Undressing (Please Follow for More!)

The bonfire blazed, its light leaping as if it had torn a gap in the pitch-black curtain covering the night-shrouded earth.

"Tool pouch?"

Ingetsu shifted his gaze back from the forest, focusing on the mission reward.

Still, since it was a mission reward,

it must have something unusual about it.

Take Black Sword Dark Moon, for example. It could alter the form and nature of Chakra without hand seals, infuse it with various Chakra attributes, and produce all kinds of offensive effects.

Then there was Green Medicine. After drinking it, one's spirit and body recovered. It could also grant him the ability to control plants and enhance his own strength.

A tool pouch...

Ingetsu was somewhat interested in what made it unique.

The mission required him to lead the team and infiltrate the Tsuchigumo Clan's caravan. There was nothing after that.

The mission itself was simple.

The Uchiha Squad could disguise themselves and enter the mountains, remaining hidden to deal with whatever unknown dangers lay ahead.

It killed two birds with one stone.

More than a dozen figures emerged from the forest in the distance. Their shadows swayed beneath the faint moonlight as they swaggered toward the bonfire.

Wearing a black robe and hood, Ingetsu seemed to blend into the night. He glanced toward the forest, raised his brows slightly, then gradually relaxed.

Was this... delivery to his door?

"Hello. Are you here alone?" Zong Quan, the captain of the guards, came up behind Ingetsu, who was dressed in a hooded black robe, and asked.

Around the bonfire, there was only Ingetsu and half a roasted wild boar on an iron rack nearby. No one else was there.

Zong Quan spoke politely, but his expression was careless and insolent. He openly surveyed the area around the bonfire before his gaze finally settled on the roasted wild boar.

When he caught the aroma, Zong Quan subconsciously swallowed. Soon, he noticed signs that people had sat or lain in the grass nearby.

This fit his understanding of refugees.

Refugees in the Ninja World were quite tough.

They generally did not travel alone.

"They'll be back soon," Ingetsu replied calmly.

Zong Quan laughed. He raised a hand toward the forest they had just passed through and asked, "Do you know what happened in that forest?"

"No."

Seeing how cold the other man was, Zong Quan did not get angry. He merely raised his right hand and waved, signaling his subordinates to take the meat, then said with a grin:

"Fine, fine. Then this roasted meat of yours, I..."

Before Zong Quan's subordinates could make a move,

Ingetsu spoke in an even tone:

"They're back."

"Who's back?" Zong Quan asked, baffled.

"Ah—ah—ah—"

Suddenly, something strange came from the forest. Grunts and cries of alarm rang out from the woods behind them.

Zong Quan's smile gradually stiffened. His expression changed drastically as he and the more than ten guards beside him turned to look.

Everyone stared in terror.

Hotaru, the Tsuchigumo Clan's young lady, the Great Elder, the Tsuchigumo Clan's members, and every member of the guard team were being driven over by more than a dozen men wielding ninja blades.

Many of the caravan's guards groaned in pain, clearly having just suffered heavy blows.

"This..."

Zong Quan immediately thought of one possibility. In the few short minutes since they had left the forest,

a battle had broken out there.

Their fifty-person caravan had been subdued by these men before they could even make it back.

We're finished!

That was Zong Quan's first thought. In the blink of an eye, every member of the caravan had been brought to the bonfire.

Only then did Zong Quan turn around in terror and look at the black-robed figure who had kept his back to them from beginning to end.

"Captain Zong Quan, save us!"

A baby-faced man gripped Hotaru by the arm, holding a ninja blade against her neck while roughly shoving her forward.

The inexperienced young girl was terrified.

As Hotaru cried out,

the caravan members seemed to see hope. One after another, they turned their eyes toward the man who had previously claimed to have fought Orochimaru to a draw.

"Save us, Captain Zong Quan!"

"Captain Zong Quan, you're the man who can fight an S-Rank Missing-nin like Orochimaru to a draw!"

"Captain Zong Quan, teach them a lesson!"

Hope appeared in the caravan members' eyes.

They knew very well that they had encountered powerful missing-nin or bandits right outside their own home.

Just moments ago, the guards and the Tsuchigumo Clan members had only exchanged one blow with these people before being beaten until none of them could fight.

In this situation,

perhaps only this guard captain, who had once fought Orochimaru to a draw, could save their lives.

Thus, they were like drowning people desperately reaching for nearby life-saving straws, without caring whether they grabbed them properly.

"Quiet, quiet!"

Zong Quan's feelings were complicated. With everyone fanning the flames and placing their hopes on him, his cheeks burned as he shouted twice.

"Captain Zong Quan is about to make his move. Everyone, quiet down. We'll be saved soon!"

Seeing that Zong Quan was preparing to act, the caravan members grew even more expectant and hurriedly fell silent.

Once this captain took action,

they would definitely be saved!

Under the gaze of all those eyes filled with expectation, Zong Quan took a deep breath, mustered his courage, and slowly walked toward Ingetsu.

Perhaps... he could negotiate with the other side's leader.

If he spent a little money,

he might still be able to preserve these people's lives. He only hoped they were the kind of bandits who robbed without killing.

"Damn it!!"

As Zong Quan walked, he racked his brains. He could not understand when such a powerful group had appeared on Katsuragi Mountain!

Only when he reached the black-robed man's side and saw the stranger's familiar profile beneath the black hood did he realize the truth.

"It's... you!!!"

Zong Quan's pupils suddenly widened. His scalp went numb, and his entire body trembled.

With shaking hands, he pulled a newspaper from his robe. By the bonfire's light, he compared the photograph in the wanted section with the person standing before him.

After a long while, Zong Quan's face turned ashen as he accepted reality. He now regretted being so talkative.

On the road, he had merely mentioned the other man in passing. Yet this S-Rank Missing-nin really was on Katsuragi Mountain!!

"What's wrong with our roasted meat?" Ingetsu asked calmly, casting the other man a sidelong glance.

Zong Quan stared blankly, the corner of his mouth twitching.

"Your... roasted meat? I think it's excellent. Look, the skin is crisp but not burnt, and the fat is fragrant without being greasy..."

Ingetsu interrupted the man's rambling and asked, "You fought Orochimaru to a draw?"

"I was bragging."

"Hmm. Put your hands on your head and squat down here."

Ingetsu slowly rose, lowered his hood, and concealed his face in shadow. Then he turned to face the Tsuchigumo Clan's caravan.

"Sure thing!"

Zong Quan did not hesitate in the slightest. He raised both hands, clasped them over his head, and slowly squatted down.

Seeing how cooperative the other man was,

Zong Quan instead breathed a sigh of relief.

"What happened?"

The caravan members were dumbfounded by the scene.

Their proud guard captain... had put his hands on his head and squatted down???

This isn't how things were supposed to start!

"Captain Zong Quan..."

Hotaru's pupils widened. She stood frozen in place, dumbfounded and unable to believe it. Something inside her collapsed and shattered.

"I knew this man couldn't be relied on!"

The Tsuchigumo Clan's Great Elder was seething. He looked at Zong Quan with contempt, barely stopping himself from spitting a mouthful of phlegm at him.

"Captain Zong Quan, what are you doing? Where's the courage you showed when facing Orochimaru?"

A member of the Tsuchigumo Clan asked unwillingly.

Zong Quan snapped irritably,

"What do you know? Having the courage to surrender is also a form of courage!"

"You..."

The Tsuchigumo Clan members and the guards were all dumbstruck. They cursed inwardly. Are you seriously this shameless?

The Uchiha Squad, including Kurenai Yuhi, Nonō, and the others, had all used the Transformation Technique to disguise themselves.

Before the caravan reached the plains, Ingetsu had awakened them and had them lie in wait in the forest. They had subdued the caravan in just a few minutes once the opportunity arose.

"Boss, I caught a pretty girl. Looks like she's an adult."

Tamao shoved Hotaru forward.

Hotaru stared at the black-robed man in terror.

Ingetsu merely glanced at her, his expression changing slightly. He then looked toward Uchiha Mikoto, who was the closest, and said indifferently, "Come here and take off her clothes."

The Kazuma Trio's scenes have been cut. I'm not going to be stubborn anymore. I'll focus on writing Naruto properly.