Konoha: The thirty-year-old Uchiha is not motivated.

Puppet core?
Looking at the smug red-haired youth, Hatake Sakumo's brows furrowed slightly, almost imperceptibly.
He's a spy on a mission, so concealing his identity is his top priority. If he gets too close to such high-ranking personnel, the risk of being exposed will increase exponentially.
"Thank you for your kind words, Ninja Master, but I am just a pig butcher and I don't know anything about puppet cores."

In order to get rid of the persistent red-haired youth, Hatake Sakumo shook his head and deliberately rejected the other party's offer in front of everyone.

"No, Ah Qi, your superb skills shouldn't be buried!"

The red-haired youth grew anxious; his natal puppet was only missing the final, incomplete core.
In order to make the puppet as nimble as an arm and achieve a technological breakthrough for Sunagakure after many years, it is necessary to create an extremely intricate puppet core. This requires a master swordsman with a steady hand to forge custom-made precision components.

"You've really got the wrong person."

Sakumo Hatake waved his hand, his refusal obvious.
"He doesn't look very old. Is his knife skill really that good?"

Chiyo, who had been lost in thought while observing the young silver-haired butcher, snapped out of her reverie, crossed her arms, and looked at him with great interest.

"Aunt, how could I have misjudged you? Look at this, it's Ah Qi's cooking!"

She hurriedly retrieved the large white bone from the bag that had fallen to the side. Chiyo glanced at it, and a faint look of horror appeared in her beautiful eyes.

Removing all the remaining muscle tissue from the pig's large bone while maintaining the integrity of the periosteum requires an incredibly steady knife skill and a calm mindset.
Such exquisite skills appearing in an ordinary pig butcher are somewhat surprising.
"How did you develop such knife skills?"

Chiyo nodded slightly, shifting her gaze to the silent Hatake Sakumo, her bright eyes carrying a subtle air of authority.
"Without him, only hands are familiar."

Feeling the pressure, Sakumo Hatake took a deep breath and shook his head in reply.
"Ebizo, what do you think?"

Perhaps because she didn't see the same interesting soul in Hatake Sakumo as Uchiha Gin, Chiyo, suddenly losing interest, turned her gaze away and asked her younger brother beside her.

"If they really aren't in that kind of relationship, I have no problem with it."

Realizing he had made a huge blunder, and feeling he had lost face in front of his son and daughter-in-law, Hai Laozang nodded coldly with a stern face.

"As for what kind of puppet that rebellious son is researching, I don't want to interfere, but if he dares to do anything outrageous, I, as his father, will be the first to not forgive him."

He was also quite curious about what strange and unusual things his rebellious son, with his exceptional talent in puppetry, was developing.

But the father's pride wouldn't allow him to ask, so he could only express his support for his son's career in this awkward way.

"withdraw!"

Having said this, Ebizo turned to leave, but then gave the red-haired youth, whose face was filled with resentment, one last deep look. With a wave of his hand, the lurking Sunagakure ANBU members vanished instantly.
"Hmph! Old Deng, one day I'll make you look at me in a new light!"

Watching his father's resolute departure, the red-haired youth gritted his teeth in resentment, but a hint of deep-seated disappointment flashed in his eyes.
"Keep it up! If you have any questions about funding, don't hesitate to ask. Your aunt believes in you!"

Seeing that the tension between the father and son remained high, Chiyo, who had a headache, rubbed her temples, then waved to the red-haired youth before turning into a wisp of sand and disappearing from the spot.
It's a sand clone!

Upon seeing this scene, Hatake Sakumo's pupils shrank slightly. Just a sand clone was enough to make him sweat profusely and unable to muster the slightest thought of resistance. Just how strong was the Third Kazekage?

"That annoying old Deng is finally gone, Ah Qi, let's continue our previous conversation."

After everyone left, the red-haired youth, his face now bright and cheerful, approached Hatake Sakumo with a grin. It seemed he hadn't given up yet.
"I've said it so many times, I'm just an ordinary person who doesn't even have chakra."

"You don't need chakra to do this job!"

"But I still need to earn money to support my family. This pork stall is my only source of income; my whole family back home is relying on me to feed them."

The red-haired youth's persistent spirit gave Hatake Sakumo a major headache. Left with no other choice, he decided to reason with him, citing the importance of making a living.

"You're married?"

"Not yet, but there's a girl waiting for me back home. Her family raises pigs, and my family sells meat. We grew up together, childhood sweethearts."

Sakumo Hatake shook his head, instantly concocting a girlfriend for himself, complete with a ridiculously melodramatic backstory.
"Unfortunately, I have no skills and can only make money by selling my body. I don't know when I will be able to save enough for the dowry to marry her."

His sighs and melancholy demeanor perfectly captured the image of a compassionate pig butcher, instantly establishing his persona and drawing sympathy from the black-haired woman holding her son beside him.
"Why don't you find someone else? Master Aqi still has to make money by selling his body."

Turning to her husband, whose face was also filled with sympathy, she said with a pang of guilt,

Yay! The plan worked!

Seeing the couple moved to tears, Sakumo Hatake was deeply impressed with his own acting skills and couldn't help but mentally give a big thumbs up.
Indeed, he is the true successor to Grandpa Eun's acting skills!
"despair!"

Just when Hatake Sakumo thought the red-haired youth would give up on bothering him, the youth suddenly rushed forward, splattering snot and tears all over him.
"So touching!"

"what?"

"Aqi, your story is so touching."

The red-haired youth wiped his face, then slapped his snot-covered hand hard on Sakumo Hatake's shoulder.

"Don't worry, as long as you follow me, you'll earn much more than you would selling your body!"

"Uh, I just want to be a decent butcher."

Feeling the sticky filth clinging to his shoulder, Hatake Sakumo, who had barely managed to draw his sword and kill the red-haired youth before him, replied with a livid face,
"I know you can't accept changing jobs all at once. How about this, go back and think about it for a day, and give me your answer tomorrow."

Seeing that Sakumo Hatake's face was growing increasingly dark, the red-haired youth didn't press the matter further. Instead, he pulled out a heavy envelope he had prepared beforehand and handed it to him.

"See you later, Ah Qi! I'll be waiting for your good news~"

He then grabbed his wife and child, along with a large bone for making soup, and made a hasty escape, leaving a bewildered Sakumo Hatake behind. By the time he tried to refuse, the family of three had already vanished.
"Wait! Oh no!"

Now that everything was finally cleared out, looking at the chaotic scene around him, Hatake Sakumo sighed deeply.

Is there only one day?

"Looks like it's time to run away."

During his three years of infiltration into Sunagakure, Sakumo Hatake changed his identity many times, but unfortunately, he didn't obtain any valuable intelligence. Apart from routinely reporting the situation of Sunagakure to Root, his contributions were essentially zero.
Sometimes, he really felt that he might not be suited for espionage; the battlefield of blood and fire was the stage where he could truly shine. "I'll resign when I get back."

Unlike that curly-haired guy, Hatake Sakumo has a strong sense of principles. Despite not achieving anything in three years, he feels uneasy accepting his high salary from Root.
"Oh, right, this is..."

Having mentally prepared himself to pack up and run away, Hatake Sakumo relaxed considerably. He picked up the envelope the red-haired youth had just handed him and weighed it in his hand, finding the brick-thick envelope quite heavy.

"Fuck!"

Filled with curiosity, Hatake Sakumo tore open the seal. Worried about a trap, he peeked through the crack and his usually calm eyes widened in shock.
"Ah this."

Quickly closing the envelope, Hatake Sakumo glanced around and, seeing only a few stall owners who had just been dispersed, hurriedly stuffed the heavy envelope into his pocket, pulled down the sign, and replaced it with a "Closed for Business" notice.
After doing all this, he ran back to his temporary lodgings as fast as he could.

"Dangdang!"

He slammed the door shut, and after confirming that no one was following him, Hatake Sakumo carefully took the envelope from his pocket.

"Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands, millions"

After the count was completed, a thick stack of banknotes was placed in front of him. Hatake Sakumo's expression was uncertain, as if he were undergoing some kind of internal struggle.
Wow, that's quite a generous gesture!

While several million may not sound like much, the sheer amount of money displayed before you is undeniably impressive. Looking at the crisp, new banknotes, Hatake Sakumo let out a deep sigh, his eyes filled with complex emotions.
So much money, and it's just a small gift? It's hard to imagine how much I could earn if he actually worked for the redhead.
Just as Sakumo Hatake was about to be blinded by money, the Will of Fire hidden deep within him suddenly ignited, and the searing pain instantly pulled him back from the sugar-coated bullets of Sunagakure.
"Snapped!"

Feeling instantly ashamed, he slapped himself hard across the face, the swollen, red handprint starkly visible on his fair skin.

"Sakumo Hatake, how could you be bought off by such a paltry sum? How can you face the village that raised you, the teachers who taught you, and the leaders who nurtured you?"

A series of soul-searching questions made the already ashamed Hatake Sakumo even more humiliated. In a moment of despair, he almost drew his sword and stabbed himself in the waist as an act of atonement.
"Bang Bang Bang~"

Just as he was sinking into deep self-blame, a series of rhythmic knocks outside the window jolted him out of his daze.
That's a coded message transmitted from the roots.

"squeak~"

Sakumo Hatake's expression turned serious. He quickly stepped forward and opened the window. Sure enough, a completely black crow was standing by the window. Upon seeing this, he quickly reached out and caught the note that the crow spat out.

"Is this a new mission?"

Watching the crows fly away, Sakumo Hatake, who had just closed the window, frowned deeply. He was already planning to run away, so why was his unit assigning him a new task?
Or is this a letter of reprimand from Lord Danzo, specifically questioning why he hasn't sent back any valuable information over the years?

With this thought in mind, a nervous Hatake Sakumo unfolded the note. It contained a long string of coded messages. Using the codes deeply ingrained in his mind, he arranged and combined these messages, ultimately deciphering the message it conveyed.
[New Mission: Infiltrate Sunagakure and gain the trust of its leaders]

"what?"

Faced with this sudden mission, Hatake Sakumo froze on the spot. The content of this mission was completely different from the infiltration missions he had previously carried out.

He, Might Guy, and Dan Kato were assigned to Sunagakure, while the three stronger individuals, including Jiraiya, were sent to the perilous Land of Rain.
Although they went to different places, the six of them had the same mission: to go undercover and regularly report on the daily situation at their hideouts. It was a very pure espionage job.

Sakumo Hatake had initially thought their mission was just this, but now it seemed that their three years of infiltration were merely preparation for a more important mission in the future.
This might also be a test from Danzo, since the six of them are still inexperienced. If he were to rashly entrust them with an important task, things might go wrong.
That's why Danzo was willing to spend so much time testing their mission capabilities. Once the three-year testing period was over and none of them had been exposed, he then released the second phase of the mission.

"Phew, thank goodness this mission came just in time, otherwise we would have made a huge mess."

After a brainstorming session, Sakumo Hatake sat back down, looking bewildered, and carefully destroyed the mission slip with lingering fear.
"Infiltrating the ranks, you know."

At this moment, he was no longer conflicted; his thoughtful eyes were fixed on the thick stack of banknotes on the table.

Isn't this an opportunity delivered to our doorstep?
Finally able to pocket the money without any guilt, a relieved Hatake Sakumo sighed, feigning helplessness.
"Sigh, I really don't want to make this dirty money, but I have no choice, it's a mission."

With a shake of his head, his hands moved with lightning speed, and millions of dollars in cash instantly entered his slush fund.

"Dangdang!"

The next second, the tightly closed door was pushed open, and two figures walked in one after the other.
Upon seeing the newcomer, Hatake Sakumo breathed a sigh of relief. Luckily, he acted quickly, otherwise he would have had to share the spoils with his teammates.

"Sakumo, have you received a new mission?"

The speaker was a thug with tattooed arms and pierced face, who looked intimidating. However, his tone of voice was surprisingly gentle, completely contradicting his menacing appearance.

"Received, disconnect."

Looking at Kato Dan, who was disguised as a gangster, Hatake Sakumo nodded slightly, while his gaze fell on another figure, a hint of doubt on his face.
"Dai, why haven't you come to my place to exchange information lately?"

Matt Daly's image has also changed. He went from having a muscular, bowl-cut hairstyle to becoming a large, overweight man covered in flab. Apart from his hairstyle, he is unrecognizable from his previous appearance.

Indeed, the easiest way to change one's image is to gain weight.

“I changed jobs. When I was carrying bags at the market in the west of the village, a boss saw that I had a special talent and offered me a high salary to work at his training center.”

The fat, big-eared Might Guy shook his head. He and Sakumo Hatake had previously been infiltrating the same place, except one of them was a butcher and the other a laborer. In their spare time, they could exchange information with each other.
"High salary? How high?"

"Hmph~ If I told you, you'd be green with envy. I make a full 100,000 taels a month!"

Might Guy patted his large belly with a smug look on his face. Kato Dan and Hatake Sakumo nodded in agreement, a hint of curiosity rising in their hearts.

"One hundred thousand? That's quite a lot. So what's your main job?"

"Sparring partner."

"Hey, isn't that a sandbag?"

Matt Damon blushed when he was exposed. The boss had indeed valued his toughness and the lack of side effects, which was why he paid him a high salary to be a punching bag for the rich kids.

"What's wrong with being a punching bag? Getting beaten up is part of youth, and besides, my clients are all prominent nobles from the Land of Wind. I can make money while also extracting a lot of valuable information." (End of Chapter)