Chapter 390: Anonymous Letter
Land of Whirlpools, outside Ichiraku Ramen.
Masahiko's face was pulled longer than a donkey's as he gazed at the people coming and going inside the ramen shop.
"Someone actually dared to make fun of Great Ancestor?"
The letter he received earlier in the Hidden Sand Village only had four words written on it: Sara has contracted an illness.
So Masahiko hurriedly flew back with Kimimaro's trio, only to find... the Ichiraku Ramen in front of him was open for business as usual, and Sara's chakra fluctuations were perfectly normal.
When Masahiko received the letter, he actually had a trace of doubt. If Sara was really sick, it shouldn't be just a bird summoning beast delivering a letter, but Nagato flying over personally... but he didn't expect someone would really dare to play such a joke on him.
"Don't let Great Ancestor find out who it is!"
"Great Elder, we rushed so much... just so we could eat the ramen Big Sister Sara makes for lunch?" Karin asked from beside him.
Masahiko paused: "Uh... right, right, right."
What could he say? Should he admit he was fooled by a letter? Karin would probably laugh for a year.
"Who exactly did this? There shouldn't be many people who knew I was in the Hidden Sand Village..." Masahiko silently cursed 'bastard' ten thousand times in his heart, turned his head to look at the three children, and squeezed out a smile: "Let's go, let's eat noodles."
There were many customers inside Ichiraku Ramen, and Sara was busy in the back kitchen. Seeing that she was indeed free of illness and disaster, Masahiko let go of his last trace of worry, ordered four bowls of ramen, and had lunch with the three children.
"God, what are we doing this afternoon?"
Masahiko hesitated for a moment and ordered: "You three go home and rest this afternoon, and prepare to accept your first mission after being promoted to Chunin... Hmm, how about this, in a couple of days I will have Konan take you to try a simple A-rank mission. Your strength is sufficient."
"Big Sister Konan will take us?"
Masahiko nodded: "Great Ancestor is very busy and can't keep you company all the time. I still have to go to Konoha to form the Hawk Team."
He hadn't forgotten this matter. This trip out yielded quite a lot, pushing his Witness Points to 295. He was only 205 points short of maxing out his Yin attribute to level ten. He had been looking forward to the max-level Yin-Yang Release for a long time. He wondered if he would be able to unleash a Tailed Beast Bomb with the power of the Ten-Tails from the original story when the time came.
"Hawk Team? This weird..."
"Even noodles can't plug your mouth, Karin. Hurry up and eat, and roll out of here after you are done."
After sending off the three children, Masahiko sat dryly in the ramen shop, drinking all the noodle soup, but still couldn't figure out the sender's true purpose.
"If it was sent by an enemy to lure me away and attack the Hidden Sand Village? But my Spore Jutsu has already been planted. Although that thing only has one percent of my chakra, it will actively absorb chakra from the Big Tanuki if it encounters danger. Even if Madara went, it could hold him off." Masahiko frowned deeply.
"If it was sent by an Uzumaki clansman... daring to deceive me, Great Ancestor will beat him to death!" Masahiko gritted his teeth.
"Father, what are you thinking about?" Sara's voice sounded by his ear.
Masahiko was startled and looked up: "Sara, are you done being busy? Have you... been well these past few days?"
Sara smiled and sat down opposite Masahiko: "Father, what's wrong? I'm quite well."
"Ahem, it's nothing." Masahiko scratched his head, looking slightly distressed, and took out the letter from his clothes, handing it to Sara: "I don't know which bastard played a joke on me."
"Eh? Who sent you the letter?" Sara paused: "I was indeed feeling a bit unwell a couple of days ago. Nagato even specially found a medical Jonin. It was nothing serious, and I am already fine now."
Masahiko blinked: "You were really sick? So it wasn't a prank..."
His gaze carefully sized up Sara, confirming that she was indeed perfectly fine now.
"I'm really fine now, Father." Sara smiled: "Who sent you the letter? They made a mountain out of a molehill."
Masahiko scratched his head and also laughed: "An anonymous letter. I don't know who is so concerned about you. But they did the right thing. If you are sick, you must notify me in time. Also, you should rest when you need to, and give yourself a holiday."
"I do rest, Father."
"That little bit of rest is not enough. Back in Konoha, I could still fight for a two-day weekend for you from Teuchi. Now that you run your own shop, except for the New Year, your business hours are always from the first of this month to the first of the next month..."
Sara was stunned for a long time before she understood what Masahiko meant, smiling bitterly and shaking her head: "I will pay attention to resting, Father."
She agreed verbally, but as soon as she saw a customer enter the shop, she immediately gave Masahiko an awkward smile, got up, and went to the back kitchen to get busy.
Masahiko shook his head helplessly. As his daughter, what kind of life couldn't Sara have, yet she just liked to spend her time on Ichiraku Ramen.
"Otsutsuki Ichiraku is truly remarkable."
Masahiko could only sigh with such emotion. He carefully looked at the letter in his hand again, shook his head, walked out of Ichiraku Ramen, and headed straight for Nagato's location.
Although this letter wasn't a prank, Masahiko still had to find out exactly who the sender was.
"Being so concerned about Sara, what is their purpose!"
About half an hour later, in the Uzumaki Clan Head's Hall in the Land of Whirlpools. Masahiko held the documents Nagato handed him, pondering and saying: "There are this many clansmen who possess bird summons?"
Nagato nodded: "Yo! Sensei, do you have something you need them to deliver?"
"When Sara was sick previously, someone used a bird summon to deliver an anonymous letter to notify me. It wasn't you, right?"
Nagato was stunned: "Delivered a letter? Sara just had a slight cold. I ordered a medical Jonin to prescribe her some medicine. She should be fine by now, right..."
"As expected, it wasn't you? Who else knew about this? Also, next time Sara gets sick, remember to notify me in time." Masahiko looked up and said.
"Yo..." Nagato thought for a moment: "There are also the two Jonin responsible for protecting Sara's safety, and probably a few people in the medical department know."
"Then what about the news of me being in the Hidden Sand Village?"
Nagato was startled: "You went to the Hidden Sand Village?"
Masahiko paused, his expression changing instantly. Nagato actually didn't know he went to the Hidden Sand Village. That meant the Land of Whirlpools hadn't received intel in this regard, yet the sender knew Sara was sick and could simultaneously deliver the letter to the Hidden Sand Village...
"Was it that bastard's doing? Is he using Sara to threaten me not to meddle in other people's business?" Masahiko narrowed his eyes, then shook his head: "No, if it was really him, he should have kept this 'trump card' for the Two-Tails and Nine-Tails, which are the hardest to obtain. Then... who exactly is it?"
"This time it did remind me. More and more people know Sara is my daughter. The protection of just two elite Jonin is probably not enough. Great Ancestor has offended so many people that I can't even count them myself." Masahiko had a clear idea in his heart.
"Yo! Sensei, do you need me to do anything?"
Masahiko shook his head: "No need... Eh?"
The chakra inside his body suddenly transmitted a strange sensation, as if echoing with something: "Is this... Sage Mode? I didn't expect that when someone else uses my Sage Mode, I would feel it. Is it Kushina or Konan?"
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