Chapter 371: Gift Money

Chapter 371: Chapter 371: Gift Money

After carefully running through the numbers, Shizune broke into a beaming smile and patted her chest confidently.

"Kagami, I’ll make sure to put in a good word with Lady Tsunade about taking Rei as her disciple. Don’t worry—I don’t think there’ll be much of a problem!"

Rei was, after all, a Konoha shinobi with an impeccable background. Whether it was her age or her clan origins, there was nothing to find fault with.

Otherwise, no matter how much money was offered, Tsunade would never accept someone of unknown origins as her disciple.

Hyuga Kagami nodded. "Mm. I’ll leave it to you, then!"

After bidding Shizune farewell, Kagami thought things over for a moment before slowly making his way toward the Hyuga Main House estate.

The culprit who had murdered the Main House elder still hadn’t been caught. On top of that, Kagami had previously questioned the traditions of the Hyuga Clan in public, earning the dissatisfaction of many Main House members.

Thus, to avoid further aggravating the tensions between the Main House and Branch House, the Hyuga Clan hadn’t made a grand show of sending people to visit Kagami during his recovery.

Privately, however, both the clan head, Hiashi, and Hizashi had conveyed their concern for Kagami through Rei.

Originally, at a time like this, Kagami had no intention of getting involved in the clan’s troublesome affairs. After all, this was not yet the best time to reorganize the clan and purge its stubborn old guard.

However, considering that Rei becoming Tsunade’s disciple would also benefit the Hyuga Clan, Kagami felt that the clan should naturally shoulder at least part of the expenses involved in securing this apprenticeship.

Of course, the most important reason was—

Kagami was genuinely broke.

The moment he stepped into the Hyuga Clan compound, however, Kagami’s brows furrowed slightly, and a trace of confusion flashed across his face.

He had noticed that whenever the clansmen saw him, although they behaved with great respect and courtesy, greeting him one after another, beneath that outward politeness they always seemed to maintain a certain distance from him.

Upon arriving at the Main House estate, a guard hurried forward to greet him.

"Lord Kagami, the clan head is waiting for you in the side hall. Please follow me."

Without a doubt, the moment Hyuga Kagami had stepped into the clan compound, someone had already reported his arrival to Hiashi.

But that was perfectly normal.

After all, Kagami was now an ANBU squad captain. Even within the elite-filled ranks of the ANBU, he could already be considered part of the upper echelon—a promising candidate who could potentially compete for positions such as ANBU Commander, Captain of the Hokage Guard, or Commander of the Jonin Corps.

Kagami said nothing and merely nodded silently.

Before long, he arrived at the side hall and met Hiashi.

Hiashi looked Kagami up and down before smiling.

"Looks like you’ve recovered quite well."

Kagami nodded. "Mm. They were only superficial injuries to begin with."

After pondering for a moment, Hiashi said, "Kagami, when you were injured this time, the clan didn’t send anyone to visit you. I hope you won’t take it to heart."

Kagami smiled. "It’s fine."

Hiashi offered another explanation.

"The culprit from before still hasn’t been caught, and everyone in the clan has been on edge. There are also some misunderstandings between you and certain members of the Main House. That’s why I stopped Hizashi and didn’t allow him to visit you as a representative of the clan. I simply didn’t want you entering certain people’s sights during such a sensitive period and being pushed into the center of the storm."

Kagami replied calmly, "Clan Head, I really don’t care."

Kagami genuinely didn’t care what the Main House thought of him.

Otherwise, he would never have openly questioned the traditions of the clan in the first place.

One had to understand that for the conservative Hyuga Clan, tradition was the very foundation upon which the Main House ruled over the Branch House.

This wasn’t merely a matter concerning the Gentle Fist.

It concerned the very justification and legitimacy of the Main House’s existence.

Therefore, questioning tradition was practically equivalent to questioning the Main House itself.

That was precisely why the members of the Main House were so dissatisfied with Hyuga Kagami. Some of the more radical members even suspected that Kagami had been responsible for murdering the Main House elder.

However, there was no evidence, and Kagami’s current status and position were already worlds apart from what they had once been. So despite their suspicions, there was nothing the Main House could really do to him.

Hiashi breathed a sigh of relief. "As long as you understand."

Hiashi regarded Kagami very highly.

It wasn’t merely because Kagami possessed considerable strength and had become one of the pillars of the Hyuga Clan’s younger generation. More importantly, during the Gloya Incident, Kagami had willingly taken a risk to resolve the crisis on behalf of the Hyuga Clan, allowing the clan to escape a potential catastrophe.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Kagami explained the purpose of his visit.

Upon learning that Kagami wanted Rei to become Tsunade’s disciple, Hiashi nodded thoughtfully.

"Mm. That really is a good idea."

The Fourth Hokage had died young, while the Third Hokage was already advanced in age. The two people with the greatest chances of becoming the next Hokage were the Third’s two disciples—Jiraiya and Tsunade.

If the Hyuga Clan could arrange for one of its own members to become Tsunade’s disciple at this time, then should Tsunade eventually succeed as the Fifth Hokage, the relationship between the Hyuga Clan and the Hokage faction would naturally become even closer.

Seeing Hiashi nod in agreement, Kagami smiled.

"I’ve already sounded Shizune out. If we want Rei’s apprenticeship to go through, I’m afraid we’ll need to prepare a rather substantial monetary gift."

Hiashi immediately burst into laughter.

"Now I finally understand why you came to see me! Fine. Rei becoming Tsunade’s disciple would bring enormous benefits both to herself and to the clan. As clan head, I naturally can’t afford to be stingy."

After a brief pause, he declared, "How about this? I’ll personally contribute thirty million—no, thirty-five million—as Rei’s apprenticeship gift to Tsunade!"

Instead of looking particularly pleased, Kagami thought to himself,

"Looks like the Clan Head has never heard of Tsunade’s nickname, the ’Legendary Sucker.’"

Thirty-five million was already an enormous sum of money.

But for Tsunade, who was buried up to her neck in debt, Kagami estimated that even thirty-five million wouldn’t be enough to fill that massive hole.

Seeing Kagami remain silent, Hiashi asked suspiciously, "What’s wrong?"

"It’s nothing..." Kagami shook his head and smiled. "On Rei’s behalf, I thank the clan for its support!"

One shouldn’t push their luck.

Hiashi had immediately offered the enormous sum of thirty-five million. If Kagami still wasn’t satisfied after that, he would simply be asking for too much.

After sealing the case filled with cash into a storage scroll, Kagami left the Main House estate with a smile on his face.

When he returned home, he discovered that at some point, an inconspicuous little bamboo tube had appeared in the courtyard.

Sweeping it briefly with his Byakugan, he saw that there was nothing inside except a slip of paper.

"Heh..."

With a soft chuckle, Kagami casually reached out with his hand and pulled the bamboo tube through the air into his grasp. He then removed the note inside.

Several densely packed lines covered the paper, all detailing the little moves the Main House had been making against Kagami behind the scenes.

For example, the Main House was secretly investigating him.

And recently, the Main House had also begun grooming another talented member of the Branch House, hoping that this obedient Branch House member could eventually replace Kagami’s position within the ANBU.

Kagami put away the note, the corner of his mouth curling upward.

"Interesting."

Whoever had sent him this note was clearly trying to use Kagami against the Main House.

Perhaps in that person’s eyes, Kagami, who was currently being suspected and treated with hostility by the Main House, must surely be filled with resentment and harboring a deep grudge against them.

But the other party had never anticipated that, in Kagami’s eyes, the Main House simply didn’t amount to much.

His vision had long since ceased to be confined to something as small as a single clan or a single village.

As his strength increased, Kagami’s breadth of mind had unknowingly grown along with it.

For the current Kagami, the suspicion and hostility of a few Main House members were nowhere near enough to disturb his state of mind.

It was like a crawfish that was about to be tossed into the cooking pot.

No matter how fiercely it brandished its claws on the plate—

the diner would never care.

"I didn’t have the time to go looking for you, yet you went and jumped out on your own."

As Kagami crushed the note in his hand, he walked into the house.

If Kagami’s guess was correct, then the person who had sent him this note was very likely the same individual who had previously assassinated the Main House elder and infiltrated the Main House’s secret vault.

Perhaps, in the other party’s mind, Kagami, being a fellow member of the Branch House, was someone who could be won over and exploited.

That was why they had sent him this note—partly to sow discord between Kagami and the Main House, and partly as a gesture of goodwill toward him.

If some members of the Main House could merely be described as conservative and ignorant, then this person was unquestionably harboring sinister intentions.

The next day, Kagami arrived at the training ground as usual.

Perhaps having learned their lesson from yesterday, Kurenai, Hayate, and Yugao adopted a much more conservative strategy this time. Shadow Clones, Substitution Technique, and all manner of traps came one after another.

Without using any of his Tenseigan abilities, Kagami had to put in a bit of effort before finally defeating all three of them one by one.

Glancing at the trio lying on the ground, Kagami said indifferently,

"With strength like yours, if you encounter a member of Akatsuki, you’ll undoubtedly die. So work harder. The assessment will continue tomorrow. I hope you’ll perform better then."

With that, Kagami flickered away from the training ground just as he had the day before.

Kurenai grumbled irritably, "He’s seriously infuriating!"

Hayate lightly coughed as he silently stared at the longsword in his hand, seemingly contemplating something.

Forcing herself back to her feet, Yugao said,

"Looks like the Captain was right. Unless we attack him with the determination to actually kill him, we won’t have any chance of defeating him!"

Of the three, Yugao—the one with the largest age gap from Hyuga Kagami and the one least familiar with him—was actually the first to understand.

Kurenai’s delicate brows furrowed slightly. "You mean we need to treat this assessment as a genuine life-or-death battle rather than an ordinary spar?"

Yugao nodded gently. "I think that’s exactly what the Captain means!"

Hayate also got to his feet at this point.

"From now on, we need to treat the Captain as a real enemy!"

When he had been defeated today, Hayate had vaguely felt that something was off. It wasn’t until he heard Yugao’s words that he finally understood what it was.

Although Konoha-Style Kenjutsu was not a bloodthirsty sword art that placed killing above all else, if the swordsman wielding it possessed not even the slightest killing intent, then the power of Konoha-Style Kenjutsu would inevitably be greatly diminished.

......

While the members of Team Seven were discussing tomorrow’s assessment, Hyuga Kagami once again arrived on the second floor of the izakaya.

Because dealing with the three of them during today’s assessment hadn’t been as quick and effortless as it had been yesterday, Kagami arrived a few minutes late.

Shizune clearly didn’t mind, however. Smiling, she said to Kagami, "I mentioned Rei’s desire to become her disciple to Lady Tsunade."

"What did Lady Tsunade say?"

Shizune replied, "Lady Tsunade originally had no intention of taking on a disciple. But after hearing that Rei really wants to study Medical Ninjutsu under her, she seemed somewhat tempted by the idea. It’s just..."

Halfway through her sentence, Shizune smiled awkwardly.

In the end, she was simply too thin-skinned. There were certain things she really couldn’t bring herself to say aloud.

Naturally, Kagami had no intention of making things difficult for Shizune, so he took the initiative and said,

"You don’t need to worry about the apprenticeship gift. Our Hyuga Clan can afford it!"

Once Rei became Tsunade’s disciple, not only would her own strength improve, but her status within both the clan and the village would rise along with it.

After all, the Fourth Hokage himself had been a disciple of one of the Sannin.

Becoming a disciple of one of the Sannin essentially meant becoming part of the Hokage faction.

Moreover, Rei would also gain Tsunade’s protection. As long as she remained by Tsunade’s side, ordinary people wouldn’t even dare think about making a move against her.

Hearing Kagami bring up the apprenticeship gift on his own, Shizune breathed a sigh of relief before smiling.

"Don’t misunderstand, okay? Lady Tsunade isn’t taking Rei as her disciple because of the money. Lady Tsunade has actually always been quite fond of Rei. The last time she was choosing a disciple at the Ninja Academy, she almost picked Rei."

"I know, I know..."

Kagami gave her an expression that clearly said, I understand.

Shizune nodded repeatedly. "Mm-hmm. As long as you understand!"

Kagami asked, "Then how much is the apprenticeship gift?"

Shizune pulled out her little notebook and glanced through it. Then, lowering her head in embarrassment, she said,

"If possible, Lady Tsunade hopes for... N-No, no! I was hoping for fifty million..."

By the end, Shizune’s voice had become almost inaudible.

If Kagami’s hearing hadn’t been so sharp, he might not even have caught the exact amount she had said.

"Fifty million, huh..."

Kagami lightly tapped his fingers against the table as he fell into thought.

The amount Tsunade had asked for was actually lower than Kagami had expected.

To most people, fifty million might have been an astronomical sum, but to the Hyuga Clan, it was merely a large expenditure.

The problem was that even after scraping together everything he currently had, Kagami could only come up with forty million.

He was still a full ten million short of fifty million.

Seeing Kagami fall silent, Shizune hurriedly said,

"I-If you think the amount is too high, we can negotiate!"

In Shizune’s eyes, fifty million was unquestionably an enormous fortune.

Even if an ordinary shinobi worked diligently for several decades, they would never be able to save that much money.

So at this moment, she couldn’t help feeling incredibly guilty.

Kagami waved his hand.

"No. I’ll give seventy million!"

Shizune froze.

It took her several seconds to process what she had just heard before she exclaimed in shock,

"What!?"

Kagami said, "But that doesn’t come without conditions. I want Lady Tsunade to hold nothing back and harbor no prejudice whatsoever toward Rei. I want her to treat Rei as a true disciple!"

Rather than haggling over the price and leaving a bad impression, it would be better to increase the investment and have Tsunade owe Rei a favor, making her more willing to devote herself wholeheartedly to Rei’s training.

As for the money...

If he had to scrape together another ten million, he might as well scrape together thirty million.

After all, he would be making a trip to Kirigakure soon anyway.

Shizune nodded repeatedly.

"Don’t worry! What I said earlier wasn’t a lie. Lady Tsunade really does like Rei. In fact, Lady Tsunade once told me privately that the Hyuga Clan, with their Byakugan capable of seeing through the human body’s chakra pathway system, blood vessels, muscles, and bones, are actually the most suitable candidates for learning Medical Ninjutsu.

"That’s why she’s always been considering choosing a disciple from among the Hyuga Clan. Once Rei becomes her disciple, she’ll definitely treat her equally and won’t harbor any prejudice against her!"

Kagami nodded in satisfaction.

"Then I can rest assured!"