Complete Victory and Return

Land of Fire, Konoha.

Hokage Building, inside the Hokage office.

It was a rare occasion; besides the Fourth Hokage, the Third Hokage was also present.

This indicated the importance of this mission report.

Standing before them were the two teams led by Yang Xing and Anko.

Having completed the mission, Yang Xing and the others had returned to Konoha within two days.

They had arrived in the afternoon, and since everyone was exhausted, they had rested for a night before being summoned to the Hokage Building early the next morning.

Seeing this setup, Yang Xing understood that the matter had likely been reported in full detail.

In any case, the matter of the Sharingan had not been exposed, so there was nothing to fear.

The Fourth Hokage was the first to break the silence, his handsome face wearing a smile: "Incredible, Kakashi, you all have performed a great service this time."

Minato Namikaze, full of smiles, patted Kakashi on the shoulder.

This made Kakashi's expression turn slightly awkward: "No, this was all Yang Xing's doing. I didn't actually do much."

"Hm, Yang Xing?" Minato Namikaze's questioning gaze shifted over.

Even the Third Hokage looked at this little one who had previously been unremarkable.

Yang Xing hadn't expected the Third Hokage to be there, and he realized this was his first time seeing the old man.

Though, the Third Hokage couldn't really be called an old man; at this point in time, he was still relatively young.

As the gazes converged from all sides, the female jonin took a timely step forward and said: "Fourth Hokage, in truth, during this mission, four chunin and eight genin were all taken care of by Yang Xing. Also, three jonin were successfully eliminated by Yang Xing in coordination with the Aburame Clan."

Silence, a soundless silence.

Minato Namikaze snapped out of his daze, looking at Yang Xing with a complex expression.

"Are you saying that this mission was entirely Yang Xing's credit?"

For some reason, as Minato Namikaze spoke, he kept his eyes on Kakashi.

Kakashi nodded, his gaze earnest.

Only then did Minato Namikaze realize the truth, and he scanned Yang Xing again, his eyes filled with a strange, cautious look.

Before he could ask any questions, the office door was pushed open.

The newcomer walked in with a light step.

"Excuse the intrusion." He was neither humble nor arrogant, though the face hidden behind dark glasses made it impossible to read his expression.

It was clearly the reserved and mysterious head of the Aburame Clan, Shibi Aburame.

"The head of the Aburame Clan, ah, you've come at just the right time." Minato Namikaze's eyes lit up, and he laughed: "The frontline mission was a success thanks to the Aburame Clan. Thank you for your hard work."

"No." Shibi Aburame noticed Yang Xing was there and shook his head, saying earnestly: "Regarding this matter, we owe a lot to..."

"Ah, ah!" Unfortunately, before he could finish, he was interrupted by Yang Xing. With a laugh, Yang Xing turned to Shibi Aburame: "Haha, Uncle, you arrived so quickly. If it weren't for you last time, those ninjas from the Land of Earth would have been really hard for me to handle alone."

"That's not right, those people..." Shibi Aburame tried to clarify.

Unfortunately, given his taciturn nature, he didn't know how to explain.

This instead caused the Fourth Hokage to fall into deep thought. He looked at Shibi Aburame seriously, and the gravity on his face slowly faded.

"Oh, is that so? In other words, Yang Xing and the head of the Aburame Clan worked together to resolve it. Well, regardless, Yang Xing's performance this time was excellent." Minato Namikaze's expression returned to calm; it seemed he had misunderstood, believing that all of this was only possible because of the Aburame Clan head's assistance.

Of course, this was exactly the effect Yang Xing wanted, so he didn't offer any further explanation.

Minato Namikaze, having settled this in his mind, looked at Kakashi and the others with a sharp gaze: "The fact that the initial attack did not spread to Konoha is truly thanks to you all. Kakashi, Rin, and Obito, you did well!"

"It was nothing." Unfortunately, compared to Rin Nohara, the smiles on Kakashi and Obito's faces were a bit forced.

This surprised Minato Namikaze, and he wanted to ask what was wrong with the two youngsters.

However, his train of thought was pulled back by Yang Xing's interjection: "Teacher Minato, it wasn't just us. The reinforcements from the rear of the Land of Earth were all handled by the Aburame Clan's Uncle. Also, if the other members of the Water Flow Clan hadn't been dealt with by the Uncle in the sunglasses and his clan, we wouldn't have been able to return so quickly."

"Yes, yes, how could I have forgotten about that." Reminded by Yang Xing's words, Minato Namikaze wore a smile.

"The Aburame Clan is indeed the most important contributor to this mission." After scanning the Aburame Clan with great appreciation, Minato Namikaze specifically looked at the silent Third Hokage: "I wonder, Third Hokage, what do you think?"

The Third Hokage spoke for the first time, his withered face gazing at Shibi Aburame, his unique voice carrying a hint of gravity: "Hm, Kakashi and the others did indeed perform well on this mission. However, the defensive efforts of the Aburame Clan were indispensable; they completely blocked the Water Flow Clan. This time, we truly owe a debt to the Insect Technique of the Aburame Clan."

"You are too kind, Third Hokage." Bowing slightly, Shibi Aburame's eyes swept over Yang Xing intentionally or otherwise.

Although he didn't understand why this little one was helping him speak, at the very least, Yang Xing had indeed helped the Aburame Clan just now.

He would have to properly thank him for this later.

But at this moment, Yang Xing also understood that some trouble was unavoidable.

As the group began to discuss the details of the mission.

Instead, Yang Xing found his neck hooked by someone.

Looking at that heart-fluttering smile on Minato Namikaze, Yang Xing felt an itch in his rear.

This guy definitely wasn't smiling because of anything good.

"Right, Yang Xing, when you leave later, don't just head off. Come to the back of the Hokage building with me. Don't even think about running away." Minato Namikaze whispered into Yang Xing's ear, careful not to let Kakashi and the others hear.

"Hai!" Yang Xing nodded helplessly, sighing in resignation. "Ah, ah, and I was planning to come back and spend time with my lovely girlfriend, too."

Hearing Yang Xing's words, Minato Namikaze looked puzzled. "You have a girlfriend? How come I didn't know?"

"How could Minato-sensei possibly know? I'm still working on it. Besides, I spend every day with a bunch of repressed weirdos, so how could I possibly have one?"

Minato Namikaze's face turned black—completely black. "You brat, you really don't want to talk to me that much?"

"Well, if Minato-sensei really wants to chat, I wouldn't mind counseling your lonely soul." Yang Xing sighed again, reaching back to pat Minato Namikaze on the shoulder while standing on his tiptoes. "I understand completely. Minato-sensei is just one of those people who would feel so lonely they'd want to die if they didn't get to talk to someone."

Minato Namikaze: "..."

What the hell is "want to die," and what the hell is "one of those people"?

Minato Namikaze really wanted to retort, he really did, but since they were in the Hokage office, he could only suppress the urge, force a smile, and say to Yang Xing earnestly, "I've thought you were a cocky brat since way back, but you're certainly interesting. In any case, don't be too late. Rest assured, it won't take much of your time."

Yang Xing pursed his lips, nodded in agreement, and said nothing more.

The sight of the two whispering to each other was noticed by a few others, whose expressions varied.

"Hey, don't you think the Fourth Hokage is actually more concerned about Yang Xing?"

"Is that so?"

"Kakashi, I know you understand." Obito crossed his arms over his chest and nodded. "Well, I also understand how you feel. I know you're unhappy about having the title of Minato-sensei's favorite student snatched away, but you have to understand... Hey, you could at least wait for me to finish talking before walking away, you bastard!"