Mission Complete

Killing did not make Uchiha Shunichi feel the slightest discomfort. Instead, stimulated by the smell of blood, he felt somewhat invigorated.

A bloodthirsty urge rose within him, and it made Uchiha Shunichi deeply uncomfortable, as though his body could no longer be controlled by him.

Seeing Uchiha Shunichi looking weak, Gekko Hayate continued carrying out the mission. Their purpose in coming here had naturally not been simply to kill people.

Killing was not the goal. The goal was what they could obtain after killing.

Gekko Hayate was highly experienced in searching for mission targets. Combined with his Transparent Release Bloodline Limit, he had presumably done quite a bit of stealing before.

Of course, for shinobi, there were only missions. There was no distinction between theft and non-theft, nor was there any guilt involved.

Gekko Hayate quickly found the mission target. Against shinobi, ordinary people's security measures were simply far too basic. Even carefully arranged defenses were vulnerable to a single blow.

"Void, how is your recovery? Do you need to rest a little longer?" Having finished his work, Gekko Hayate spoke to Uchiha Shunichi.

Hearing that, Uchiha Shunichi stood and said, "Let's go. There's no problem anymore. It's only temporary weakness; it's not that my body is truly frail."

Just as Uchiha Shunichi had said, his current condition was caused by the burden of the Mangekyō Sharingan. Without it, his Taijutsu had reached the level of an ordinary Jonin.

"Should we... deal with this?" Uchiha Shunichi asked, instinctively glancing at the mangled corpse fragments scattered across the ground.

Gekko Hayate fell silent for a moment before saying, "No. These bodies will be discovered eventually."

In an instant, Uchiha Shunichi understood what Gekko Hayate meant. This was Konoha's show of force. Although this place was no longer part of the Land of Fire, the distance between nations was not always so great.

Gekko Hayate and Uchiha Shunichi began their return journey. On the way back, they happened to pass a man named Kakuzu. They merely brushed past each other, and aside from Uchiha Shunichi recognizing him, no conflict occurred.

Walking ahead of him, Gekko Hayate had no idea that he had just crossed paths with a member of Akatsuki. Kakuzu, who seemed to be acting alone, was not wearing that distinctive outfit either.

Judging from his direction, Uchiha Shunichi guessed that Kakuzu was headed for Gato's villa. It seemed that Konoha was not the only one eyeing that money.

However, Kakuzu would probably return empty-handed this time.

Afterward, Uchiha Shunichi put the matter out of his mind and returned with Gekko Hayate to the newly completed bridge.

The battle here had already ended. Naruto and the others were burying Zabuza and Haku's bodies. Honestly, it was a pity that those two had died here.

With their strength, they could have done well anywhere, yet they had happened to run into Kakashi.

Although Kakashi's strength had not increased much yet, he had still fought bloodily through the Third Shinobi World War.

If he got serious, Zabuza would not have been a match for him at all. As for Haku... that was truly a pity.

"How did the mission go?" Tenzō walked to where Uchiha Shunichi and Gekko Hayate were hiding and asked.

"Very smoothly," Gekko Hayate replied.

Tenzō gave Uchiha Shunichi, who appeared perfectly fine, a concerned look but did not question him further.

As Uchiha Shunichi watched Haku's body being buried, the thought of grave robbing arose in his heart. The flesh and blood of an Ice Release Bloodline Limit possessed considerable research value.

However, Uchiha Shunichi found no opportunity. Neither Kakashi nor Tenzō intended to bring the body back to Konoha.

Even the Kubikiribōchō was used directly as a gravestone, with no regard for its status as one of the Seven Ninja Swords of the Hidden Mist.

Faced with this outcome, Uchiha Shunichi made no judgment, acting as though he knew nothing.

After Kakashi and the others buried the bodies, they soon set off on their return journey.

The road back was peaceful. This time, Uchiha Shunichi and the others did not follow behind them, but returned to the village first.

After returning to the village, Tenzō went to report the mission results, while everyone else was free to disperse. As for Naruto... there was basically nothing to worry about within the village.

After returning home, Uchiha Shunichi first went into the laboratory.

Sure enough, someone had infiltrated the place again. Although the intruder had left no traces, Uchiha Shunichi could still sense it from the arrangements he had made.

Unless someone possessed special expertise, even if they took all the results from a laboratory, they would not understand anything.

Moreover, the visitor had not come to steal anything, but merely to investigate.

Uchiha Shunichi took out a sealing scroll, formed hand seals with both hands, retrieved several of the most important tools, and continued his experiment.

Orochimaru, who moved frequently, had given Uchiha Shunichi a good idea: store away most important items.

Though the sealing scrolls in the world of the Hokage were not all-encompassing, they were sufficient for temporarily storing some things.

The experiment progressed as slowly as ever. Uchiha Shunichi prepared another plan, injected the reagent into a lab mouse, and then left the laboratory.

Some of the vegetables at home had already spoiled, so Uchiha Shunichi went to a vegetable shop in Konoha to order ingredients from the owner.

Because Uchiha Shunichi usually bought in large quantities, the owner was more than willing to provide home delivery.

By chance, Uchiha Shunichi saw a familiar figure then. However, he did not go up to greet them. After confirming the amount of ingredients with the owner, he headed to a barbecue restaurant in Konoha.

He was hungry now...

The food in this world was fairly decent, but Uchiha Shunichi was still accustomed to cooking for himself. Yet while hungry, he was more than willing to get food into his stomach as quickly as possible.

Because of his body, Uchiha Shunichi needed to consume huge amounts of food every day. Besides that, he also needed to drink highly concentrated nutrient solution as a supplement.

Therefore, meat was the best choice for Uchiha Shunichi.

"Welcome... Shunichi-kun, the usual?" The owner greeted Uchiha Shunichi enthusiastically.

"Yeah. Thirty portions of barbecue, plus two bottles of shochu." Uchiha Shunichi made his way familiarly into a private room.

During the time he had spent away on missions, Uchiha Shunichi had drunk far too much nutrient solution. He now needed to stop for a day and give his stomach and intestines a chance to recover.

Therefore, eating a great deal of food was necessary.