The old man with white hair and wrinkles on his face cleared his throat, his eyes seemed casual, but in fact he stared at Lei Luo extremely seriously, and asked softly:
"I wonder what the purpose of Sir Lei Luo's visit to us and the Kato clan is?"
Realizing that the old guy opposite had a vague vigilance in his expression, and his behavior was even more cautious, Lei Luo smiled, put down the half-sip of the teacup in his hand, and replied in a gentle tone:
"It's very simple..."
With a slight cough, Lei Luo put on a melancholy expression and slowly told the story he had compiled a few days ago:
"That was about three years ago, when I was just a genin..."
As Lei Luo's words continued, Kato Kiyoshi and Kato Rika gradually understood what was going on:
To give a rough summary, during a mission three years ago, Lei Luo encountered a group of difficult enemies when he happened to be alone:
It was a bandit gang composed of several rebel ninjas from other villages and a dozen wandering ninjas.
Since the leading Jonin and his two teammates were not around, Lei Luo was naturally in a life-and-death crisis.
After all, according to Lei Luo, he was still very weak at that time and was not strong enough to withstand the siege of so many ninjas. In that situation, he would almost certainly die.
However, just when Lei Luo was about to die, a ninja from the Kato clan appeared in time and tried his best to save Lei Luo, whose life was hanging by a thread at the time, regardless of the numerous attacks from the enemies.
Because of this, after the two of them broke through the encirclement, the ninja from the Kato clan finally died of his injuries. Before his death, he told Lei Luo these words:
"This is what I've been doing all my life, but I still feel unwilling..."
"The patriarch of my clan is now very old, and the eldest lady is too young as the only direct descendant..."
"The loneliness of our Kato clan is already very close, so I am worried and worried..."
"Lei Luo, if you are capable in the future, you would like to help our clan, so..."
"I will die without regrets."
After saying the above words, the ninja of the Kato clan died directly.
Lei Luo secretly kept this in mind, thinking that one day
We must fulfill this "benefactor"'s instructions.
Since then, Lei Luo has practiced hard, and after going through a series of difficult battles, he finally gained the powerful strength he has now.
Thinking that he was now "prosperous", Lei Luo thought about repaying his past kindness.
In this way, he came to the door today, and the object of "repayment" was the entire Kato clan, including the eldest lady Kato Rika, whom the Kato clan ninja could not forget before he died.
After the story was finished, Lei Luo's expression darkened unconsciously.
His brows were furrowed, as if he was grieving for the past.
There was something inexplicable in his eyes:
It seemed to be mourning, yearning, and gratitude. In short, the ingredients were extremely complex.
After listening to Lei Luo's story, Kato Kiyoshi secretly observed the former's expression and saw no flaws, so he began to recall the person involved in Lei Luo's story, the Kato ninja who saved Lei Luo but unfortunately died himself.
.
'The person Lei Luo is talking about should be Gangzhi.'
'The child did die three years ago, and he did die during a mission to suppress the rebellious Ninja organization.'
'Unexpectedly, the origin of Gang Zhi is actually related to Lei Luo. This is really... the fate of time.'
Thinking of a young man from his side, whom he had once been very optimistic about, Kato Qing calmly believed 90% of what Lei Luo said.
After all, the characters, time, place, and events all matched up, and there was no room for Kato Kiyoshi not to believe it.
The remaining 10% was because Kato Kiyoshi thought of the relationship between Lei Luo and Danzo in time.
Therefore, he instinctively suspected that the other party was using the power in Danzo's hands and inquired about the relevant files.
but……
Lei Luo's purpose and motivation were very simple. He made it clear that he was here to repay a favor and was not seeking money or profit. There was no need to spend so much energy to understand the situation back then.
In particular, the Kato clan currently only has two direct members, and I am afraid they are not qualified enough for a big shot like Lei Luo to treat them differently.
In this way, the last ten percent of doubts were dispelled.
At the same time, when he learned that his clan had such a deep connection with Lei Luo, Kato Qing was surprised and happy in his heart, and he couldn't help but start thinking a little bit.
"Sir Lei Luo, I understand your purpose of coming."
First, he also put on a sad expression, as if he was remembering the clansman named Kato Takeshi. Kato Kiyoshi calmed down for a while, and then said in a deep voice:
"I once heard Mr. Hokage mention the matter of Tsuyoshi, but I didn't expect that there is such a connection between that child and you."
"Now it seems that Tsuyoshi not only possesses the will of fire in the true sense, but is also the pride of our Kato clan."
"Although he died, his character and will have been passed down forever, which is worth learning from all of us."
Kato Kiyoshi's words were full of emotion and aura, and a little tear appeared in the corner of his eyes, which seemed to prove:
He really thinks so.
On the opposite side, after Kato Kiyoshi's "reminder", Lei Luo unexpectedly glanced at the old man and suddenly found... Kato Kiyoshi's attitude seemed different from what he originally imagined.
'interesting.'
What he discovered unintentionally made Lei Luo feel a little more energetic, so he also pretended to wipe his tears and wiped the corners of his eyes, sighing:
"Unfortunately, Tsuyoshi has passed away now, so I can't repay him personally."
"Chief Qing, since you already know my purpose of coming, please tell me what difficulties the Kato clan is currently facing."
"Although it's rude to say this, I, Lei Luo, really want to repay this kindness, and I really...want to do something within my ability for the Kato clan."
Lei Luo said these words with sincerity, but Kato Kiyoshi seemed a little embarrassed for a moment, hesitant to speak.
As a result, the atmosphere in the venue was silent for a while.
On the side, Kato Rika first glanced at her father secretly, and then carefully glanced at Lei Luo for a moment with the corner of her eye.
'Tsangzhi? Who is that?'
The doubts in his heart were reflected on his face, which was a look of confusion. Kato Rika obviously didn't know when such a prominent figure appeared in his family.
She also heard what she just said, and judging from the looks of her father and Lei Luo, this person was obviously very important to them.
But...why don't I have any impression at all?
In fact, for Kato Takeshi
It is natural that Kato Rika would not be impressed by such a descendant of the Kato clan, a member of the clan with mediocre talents and who is still single at the age of seventeen or eighteen.
After all, after the end of the world line, she became the only child of the Kato clan. She was loved by thousands of people during her growth, and she was truly the "eldest lady of the clan".
The gap in identity means that Kato Rika and Kato Takeshi have almost no intersection. How could she know about Kato Takeshi?
In particular, Kato Takeshi was specially selected by Lei Luo from Konoha's files. Both of his parents were dead, he was withdrawn and he was unwilling to interact with others.