"What happened outside?"
"Why did it suddenly become so quiet?"
"Have those so-called Evil God Cultists left already?"
"They're dead. Those beasts are all dead, killed by that young man... no, by our benefactor."
"Wonderful, we've been saved."
"But my father and mother..."
As time passed, some of the villagers who had hidden well and survived by luck gradually discovered what had happened outside.
They rejoiced at being alive, yet also felt profound pain and grief over the tragic deaths of their friends and family, and the destruction of their village.
The two completely opposing emotions caused some villagers with weaker mental fortitude to faint on the spot.
The remaining villagers also took quite a while to gradually calm down.
"What a pity these people weren't Uchiha."
Seeing this, Chiba casually lamented inwardly, Otherwise, they'd at least awaken a One-Tomoe Sharingan. If they were like Obito, there might even be another pair of Mangekyo.
But if that were really the case, they wouldn't need me to save them.
At the same time, the villagers who had calmed down, along with those Chiba had rescued earlier in the forest and who had already returned, all knelt in Chiba's direction and gratefully said, "Thank you, benefactor."
"If it hadn't been for you, we would probably all have already..."
"May we know your honored name? Is there anything we can do for you?"
At this, Chiba's gaze swept across every kneeling villager.
Their gratitude was genuine, but they also felt more or less fear and unease.
After all, although Chiba had killed all those Evil God Cultists, that did not necessarily mean he would not harm them.
The good news was that no idiotic accusations like "Why didn't you come sooner?" or "You got them killed" had appeared.
"My name? It's better if you don't know it."
Retracting his gaze, Chiba said bluntly, "There's nothing you can do for me, either."
"All I need right now are some seasonings from when you cook, so that my first campfire cookout can be a little more perfect."
After saying that, Chiba did not wait for the villagers to respond. He gathered all the money left behind by the Evil God Cultists, as well as their Kunai, Explosive Tags, shuriken, Storage Scrolls, and other items.
Then, using the Byakugan, he easily found some seasonings that had not been damaged by the disaster.
"Then my mission this time is complete."
"Everyone, perhaps we'll meet again someday. Or perhaps we never will."
After putting the seasonings into a Storage Scroll, Chiba smiled at the utterly bewildered villagers and vanished from the spot with the Body Flicker.
"B-Benefactor disappeared again?"
"What kind of ability was that? It looked so cool, so amazing."
"Our benefactor saved us, yet he only took some cooking seasonings and did not even leave his name?"
"That is a true hero!"
"But didn't our benefactor just say it was because we couldn't provide the help he needed?"
"Shut up. Don't use your filthy heart to tarnish our benefactor's noble soul. He must have said that deliberately so we wouldn't feel indebted."
"..."
After Chiba left, the villagers began chattering among themselves.
In the end, they tacitly fell silent once more, sank back into their grief, and began cleaning up the aftermath.
Meanwhile!
Smoke curled through the air!
Chiba's original body had already set up a simple campfire, skewered chunks of wild boar meat, and begun roasting them over the flames.
He also used local materials to make some simple bamboo tubes and stone bowls for boiling water.
As for whether making a fire here would draw the attention of pursuers?
Chiba had already created dozens of Shadow Clones specifically to keep watch and stop any possible threats.
At the very least, holding out until he could enjoy a hearty meal in comfort should not be a problem, right?
Not long afterward, the Shadow Clone that had gone to the village to deal with the Evil God Cultists returned with the Storage Scroll.
"Perfect timing."
Chiba took out the seasonings from the Storage Scroll and sprinkled them over the wild boar skewers, which were nearly done roasting.
Then Chiba picked up a skewer of roasted wild boar and took a bite. His expression immediately turned somewhat strange. "Uh... should I say my skills are lacking, or that the seasonings in this world are mediocre?"
The roasted wild boar did not taste bad, but it was not exactly delicious either. If he had to describe it... it was edible?
"Whatever. I'll finish it first."
Whether because he had gone too long without eating or because his appetite had grown after awakening the Tenseigan, Chiba polished off every last bit of the wild boar meat, which looked to weigh at least two hundred jin.
Even then, he was only barely eighty percent full.
"It's about time. I should keep moving."
After eating and drinking his fill, Chiba extinguished the open flames, tidied up the site a little, and prepared to officially enter the Land of Wind.
According to the Byakugan and the reconnaissance of the surrounding Shadow Clones, the various pursuers from Konoha—the Jonin, Anbu, and Root—were all about to reach this area.
At the same time!
Inside the previous village!
"What exactly happened here?"
"Who are these people, and what are these strange symbols?"
Hyuga Nozomu, Kakashi, and the eight ninja hounds Kakashi had summoned for tracking arrived together.
After witnessing the horrific scene, all of them wore grave expressions and were filled with confusion.
Originally, with Chiba's Shadow Clones obstructing them, they had nearly reached the location of his original body.
But both Hyuga Nozomu's Byakugan and the Eight Ninja Hounds' noses had detected something unusual about this village.
At the same time, they had also discovered traces of Hyuga Chiba's Chakra or scent here.
Therefore, after a brief discussion, Kakashi and the others decisively chose to come here.
Although they had already had some premonition before arriving, the bloody scene before them still shook them deeply.
Now that the Third Shinobi World War had ended, scenes like this were relatively rare.
Moreover, Kakashi and the others did not yet know what role Hyuga Chiba had specifically played in this incident.
Even though they did not want to, they could not help having some terrifying suspicions.
"You are... Konoha ninja?"
"Those white eyes? They're just like our benefactor's. Are you relatives?"
The surviving villagers naturally noticed Kakashi and the others' arrival as well.
Upon seeing the Konoha Ninja Headbands on Kakashi and the others, as well as Hyuga Nozomu's Byakugan, they became especially welcoming.
"White eyes, benefactor?"
At this, Kakashi and Hyuga Nozomu exchanged a glance and silently breathed a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, the thing they had feared most had not happened.
On the contrary, Hyuga Chiba's heart was still kind.
Before you continue