What I Want

By the time Kagetsu Qi returned to Konoha Village, quite some time had passed.

After all, traveling by sea was nothing like traveling over land; they could only obediently move at the speed of the ship.

This time, both the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning had satisfactorily "plundered" the seafolk resources they needed and returned fully laden—though in truth, even more seafolk had been wiped out by the Land of Water...

The seafolk they had on hand were certainly not enough for the two countries to form and train naval forces capable of rivaling the Land of Water's. In that respect, the Land of Water had succeeded.

Yet it was also true that the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning had gained many secret sea routes from then on. From that perspective, the Land of Water had failed.

Still, considering Kirigakure's existence, Qi had some doubts as to how much practical use those secret routes could truly offer.

But no matter what, he was home. That was what mattered most.

By now, he counted as one of Konoha's figureheads. Just as Orochimaru had received a fitting welcome upon returning to the village after completing a mission, Qi's return was given the same treatment.

In short, the upper and middle-ranking heads of Konoha's enormous organization came out to greet him at the entrance, followed by lower-ranking officials, ninja, and villagers lining the streets, watching and scattering flowers...

Honestly, Qi did feel a little vain about it, but having just finished cutting people down, he wanted to go home and sleep more than he wanted to be stared at like a monkey.

Unfortunately, he could not just turn around and leave...

"You've worked hard, Qi."

Leading a group of officials, Minato stepped forward with a bright smile.