Aren't Friends Meant to Be Sold Out?

After a week of travel, Uchiha Yato and the other two arrived at Konoha Village.

Looking at the two familiar gate guards, Tsunade felt somewhat conflicted.

But Uchiha Yato had no such complicated feelings and directly ruined the emotional moment.

He shouted at the two ninjas by the gate, "Go tell the Third Hokage that the Konoha Princess has returned to the village!"

Hearing both Uchiha Yato's shout and its contents, the two gate guards instantly dropped their relaxed expressions and stared warily at the three approaching figures.

After exchanging glances, one of the guards turned and ran toward the Hokage Building.

Because aside from the Konoha Princess returning, Uchiha Yato had returned to Konoha as well.

It was like the village's hope and the village's bad omen had returned together.

Inside the Hokage Building.

Hiruzen Sarutobi beamed when he heard that Tsunade was willing to return to Konoha.

No matter what, her willingness to come back meant she was somewhat willing to accept Konoha again and let go of old grudges.

But for Danzo Shimura, this news was far from pleasant.

When Uchiha Yato had first left the village,

Danzo had contacted bandits and rogue ninjas within the Land of Fire.

The ideal outcome was for them to kill Uchiha Yato if he let his guard down.

Of course, it would have been nice if they could force Uchiha Yato to reveal more of his trump cards, but unfortunately, the plan had been completely useless.

When Danzo later wanted to make another move against Uchiha Yato, he had the terrible luck of running into Jiraiya.

With Jiraiya present, he could not deploy Root or use Konoha's usual methods.

So, when Uchiha Yato found Tsunade, Danzo Shimura went all in. He deliberately sacrificed two Root ninjas so Dodai would obtain the information.

His goal was to make the Hidden Cloud Village act. Once they learned who was responsible for the Eight-Tails' rampage, he had originally thought Dodai would have the Third Raikage move personally.

But unexpectedly, the Third Raikage had sent his son and his son's partner instead.

And in the end, nothing came of it.

Before Danzo Shimura had received any news, he received word that Uchiha Yato and Tsunade had returned to the village. That also meant the Root members he had sent to collect the bodies had been completely wiped out.

No news was only natural. Even Old Man Madara's satellite receivers had all been removed, so how could any Root ninjas have been left behind?

Danzo Shimura had been extremely busy lately.

Outside the village, he had to find people and opportunities to kill Uchiha Yato.

Inside the village, he had to stir up trouble for the Uchiha Clan and drive a wedge between the Sand Shinobi and the Uchiha Clan.

The Uchiha Clan gave him no opportunities at all. Whenever something even slightly serious happened, or something they could not handle, they immediately went crying to Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Or they would go straight to the Konoha Court. Those matters had already been difficult to deal with, and with ninjas from other countries coming in to observe and learn, they became even harder to handle.

As a result, Hiruzen Sarutobi came to lecture Danzo Shimura every few days.

A classic scene.

Danzo Shimura would say, "Hiruzen, you'll regret this!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi would say, "Danzo, I am the Hokage!"

It played out almost once every two days, leaving Sakumo Hatake and the other two remaining members of Konoha's F4, who watched from the sidelines, utterly terrified.

The scene later escalated significantly. Once they made sure no outsiders were around, the two even began hurling profanities at each other.

Hiruzen Sarutobi said, "Fuck your eight a.m. class!"

Danzo Shimura said, "Aminos!"

As these refined expressions kept popping up, the people of Konoha Village also began learning this elegant style of speech.

This method of national profanity was undoubtedly Uchiha Yato's gift to Konoha.

After all, hearing those words from his hometown made Uchiha Yato feel rather nostalgic. Not going over to greet Danzo Shimura with a couple of them would practically be disrespecting him.

Within the Uchiha Clan Grounds.

At the Great Elder's home.

The first thing Uchiha Yato did after returning was visit Shisui at the Great Elder's home.

After taking a comfortable bath and changing into casual clothes, he began checking on Shisui's studies.

Uchiha Yato said, "Not bad, not bad. Very good."

"You've almost finished studying the Three Years to Chunin, Five Years to Jonin I gave you."

"Looks like you didn't slack off while I was gone. Not bad, not bad."

Yato's praise made Shisui feel a little shy and embarrassed.

At that moment, Uchiha Yato could more or less understand how Itachi Uchiha felt.

The brotherly bonds within the Uchiha Clan were truly strong!

Blood brothers, clan brothers, brothers from outside the clan—there were countless kinds if one really wanted to list them all.

After chatting with Shisui for a while and nurturing the bond between brothers, Uchiha Lian arrived at the Great Elder's door and said, "Greetings, Great Elder."

"The clan leader requests that you and Uchiha Yato come to his home for a discussion."

Discussing matters at someone's home meant it was unsuitable for public discussion, or that the matter was difficult to decide.

The Great Elder said, "You just got back, so don't cause trouble."

The moment he finished speaking, the Great Elder regretted it. He quickly changed his tone and asked, "It can't be that you just got back and already caused some trouble, can it?"

Uchiha Yato was completely baffled. He had gone straight home after returning, so how could this possibly be his fault?

Without speculating further, they headed directly to the clan leader's home.

Uchiha Kei said directly, "While you've been gone for nearly two weeks, some things have indeed happened."

The Great Elder was also somewhat confused. He was an Uchiha too, so why did he not know about these matters?

Uchiha Kei explained, "They've mainly been causing small-scale friction through minor incidents and in limited settings."

"Anything more serious has been stopped."

Uchiha Yato did not speak, and Uchiha Kei continued explaining.

"The problem is that these small-scale conflicts have nearly led to fights between us and the Sand Shinobi at least three times."

"The guards have been driven half-crazy by this, so now that Yato is back, think of something."

Uchiha Yato thought for a moment before saying, "I can do it. I have a solution."

"But don't blame me afterward, and I'll need your cooperation."

As long as there was a solution, Uchiha Kei would cooperate fully. These petty incidents were truly exhausting and disgusting.

Uchiha Yato's request was simple: arrange for the Sand Shinobi to visit the hot springs beside Konoha Village, with the Uchiha Clan serving as their bodyguards.

Uchiha Kei was somewhat confused and asked, "Is it really that simple? Is there nothing else we need to prepare?"

The Great Elder also had no idea what Uchiha Yato was planning, but the setup really was simple. Were there truly no other requests?

Uchiha Yato said, "Didn't you say that as long as I could solve it, you'd listen to me? Then listen."

"Remember, the Uchiha Clan must be the guards tomorrow. Got it?"

Though the Great Elder and clan leader did not understand, they both strongly agreed.

After all, the one coming up with the idea this time was Uchiha Yato. Once he took an interest in making something miserable, that person was basically doomed.

Early the next morning, Uchiha Kei led the Sand Shinobi to Konoha's hot springs.

The hot springs held considerable appeal for the Sand Shinobi.

After all, the place they lived had scarce water resources, so this could count as a company-funded trip.

Uchiha Lian was responsible for helping the Sand Shinobi men change clothes, while the women were naturally assisted by the current clan leader's wife.

Uchiha Yato had excused himself due to other matters, so he did not come to the hot springs.

Inside an izakaya, Uchiha Yato and Jiraiya were drinking and chatting.

Uchiha Yato said, "Since you've finally come back to Konoha, take a good rest."

Jiraiya was still worried about Yahiko's group of three and said tactfully,

"I'll rest for two more days, then go check on those three children."

"It can't be helped. War orphans are always the ones who suffer most. If I can help even a little, I should."

Uchiha Yato said nothing further. He got Jiraiya half-drunk, then said,

"Then get some proper rest. There are plenty of hot springs around Konoha. Soak in one, have a drink, and get a good night's sleep."

Throughout the meal, Uchiha Yato repeatedly hinted, openly and subtly, that Jiraiya should soak in a hot spring and drink.

For Jiraiya, hot springs were not merely for bathing.

They were his sacred grounds for gathering material, so he gladly walked right into Uchiha Yato's trap.

Would anyone say Uchiha Yato should not treat him like this?

Jiraiya saw him as a brother, while he treated Jiraiya like an idiot?

No, no, no. Jiraiya was Uchiha Yato's dear friend and brother. He could definitely fetch a good price among Konoha's higher-ups.

A grand show was about to unfold, with Jiraiya at its center.