Bounty

"First, among Konoha's ninjas, the leader is Orochimaru, one of the 'Sannin.' Even I might not be able to defeat Orochimaru in a one-on-one fight."

"Second, even if we could defeat Orochimaru and his companions, our battle with them would destroy a large portion of Kirigakure's buildings, making it not worth the effort."

"Finally, if we kill Orochimaru, war is all that awaits us. Although the Second Shinobi World War has just ended, and the Third Hokage constantly speaks of peace, if we truly kill Orochimaru, his most beloved disciple, and several Konoha ninjas who were on a mission that did not harm the Land of Water's interests, the enraged Third Hokage will surely gather a host of ninjas to attack Kirigakure. Then, the peaceful situation we just established will be shattered in an instant. If that happens, we will truly have suffered a great loss!"

The Mizukage's three reasons left the assembled Kirigakure ninjas speechless.

Before this, the Kirigakure ninjas had only felt it was too humiliating to let Konoha's group escape, unable to swallow their pride, without thinking so deeply. The Mizukage's words opened their eyes. Indeed, besides letting Orochimaru and the other three leave, there was no better solution.

"However, I will not swallow this insult. Konoha, you wait and see, I will settle this score sooner or later!" the Third Mizukage said fiercely.

Konoha Village.

After a week's journey, Orochimaru, Uchiha Matsuri, and the others finally returned to Konoha.

Thinking of the danger they encountered in Kirigakure, Uchiha Matsuri and the other two couldn't help but feel a chill of fear. Were they kidding? Causing trouble right under the Mizukage's nose in Kirigakure! If the Mizukage had lost his temper and killed Orochimaru, Uchiha Matsuri, and the others without regard, the four of them could only have prepared to die.

Fortunately, the Third Mizukage was not someone who acted solely on impulse. It could be said that the Third Mizukage's final rational decision saved Kirigakure, and even more so, it saved Orochimaru and Uchiha Matsuri and the others. While it couldn't be called a "win-win," it benefited both sides and effectively avoided a mutually destructive outcome.

"Due to the collusion between Kirigakure and Kunshi Bilan, the difficulty of this mission has clearly exceeded that of a B-rank mission. You should go home first; I will go to the mission assignment office to request an upgrade in the mission rank." Orochimaru said with a faint smile, indicating his good mood.

After leaving Orochimaru, Uchiha Matsuri and the other two walked and talked in good spirits. Along the way, the three of them happened to encounter Jiraiya's team, who had just completed a D-rank mission. It turned out that Jiraiya's team had just finished the mission of "helping an old lady find her lost pet cat."

As the super chatterbox Nohara Shin, he naturally couldn't miss this rare opportunity to show off. From the life-and-death assessment with Orochimaru's team to being surrounded by the Mizukage during a super B-rank mission in Kirigakure, all their experiences were embellished by Nohara Shin as he boasted.

After listening to Nohara Shin's account, Jiraiya's team members exclaimed, "This is outrageous!"

Others, right after graduation, had fought with a Kage-level expert like Orochimaru, and in a super B-rank mission, they had killed more than a dozen Kirigakure ninjas, and even the Mizukage couldn't do anything about them.

And themselves? For half a month, they had been undertaking D-rank missions, either finding pet cats for old ladies or helping farmers harvest wheat in the fields.

There's no comparison. Comparing oneself to others makes one furious!

Hearing his subordinates complaining, Jiraiya scratched his head helplessly. "Kiba, Choji, don't always envy other teams! Our team undertaking more D-rank missions now is also to consolidate our foundation, so that we can better undertake higher-level missions!"

Hearing Jiraiya's unconvincing explanation, Kiba Inuzuka and Choji Akimichi just smiled.

Uchiha Matsuri has become so powerful, while my abilities are still stagnant. It seems I also need to ask Jiraiya-sensei for some more powerful ninjutsu. Minato thought.

A day later, Orochimaru found a few people and distributed the bounty for this mission.

According to Orochimaru, through his persistent efforts, the mission assignment office had upgraded this mission to A-rank. Although it wasn't upgraded to S-rank, even A-rank had greatly surprised Uchiha Matsuri and the other two.

After explaining to Kusagakure, Kusagakure also agreed to pay an additional 450,000 ryo in bounty. Combined with the initial 150,000 ryo bounty, Orochimaru's team received a total of 600,000 ryo. After dividing the 600,000 ryo bounty equally among the four, each person received 150,000 ryo, the same amount as the initial total bounty.

With 150,000 ryo in their hands, Uchiha Matsuri and the other two happily went on a spending spree. Hearing that Orochimaru's team had received a huge reward, Jiraiya's team and Sakumo Hatake's team found Nohara Shin and asked him to treat them to a meal. Nohara Shin could only "suffer in silence, with bitterness he couldn't express," as he knew the most people from his time in the Ninja Academy.

Walking out of the restaurant, counting his remaining 20,000 ryo, Nohara Shin truly felt like crying without tears.

"Hey, Matsuri, can you lend me 100,000 ryo?" Nohara Shin rubbed his hands together, asking with anticipation.

"No," Uchiha Matsuri said calmly, taking a bite of grilled meat. "Who told you to agree to treat them to a meal?"

"I didn't expect there to be two fat guys from the Akimichi clan in those two teams!" Nohara Shin regretted it immensely.

A few days later, Uchiha Matsuri, Kushina Uzumaki, and Nohara Shin arrived at the mission assignment office. Since Orochimaru said he would no longer undertake missions with them, Uchiha Matsuri and the other two only accepted a C-rank mission.

After receiving the mission, the three went home to gather their ninja tools, and then assembled under the Hokage Rock.

The mission was to escort a wealthy merchant to the Land of Lightning. Along the way, Uchiha Matsuri and the other two only encountered three waves of bandit attacks. For the three who had experienced battles with numerous jutsu-wielding Kirigakure ninjas, dealing with these bandits who only knew how to swing swords and didn't know ninjutsu was incredibly easy.

More than ten days passed, and Uchiha Matsuri and the other two successfully completed the mission and returned to Konoha.

Due to the three bandit attacks and the merchant's great satisfaction with the escort, the mission was successfully upgraded from C-rank to B-rank. As a reward for the two of them, they split the 150,000 ryo bounty.

Half a year passed. Through undertaking numerous missions, the three members of Orochimaru's team strengthened their coordination and improved their combat effectiveness, undergoing a complete transformation in battle.

However, news travels fast. The information that only three members of Orochimaru's team were undertaking missions reached the Third Hokage's ears. The Third Hokage, who advocated for four-person combat teams, immediately dispatched a Jonin to serve as the temporary captain of Orochimaru's team.