Bounty

"First, among the Konoha Ninja, the one leading them is Orochimaru, one of the Sannin. Even I might not be able to defeat him in a one-on-one fight."

"Second, even if we could defeat Orochimaru and the others, our battle would destroy most of Kirigakure's buildings. It wouldn't be worth the cost."

"Lastly, if we kill Orochimaru, all that awaits us is war. Although the Second Shinobi World War has only just ended and the Third Hokage keeps claiming he loves peace, if we really kill Orochimaru, his favorite pupil, along with several Konoha Ninja who came to carry out a mission that poses no threat to the interests of the Land of Water, the enraged Third Hokage will surely rally a force of ninja to attack Kirigakure. Then the peaceful situation we've only just established will be shattered in an instant. If that happens, we'll be the ones to suffer a huge loss!"

The Third Mizukage's three reasons left the Mist Ninja present speechless.

Before this, they had only felt that letting the Konoha group escape so easily was far too humiliating, and they couldn't swallow their anger. They hadn't thought things through. The Mizukage's words made everything clear to them. Indeed, apart from letting Orochimaru and the other three leave, there was no better solution.

"But I won't swallow this. Konoha, just you wait. Sooner or later, I'll settle this score!" the Third Mizukage said viciously.

Konoha.

After a week on the road, Orochimaru, Uchiha Matsuri, and the others finally made it back to Konoha.

Thinking about the danger they had faced in Kirigakure, the three of them couldn't help shuddering. Were you kidding? They had caused trouble right under the Mizukage's nose in Kirigakure. If the Mizukage had flown into a rage and tried to kill Orochimaru, Uchiha Matsuri, and the others at any cost, the four of them would have had no choice but to prepare to die in battle.

Fortunately, the Third Mizukage wasn't the sort to act on impulse. His final, rational decision had saved Kirigakure, and it had also saved Orochimaru, Uchiha Matsuri, and the others. It wasn't exactly a "win-win," but it had harmed neither side and effectively prevented a situation in which both sides would be destroyed.

"Because of the Mist Ninja's collusion with Kunshi Bilan, the difficulty of this mission clearly exceeded that of a B-Rank Mission. You can head home for now. I'll go to the mission assignment office and ask them to raise its rank." Orochimaru smiled faintly, clearly in a good mood.

After leaving Orochimaru, Uchiha Matsuri and the other two walked along, chatting happily. On the way, they ran into Team Jiraiya, who had just finished a D-Rank mission. As it turned out, Team Jiraiya had just completed a job helping an old woman find her lost pet cat.

Nohara Shin, an inveterate chatterbox, naturally couldn't pass up this rare chance to show off. From Team Orochimaru's deadly test to being surrounded by the Mizukage while carrying out a super B-Rank mission in Kirigakure, Nohara Shin embellished every last detail as he bragged.

After hearing Nohara Shin's account, everyone in Team Jiraiya cried, "That's so unfair!"

Other people had fought the Kage Level Orochimaru right after graduating, killed over a dozen Mist Ninja during a super B-Rank mission, and even left the Mizukage helpless.

Meanwhile, they had spent the past half month doing D-Rank missions. One day, they were finding a pet cat for an old woman; the next, they were helping farmers harvest wheat.

You didn't realize how bad things were until you compared. Comparing yourself to others was enough to drive anyone crazy!

Hearing his teammates complain, Jiraiya scratched his head helplessly. "E, Dōtō, don't always envy the other teams! Doing more D-Rank missions for now will help us strengthen our fundamentals, so we can handle higher-rank missions better later!"

E and Chōji Dōtō just smiled at Jiraiya's unconvincing explanation.

"I didn't expect Uchiha Matsuri to have become so strong, while my own abilities haven't improved at all. Looks like I should ask Teacher Jiraiya to teach me some stronger jutsu," Minato thought.

A day later, Orochimaru found the others and distributed the reward for their mission.

Orochimaru said that through his tireless efforts, the mission assignment office had raised the mission's rank to A-Rank. Although it hadn't been raised to S-Rank, Uchiha Matsuri and the other two were already delighted with an A-Rank classification.

After the terms were explained to Kusagakure, the village agreed to pay an additional 450,000 ryō in reward money. Added to the original 150,000 ryō bounty, Team Orochimaru received 600,000 ryō. Split four ways, each of them received 150,000 ryō—the same amount as the original bounty.

With 150,000 ryō in their pockets, Uchiha Matsuri and the other two happily went on a spending spree. When word got around that Team Orochimaru had received a huge payout, Team Jiraiya and Team Hatake Sakumo both found Nohara Shin and demanded he treat them to a meal. Nohara Shin could only suffer in silence. It was his own fault for knowing the most people at the Ninja Academy.

Walking out of the restaurant and counting the mere 20,000 ryō he had left, Nohara Shin felt like crying.

"Hey, Matsuri, could you lend me 100,000 ryō?" Nohara Shin rubbed his hands together and asked hopefully.

"No." Uchiha Matsuri took a bite of grilled meat and replied coolly. "You shouldn't have agreed to treat them."

"I had no idea there were two huge Akimichi Clan members in those teams!" Nohara Shin lamented.

A few days later, Uchiha Matsuri, Kushina Uzumaki, and Nohara Shin went to the mission assignment office. Since Orochimaru had said he wouldn't be joining them on missions anymore, the three of them accepted a C-Rank mission.

After accepting the mission, the three went home to collect their ninja tools, then gathered beneath Hokage Rock.

Their mission was to escort a fabulously wealthy tycoon to the Land of Lightning. Along the way, Uchiha Matsuri and the others faced only three attacks by bandits. For the three of them, who had fought numerous Mist Ninja skilled in ninjutsu in Kirigakure, dealing with bandits who couldn't use ninjutsu and only flailed around with their swords was ridiculously easy.

More than ten days later, Uchiha Matsuri and the others successfully completed the mission and returned to Konoha.

Since they had been attacked by bandits three times, and the tycoon was extremely satisfied with the escort, the mission was successfully upgraded from C-Rank to B-Rank. As a reward, the three split the 150,000 ryō bounty.

Half a year passed. Through one mission after another, the three members of Team Orochimaru strengthened their teamwork and improved their combat abilities. They had undergone a complete transformation through battle.

However, nothing stayed secret forever. News that Team Orochimaru was carrying out missions with only three members reached the Third Hokage. A firm believer in the four-man combat formation, the Third Hokage immediately sent a jonin to serve as Team Orochimaru's temporary leader.