Returning to the Village

After Mangetsu finished recounting what had happened, Genma and the Feudal Lord of the Land of Waves came out of the cabin as well.

Kamizuki filled Genma in on what had just happened. After hearing the story, Genma didn't react much.

Genma walked to a relatively open spot, took a small slip of paper and a pen from his ninja tool pouch, and began writing something on it.

It didn't take long for Genma to finish writing. He rolled up the slip of paper and placed it inside a small bamboo tube.

Then Genma stood up from the deck and bit into his right ring finger. Using the blood flowing from his finger, he drew some sort of seal on his left hand. Once he was done, he pressed his right hand against the deck and said, "Summoning Technique!"

As Genma pressed down with his left hand, a circle of black ripples appeared on the deck, spreading outward in rings like ripples on water.

With a "poof," a cloud of smoke rose from the black ripples.

When the smoke cleared, a circle of black symbols could be seen on the deck. In the center stood a summoned beast nearly a meter tall: a powerful-looking eagle. It was Genma's summoning beast.

After summoning the eagle, Genma used a strip of cloth of unknown material to tie the small bamboo tube he had prepared to its claw.

Genma stood up again and gently stroked the eagle's back a few times. "I'll leave the rest to you, Akashomaru."

At Genma's words, Akashomaru gave a knowing peck and spread its wings, taking flight toward the Land of Fire.

The great ship from the Land of Waves sailed across the sea for five days and four nights before finally reaching a dock in the Land of Tea.

The dock in the Land of Tea looked about the same size as the one in the Land of Waves, but it was clearly less prosperous. The handful of fishermen and merchants passing by made that plain.

Escorted by Genma, Mangetsu, Kamizuki, and the few guards who had survived, the Feudal Lord of the Land of Waves disembarked.

A minister sent by the Feudal Lord of the Land of Tea had been waiting at the dock for some time. When he saw the Feudal Lord of the Land of Waves slowly disembark, he immediately approached with an exceedingly warm smile.

After exchanging a few polite pleasantries with the Feudal Lord of the Land of Waves, the warm and courteous minister ushered him into a prepared carriage and took him to the Capital of the Land of Tea.

Genma Team followed the Feudal Lord's carriage toward the Capital of the Land of Tea. At some point, three people wearing strange animal masks had begun following them, and they entered the capital behind Genma Team.

Under the warm and thoughtful minister's arrangements, the Feudal Lord of the Land of Waves was settled in a large, luxurious residence.

Once the Feudal Lord had settled in, Genma brought Kamizuki and Mangetsu to meet the three people wearing strange animal masks.

As it turned out, they were members of the Corpse Disposal Unit, a group within Konoha's Anbu that specialized in collecting bodies. Genma had sent Akashomaru back to Konoha to summon them.

Every ninja's body carried a great deal of information about their village, such as ninjutsu, Taijutsu, Kekkei Genkai, and intelligence. If a ninja's body wasn't recovered by their own village after death, it could fall into enemy hands. The enemy might then use various methods to learn the ninjutsu, Taijutsu, secret techniques, Kekkei Genkai, or intelligence that the ninja had possessed.

This could expose a village's secrets and put it at a disadvantage. That was why every ninja village had its own Corpse Disposal Unit: a specialist team responsible for recovering and handling bodies.

Genma handed Taichi's body over to the Konoha Corpse Disposal Unit. They placed it in a body bag, packed up, and returned to Konoha that very night.

Three days after the Corpse Disposal Unit took Taichi's body away, the Feudal Lord of the Land of Waves and the Feudal Lord of the Land of Tea finished signing their agreement. The Feudal Lord of the Land of Waves then returned home.

Half a month later, Genma Team finally completed the mission and returned to Konoha.

As soon as they arrived, Genma reported the completion of their A-rank mission to the Hokage Building.

After reviewing the mission report, the staff at the Hokage Building gave it some thought. Since one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, Ringo Ameyuri, who was suspected of being brought back through Impure World Reincarnation, had appeared during the mission, they decided to raise its rank from A-rank to S-rank.

After turning in the mission and collecting the reward, Genma took Kamizuki and Mangetsu to Kato Taichi's gravestone to pay their respects.

After Genma and Kamizuki had finished paying their respects, they prepared to leave. Genma still had to take the mission reward and compensation provided by the village to Taichi's family.

Sakura Mangetsu said she wanted to stay with Taichi a little longer and look at him again. Genma and Kamizuki comforted her before leaving.