"Tomorrow, we will make a few copies and send people to deliver them to the Tsuchikage and the Kazekage. I believe they will be satisfied with the plan we have put forward."
Anka was also very happy at this moment. The sense of accomplishment from helping the Hokage-sama and the village solve an important task was incomparable to anything else.
"Everything is Hokage-sama's achievement. I have only contributed a little bit of my meager strength."
Anka was being too humble. Regarding the aquaculture business, Torifu had only provided a large framework; Anka helped fill in all the details. Her contribution was very significant, and Torifu certainly wouldn't deny her credit just because she was being modest.
"Don't say that. I see all your hard work. You don't have any more room for promotion in terms of position, so I can only reward you materially."
"I will have the finance department send you a bonus shortly, and regarding the Konoha village aquaculture business, two-tenths of the annual profit will be given to you."
Torifu's reward was significant. Giving Anka two-tenths of the profit from Konoha's aquaculture business was worth millions, perhaps even tens of millions of ryō! This would allow her assets to surpass her own Nara Clan in just a few years. Her status would naturally rise as well.
Anka was stunned upon hearing this. "How can this be, Hokage-sama! I truly cannot accept this!"
Torifu had anticipated that Anka would disagree, so he had already prepared his speech. After an eloquent persuasion, Anka vaguely agreed.
Torifu snapped his fingers, then prepared to leave the office. The initial plan for aquaculture was set, but Torifu certainly couldn't manage such a huge project by himself. He needed to find a suitable person to outsource it to. Although the management of the Rain Province's aquaculture was entrusted to Kakuzu and the Lotus Organization, their capabilities in construction would certainly not meet Torifu's requirements, so the right person would have to be selected from Konoha village.
On his way home, Torifu tentatively identified the candidates. One was Danzo, and the other was Hiruzen. Danzo was very meticulous in handling matters, but sometimes being too meticulous led to problems. Although Danzo no longer harbored great ambition, his ruthless nature of achieving his goals by any means necessary remained. Torifu had to choose someone to supervise him, and that person could only be Hiruzen. Fortunately, neither of them was overly busy with their current positions in Konoha village, so they had enough time and energy to carry out this task.
However, Torifu wasn't in a hurry to make the call; getting home for dinner was the most important thing right now. But as soon as he entered the house, he saw Amado sitting in the gazebo with a face full of resentment. This overwhelming resentment truly startled Torifu. Minato and Yahiko and the others didn't dare to approach Amado and were watching him from a distance. Torifu realized what was going on and walked over with a smile.
Amado, who was drinking tea, saw Torifu approaching and immediately turned his face away.
Torifu couldn't help but chuckle. "You little brat, is your resentment so heavy right now because you couldn't get a word in while we were working?"
"No, why would I? Work is what's important. I don't talk about other things with Anka when we're working, either."
Amado sighed. "It's just that I was quite embarrassed today. I couldn't offer a single useful suggestion regarding aquaculture. I just made a fool of myself."
Torifu waved his hand. "No one is laughing at you. Anka isn't that kind of person, so don't worry. Handling official business isn't your field of expertise. Every household in Konoha uses your inventions now. Why are you so self-deprecating?"
With Torifu's guidance, Amado felt much better, at least without that overwhelming resentment. Torifu then smiled and left, not continuing the conversation. Amado understood the logic; he was just overthinking things, which Torifu could understand. After all, when you are in front of the person you like, you always want to show your most professional side. The fact that it backfired just made Amado feel too embarrassed. Once he thought it through, it wouldn't matter anymore.
Seeing Amado's resentment subside, Minato and the others dared to approach.
"Big Brother, what was wrong with Big Brother Amado? He's been like that since he got home. We didn't dare go near him."
Torifu rubbed Minato's head. "It's nothing; he was just contemplating a problem. He's fine now."
"But what about you? I heard you've already trained in Sage Mode? But it's the most basic Sage Mode?"
Minato awkwardly nodded. "Y-yes, that's right."
Torifu didn't know what to say. The complete Sage Jutsu training package he gave Minato didn't even include the basic Sage Mode—the mode without fusing with a summon. Logically, if he succeeded, he would certainly have fused with the summoned crane. Yet, Minato somehow managed to cultivate the most basic form? This left Torifu completely perplexed.
[T/N: Tidbit, there are two options in Torifu's Sage mode linage: Basic mode, like normal sage mode, and Fusion mode, where he fuses with the cranes, remember the fights where Aokumo and Ryufu become a part of him? Those stuff.]
Even Minato himself wasn't sure, and he hadn't been able to attempt the fusion with a summon these past few days. However, the eye shadow that appeared after entering Sage Mode was identical to Torifu's, both featuring a feather-like pattern. This suggested they belonged to the same lineage. Otherwise, Torifu would have truly suspected that Jiraiya had secretly abducted Minato to Mount Myōboku.
"You can try to fuse for a few more days. If you still can't, then give up on fusion and practice your current basic Sage Mode until you can activate and deactivate it freely."
Torifu suspected that the Sage Mode fusion might have been specifically provided to him alone by the system, and that subsequent trainees, even following the same method, could only enter the basic Sage Mode. However, this was only a guess. They would have to wait for Minato to train for a few more days to determine if that was truly the case. It might also be that Minato simply wasn't very receptive to Sage Jutsu yet.
"Okay, Big Brother, I'll do as you say."
Torifu was very diligent in mentoring Minato, and Minato's strength visibly improved, almost leveling up every year. If he continued practicing this way, the time until he broke through to the Kage level wouldn't be far off. He would likely become the fastest new-generation ninja in Konoha to reach the Kage level.