The Coward Makes His Move!

Rumble—!!!

Meitou's eyes widened.

He looked at the Kunai stuck in his chest. The Explosive Tag was on the verge of detonating.

A loud explosion rang out.

Meitou was taken out in an instant.

Yetou heard an explosion behind him.

There was no time to look back.

He had to follow through now.

He looked at the terrified blond kid in front of him.

He gave a vicious grin. "Die, you hothouse flower!"

He raised the sickle in his hand.

It was just about to come down.

Sitting on the ground, Naruto stared wide-eyed, trembling all over.

His eyes held nothing but fear and the urge to run.

But his body wouldn't obey him.

"Mr. Tazuna, stay behind me!" Sakura said, watching the billowing smoke as she pulled another Kunai bound with an Explosive Tag from her ninja pouch.

She didn't have many left.

Only ten...

Ahem, she had Cangwu to thank for that.

Seeing how pitifully poor she was, Tenten had given her some to defend herself.

Of course, she'd had a few barbed words to go with them.

Sakura gripped the Kunai with the Explosive Tag, Tenten's words echoing in her mind.

If you weren't Cangwu-sensei's student... If I weren't worried he'd blame himself if someone as weak as you died, I wouldn't have given you any on credit!

Remember to pay me back, Flat Sakura~

At the thought, Sakura couldn't help smiling.

She was sure the enemy she'd just faced had been taken care of.

Even so, she remained on guard.

Tazuna came back to his senses and hurriedly said, "I understand... That black-haired kid?"

In the blink of an eye, Sasuke, who had been protecting him, had vanished.

Thud—!!!

"Yo~"

"Are you hurt?"

"Coward!"

Boom—

Naruto's mind went blank.

He stared at Sasuke standing in front of him and Yetou, whose neck Sasuke had kicked and broken.

He watched Yetou's body continue to twitch.

For the first time, Naruto felt the presence of death.

Squish—

Suddenly, a shadow plunged into Yetou's neck.

Blood sprayed everywhere.

Sasuke expressionlessly pulled out the Kunai.

Ghost Brothers—dead!

Cangwu watched everything unfold.

He couldn't help but nod.

Sakura and Sasuke have both improved a lot.

As for Naruto... This should change his outlook.

Once she was sure there was no more danger, Sakura rushed straight to Naruto.

Naruto stared blankly at her.

Then Sakura's iron fist landed on his head.

"You idiot!!!"

Sakura was furious.

If Sasuke hadn't reacted quickly enough, Naruto might have died.

"What were you doing?"

"Tell me!"

Sakura grabbed Naruto and lifted him up, glaring at him. "Do you realize you nearly died just now?"

"Don't you always say you want to show off your skills?!"

"This is how you show off your skills?!"

After that, Sakura calmed down a little, let go of him, and grumbled, "What a complete idiot!"

"I..." Naruto lowered his head, not daring to look at Sakura.

Sasuke's words still rang in his ears.

"Not bad."

Cangwu came over to the three kids.

He ruffled Sasuke and Sakura's hair.

"You haven't let your teacher down."

At that, Naruto lowered his head even further. He gritted his teeth, regret written all over his face.

He was always running his mouth, but when it mattered, he had been utterly useless.

"Hmph~!"

Sasuke turned his head away with a haughty air, avoiding Cangwu's head-pat.

"That disguise was so crude anyone could see through it. The enemies were pitifully weak, too. There's nothing to brag about."

Sakura narrowed her eyes. She knew she shouldn't enjoy it, but her body betrayed her—she loved having her head patted.

"Hmph. Unlike some people. You okay?" Sasuke glanced at Naruto and sneered, taunting him again.

"Damn it..." Naruto felt a familiar large hand press down on his head.

Tap—

"Your performance was pretty terrible."

Cangwu tapped Naruto on the head.

"If Sasuke hadn't stepped in in time, you'd be dead. Aren't you going to thank him?"

"Don't bother. I don't need a coward's thanks," Sasuke said flatly.

"Damn it!"

"I swear I'll never—"

Squish—

Naruto stabbed the back of his own hand with a Kunai.

He'd been about to declare his ninja way.

But Cangwu's words flashed through his mind.

He immediately swallowed those childish words.

He'd prove himself through his actions.

Anyone could talk big.

Sakura rolled her eyes at him.

After Cangwu had calmed her down, Sakura had settled completely.

She took some medical supplies from her backpack.

"What an idiot."

As she spoke, she pulled Naruto's hand over and treated the wound.

"Pull something like that again, and you'll bleed to death. I won't treat you next time."

"Huh?"

"I could die from blood loss?"

At the mention of bleeding to death, Naruto asked nervously.

Sakura naturally rewarded him with another eye roll.

Cangwu glanced at Yetou's corpse on the ground.

Sasuke turned to look at Tazuna.

Now that ninjas had appeared, this was no longer a C-rank mission.

The mood turned cold in an instant.

Naruto belatedly realized that something was wrong, too.

Cangwu glanced at Tazuna, who stood there with his head lowered and said nothing, and shook his head with a smile.

This mission had never been C-rank to begin with.

If Tazuna had requested a B-rank mission, Hiruzen Sarutobi might have had a headache.

But as luck would have it, it was a C-rank mission.

That gave a reasonable excuse to send out a jonin.

The Land of Waves was a neighbor of the Land of Fire. Did the Land of Fire really know nothing about the situation there?

It came down to the same thing: they couldn't interfere in another country's politics.

The Land of Waves had no way to deal with Gato.

The daimyo of the Land of Waves had probably already appealed to the Lord of the Land of Fire.

After all, once the bridge in the Land of Waves was built, it would bring considerable benefits to the Land of Fire.

With convenient transportation, the economy would naturally improve, wouldn't it?

But Gato's background wasn't simple, either.

How could an underworld boss operate unscathed for years and even grow rich enough to rival a nation?

Something about that didn't add up.

Who knew if people from other countries had worked with him, or if some high-ranking officials had gone to him to launder money?

Of course, there was also a rule for ninjas: they couldn't just attack their clients.

Before Zabuza died, he said he'd help out one last time.

He personally... kissed Gato to death.

So... where did Gato's money go afterward?

Who knows?

Huh? This seems familiar... The Land of Whirlpools?

Tsk, life sure was tough for the Land of Fire's neighbors.

Cangwu walked toward Tazuna.

Seeing him approach, Tazuna kept up the act, pretending not to understand.

"Go on."

Though Cangwu was smiling amiably, Tazuna quickly avoided his gaze, guilt written all over his face.

"What do you mean?"

"W-what are you talking about?"

"Hmph!" Sasuke snorted.

Sakura also watched Tazuna with suspicion.

Naruto rubbed his head, not understanding what was going on.

"Lying about the mission rank is serious enough to justify attacking the client directly."

Cangwu kept smiling.

But Tazuna didn't dare meet his eyes. "I... I don't know what you're talking about!"

"There's no reason for rogue ninja from Kirigakure to attack us, who are from Konoha."

"Kirigakure is already keeping an eye on them. Unless absolutely necessary, they wouldn't dare provoke a giant like Konoha again."

"So, do you think they're stupid?"

"Or are we?"