Return to Konoha

"I'm going to rest, I'm too tired." Namikaze Yin Xiang waved his hand and lay down on the ground to sleep, thinking to himself that a bed was definitely much more comfortable.

"Let's rest as well. We won't need to regroup tomorrow; we'll just go straight to taking Honey Flower Village," the Third Hokage said from the side. Since there were only eight people left in the village, they could just finish them off in one go.

The group in the cave began to rest, leaving Rock Lee to stand the first watch. It was very quiet here, but Honey Flower Village was a different story; the entire place had fallen into a panic. Eight people sat in Honey Shadow's office—the only eight ninjas left in the Land of Filling—and all of them were extremely nervous.

The three genin, in particular, were trembling uncontrollably. Just thinking about that person charging in and killing fifteen genin was terrifying; if Okita the jonin hadn't arrived in time, they would be dead too.

"According to intelligence, the enemy has five ninjas, including two jonin. Our only option is to launch a surprise attack tonight and try to take them out," Okita said to Xian Shadow.

"What if we can't beat them?" Hekai asked. After seeing that young ninja use space-time ninjutsu today, his perception of the Great Nations had changed. A mere child, actually capable of space-time ninjutsu—what kind of concept was that? If a child could do it, what about the other jonin?

He couldn't have possibly imagined that Guy was a ninja capable of distorting space itself.

"We have to go tonight. If we go tonight, we still have a chance. If we don't, tomorrow will likely be our doom," Xian Shadow said. They had never considered fleeing. As ninjas, especially as the Xian Shadow of a nation, running away was not an option.

"Then shall we set off now?" Okita was already prepared.

"Yes." Xian Shadow stood up.

"And... what about us?" a genin sitting to the side asked.

"You stay in the village. You wouldn't be of any help anyway," Xian Shadow said, glancing at them. Then, the five figures vanished from the office and raced toward the cave where Namikaze Yin Xiang and the others were staying.

By the time they arrived, Neji was on watch. Neji kept his Byakugan active while on duty, staying highly vigilant of the surroundings. As the five approached, Neji quickly detected five powerful chakra signatures.

"Guy-sensei, Guy-sensei!" Neji immediately ran to wake Guy up. "Enemy attack, wake up!" Neji shouted to everyone in the cave. Everyone was a light sleeper, so they all woke up at his call. Only Namikaze Yin Xiang got up, took a look, and went back to sleep; the Third Hokage had told him he didn't need to participate in the subsequent operations.

"They actually chose to take the initiative." The Third Hokage smiled and led the group out of the cave. At this moment, the Third Hokage was still disguised as Shikaku; the fact that the Third Hokage had left the village could not be leaked. He hoped everything was going well with Shikaku back home.

When they stepped out, Xian Shadow and his men had already reached the cave entrance, and the two sides met face-to-face.

"Xian Shadow has come out personally," Yamaha said, standing behind Shikaku. Shikaku's group consisted of seven people: Shikaku, Guy, Yamaha, Neji, Rock Lee, Tenten, and Yamashin.

"Yamaha, so you weren't truly defecting after all," Xian Shadow said, standing at the front and looking at Yamaha.

"Of course not. And it's not just me," Yamaha smiled. Xian Shadow paused, then looked back at Hekai. Hekai simply smiled and flashed to Yamaha's side.

"We were just waiting for the right moment to work from the inside and take you out. Now, that's completely unnecessary," Hekai said with a shrug.

"Surround them," Shikaku waved his hand, and the others moved to encircle the four ninjas.

The next morning, Namikaze Yin Xiang walked out of the cave and stretched, seeing the chaos outside. Both the inside and outside of the cave were empty.

"These guys are something else, just leaving me here alone in the cave. What if someone had ambushed me?" Namikaze Yin Xiang pouted. It wasn't just Shikaku and the others; even Miji was gone. With the Third Hokage there, he didn't suspect they were in trouble; they must have finished the job and headed to Honey Flower Village.

"But it looks like I really did have a good sleep last night." He hadn't even noticed them packing up and leaving; he must have been in a very deep sleep.

Namikaze Yin Xiang packed his things and headed straight for the coast, waiting by the boat for their return. Not long after, Shikaku and the others returned as expected.

"Yo, you guys finally made it back," Namikaze Yin Xiang greeted them. "You're awake? I was just about to leave you here and head off ourselves," the Third Hokage said as he walked up to him.

"..." Namikaze Yin Xiang's smile froze on his face. What was this old man thinking? Should he be grateful he came to the boat first instead of waiting at the cave?

"Did you finish everything?" Namikaze Yin Xiang asked, looking at Neji.

Neji nodded. "Xian Shadow was captured and taken back. The three-million-ryo bounty was paid, and we bought supplies for the trip back."

"Great, finally going home." Namikaze Yin Xiang let out a sigh of relief. The mission was finally over. It would take a few more days to get back; this mission had taken nearly a month to complete.

The Third Hokage dispelled the barrier, and everyone boarded the boat to return to Konoha. The two-day sea voyage was unavoidable, but this time, without Miji to slow them down on the land route, the ninjas moved quickly. They returned to Konoha in three days, having been away for a total of twenty days.

When they arrived, Konoha hadn't changed at all. Shikaku's secret had not been exposed. Everyone went to the Hokage's office to debrief. As the Third Hokage returned to the office, the Shikaku inside transformed back into his true self and stood beside Namikaze Yin Xiang.

"I swear I will never impersonate the Hokage again. It's such a pain," Shikaku had found the past twenty days as Hokage to be a massive headache.

"There's no need to write a report for this one," the Third Hokage said, sitting back in his chair.

"Namikaze Yin Xiang, in this mission, was able to discover my true identity—excellent insight. He has never killed before but was able to make the resolve to annihilate the enemy ninjas—excellent initiative. He infiltrated the enemy village alone several times and killed ninjas inside—excellent infiltration skills. From the moment he entered the Land of Honey, he devised a mission plan, leading the enemy step-by-step into his trap—meticulous planning, excellent intellect. He always completes his assigned tasks—excellent execution." The Third Hokage showered Namikaze Yin Xiang with praise.

"Yin Xiang performed the best in this mission."