Kitsuchi

After listening to the elderly woman's account, "That's despicable!" Kiba Inuzuka slammed his fist into the ground, gritting his teeth.

"Indeed. The old woman only wanted a bite to eat; the owner of this noodle shop is being quite unreasonable," Minato Namikaze said with a frown.

As a war orphan, Minato had spent some time begging before he was brought to Konoha. Because of this, he could empathize with the old woman's bitterness and pain far more than Kiba or Uchiha Matsuri could.

"Hmph, some lousy shopkeeper. Let's see how he likes a lesson," Kiba said, raising his fist as he prepared to storm into the shop.

Seeing Kiba's impulsive behavior, Matsuri hurriedly stepped forward to hold him back.

"Kiba, we are in the Land of Earth. Don't let your emotions get the better of you," Matsuri said, looking at him calmly.

"I don't care about the Land of Earth or Iwagakure! I'm going to get justice for the old woman!" Kiba roared.

"Stop!" Matsuri barked coldly. "Kiba, if you keep acting this impulsively, you're going to bring a world of trouble down on us."

"Hmph, Matsuri, I've finally seen your true colors today," Kiba said, glaring at him with fury. "The old woman is so pitiful, yet all you care about is avoiding trouble. You're nothing but a coward who fears death!"

Matsuri was about to explain, but Kiba suddenly lashed out with a kick, catching him off guard and sending him sprawling to the ground.

At the same time, Kiba cradled his ninja dog, Ono, and marched toward the noodle shop.

Bang!

Kiba kicked the front door of the shop wide open.

The patrons inside were startled at first, but upon seeing that the intruder was just a young boy, they lowered their heads and continued eating.

Seeing that no one in the shop reacted to him, Kiba felt a surge of irritation.

"Get your boss out here!" Kiba shouted.

Seeing Kiba's aggressive demeanor, the shop clerk at the counter said with annoyance, "Who do you think you are, demanding to see our boss? Our boss is—"

Before he could finish, the clerk was sent flying by a kick from Kiba.

"Cough, cough..." The clerk clutched his chest as he collapsed to the floor.

"Who's looking for me?!"

Suddenly, a burly man with a face covered in scars emerged from the back.

Glancing at the clerk who was unable to get up, the burly man flew into a rage. "Brat, I don't care what your problem is. Since you dared to wreck my shop, you aren't leaving here alive today."

"Hmph, I'm asking you: why did you lay such a heavy hand on that old woman? She only wanted a meal, yet you threw her out directly. Do you have no compassion at all?" Kiba demanded, filled with righteous indignation.

After hearing Kiba's accusation, the burly man burst into laughter. The surrounding patrons also began to mock Kiba for his meddling.

Glancing at the "highly righteous" Kiba, the burly man sneered, "Tch. That old hag? I didn't like the look of her, so I kicked her out. What are you going to do about it?"

"You're courting death," Kiba said through gritted teeth.

Immediately after, Kiba exchanged a look with Ono in his arms, and the dog responded with a sharp "Woof!"

"Ninja Art: Passing Fang!"

Kiba and Ono spun together, forming two interlocking tornadoes as they lunged straight at the burly man.

Seeing Kiba unleash a ninjutsu, the civilian patrons lost all interest in watching the spectacle and scrambled toward the shop exit.

Meanwhile, the burly man had lost all his previous arrogance and was frantically turning to run toward the back courtyard.

However, in just a second, Kiba and Ono were already upon him.

Outside the noodle shop.

Seeing the patrons rushing out in a panic, Matsuri and Minato both thought, This is bad.

"It looks like it's going to be hard to get out of this unscathed," Matsuri sighed helplessly.

Damn it, this was Iwagakure!

They had wrecked a shop in the middle of the village without a word; no one was going to let the instigator off easily.

There were clearly better ways to handle this, but he had to choose the most dangerous one. He's really dragging his teammates down!

Complaints aside, Matsuri still chose to stay behind to "clean up the mess" for Kiba.

Matsuri could have chosen to ignore whether Kiba lived or died, but Kiba and the others hadn't abandoned him when he was unconscious a few days ago.

With a loud thud, the noodle shop was instantly leveled to the ground.

Seeing Kiba panting heavily amidst the ruins, Matsuri felt utterly helpless.

"I'm sorry, I might have caused trouble for everyone," Kiba said, lowering his head as he walked over to Matsuri and Minato after regaining his senses.

"It's fine. Since you've already avenged the old woman, let's get out of here quickly," Minato said.

"Heh, unfortunately, we can't leave anymore."

Beside him, Matsuri gave a bitter smile.

Looking up, dozens of Iwa-nin had silently surrounded the three of them.

"Thinking of leaving?"

A burly man in his early twenties with dark skin stepped out from the ranks of the Iwa-nin.

"Lord Kitsuchi, these are the three brats who just trashed that noodle shop," an Iwa-nin whispered, pointing at Uchiha Matsuri and his companions.

"The three of them?" Kitsuchi asked, puzzled.

Just moments ago, when Kitsuchi had approached Uchiha Matsuri and the others, he hadn't sensed any particularly powerful chakra from them.

Three genin, actually daring to cause trouble in Iwagakure? This doesn't make any sense, Kitsuchi thought to himself.

Pondering the trio's motives, Kitsuchi walked toward Uchiha Matsuri and his companions.

"Three ninjas from Konoha, why have you come to cause trouble in our Iwagakure?" Kitsuchi asked straightforwardly.

"It's all a misunderstanding..."

Uchiha Matsuri and his team recounted exactly what had just happened.

After listening to their story, Kitsuchi suddenly burst into laughter.

"Do you really think I would believe such a story?" Kitsuchi waved his hand, laughing heartily.

"We're telling the truth! If you don't believe us, you can ask the old lady... Wait, where is she?"

Kiba Inuzuka looked around, only to find that the elderly woman was nowhere to be seen.

"Stop the act. You attacked an Iwagakure Anbu liaison point and then cooked up the most foolish excuse imaginable to try and slip away. Do you really think I'm that easy to fool?" Kitsuchi said, unable to decide whether to laugh or cry.

"We really are..."

Kiba Inuzuka tried to explain further, but Kitsuchi cut him off.

"Enough. I don't want to hear any more of your so-called explanations," Kitsuchi said, waving his hand with a hint of irritation in his tone.

"According to your Konoha customs, ninjas always operate in teams of four, so you must have another accomplice."

Kitsuchi drew a shuriken, pointed it at Kiba Inuzuka, and demanded coldly, "Speak! Where is your accomplice? What is your objective?"