They made it back to Konoha without a hitch. Nothing happened along the way.
This left Xingzhuo, who had grown much stronger, feeling rather disappointed.
Going by the usual novel tropes, shouldn't some clueless fool have shown up halfway to become the first victim of his new abilities?
Why hadn't anyone come after them?
Once they were back in the village, Yuto chose to go home and see his mother. He still had the task of delivering letters from the Uzumaki Clan's chief and his wife.
Lingyin also went straight home to see her father.
Judging by the way she looked, she must have felt that she was falling behind her peers and was rushing home to ask her father about the training questions she'd accumulated. Her father, Uchiha Kaku, had plenty of experience to share.
According to the rules, Xingzhuo, as the leader of this examination mission, had to report its completion to his mentor, Tobirama, right away.
When he arrived at the Hokage Building, only Senju Tobirama was working in the Hokage Office, just as usual.
But as soon as Mentor Tobirama saw who had come, he immediately made a Shadow Clone and sent his uncle Hashirama back.
Senju Tobirama already knew part of what had happened on the mission, and Uncle Hashirama had heard a doctored version of events.
The master and student had a remarkable understanding of each other. One spun a tale while the other backed him up, and together they somehow managed to fool Senju Hashirama.
Especially when Xingzhuo talked about how the other ninja villages had come off worse, the normally frosty Senju Tobirama always smiled so brightly.
Anyone who didn't know better would have thought he'd fallen in love.
"...Yes, that's more or less what happened. Sunagakure was rude first, and we