Tsunade took a deep breath and slowly walked up to Uzumaki Reikawa. Grabbing him by the collar, she stared at him seriously. "You have to promise me that you'll come back safely!"
Uzumaki Reikawa froze for a moment, then suddenly smiled. "I promise!" His voice was firm and resounding.
Seeing his expression, Tsunade released him and returned to her desk. "I'll issue you a mission order in a moment. Remember, you have to be back in five days!" At that, she suddenly smiled. "If you don't return, I'll count you as having deserted the village."
Uzumaki Reikawa's expression crumpled as he weakly said, "That harsh?"
"So you don't take it lightly. I mean what I say." As she spoke, Tsunade handed him the mission document she had personally signed. "And there won't be a next time."
In truth, if the four interrogated men had not revealed signs that Uzumaki Reikawa might know genjutsu as well, and if Kakashi had not kept saying that he could never find him, then based solely on Uzumaki Reikawa's apparent combat strength, she would never have agreed no matter how persuasively he spoke.
Everyone had secrets. As long as he did nothing that threatened the village, Tsunade could choose to overlook them for now. She could also roughly understand why Uzumaki Reikawa was wary of Konoha. But he had been willing to hand over the four men who had seen his ninjutsu to her. Did that mean he was gradually lowering his guard?
Tsunade was willing to trust him once—trust that he would eventually be honest with her and form bonds in Konoha.
Uzumaki Reikawa looked at the mission order in surprise. Was this a case of planting willows without intending to, only for shade to grow? Still, the system had actually deemed a signature like this valid. But he had to wait until he left the village before doing anything. He couldn't exactly submit it now, then turn back and ask Tsunade for it, could he?
The sun was already close to setting. As Uzumaki Reikawa strolled along, he suddenly spotted Sasuke and Naruto ahead, both covered in injuries as they ate ramen with looks of utter refusal to yield.
Sakura and Karin were there too. After the afternoon together, Karin had gradually opened up. Sakura had been furious after learning what had happened to her, but she also felt even more heartache for Karin. She suddenly wondered whether, if she knew medical ninjutsu, she could help Karin erase those bite marks...
Compared to the other three, Karin, who possessed decent sensory abilities, was the first to notice Uzumaki Reikawa's arrival. The joy in her heart immediately showed on her face, impossible to conceal.
"Big Brother Lingchuan, where did you go earlier?" Karin ran over and threw her arms around Lingchuan's waist, expressing her excitement. Then she realized something was wrong and hurriedly stepped back.
Uzumaki Reikawa did not mind it. He smiled gently at Karin. "I went to talk with Kakashi, then received another mission from the Hokage." As he spoke, he waved the mission order in his hand.
Naruto watched them with dead fish eyes. He had never seen Lingchuan act so gently before. Seducing an innocent little girl... But Naruto looked at their red hair, then at his own. So why wasn't his hair red?
Karin looked a little disappointed, but she said nothing and merely nodded. "Then how long will it take for you to come back?"
"If all goes well, I'll be back in about four or five days. By the way, how have you all been getting along?"
"Mm-hmm, everyone's been very nice to me. It's been a long time since I've felt this relaxed..." Karin said happily.
Sasuke remained silent. Because of the social humiliation from earlier, he had not said a single word to Karin so far.
Seeing this, Uzumaki Reikawa smiled and rubbed her head again. Rubbing someone's head felt great for a moment; rubbing it continuously felt great continuously. "Have fun today. Starting tomorrow, you'll be going to the Ninja Academy to catch up on what you've missed. Make sure you study hard. If your grades are good, you can graduate early. If it's you, there definitely won't be a problem."
"Okay!" Karin nodded forcefully.
Naruto asked curiously, "By the way, Big Brother Lingchuan, what mission did Granny Tsunade send you on?"
Sakura helplessly put her hands on her hips and knocked Naruto on the head. "Naruto, you forgot again. Ninja aren't allowed to pry into other people's missions, especially one personally assigned by the Hokage."
Clutching his head, Naruto grumbled resentfully, "This guy clearly couldn't even use the Three Basic Jutsu before, but now he gets to carry out so many high-level missions."
But he quickly put the matter out of his mind. Today, he had finally surpassed Sasuke by a tiny bit. Although it was only a small victory earned through cockroach-like stamina, it was enough to excite him. And Sasuke had acknowledged him too.
Sasuke remained silent, seemingly lost in thought. Acknowledging Naruto was one thing, while being dissatisfied with his own strength was another. Watching Uzumaki Reikawa walk away, Sasuke also prepared to pay the bill and leave.
"Huh? Sasuke, aren't you going to stay a little longer?" Sakura tried to persuade him. They had not gathered like this in a long time because of training. Now that they had finally gotten together, she had wanted to chat more.
"No. I'm going back to train." Sasuke waved his hand and strode away.
Naruto, on the other hand, was delighted. He finally had a chance to spend time alone with Sakura. Well, not exactly alone—Sasuke was gone, but there was still Uzumaki Karin. Still, that was much better than Sasuke. No big deal.
At Konoha's gate, Uzumaki Reikawa showed the pass signed by Tsunade, only to be stopped by Kotetsu Hagane and Izumo Kamizuki.
Kotetsu Hagane scratched his head awkwardly. "Could you make us a hand-drawn book of the story you told before?" They had wanted to ask for ages but never found the chance. This time, they had finally managed to catch him.
Izumo Kamizuki nodded repeatedly beside him. "We won't let you lose out. We can pay to buy it." After Goddess Uzuki stole the immortal fruit and flew to the heavens in that story, what was the heavenly realm like? What happened to her husband? And was Green Snake male or female? And so on...
Uzumaki Reikawa: "..." So why had he told those two about this stuff in the first place? Still, it did not seem entirely without benefits. At that thought, Uzumaki Reikawa immediately smiled as warmly as a spring breeze. "Of course, no problem. We're practically family. You also helped me out quite a bit when I first entered the village. Once I finish writing it, I can give you copies for free. I'd just like to print more later and sell them to other people. I'll cover the costs—could you help me out then?"
Kotetsu Hagane and Izumo Kamizuki naturally agreed without hesitation. It was only a trivial matter.
However, after finishing the procedures and successfully walking some distance outside the village, Uzumaki Reikawa heard movement behind him. A vein throbbed on his forehead. He truly had no energy left to mock the person who had been following him all this time. "If you're going to tail someone, at least do it properly. I might be weak, but I'm not stupid."
"..."
The air fell silent for a moment.
When the figure following him finally emerged, there was black hair, a spiky hairstyle, the Uchiha crest, and that same expression as if everyone owed him a fortune. Second Pillar slowly walked out.
"...What do you want? How did you get out?" Uzumaki Reikawa's mouth twitched, and he felt utterly miserable.
Sasuke replied calmly, "I wanted to do the mission with you. I told them I was with you and that you were waiting for me up ahead, so they let me leave."
Meanwhile, Kotetsu Hagane and Izumo Kamizuki were still chatting and laughing, thinking they had done Uzumaki Reikawa a favor. After all, he had already left for a little while. The distance was not far, but calling him back to confirm it would have been troublesome.
Before you continue