Chapter 4: The Literary Plagiarist
The Hokage, eagerly awaited by both ninjas and civilians, was currently leading a team of shinobi to attack a bandit hideout in a mountain ravine, a gathering place for rogue ninja. Hashirama Senju himself hadn't made a move; the battle was being handled entirely by the ninja under his command. Otherwise, a single Wood Release jutsu from him would have ended the fight instantly.
Watching the battle draw to a close, Hashirama turned to Tobirama Senju, who was standing beside him. "Tobirama, how many more bandit groups do we need to clean up?"
Without turning his head, Tobirama replied, "There are three major bandit groups left. Once we take them down, we can head back. The smaller groups can be left for the subordinates to handle."
An excited look appeared on Hashirama's face. "That's great! Madara went back ages ago. I'm definitely going to have a few good rounds of gambling when I get back."
Hearing this, Tobirama's face darkened several shades. He gritted his teeth. "As the Hokage, you shouldn't be thinking about gambling all the time! And you are the Hokage, stop trying to push your work onto me. I still have jutsu to develop."
Hashirama spoke with an unconcerned air, "It's not like I wanted to be Hokage. I wanted Madara to be Hokage, but you all wouldn't have it and insisted it be me. Besides, we're brothers. It's all the same whoever does the work. As for developing jutsu, most of the techniques you develop are forbidden jutsu anyway. It's better if you don't."
Tobirama decided to skip that topic. "When we get back, Ryota is going to marry the princess. You'll be able to hold your grandchild in a year."
Senju Ryota was Hashirama's son. Compared to his father, Ryota's talent as a ninja was far inferior; he would likely remain a Jonin for his entire life. During Hashirama's inauguration ceremony, the Daimyo of the Land of Fire had personally arranged the marriage between Senju Ryota and the princess. Ninjas tended to marry early, around the age of fourteen.
Hashirama's expression suddenly turned mischievous. "Tobirama, now that it's peaceful, you should find someone to marry, too. If you don't like anyone from the Senju clan, girls from other clans are fine as well."
Tobirama's face was now completely black. 'If I could actually beat you, I would have killed you long ago.'
"There's no need. I have already decided to dedicate my entire life to researching ninjutsu."
Hashirama muttered to himself, "When I get back, I'll have to come up with a good plan with Mito to get Tobirama married. Hehehehehe..."
A sudden chill ran down Tobirama's spine. He glanced around but found nothing, and only then did he relax.
Outside the Konoha forest, Yamamoto Ryusei, Yamashita So, and Komiya Yuki were training their bodies. Compared to Ryusei's relaxed state, So and Yuki were already lying on the grass as if they were dead, completely exhausted and motionless.
Komiya Yuki looked at the still-training Ryusei with admiration. "Ryusei-nii, your stamina is amazing. You've been training for so long without a break."
Looking like he had lost the will to live, So said weakly, "Yeah... while we were training just now, I felt like I was going to die."
Ryusei continued his exercises as he spoke, "This is nothing. The muscle soreness you'll feel when you wake up tomorrow will be a hundred times worse than today. The pain will be so bad you'll feel like you can't breathe."
So abruptly lifted his head. "What?! I feel like I'm dying right now! If the pain is a hundred times worse tomorrow, won't I be completely doomed? Ryusei-kun, do you have any solutions?"
"I do. Yuki, did you bring the activity fund?"
"I brought it." Komiya Yuki took out a pouch from her clothes. "There's a total of six thousand, eight hundred ryo. Do you need to use it, Ryusei-nii?"
Five thousand ryo of the fund was from the Nara Jonin, and the remaining one thousand, eight hundred was from selling their fish and other catches.
Ryusei stopped training. "Let's go. I'll take you to buy something."
He led So and Yuki through the streets and into a pharmacy. The shop owner saw him and said, "Little Ryusei, you're here again. What do you need this time?"
"Uncle, I need a one-month supply of herbs for invigorating blood circulation and removing stasis for two people. The kind for soaking in a bath."
The pharmacy owner looked at So and Yuki behind Ryusei. "It's for them, right? Do you want to add some skin-whitening and moisturizing herbs for the little lady?"
Ryusei thought for a moment. She was a girl, after all, and skincare was important. "Sure, add them in."
"You got it!" The owner quickly and efficiently packed the herbs for Ryusei. "The ones in the blue paper are for the boy, and the white paper is for the girl. Thank you for your business. That will be two thousand ryo in total."
After paying, the three walked down the street carrying the herbs. Ryusei pointed to the packages and told them, "Before you sleep, soak in a hot bath with this, one packet at a time for about forty minutes. It will greatly reduce the soreness tomorrow. After a month of continuous training, you won't need this anymore."
"Okay, Ryusei-nii!"
"Okay, Ryusei-kun!"
They answered in unison. The trio continued walking towards the blacksmith shop when Ryusei suddenly noticed a rather large bookstore.
A bookstore already, so soon after peace was established?
He said to So and Yuki, "Come on, let's go have a look."
The three entered the bookstore and split up to look at books they were interested in. The variety of books in the store wasn't large; most were risqué novels with a recurring plot about a fallen noble rising to prominence again through his own efforts.
The stories were bland and boring, and the descriptions lacked detail. And books like these can actually sell? I happen to be short on money lately. My training and future as a ninja will require a lot of funds. I'll just write a few novels from my past life to earn some money. It looks like I'll have to become a literary plagiarist for a while.
Ryusei put down the novel he was reading and looked up to see the shop owner staring at them. He called out, "So, Yuki, let's go."
"Okay." So and Yuki followed Ryusei out of the bookstore and went to a shop that sold paper, where they spent two hundred ryo on some manuscript paper for writing.
Komiya Yuki looked at the stack of paper in Ryusei's hands and asked, "Ryusei-nii, are you going to write a novel?"