I have a bunch of relatives who want to become Hokage.

With a flick of his finger, Uchiha Shingen sent a white streak of light shooting out of the water and piercing her abdomen. However, no blood gushed out; instead, it exploded into a cloud of white mist.

Pantaya emerged from his side, plunging her blade straight into his ribs. However, before she could make a further move, Uchiha Shingen's body exploded, the biting cold freezing her into an ice sculpture. But the next moment, a flash of fire appeared, and an even greater force shattered the ice sculpture from the inside.

“You’re still much better than the others.” Uchiha Shingen rose from another part of the water, his scarlet eyes reflecting the beautiful back of Pantaea as she ran wildly.

The next moment, she was cut into several pieces by the water blades that suddenly appeared beneath her feet, but she was still a clone.

"Is this funny? You can't fool me again." Uchiha Shingen turned around and looked at Pantai Ya, who was eyeing him menacingly. "You know the difference between us, don't you? It's not just a little bit."

"Yes, your Konoha always has monsters," Panthea sneered. "So many monsters, yet no one's fighting."

"I'm being kind enough not to kill you, and you still dare to insult me."

"Kindness?" Pantaya sneered. "Forget about getting information. I'm a Jonin, after all. If you capture me alive and take me back, is Konoha prepared to go to war with Kumogakure because of this?"

"As expected of the Cloud Village, you're already quite used to using the threat of war." A hint of contempt flashed in Uchiha Shingen's eyes, which he conveyed to the other party at the same time. "The ninja selection mechanism of the five great villages is the same. You should all be 'reserve' Jonin or special Jonin, which means that your official status is still Chunin. Your behavior outside cannot represent your own village."

Pantaya's face turned ugly.

“Looks like I was right.” Uchiha Shingen nodded. “Clearly, the person who arranged the ‘test’ for you wasn’t very good; your intelligence was completely intercepted.”

What do you want?

"As a ninja from Kumogakure, you are no longer of any value. Captured Chunin are either dead or rogue ninjas. If you don't want to die or be disposed of by your own village, you'll have no choice but to come with me to Konoha. How about it? Do you want to use the information you have to exchange for a new identity?"

Uchiha Shingen watched the girl, who was clearly struggling with her decision, with great interest.

As he said, although the three so-called Jonin of Kumogakure did have the chakra level that a Jonin should have under the Sharingan's insight, their quality was completely different; they were typical probationary, commoner Jonin.

In today's ninja world, all ninja villages copy Konoha's method of determining ninja ranks.

If an ordinary person has the aptitude to use chakra and can master the Shadow Clone Technique, then they have met the entrance requirements for the Ninja Academy.

Graduating from the Ninja Academy makes you a Genin, and that's the only way to become one.

To become a Chunin, a Genin either needs to pass the Chunin Exams or be directly promoted by the village leader.

As for those at the Chunin level or above, regardless of whether they are Special Jonin or Jonin, they can only be directly promoted by the village leader.

Therefore, whether a ninja can become a Jonin is not determined by his strength, but by the village leader.

The primary meaning of this identity is not strength, but rather that the person has been remembered by the village chief, whether for a good or bad reason, it varies from person to person.

But one thing is certain: they definitely possess valuable intelligence.

"Being promoted by the Raikage proves you have ambition. If I'm not mistaken, you're after power, right?" Uchiha Shingen decided to add fuel to the fire. If the fire went wrong, he could just kill her. "Konoha is much more generous than Kumogakure in this regard. There are no Hokage clans there. As long as you have enough merit, even the 'Book of Seals' which is personally guarded by the Hokage is open to you."

"It's just a 'suitable technique' that was chosen. Do you think I'm a country bumpkin?" Pantaya blurted out abruptly.

But it was obvious that her tone had changed.

“If you’re qualified to read that book, the Hokage would let you choose whichever you like. I’m just afraid you won’t be able to master it. The current Fourth Hokage was born a commoner, and the ‘Flying Thunder God’ he practiced is one of the most powerful ninjutsu in the ‘Book of Sealing’.” Uchiha Shingen replied to her calmly, “So you’ve already made up your mind?”

“If you’re lying to me, believe me, I have ways to get rid of what the village has put in my head, and I also have ways to make sure you get nothing.”

"If I were to lie, I'd lie about your body, not your information." Uchiha Shingen was quite satisfied.

He was truly an excellent ninja who cared deeply for the village.

Bringing this person back will keep the people at the Hokage Building busy for a while.

That should keep the heads of foreign intelligence agencies busy for quite some time.

After all, that hot-tempered old man and the family are completely incompatible. If you don't cause him some trouble, he'll find something to do, and who knows, he might end up getting into trouble with you one day.

This is good. The village has received intelligence and can prepare for the Cloud Village in advance. The old man with excessive energy has something to do, the family is less stressed, and his personal income has increased. He has taken care of both public and private matters.

They also happened to rescue a lost cow from the Hidden Cloud Village.

All are happy.

He's really great.

"Alright, wait a minute." Uchiha Shingen was about to dive down with a gleeful expression, a move that immediately made Pantai Ya tense up.

What do you want to do?

Is there any hope for the world to ever get better? The lost cow didn't even believe him.

For the sake of money, Uchiha Shingen decided to swallow this grievance.

“Don’t be nervous, I’ll go down and bring up the enemy’s head, otherwise we won’t be able to get the extra money,” he said.

“I’m right here, and you still remember to ask for more money?” Pantaya felt that he needed to adjust his perception of this person.

"What's the point of being a ninja? If you don't pay me more, are you going to support me?"

"No, you come up, I'll go down." Pantaya released the chakra beneath his feet and dived into the water first.

With half his body still submerged in the water, Uchiha Shingen felt that this statement was somewhat inappropriate.

He vigilantly sensed the movement in the water.

But in his perception, Pantaya was indeed very honest.

A short while later, she floated back to the surface.

But Uchiha Shingen didn't see what he wanted.

Where are their leaders?

“No need for a head, I have this.” Pantaya raised her arms, holding a headband in both hands. “As for intelligence, I’m in charge, I’ll handle that.”

"Now that's a bit more humane," Uchiha Shingen thought for a moment and accepted the assessment.

Chapter Twelve Reaching a Consensus with the Prisoners

The next morning, Uchiha Shingen woke up the group of the high platform lord who had been sleeping soundly.

Of course, the four shadow clones left in the camp also dispelled the barrier they had been creating all night.

The team members were already used to seeing a crimson barrier around them when they woke up; it was only on the first night that they "tsk tsk tsk" when they saw it.

The high frequency of ninja appearances in this world has made ordinary people quite numb to ninjutsu. Because they see it so often, unless they want to become ninjas themselves, they have no curiosity to learn about it. Therefore, the common perception is that ninjutsu is cool.

The veteran salesmen in each village understand this: when communicating with customers, the best ninjutsu has nothing to do with practicality; what matters is how cool it is.

Creating an A-rank Shadow Clone Technique with nature transformation is far less effective than simply unleashing a C-rank "Fire Release: Great Fireball".

It's important to know that customer feedback after completing a task is crucial, as it directly affects the village's commission rate on the task payment.

Uchiha Shingen currently prefers to use the Four Red Yang Formation to improve his rating. After all, he is a cautious person and greatly admires this A-rank ninjutsu, which is very powerful in both visual effects and actual results.

With a touch of humanity, wearing the headbands of the dead and the lost cow that had been summoned, Uchiha Shingen first went to visit the master of the high platform and explain the situation of last night.

You should communicate with customers promptly if there are any issues.

Honestly, customers in this world are much easier to talk to than those on Earth. When doing business on Earth, sometimes you think you're the client, but you're actually the service provider; sometimes you think you're the service provider, but you're actually the client.

After being confused a few times, the then young Uchiha Shingen realized a truth.

Those who use the most friendly tone to say the most forceful things are most likely the real "clients."

Saying the most cowardly things in the toughest tone—without a doubt, he's definitely a true subservient son.

In the world of ninjas, the former are mostly Jonin, while the latter are all Genin.

This is why a genin can only earn a maximum of 50,000 taels for a single job, while a jonin can earn at least 150,000 taels, with no upper limit depending on the details of the mission.

Pantaiya was left outside the tent of the high-ranking official. Uchiha Shingen entered the tent, where the old man was supervising his son as he ate eggs and drank a large bowl of milk, saying, "Otherwise he won't grow taller."

"Brother, you must have had a tough night." The master of the high platform smiled as always, while his son, Jun, looked at the large bowl of milk in his hand with a bitter expression as always.

"It's not tiring at all. It's more important that it disturbs your rest," Uchiha Shingen said with a smile. "There's just something I need to report to you."

"Oh dear, what's with all this reporting? You're great in every way, but you're just too polite." The host on the high platform kept waving his hand. "Have you eaten yet? Come on over, let's chat slowly, there's no rush."

"If you had told me earlier, I wouldn't have cooked for myself. But it is indeed something important, about last night's food." Uchiha Shingen thought to himself that this guy said the same thing every morning, even though he knew perfectly well that he wouldn't eat it.

"Oh? Do we need to change the route? No problem, you can arrange it. I've already told them." The master of the high platform didn't care at all, but he was also complaining in his heart.

This young man says he's eaten every morning, but he actually eats dumplings for all three meals. It seems like life isn't easy for a ninja. I'll have to write to Lord Namikaze and ask him to give the little brother more money. How can he grow if he doesn't eat well?

This young man is really good. He's young and promising, and easy to get along with. No wonder Lord Namikaze recommended him to take on the job after becoming Hokage. We should definitely keep in touch more often in the future.

"That's how it is with the route. There's another thing, which is that the attackers last night were Cloud Ninja. Do you have any clues about this?" Uchiha Shingen handed a Cloud Ninja headband to the lord of the high platform.

Whether we have any leads or not doesn't matter; you know, it costs extra.

"Cloud Ninja?" Looking at the headband in his hand, the leader of the high platform had a strange expression. "This is... unexpected. Don't worry, I won't make things difficult for you, brother. I will write a letter to the Hokage and ask you to take it back."

"No trouble at all, it's nothing." Uchiha Shingen was very satisfied. His older brother had good character and didn't hesitate to ask for extra money. He liked him very much and would give him a discount in the future. "Also, I captured someone here, and she agreed to surrender. I plan to take her with me."

"Huh?" The leader of the high platform was genuinely surprised this time. "There are people like this in the Cloud Ninja?"

In his impression, the ninjas of Kumogakure were all very persistent, to the point of being stubborn.

However, this outward appearance also led to a good reputation for the Hidden Cloud Village. Everyone knows that the ninjas of the Hidden Cloud Village will not abandon their missions halfway through.

“Her information might be useful to the village. I was thinking you might want to meet her too, as there might be something you need to know.”

"Oh, right, that makes sense." The high platform master's opinion of Uchiha Shingen rose again. This young man was so considerate, unlike many ninjas who became perfunctory when the mission was nearing its end. "Let her in. I also want to know who hired the Cloud Ninja to deal with me."

"Pantya, come in," Uchiha Shingen called out to the outside.

Pantaya lifted the tarpaulin and came in.

The moment the master of the high platform saw her, his pupils dilated instantly.

"Brother," he asked Uchiha Shingen with a rather envious tone, "did they search you?"

Pantaya frowned upon hearing this.

She really should have been cut off; everyone was looking at her.

One day, she will make sure that the first thing people notice about her is whether she has a weapon.

Uchiha Shingen gestured for her to stop, activated his Sharingan, and once again examined her from head to toe. He then released her and said, "You know what you should and shouldn't say. Don't waste this opportunity."

“I know more about this than you do,” Pantaya said in a less-than-friendly tone. “Besides, I don’t put anything in here, so you don’t need to check for so long and waste your time.”

"You know what you're doing." Uchiha Shingen withdrew his chakra, nodded to the lord of the high platform, left the tent, and stayed outside with the head of the guards.

"Lord Shingen, is this alright?" The head of the guards seemed uneasy. "After all, this woman came to assassinate Lord Mingzhu."

"It's alright. At this distance, even if she wanted to, there's nothing she could do," Uchiha Shingen reassured him. He had a good impression of the guard leader; he was very dedicated.