"Brother! Brother!"
Carl, who was just about to test out his next ninjutsu, suddenly heard a familiar voice calling out nearby. He instantly stopped forming hand seals and, with a few quick leaps, vanished from sight.
"Sora, what's wrong?"
Carl landed right in front of the shouting sora, jumping down from a tall tree branch.
Seeing Carl appear, sora replied nervously:
"Brother, Sister Jinai came to the temple. She said she's urgently looking for you."
"Got it. Thanks for coming all the way here. I'll have Jinai bring you some snacks next time."
Carl gently patted sora on the head with a warm smile, then took off in a few swift strides, heading straight toward the Temple of Fire.
Sora remained in place, watching Carl's figure disappear into the distance with a look of admiration.
To sora , Senior Brother Carl was the only one in the entire temple besides Master Chiriku who didn't look at him with disdain. And on top of that, Carl was incredibly strong. Despite having practiced ninjutsu for less than a year, none of the senior monks in daily sparring could defeat him.
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"Jinai, what's so urgent?"
In the backyard of the Temple of Fire, Carl found Jinai waiting patiently.
Jinai gave a respectful bow and then reported:
"Your Highness, Lady Shijimi's cat, tora, has gone missing. She's planning to issue a mission in Konoha to find it.
Also, there was a bounty posted for Tazuna from the Land of Waves on the underground gold exchange, and someone has already accepted it."
Carl's eyes lit up at the news.
Lady Shijimi is the wife of the Daimyo—his aunt. Her cat going missing might seem trivial on the surface, but paired with the bounty on Tazuna, it was clear that Team 7, led by Kakashi, was about to take on the Land of Waves escort mission.
The Land of Waves was a small island country, nearly devoid of its own ninja forces. Its economy was in ruins, and the people lived in hardship. Currently, it was under the oppressive control of the corrupt shipping magnate Gato.
Carl's once-abundant wealth had begun to diminish rapidly due to his massive spending on ninjutsu. Although he had set up a caravan, it wasn't yet bringing in profits at the level he desired.
And in his long-term plans, money was essential.
Even though the Land of Waves was small, it was still a sovereign nation. If managed correctly, allowing his caravan to establish a foothold there could bring huge returns.
Controlling a nation's economic lifeline isn't so different from controlling the country itself.
On top of that, this would be a perfect opportunity for Carl to gain experience fighting strong opponents—a perfect two-for-one.
"Then let's move ahead with the plan."
-----------------------
After Jinai left following his instructions, Carl went to find Chiriku.
"Master, I want to travel for a while to gain some experience."
"Traveling, hmm… with your strength, it's a good idea."
Hearing Carl's request to travel outside, Chiriku was momentarily surprised, but quickly nodded in agreement.
He understood well that becoming a truly powerful ninja wasn't something that could be achieved by staying in the Temple of Fire and training endlessly. Without a mission system like Konoha's, travel was one of the few effective ways to gain real-world experience.
In Chiriku's eyes, Carl's chakra reserves were just about at the average Chunin level, but thanks to his mastery of five chakra nature transformations and impressive taijutsu, his actual strength was top-tier among Chunin-level ninja.
So long as he didn't run into a Jonin-level opponent, his safety shouldn't be in danger.
More importantly, Carl was the prince of the Land of Fire. If trouble arose, revealing his identity would grant him protection. In this era of peace, his noble status was a formidable shield—causing harm to someone of his stature would create major diplomatic issues for any faction.
The Land of Fire sat in the heart of the five great nations, a lush, tree-filled land with the most developed economy due to its geographical advantages.
Konoha Village lay just south of the capital, close enough to provide reinforcements if any crisis erupted in the kingdom.
The Land of Waves was to the east of Konoha.
Carl didn't head to Konoha. After gaining Chiriku's approval for the journey, he changed into the standard monk robes of the Temple of Fire, donned a bamboo hat, took the Zen staff Jinai had custom-made with great expense in the capital, and set out in the direction of the Land of Waves.
At the same time, his subordinate-led caravan also began its journey.
Carl knew that Lady Shijimi had returned to the capital with her pet cat, tora, so the Team Kakashi escort mission to the Land of Waves must have just recently begun. That meant he had a small time window before they arrived.
So, although Carl was hurrying, he still made time to stop along the way and take in the local sights of the many towns in the Land of Fire.
This nation was vast. Beyond the capital and Hidden Leaf Village, there were countless towns and villages scattered throughout.
"The technology in this world is so weird."
On the third day after leaving the capital, in a town near the border, Carl sat at a roadside stall snacking and watching the neon signs across the street. He couldn't help but comment.
It was strange—some elements seemed backwards, like the clothes and buildings, reminiscent of the feudal era. Yet, at the same time, there were colorful neon lights, coin-operated slot machines, and even technology resembling computers.
It was a bizarre blend of eras.
"Don't run! Stop! Pay what you owe!"
As Carl watched a shadow puppet ninja war performance on the street, a sudden commotion caught his attention.
He leapt onto a rooftop, took out a telescope from his mission space, and quickly assessed the situation.
A crowd was chasing after two young women, wielding wooden sticks. From their shouts, it was clear the women were in debt and trying to escape.
"Debt trouble, huh?"
At first, Carl didn't intend to interfere—until something clicked. He raised the telescope again for a closer look.
One of the women had long blond hair, a violet diamond mark on her forehead, and an exceptionally curvy figure.
The other had short black hair and held a cute little pink pig.
"That's Tsunade, no doubt about it!"
Tsunade, one of the legendary Sannin, the most powerful medical ninja in the world, granddaughter of the First Hokage Senju Hashirama, and the future Fifth Hokage of Konoha.
She was infamous for her horrible luck with gambling, earning her the nickname "Big Fat Sheep" in casinos.
After losing both her lover and younger brother in the war, she left Konoha and abandoned her identity as a ninja, wandering the world in grief.
Recalling everything he knew about her, Carl considered his next move. Then, he put away the telescope, jumped down, and ran toward the commotion.
"Fifth Hokage, huh? If I've run into her now, there's no way I'm letting this opportunity slip by."
If he could form a connection with Tsunade now, it might pay off handsomely later—especially since she'd soon be returning to Konoha to take on the Hokage mantle.
According to the morning hawk message sent by Jinai, Lady Shijimi had safely returned to the capital with tora , meaning Kakashi's team had only recently departed from Konoha.
Carl still had a little time to act.