Konoha Hypocrite (Part-1)

Chapter 53: A Sincere Gift, Facing Midway Attack

Author's Note:
Iwagakure is the hidden village of the Land of Earth, one of the five great Shinobi countries.

Konoha, Kiri, Kumo, Iwa, Suna are also known as Leaf, Mist, Cloud, Rock, Sand

Rogue-nin, criminals in effect, are ninja who abandoned their villages
————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

The Buddhist doctrine debate progressed smoothly. When Chigo talked about his understanding of Buddha, the onlookers felt his words were astounding. Despite not truly comprehending them, these words were the arcane truth in the ears of the monks and Buddhist believers.

The debate conference concluded in the evening. Chigo stayed for two more days under the enthusiastic request of the Hot Water Temple monks before leaving for Konoha.

In these past few days, Uchiha Tonan regularly observed Kakazu's movements. Kakazu stayed calm and seldom left the inn. It was as if he was awaiting something. Given the circumstances, it was obvious that it was for them to leave the temple. As time passed by, Tonan discovered several more jonin-leveled rogue-nin. These people too became his observation targets.

The group traveled down from the hilltop where the Hot Water Temple was located. When they reached Rose Street, Tonan suddenly asked, "May I take some time to buy something, please? Will you all wait for me?"

"Well..." Namikaze Minato awkwardly looked at Chigo. Since they were in the midst of a mission, they would need their employer's approval to do any personal work.

Chigo kindly smiled at Tonan and said, "Go on, we'll wait here for you."

"Thank you so much, Master Chigo."

Tonan came to a gift store on the street and began exploring. Today was February first. It would take about five days to escort Chigo back to the Fire temple, and two more days to return to the village.

In other words, if there was not much delay on the road, they would reach the village on February eighth. That would be just in time for Sarutobi Hiruzen's birthday.

Tonan had written in his diary that he wanted to give him a birthday present. And the most important aspect of an upright person was to be true to his words.

When buying a gift for elders, one needed to pay attention to certain aspects. The gift must display sincerity and move the receiver's heart. The second part depended on whether the gift was usable or not, but the first depended on whether it was expensive or not.

Expensive of course meant much higher-priced compared to similar gifts. Tonan walked to the counter and asked politely, "Excuse me, do you sell tobacco here? The kind that is used in a smoking pipe?"

The shopkeeper nodded and said, "You mean tobacco shreds, right? We do keep it. Do you want to give it to someone?"

"Yes, I want to give it to my grandpa as a gift."

"What a filial child... come, come, this is..."

Even before the shop owner could say anything further, Tonan waved his hand and said, "I don't need to see it all. I just want the most expensive one that can't be bought in the Land of Fire."

The shopkeeper was momentarily taken aback. He glanced at Tonan's ninja headband and immediately plastered a flattering smile. He took out a box of tobacco shreds from the top shelf.

"This is what you want. It costs 16,000 Ryo, thank you for the patronage. Do you want to pack it?"

Tonan nodded and said, "Yes, I will give you an extra grand. Use the most luxurious packaging box to wrap it. More importantly though, please give me a receipt of 66,000 Ryo."