Ingetsu furrowed his brow, silently marveling at how much more absurd this mission could possibly get.
Despicable.
Outwardly, he remained earnest.
"Carry all these people on the ground into the wagons, and let's move out!"
With that, Ingetsu jumped down from the wagon bed, picked up two coachmen, and casually tossed them into the back of the second wagon.
Seeing this scene, Kurenai Yuhi and Nonō were the first to move, while Izumi and Mikoto also stepped in to help.
Tamao did not remain stunned either; he quickly hoisted the woman he had carried back, preparing to toss her by the roadside and bury her.
Burying a corpse was just a matter of an Earth Release.
Since Big Brother told him to bury her, naturally he could not let this person be left out in the wilderness.
Hotaru sat weakly in the wagon bed, her jewel-like eyes gazing at the Uchihas helping her clansmen, suddenly feeling a surge of internal conflict.
These Uchihas did not seem as bad as she had thought.
Especially that S-Rank Rogue Ninja, Uchiha Ingetsu, who could have left these clansmen of hers behind with a single word.
Since most of the caravan members were laid out inside the wagon beds, the Uchihas simply threw the coachmen onto the wagons and, following Ingetsu's instructions, linked all the carriages together with ropes, effortlessly completing the task.
Everyone boarded the wagons one after another.
On the lead carriage, Tamao eagerly vied to act as the driver, snatching the whip from the Uchiha who knew how to drive.
"Hah--"
It was Tamao's first time driving a carriage, and he was extremely excited. He climbed up, sat down, and fiercely lashed the rumps of the two horses.
Smack--
"Whoa--whoa--whoa--"
The two black horses bolted in panic, letting out neighs and rearing their front hooves before charging forward.
The bodies of everyone in the wagon bed shook and jolted.
From the back of the caravan came Nanfeng's shout:
"I haven't get on yet!!"
"I haven't gotten on yet!"
Wild winds howled, and the scenery retreated rapidly.
"Woohoo--" Feeling the breath of freedom, Tamao could not help letting out a howl.
He did not care about Nanfeng at all, as long as his big brother was sitting in the wagon bed—even if his big brother currently wore a dark expression.
As the lead carriage surged forward, the speed of the entire caravan increased, dragging a billowing cloud of dust behind them like a string of linked steam locomotives, galloping wantonly across this land.
Kurenai Yuhi and Izumi, sitting on either side of Ingetsu, pressed close to him from time to time.
Izumi accidentally leaned sideways into Ingetsu's arms, and then she simply lay flat against him without moving, instantly gaining a huge sense of security—along with Kurenai's disdain.
"Give me the reins!"
It was not until Nanfeng performed a Body Flicker Technique to land on the carriage and snatched the reins from Tamao's hands that the speed of the caravan gradually returned to normal.
"Give me the whip too!"
Nanfeng reached out angrily to demand it from Tamao, only to see Tamao's face sink as his childish side emerged. He raised the whip high, wearing an expression that clearly said he refused to hand it over.
It made Nanfeng's face turn livid with anger.
He could only turn back to look at Ingetsu.
Inside the carriage, Ingetsu patted Izumi, who was lingering in his arms with a flushed face. Blushing, she lowered her head and stood up.
The others all cast their gazes straight toward Ingetsu.
They all wanted to know how Ingetsu would discipline Tamao.
The Uchihas truly had no way of dealing with this underage "lunatic" companion, and within the team, only Ingetsu could keep him in check.
Sensing that the atmosphere was wrong, Tamao suddenly grinned, revealing a standard, radiant smile.
With the blessing of his baby face, he looked just like an innocent and harmless child.
Without waiting for Big Brother to speak, Tamao immediately pulled a copy of the Konoha Express from his arms and handed it over with both hands:
"Here, Big Brother, this is the reading material I found on these caravan members when I was moving them just now. You should like it!"
Nanfeng's expression turned even uglier, thinking that this fellow really stopped at nothing to please the captain.
This time, Captain Ingetsu certainly would not scold Tamao, though Tamao had finally quieted down.
Unconsciously, everyone stared at that newspaper.
Ingetsu's expression remained as usual. Shifting his attention to the contents of the newspaper, he reached out and took it.
In truth, he had no intention of disciplining Tamao; this child's nature needed to be released.
Opening the newspaper with both hands, Ingetsu utilized the torches surrounding the carriage to read its contents.
The others on the wagon bed crowded closer, and Mikoto also came to Ingetsu's side, while Izumi thoughtfully held up a torch to provide illumination for everyone.
They urgently needed external information right now.
"Captain Ingetsu... S-Rank Rogue Ninja, bounty 50 million ryo!!"
Izumi was the first to notice Ingetsu's photograph, and her brows immediately furrowed as she looked at the captain with a hint of worry.
"Ha? We have bounties? Hurry up and read them out, how much is everyone's bounty?"
Tamao beamed, tossed the whip in his hand to Nanfeng, turned around, and gazed at the others.
The Uchihas in the other vehicles also grew interested, all wanting to know how their former ninja village would evaluate their worth after they became rogue ninjas.
Captain Ingetsu's bounty actually reached 50 million ryo, leaving the Uchihas filled with emotion; most of them felt it was unreasonable because it was set too low!
"Uchiha Nanfeng's bounty is 10 million ryo..."
Izumi read out everyone's bounties aloud, and only upon reaching the end did she realize that Tamao and her own bounties ranked at the very bottom, prompting her to read awkwardly:
"Uchiha Tamao's bounty is 1.5 million ryo... Uchiha Izumi's bounty is 1 million ryo."
Hearing this, Tamao was enraged:
"What? Izumi, did you read that wrong? Why is everyone else a three-tomoe, with Nanfeng worth 10 million ryo, while I'm only worth 1.5 million ryo? Is it just because I look harmless and act like a lunatic?"
Izumi was left between laughter and tears.
"Hahahaha!"
Nanfeng, on the other hand, burst into hearty laughter.
Soon, this drew the disdain of a group of Uchihas, who secretly resolved to stay far away from Nanfeng in the future.
Everyone inwardly muttered:
Captain Nanfeng, why are you laughing? This worth of yours clearly doesn't match your strength! Staying close to you is dangerous!
Ingetsu's expression gradually grew solemn. Ignoring the commotion of his teammates, he single-mindedly extracted the hidden information behind this newspaper.
Konoha had suppressed the Uchiha Massacre and Danzo's affairs; Konoha's control over its villagers must be extremely strict recently, and in the short term, the major ninja villages in the Shinobi World would not learn about these two major events.
Therefore...
To prevent the news of the Uchiha Massacre from spreading too quickly across the Shinobi World, even if Ingetsu had not killed Asuma, Sarutobi Hiruzen would probably find a way to deploy Konoha's strongest forces to nip their Uchiha Rogue Squad in the bud at the border.
The current tranquility was the prelude to a storm.
He looked forward to seeing just how many percentages of the ninja village's scarce forces Konoha and Sarutobi Hiruzen would be willing to dispatch for their sake.
After reading the key information within the newspaper, Ingetsu handed it to Izumi beside him, asking her to pass it to the Uchihas on the other wagons.
"Konoha didn't issue a bounty for me?"
Mikoto looked at Ingetsu, guilt flickering in her eyes as she sought to verify this.
"Mn." Ingetsu looked toward Kurenai and said calmly, "Neither did they issue one for you."
Kurenai nodded to indicate she understood. She did not care; aside from some ideals entrusted by her father, she had no lingering attachments in Konoha and was fine going anywhere.
Ingetsu could roughly guess that Mikoto was not classified as a rogue ninja because Itachi remained in Konoha.
As for Kurenai, it was because Konoha had yet to thoroughly investigate the matter of Asuma's death.
"Leaving the Earth Spider Clan Land, get ready to continue fighting. Konoha will definitely not allow us to escape into the Valley of the Death God, so next, they will most likely launch an all-out assault against us..."
Ingetsu spoke calmly.
Yet these words were like a sudden clap of thunder, plunging the Uchihas—who had just been arguing over the unreasonableness of their bounties—into complete silence.
The caravan arrived at the entrance of the Earth Spider Clan Land at that moment.
PS: Thanks to the big boss Fenfei Diandian for the 100-coin tip! Wishing the boss a long life and prosperity, and may you pick up money every time you step outside!
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