The war between Konoha and Iwagakure was over.
After completely driving the Iwagakure ninjas out of the Land of Grass, Konoha could finally begin clearing the battlefield and tallying their accomplishments.
They still hadn't even settled the rewards for the Battle of Kannabi Bridge.
Clack!
Qingye set the briefcase he had just received from Shikaku Nara on the wooden table. When he opened it, it was packed full of money.
"Ten million ryō?!"
Hyuga Himon's eyes widened.
Yūhi Kurenai's breathing quickened, too.
Even though her father was an elite jonin, she had never seen this much money before!
Ten million ryō for a single mission!
But when she thought about Qingye's achievements—how he had killed so many Iwagakure ninjas and single-handedly turned Konoha's overwhelming disadvantage into a stalemate—ten million ryō seemed reasonable after all.
"But Himon and I didn't do much to help."
Though Yūhi Kurenai looked envious, she still managed to hold back.
If it weren't for Qingye, she and Hyuga Himon would probably have died in the Land of Grass long ago. There was no way they could have survived being surrounded by so many Iwagakure ninjas.
Hyuga Himon nodded as well. "This mission counts as five S-rank missions for us. That's more than enough."
Their contribution was even enough to apply for the jonin exam!
"Don't say that. You both helped me a lot."
Qingye took two thick bundles of cash from the briefcase. As Yūhi Kurenai and Hyuga Himon's breathing suddenly quickened, he handed one bundle to each of them. "Besides, you both used a lot of Explosive Tags, and Himon, you even took out a loan."
He didn't care much about this amount of money anymore.
The black-market account still had thirty million ryō left from donating Gari's Explosion Release corpse. And after peace talks between Konoha and Iwagakure, Kitsuchi's ransom would bring in another hefty sum.
Besides, after awakening the Mangekyo, Qingye was strong enough that he no longer needed to spend money on so many Explosive Tags.
"Ahem. Since you put it that way, Qingye, I'll accept it."
Hyuga Himon maintained a straight face as he swept the bundle into his arms, his heart pounding.
"Himon, you really don't hold back at all!" Yūhi Kurenai couldn't help teasing him.
"Oh?" Qingye gave her an amused look. "Seems like you don't need that much, Kurenai. Maybe I should take some of it back."
"Huh?"
Yūhi Kurenai's face stiffened.
She was just trying to be polite!
Seeing the half-smile on Qingye's face, she realized he was teasing her and quickly gathered up the money on the table.
Being Qingye's teammate was the best, Yūhi Kurenai thought happily.
She could grow stronger, earn merits, and receive a generous reward—and he was easy on the eyes, too... The only downside was that things got a little too thrilling sometimes.
After another month stationed in the Land of Grass, large numbers of Konoha ninjas began returning home.
They hadn't even reached Konoha Gate when they could already hear the thunderous celebration. A huge crowd of villagers had gathered at the entrance, their faces beaming as they shouted, "Welcome home, heroes!"
"We're finally back..." Nohara Rin murmured.
"Let's go bury Obito once we get back," Kakashi Hatake said solemnly.
He had gone with Minato-sensei to retrieve Obito's body, but it had been so badly mangled they could barely recognize him.
As Team Kakashi entered Konoha Gate, whispers rose from the villagers around them.
"That white-haired kid is Kakashi Hatake, right?"
"It's definitely him! I heard he and his teammate abandoned their mission on the battlefield! Hmph, are they even worthy of being Konoha ninjas?"
"What was his teammate's name again?"
"Uchiha Obito! Hah, and he was from the Uchiha Clan, too!"
"Good thing we didn't lose the war because of them. Even if they died to atone for their crimes, it wouldn't be enough!"
Their hushed gossip mingled with the thunderous celebration.
Kakashi couldn't make out every word, but he could tell from their expressions that it wasn't anything good.
"Are they talking about Obito?" Nohara Rin asked angrily.
Obito had died fighting for Konoha. How could these people talk about him like that?
"Don't mind them. Konoha's full of ignorant people," Qingye said with a dismissive click of his tongue.
As an Uchiha who wasn't well-liked, he knew those people's true colors all too well.
But as soon as he finished speaking, the villagers lining the street lit up when they saw Qingye pass by.
"That's Uchiha Qingye, right?"
"He's so handsome!"
"He really is as young as the rumors say!"
"I heard he killed hundreds of Iwagakure ninjas all by himself!"
"Only a few hundred? I heard he killed several thousand!"
"Are you sure you didn't get that wrong?"
"I heard he even captured the Third Tsuchikage's son. Killing a few thousand Iwagakure ninjas would be nothing to him!"
"What a coincidence. One's a useless coward who abandoned his mission, and the other's earned such incredible merits—and they're both from the Uchiha Clan!"
"..."
Qingye blinked.
These ignorant villagers... They actually had some pretty nice things to say!
But what was going on?
How had his name become so well-known?
This didn't seem right.
"Qingye's really popular with the villagers," Uchiha Itachi thought as he followed behind Fugaku. No wonder his father had told him to learn more from Qingye.
But when he followed Uchiha Fugaku into the village, the surrounding villagers didn't react at all as Fugaku passed by.
It was as if they didn't even know who he was.
Uchiha Itachi was confused again.
Why wasn't anyone welcoming his father?
Was his father really that much worse than Qingye?
He wanted to ask, but when he looked up and saw his father's cold expression, he choked on the question and kept it to himself.
Once he was inside Konoha, Qingye had no interest in letting the villagers gawk at him like some exhibit. After saying goodbye to Yūhi Kurenai and Hyuga Himon, he went home.
"This isn't right!"
"Is someone trying to set me up?"
His accomplishments at Iwagakure had certainly been impressive, but surely not so impressive that every Konoha villager could recognize him?
Was someone trying to mess with him?
"Danzo?"
The name immediately popped into Qingye's mind.
He didn't have much reason to suspect him, but there was no harm in suspecting Danzo first!
As he was thinking, footsteps suddenly sounded outside. Before the visitor appeared, a deep, elderly voice rang out from the courtyard:
"You've certainly made quite a name for yourself."
An old, gaunt-faced man walked in slowly.
"Great Elder, what brings you here?" Qingye stood and went out to greet him.
The visitor was Uchiha Setsuna, the Uchiha Clan's Great Elder. He had once followed Uchiha Madara during the Warring States Period and was the last clan elder to have inherited his position from that era.
"You've awakened those eyes, haven't you?"
Uchiha Setsuna entered the living room and instantly activated his Sharingan, meeting Qingye's gaze. "I guessed as much the moment I read the battle report."
"That's right," Qingye replied readily.
"Your accomplishments on the Iwagakure battlefield were too impressive."
Uchiha Setsuna shook his head and sighed. "At twelve, you've grown so much stronger in such a short time. Anyone who knows about those eyes would have guessed."
Before you continue