"Gekko Chizan, that old man, is pretty impressive—so cautious."
"But at his age, using this move, are you really that afraid of him?"
Chōmei looked at the little old man in front of him. No matter how he looked at it, the guy was skinny and dried up. If Chōmei-sama just flapped his wings a little, he might blow him away.
Why be afraid of a little old man like this?
You have to know that a ninja's chakra is related to age. When you're young, your chakra reserves are abundant, but as you get older, the amount of chakra gradually decreases.
How old is this Third Tsuchikage in front of them? How much chakra could he possibly have?
Maybe even one strand of Chōmei-sama's whiskers has more chakra than him!
"Chōmei, haven't you heard a saying? People get sharper as they get older."
"Look at this old man—over sixty and still able to serve as Tsuchikage. That alone says a lot."
"Even in a great ninja village overflowing with talent, no one can compare to the old man in front of us."
"Besides, his strength can't be measured by chakra or age."
"Kekkei tota above Kekkei genkai—that's a terrifying power where the strike is fast, and once you're hit, you die. I really don't want to face that thing."
Gekko Chizan was being cautious, mainly because the opponent was just too unreasonable. That Dust Release wasn't something ordinary people could withstand.
It could even shatter Susanoo. If his small body took one hit, he'd be instantly vaporized.
"Tch, you're scared to death. If this great bug went out there, at least—"
"Eh? Eh? Chizan, what's that look for! You don't believe me, do you! Let me out! I'll show you whether I can smash his head in!"
Gekko Chizan was really too lazy to deal with this big brother of his.
Fighting every single day—why not just behave and get some proper rest?
...
Ōnoki returned home and continued working. There was no helping it—the war was over, and although Iwagakure hadn't suffered heavy manpower losses, the economic losses were another matter entirely.
War burned money. Multiple large-scale operations, plus hiring Hanzō of the Salamander, had nearly broken Iwagakure's economic chain.
So now the village's economy was a major problem. Although missions had gradually resumed, the situation was still far from optimistic.
"Tsuchikage-sama, everything has been tested. No issues—just an ordinary croaker."
"The others were also taken from different people for inspection. The Medical Department says there's no problem."
Soon, the ANBU delivered the inspection report. Ōnoki nodded—he had always been this cautious.
"Put down my croaker. You can go rest."
"Good work."
The ANBU said nothing and vanished directly in front of Ōnoki.
Then Ōnoki picked up the fish with a smiling face and actually went to cook himself.
Very quickly, a pot of fish soup and a grilled fish were finished.
"Hehehe... I'll take these to Kurotsuchi."
It had to be said—Ōnoki was a very good grandfather. On the surface, he was the Tsuchikage, managing the entire village.
In private, he was extremely strict with his son, but when it came to his granddaughter, this stern elder revealed a trace of tenderness.
When Ōnoki knocked on his granddaughter's door, the little old man relied on his ability to fly, bypassed the tall Kitsuchi, and went straight for his granddaughter.
"Kurotsuchi, look—what good food did Grandpa bring you?"
"Fresh croaker fish soup, hahahaha! And grilled fish too. Let's eat fish!"
"Kitsuchi, what are you standing there for? Hurry up and heat the fish soup for my granddaughter!"
"Old man, do you think your granddaughter is already three years old?"
"How old is she? What fish soup are you feeding her! Are you trying to choke your own granddaughter to death?"
Hearing this, Ōnoki shot his son a disdainful look and said proudly:
"This old man drank fish soup back then—so what? Aren't I still the Tsuchikage now?"
"You never liked drinking fish soup when you were little. And the result—hmph!"
"If you worked a bit harder, this old man could rest properly!"
Kitsuchi felt extremely unhappy inside. He'd already been working very hard, okay!
"Hmph, just drink a little—it'll be fine!"
"Go get a bowl."
Kitsuchi couldn't argue and could only ask his mother and wife for help.
In the end, both of them thought Ōnoki's idea was good. After all, the child was almost half a year old—drinking a little fish soup was fine.
"Alright, alright, you're right. I'll get the bowl."
Soon, little Kurotsuchi drank the delicious fish soup—though it would've been even better if there wasn't scale powder in it.
"Well? Little Kurotsuchi, Grandpa's fish soup is pretty good, right?"
"Haha. Drink some more!"
"If you like it, Grandpa will go buy more tomorrow."
Watching Kurotsuchi drink the fish soup, Ōnoki felt extremely satisfied.
"I've got to say, this croaker really is good. Dad, you only grilled two fish?"
"Is there any more?"
As a result, Ōnoki received a backstab. One of the two grilled fish he brought was already gone.
The remaining one was also in Kitsuchi's hand.
"Bastard! That's this old man's dinner!"
"Put it down!"
How could Kitsuchi agree? He took a direct bite out of the grilled fish, making Ōnoki's blood pressure shoot up.
...
The next day, when Ōnoki went to buy fish again, he finally met Gekko Chizan.
A smiling, chubby merchant. This was exactly what made the Transformation Technique so good—unless the user revealed a flaw, the technique was practically unsolvable to a certain extent.
At least, Ōnoki didn't notice any problem at all. Instead, he chatted with Gekko Chizan.
"Boss, your croaker is indeed excellent. It satisfied this old man's cravings, and my granddaughter likes it a lot too."
"I wonder—after this, will you continue coming to Iwagakure to do business?"
"If you plan to come long-term, this old man can personally approve selling this property to you."
Treating oneself occasionally was something no one could avoid. Iwagakure was far from the sea, and the fish they usually ate were river fish.
Sea fish like this were rarely available.
This really caught Gekko Chizan off guard. Granddaughter? Ōnoki's granddaughter?
The future Tsuchikage Kurotsuchi? Good grief—Ōnoki, you really are a good grandfather, feeding fish with scale powder to a child just like that?
"Chōmei, scale powder won't have any bad effects on a child, right???"
"With that amount in a croaker, what bad effects could there be? At most, diarrhea, stomach upset, maybe vomiting. A small child can't eat much anyway—what, do you expect her to eat a whole fish?"
Thinking about it again, Chōmei was right. How much could a child possibly eat?