A Perfect Ending

"Where was I clumsy?"

"You obviously were!"

The two happy enemies started bickering the moment they met. Neji Hyuga had never involved himself in this sort of thing.

"Don't come any closer—aaah!" Gato fell flat on his backside, all his earlier arrogance gone.

The only reason he had ever been so overbearing was because of the samurai and ronin he kept under his command. Now that he was alone, he was naturally scared out of his wits.

As one of the genius ninja of his generation, Neji Hyuga was not only powerful—he was ruthless as well!

Gato's begging did not change Neji Hyuga's expression in the slightest.

"Please wait!" Tazuna jogged over and bowed. "Please allow me to do it myself!"

For his own selfish desires, Gato had built his empire atop the entire Land of Waves. Over the years, countless people in the Land of Waves had been killed or injured because of him, forced to live in darkness every day.

Neji Hyuga glanced at Might Guy, who gave him a thumbs-up. "A real man should know how to yield."

Neji Hyuga: "..."

Though he still was not used to Might Guy's ever-present youthful enthusiasm, Neji Hyuga handed the shuriken to Tazuna.

Thud!

Gato dropped to his knees and repeatedly kowtowed. "Lord Tazuna, spare me! As long as you spare me, all my property will be yours! The money is all on the cruise ship—I can take you to get it!"

Tazuna's face turned cold. "I won't take this blood money squeezed from the people of the Land of Waves."

"Lord Tazuna, if you don't say anything and I don't say anything, who will know? You hired these Konoha ninja, right? Tell them to let me go, and I, Gato, will leave the Land of Waves and never come back!"

Anyone else might naturally have been tempted by Gato's wealth.

But Tazuna would not! He had spent half his life building bridges! A man should be like a bridge—straight! Straight enough to span the world!

"I won't spare you. Neither will all those people who died at your hands over the years! Go regret it in hell!" Tazuna roared, driving the shuriken straight into Gato's chest.

"You!" The fat Gato could not dodge in time and was pierced straight through the heart!

"Ahhh!" Tazuna gripped the shuriken with both hands and stabbed wildly into Gato's body. Then he shoved him to the shore and threw him straight into the sea.

With that, the shadow that had loomed over the Land of Waves for years finally dispersed!

After doing all that, Tazuna, an elderly man, wept on the dock like a child.

Although the Land of Waves incident had been full of twists and turns, it had ended without any real danger!

Team 3 saw things through to the end and had Neji Hyuga accompany Tazuna back to the Land of Waves to wipe out the remaining forces of the Gato Group there.

Without the Mist ninja, samurai, and ronin, the Gato Group would be completely overthrown before long.

Meanwhile, Might Guy led Team 3 in bringing the three members of Team 7 back to Konoha.

Along the way, Rock Lee kept chattering about how he wanted to take care of Qingchuan Tianming. In the end, Might Guy simply dumped Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki on him so he could experience youth.

When they neared Konoha Village again, Might Guy suddenly said with unusual seriousness, "I did not win my battle with Kakashi this time. It seems our final showdown will have to wait until the Chunin Exams six months from now."

"Rock Lee, Tenten!"

"Ah, Guy-sensei..." It was the first time Rock Lee and Tenten had heard Might Guy speak so solemnly.

"Neji is an extraordinarily gifted descendant of the Hyuga Clan, and he will only grow stronger. So you must not let up!" Might Guy said bluntly. "Also, the three little ones from Team 7 have already surpassed you in a short period of time."

"But Guy-sensei believes that you are no worse than they are! You will become even stronger! Right?"

"Yes, Guy-sensei!" Rock Lee was instantly fired up.

Though Tenten was not quite as exaggerated, her blood was boiling too.

"Very good! Let us experience youth with all our might!"

Not long after the three were sent to the ninja hospital, they woke up one after another.

Tianming was the first to awaken. The moment he opened his eyes, he found himself in a hospital room, with Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha lying in the beds beside him.

"You're awake?" Kakashi Hatake put away Icha Icha Paradise and walked in through the door.

"Kakashi-sensei, how did I get back?" Tianming asked.

"Team 3 came to the rescue, of course. Did you think I was the one who saved you?" Kakashi Hatake cracked a rather awkward joke.

"You three exceeded the mission requirements, and you even slaughtered all those rogue Mist ninja. You've really brought me honor."

No one disliked glory, and Kakashi Hatake was no exception.

He himself had never expected that when he woke up after overusing the Sharingan, his students would already have completed the mission on their own.

Cough, cough!

"Kakashi-sensei, is this what you meant by giving them a stern reprimand?"

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, entered the hospital room and spoke calmly.

"Third Hokage!" Kakashi Hatake straightened up, waiting for the lecture.

Tianming swallowed, but before he could say anything, Hiruzen Sarutobi cut him off.

"You three are absolutely ridiculous! Is this the kind of mission you were capable of carrying out? If Team 3 hadn't come to support you, you wouldn't have made it back!" Hiruzen Sarutobi said earnestly.

Tianming nodded repeatedly, but he felt something entirely different inside!

Sticking with the young master really did come with great benefits.