team 7 appeared in the mission hall.
"Sensei, it's been less than three days since the war ended, and we're already taking a mission? Isn't that a bit too dedicated?" Uchiha Obito said with a sigh.
He had originally wanted to rest properly today, sleep the whole day, but he was finally woken up by Namikaze Minato and Kakashi.
"If you rest any more, you'll become a useless loser, idiot." Kakashi looked at Uchiha Obito with dead fish eyes,吐槽ed, then turned his head away.
"Hey! Bastard Kakashi, what did you say?" Uchiha Obito rolled up his sleeves, ready to confront Kakashi.
"Obito, Kakashi, don't fight here, you'll cause trouble for Minato-sensei!" Nohara Rin quickly tried to mediate.
Namikaze Minato placed his left hand on Kakashi's head and his right hand on Obito's head. "Well, Rin is right. You two settle down."
In the mission hall, Danzo was frowning as he looked at the mission board, muttering to himself. "The Iwa-nin attacking Kusa-nin Village? This is tricky. Kusa-nin Village borders Konoha. If we let it fall, Konoha will be completely exposed to Iwa-nin."
"No, this matter is too important. I must inform the Hokage! We absolutely cannot let Kusa-nin Village fall!" Danzo was just about to tear off the mission sheet to show Uchiha Ryun.
But the next moment, Namikaze Minato stepped forward, tore off the mission, and registered for it.
"Destroy the Bridge of Heaven and Earth, an A-rank mission. Namikaze Minato, are you sure you want to accept this mission?" The mission hall administrator looked gravely at the four of them.
Namikaze Minato smiled. "Yes, please register us."
"Minato!" Danzo suddenly spoke. His voice made Minato pause, and he turned to look. He then smiled. "Danzo-sensei!"
"Minato." Danzo walked up and looked seriously at Minato and the three kids, slightly taken aback. "They are?"
"Sensei, these three are my students. Everyone, greet your Grand-teacher Danzo." Namikaze Minato patted the kids' heads.
"Grand-teacher!" x3. The three kids looked curiously at the somewhat handsome old man.
Danzo's originally stern expression relaxed, and the corners of his mouth turned up. "Minato, I heard you were very active on the battlefield, even earning the name Konoha's Yellow Flash!"
"Haha, sensei, you flatter me!" Namikaze Minato scratched his head and laughed.
However, in the next moment, Danzo's face changed. "You just came back from the battlefield, you should rest properly. And the mission you just took involves matters between the Land of Earth and the Land of Fire."
"I was just about to cancel this mission and take it back for the Hokage to see. How could you take it!" Danzo's tone was serious.
Namikaze Minato was stunned. With his insight, he naturally understood the importance and danger of this mission, which was why he wanted to take it, to help Konoha with something within his power.
"Danzo-sensei, the mission is dangerous, but you must understand its importance. So, if you're here to persuade me to abandon the mission, please save your breath." Namikaze Minato said resolutely.
"You, ah!" Danzo shook his head. Minato was good in every way, except for this stubbornness. Once he decided on something, not even ten oxen could pull him back!
He only learned his lesson after suffering himself. But this matter was too important, and it concerned the lives of those three kids. Since he couldn't persuade Minato, he had to inform the Hokage!
"Fine. Since you've decided, then be careful on your way. It's said that Iwa-nin has a new up-and-coming commander named Tōshi. His swarm tactics once exhausted and dragged down the Third Raikage of Kumo. If the situation looks bad, use the Flying Thunder God to bring the three kids back immediately!" Danzo patted Namikaze Minato's shoulder.
Namikaze Minato nodded. "Thank you for your concern, Danzo-sensei!" After saying that, he smiled and led the three kids out of the mission hall, heading towards the village gate.
Danzo didn't dare delay. He used the Body Flicker Technique repeatedly until he arrived at Uchiha Ryun's house. At that moment, Uchiha Ryun had just returned from buying groceries.
"Huh? Danzo, what brings you here? Is something wrong?" Uchiha Ryun said with a smile.
"Ryun, Ryun, there's a mission. Minato took it." Danzo was panting heavily. He had used the Body Flicker Technique non-stop all the way here.
"If he took it, he took it. What's the big deal?" Uchiha Ryun took out his keys, opened the villa door, and gestured for Danzo to enter.
Danzo grabbed Uchiha Ryun's hand. "This mission involves Iwa-nin. The client is the Daimyō of the Land of Grass. The mission is to destroy the Bridge of Heaven and Earth to prevent Iwa-nin from attacking Kusa-nin Village."
Uchiha Ryun wondered if his ears were playing tricks on him. "What did you say? The Bridge of Heaven and Earth? Iwa-nin attacking Kusa-nin Village?" His voice rose an octave.
Damn? What's going on? Didn't they say the Third Great Shinobi War was over? How could this still happen?
"Ding. System hibernation ended. Host, welcome back to me, quickly!"
Uchiha Ryun's eyes lit up. The system, the system was back!
"System, let me tell you what happened." Uchiha Ryun thought.
"Ding. Host does not need to explain. System hibernation has ended, automatically integrating the latest timeline information."
"Ding. Congratulations host for ending the Third Great Shinobi War. Reward: 2,000,000 points."
"Ding. Congratulations host for obtaining the Four-Tails Tailed Beast. Konoha gains the Four-Tails Jinchūriki, Pakura. Reward: 1,000,000 points, One Four-Tails Chakra Source."
"Ding. Congratulations host for completing the achievement 'Ten Thousand Kills in the Shinobi World'. Reward: 1,000,000 points. Simultaneously unlocked the second skill of the Golden Rinnegan: Space Compression."
"Combining recent mission settlements, total points: 5,000,000. Host must continue to work hard!"
Hearing this long-lost system prompt, Uchiha Ryun got excited. For a moment, he actually forgot that Danzo was still standing beside him.
"Ryun, Ryun?" Danzo spoke up, looking suspicious. Uchiha Ryun snapped back to reality. "Danzo, come inside first. Let's discuss this matter properly."
At the same time, he communicated with the system. "System, you recovered pretty fast. It's only been about a week, and you're awake again." Uchiha Ryun teased.
The system thought to itself, "Isn't it thanks to your kickbacks? That's why I recovered so quickly!" But it would never say that out loud. Instead, it said cheerfully, "I just couldn't rest easy thinking about you, host, so I did my best to counteract the effects from last time."
"By the way, host, do you have any questions?" The system's voice was somewhat gentle.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
📖 Like the story? Read 120 chapters ahead!
🔗 patreon.com/atomelectron
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
