"Lord Danzo, is there something you need?" Haruto Saito eyed Danzo from head to toe, his heart instantly on guard. In fact, he really wanted to ask—where exactly did Danzo's hostility toward him come from?
"The Hokage wants to see you," Danzo said coldly.
"Oh…" Haruto relaxed slightly, then got up and jumped off the soft couch.
A short while later, in the Hokage's office.
Danzo led Haruto inside, where Hiruzen Sarutobi and Mifune had been waiting for some time. On the way there, Haruto had already asked about the situation—Konoha's transaction with the Land of Iron had been successfully completed. At the northern border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Iron, the Iron Legion had handed over the transported gold to Konoha's Second Army Independent Battalion, which had gone to receive it.
At present, the shipment of gold, worth three hundred million ryo, had already reached the central-northern region of the Land of Fire. It was only one day's journey away from reaching Konoha Village.
Hiruzen had summoned Haruto to return the Black Samurai Armor to Mifune, as well as to have him sign the agreement and alliance treaty.
Regarding the alliance—this time, Konoha and the Land of Iron had agreed on a three-year pact. Within these three years, if the Land of Iron were to face an invasion by a powerful force, Konoha would be obligated to send troops to assist.
"Lord Black Samurai, have you been sleeping well lately?" This was the first thing Mifune said upon seeing Haruto again.
"Quite well," Haruto responded casually, lifting his chin slightly.
"Heh," Mifune chuckled softly, then fixed his gaze on Haruto and spoke more seriously. "I must remind you once again—the longer you delay your treatment, the harder it will be to cure. If you end up dying because of this, it wouldn't be worth it! I heard that you recently stumbled upon the Meiji Treasure and have now become the richest man in Konoha. Surely, one hundred million ryo isn't that hard to part with?"
"Oh, but it is," Haruto nodded earnestly, as if he was truly unwilling to let go of the money.
Mifune was momentarily stunned, at a loss for words.
Behind the desk, Hiruzen Sarutobi glanced at the two of them before tapping his fingers on the table. "Time to sign. Haruto, hand over the Black Samurai Armor to Lord Mifune."
"Alright!" Haruto responded promptly, forming a hand seal.
Poof! A puff of white smoke flashed, and the ninja robes beneath Haruto's black cloak changed into standard shinobi attire. The entire set of Black Samurai Armor appeared in his hands. He also unfastened the Black Fang Short Sword from his waist and handed them both over to Mifune.
In truth, Haruto didn't have much attachment to the Black Samurai Armor. At first, he thought it was incredibly useful—even after obtaining the Flying Thunder God Jutsu Scroll, he still believed so. However, once Mifune revealed the armor's side effects, Haruto changed his mind.
The armor damaged his mental state. While he could use healing cards to repair the damage, as long as he continued wearing the armor, the harm would persist. He couldn't possibly keep consuming healing cards every night before sleeping. In the short term, it wasn't a big deal, since low-level healing cards had a decent drop rate and he had accumulated quite a few. But over time, the cost would become unbearable!
After reclaiming the Black Samurai Armor, Mifune signed the agreement and alliance treaty. Hiruzen had already signed his part, and now, it was Haruto's turn.
With Haruto's signature on the final document, the matter was officially settled.
Mifune immediately bid farewell.
Once he and his people had left, Danzo took the signed documents with him, naturally heading to store them in a secure location. Haruto was also about to leave, but Hiruzen stopped him.
"Haruto, the apprenticeship ceremony will be held this evening at dusk. I've already asked Koharu Utatane to make the arrangements," Hiruzen said, watching Haruto closely. After a brief pause, he added, "As for those scrolls… when do you plan to contribute them to Konoha?"
"Tomorrow," Haruto thought for a moment before answering.
"Good," Hiruzen nodded.
"Speaking of which, I also have a request!" Haruto's eyes lit up as he smiled. "Hokage-sama, as we previously agreed, I still have the right to make one big request. Can I… make it now?"
"Go ahead," Hiruzen replied without hesitation.
"I want a house!" Haruto declared immediately. "It doesn't need to be too big, and I don't have many other demands. The main thing is, I need this house to include a completely sealed training hall. The hall must be sturdy and—most importantly—it must be immune to all detection abilities, including sensory techniques, insight techniques, and especially the Byakugan! No one should be able to see through it—not even the Hyuga Clan!"
Hiruzen frowned. This request… wasn't unreasonable.
Building a completely undetectable training hall was certainly troublesome, as it would require specialized sealing techniques on every inch of the structure. However, considering Hiruzen's own abilities, he could personally create such a space without much difficulty.
And since Haruto was offering thirteen Meiji Clan jutsu as compensation, this contribution alone was more than enough to justify the effort.
But… the request was odd.
"Why?" Hiruzen asked.
"The Hyuga Clan is watching me!" Haruto shrugged. "It's making it impossible for me to train properly. Hokage-sama, you wouldn't want me to practice the Flying Thunder God while being spied on, would you? That would risk exposing the jutsu's training methods!"
"Hmm…" Hiruzen let out a thoughtful hum before nodding. "Alright. I agree."
Haruto carefully observed Hiruzen's expression, raising an eyebrow. "Hokage-sama… you already knew the Hyuga Clan was monitoring me, didn't you? And you… don't intend to stop them?"
"You destroyed their lost scrolls, and now you're complaining about being watched?" Hiruzen replied, unimpressed.
At that moment, Haruto understood—Hiruzen had no intention of intervening.
In reality, the Hyuga Clan had the right to conduct surveillance. They were, after all, Konoha's Intelligence Division. Moreover, from Hiruzen's perspective, it was Haruto who had provoked the Hyuga Clan by destroying their long-lost techniques. They had every reason to be furious.
So far, they had only been watching Haruto and hadn't taken further action. Under these circumstances, Hiruzen felt it was unnecessary to step in.
When it came to dealing with powerful clans like the Hyuga, Hiruzen had always been cautious.
"If there's nothing else, I'll be—" Haruto gestured toward the door.
"One more thing," Hiruzen interrupted. He got up, clasping his hands behind his back as he gazed out the window. "News arrived yesterday morning—Sakumo Hatake has successfully withdrawn from the Land of Rain. He engaged Hanzo in battle and suffered serious injuries, but his life is not in danger."
"Oh?" Haruto raised an eyebrow, unsure why this was relevant to him.
"If I asked you to interrogate Terado and make him reveal important intelligence… how confident would you be?"