"Hm?"
Seeing Kazeka's expression, Zabuza frowned, but then his face relaxed.
"Oh, I get it. You didn't post the mission. One of your black-market friends did, and you just happened to find out about it, right?"
When you wanted to do something but didn't want it publicly linked to you, you could always claim you had a friend.
That worked in the black market, too.
"Yeah, exactly..."
Kazeka nodded, then used Summoning Jutsu to call forth a Great Snake.
"Since I have a bit of a connection with that guy, he also assigned me a transport mission..."
Kazeka directed the Great Snake to swallow the Rogue Ninjas one by one.
"Leave these Rogue Ninjas to me. You don't need to worry about the rest. As for Haku, we'll be in touch..."
"You did a fine job on the Land of Waves mission. You dealt with Gato and helped the people of the Land of Waves find peace and build a more prosperous life..."
In the Hokage's office, the Third Hokage puffed on his pipe as he praised the ninjas standing before his desk.
"As for Team 3, led by Kakashi, I'm upgrading your previous C-Rank Mission to a B-Rank Mission. You'll complete it together with Team 8, led by Kurenai Yuhi!
"Kurenai, your barrier-repair mission also ran into unexpected trouble.
"Your mission rank will stay the same, but I'll increase your reward by another thirty percent!"
The Third Hokage looked at the ninjas before him with deep satisfaction.
They had handled the sudden trouble sensibly, promptly reported it to the village, and managed to resolve the situation more or less perfectly. The Third Hokage was quite pleased.
These were all pillars of Konoha's future, as Kakashi and Kurenai had reported.
Even though it was their first time handling a high-intensity mission, the new generation of ninjas, including Naruto, had performed well.
With them around, Konoha's future would only get brighter.
The Third Hokage nodded repeatedly—until he saw Kazeka. His expression immediately darkened!
"Kazeka, look at the mess you've made!"
The Third Hokage slapped the desk.
"You stole money from a wealthy man, then posted a bounty in the black market and let other people find out about it. What kind of conduct is that?
"We're ninjas of Konoha, not ruthless Rogue Ninjas!"
"Tch!"
Kazeka clicked his tongue dismissively.
"I handled it in the best way possible.
"Zabuza and Gato had a long-standing grudge. All I did was give Zabuza an excuse to make his move.
"Even without me, Gato would have died at Zabuza's hands sooner or later.
"Now I've got Gato's money and Zabuza's friendship. It's a win-win.
"As for the black-market bounty, I followed the rules to the letter. I posted it anonymously and made the offer anonymously. There's no way to trace it back to me, and you can't find a single thing wrong with it!
"Don't tell me the village has never posted a bounty in the black market. You're all just as dirty, so why single me out?"
"You sharp-tongued brat!"
The Third Hokage glared furiously at Kazeka.
"Even so, you should hand over the money you got from Gato. You acquired it during a mission, so it should all be turned over to the village!
"And those Rogue Ninjas, too. Hand them over for the village to deal with!"
"Wow, Hokage, you've got some nerve..."
Kazeka's eyes widened in disbelief, as if he couldn't believe the Hokage would say something so shameless.
"If the village hadn't kept limiting my research budget, would I have had to scrape together money on the side?
"That money's mine!
"And I'll hand over those Rogue Ninjas if the village trades me ninjas of equal strength!"
"You little brat! That's not how you calculate things..."
Seeing Kazeka refuse to budge, the Hokage was livid.
"The village has to consider every aspect of its finances.
"I'm ordering you in the name of the Hokage: hand over the money and the Rogue Ninjas.
"As for all your hard work, the village will calculate the amount and give you some extra compensation later!"
"Heh!"
Kazeka let out a cold laugh.
"If I hand everything over, the compensation I get later will be nothing but a pittance. I'm not falling for that.
"And if I remember right, the Chunin Ninja Exams are coming up soon, aren't they?
"The village will have to host ninjas from other villages for the exams, and the seals and barriers around the village will need more reinforcement and repairs.
"If you push me too far, I won't repair the barriers!"
"You despicable brat!"
The Third Hokage glared at Kazeka. There weren't many ninjas in the village who knew Sealing Jutsu and Barrier Ninjutsu.
On top of that, Kazeka was highly skilled. He could often fix longstanding problems with the barriers, and he worked fast.
He was simply too useful in that regard.
Just as Kazeka had said, with the Chunin Ninja Exams fast approaching, they really couldn't do without his help.
The Hokage hadn't expected Kazeka to hold this over him!
The Hokage took a deep breath and took a few irritated puffs on his pipe.
"Fine. In light of how hard you worked on this mission, the village won't pursue the rewards you earned.
"But from now on, someone from the village will supervise your experiments to make sure you don't go too far.
"Remember, don't knock your supervisor unconscious again!"
"Tch. It's mine to begin with, and you're still making such a fuss over it..."
Kazeka gave the Third Hokage an irritated look, but didn't say anything more.
The Third Hokage paused, then turned to Kakashi and Kurenai Yuhi again.
"I'd planned to keep the two of you behind and speak to you separately. But since Kazeka already mentioned it, I might as well say it in front of everyone.
"The village will be holding the Chunin selection soon. When you get back, consider who you think is suitable and submit their names!"
"No need to think it over..."
Kurenai Yuhi replied confidently.
"After observing them for the past few days, I'm sure the kids under my command have already met the standard for the Chunin selection. I'm nominating Hyuga Kazeka, Kiba Inuzuka, and Hyuga Hinata!"
"Well, I feel the same..."
Seeing how confident Kurenai Yuhi was, Kakashi perked up a little too.
"After the battle in the Land of Waves, I'm sure Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, and Sakura Haruno have all qualified to take the Chunin exams.
"I'm nominating all three!"
"Really?"
"We're going to become Chunin!"
"That's great!"
"Quiet!"
The Hokage rapped on the desk, calming the excited boys and girls.
"You've only been nominated. You haven't become Chunin yet. Go back and prepare. The exams will be here soon!"
With the Chunin Ninja Exams approaching, the nominated Genin trained like mad, hoping to take another step forward in the short time they had. Kazeka was even busier.
He put training aside for the moment. Not only did he go out every day to repair and upgrade barriers, he was also busy experimenting on the Rogue Ninjas and making time to help Sasuke with his experiments. He was running around nonstop.
Every time Sasuke went to Kazeka's place, he came back from the experiment with a pained expression, a lingering look of fear, and blood all over him.
Naruto and Sakura, who were on the same team as him, were horrified!
But all that hard work had brought astonishing results.
In only a few days, the Single Tomoe Sharingan in Sasuke's eyes had evolved into the Double Tomoe Sharingan.
There was just one thing: maybe Naruto and Sakura were imagining it, but Sasuke's gaze seemed a little strange whenever he looked at Naruto these past few days!
Before you continue