A Man's Mouth (Seeking Collection & Recommendation)

Just as Qifeng breathed a sigh of relief, his expression shifted slightly, and he glanced into the distance.

"Took you long enough."

He sensed several ninjas rapidly approaching. Given their numbers, they should be Konoha Ninja.

Letting a single Kaguya Senjin slip through meant the ninjas Lord Hokage had tasked with watching the border had already failed badly. If they'd also let a group of Mist Ninja in, either those people were truly useless, or the Mist Ninja had launched a full-scale invasion.

But neither was likely.

He quickly stowed away Kaguya Senjin's mangled corpse and used Chakra to smooth the ground.

He ran over to Imai Kuriyama's side, shielding her with his body, let a trickle of blood drip from the corner of his mouth, clutched his ninja tool pouch tightly, rolled his eyes back, and passed out.

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!

Three Konoha Anbu Ninja appeared on the scene.

One of them landed beside Qifeng and the others, sensed for a moment, and said in a low voice, "They're still alive."

"What about Kaguya Senjin?"

The Anbu leader scanned the area but found no trace of Kaguya Senjin.

The last one crouched down, pinched a bit of soil, brought it close to his mask, and sniffed.

"The ground has been clearly disturbed, with a faint smell of blood. It's very likely Kaguya Senjin's."

"Dead?"

The Anbu exchanged glances, all seeing surprise and disbelief in each other's eyes.

Kaguya Senjin was a long-established jonin of the Kaguya Clan, with a modest reputation across the ninja world. Even they weren't a hundred percent sure they could beat him. And he was dead just like that?

"From when we sensed the disturbance to when we arrived, it couldn't have been more than fifteen minutes. Who could take down a jonin that fast?"

"These two kids are still alive, which means whoever did this has no hostility toward Konoha. It might even be one of our own strong shinobi."

None of them even considered Qifeng or the other.

Even a genius like Kakashi couldn't have killed Kaguya Senjin in an instant at that age. These two were a bit older than Kakashi, but not by much.

Even if they wanted to suspect them, they'd be laughed off as fools.

"Must be a strong Earth Release user."

"Could it be a Hot Water Ninja?"

They were still in the Land of Hot Water. The only ninjas who could appear here, aside from Konoha and Mist Ninja, were Hot Water Ninja.

Hesitating, one Anbu spoke up. "Does a Hot Water Ninja have that kind of strength?"

"Either way, record this and report it to Lord Orochimaru and Lord Hokage." The leader gave the order.

"Yes!" The other two acknowledged.

He walked over to Qifeng and Imai Kuriyama, looked at their positions, and noticed the ninja tool pouch Qifeng was clutching tightly. He nodded approvingly and praised, "Facing a strong enemy, he didn't abandon his comrade or his mission. This kid's not bad."

"According to the intel, he should be Maruyama Qifeng, the Corpse Collector, right?"

"A Corpse Collector is still a ninja. Maybe one day we'll end up in his hands."

Having been ninjas for so long, they'd seen too much life and death to be fazed by it.

"Kurenai, take these two kids back immediately along with the intel. We'll go check on Kakashi's situation."

"Yes!"

Yūhi Kurenai tossed Qifeng over his shoulder and gently cradled Imai Kuriyama in his arms as he headed for the Land of Fire.

Kurenai was his Anbu codename.

Being tossed like that, Qifeng barely held back a curse.

You bastard!

Is this how you treat people?

You throw a guy over your shoulder like a sack, but you gently carry a girl in your arms? Are you favoring women over men?!

"You're done for. I'm definitely helping Asuma get with your daughter! Or else I'll take your last name!" Qifeng silently "cursed."

Yūhi Kurenai was fast. Before long, he crossed the Land of Fire's border.

Once inside the Land of Fire, the danger level dropped significantly, and he slowed his pace a little.

Qifeng dozed off on his shoulder for a bit, then saw a system notification.

Experience Ended!

Due to lack of proper attunement and learning, bonus attribute gains: Stamina +1; Ninjutsu +2

His heart bled.

Last time, with the jonin Experience Card, he'd studied hard and earned a total of 5 attribute points. This time, it was a quasi-Kage Experience Card, but because he hadn't properly adapted and absorbed it, he only got 3 points.

What a loss!

If this time turned out like last time, he might have gained 6, 7, even 8 or 9 points in attributes.

What a total loss.

Besides, sleeping on someone else's shoulder was truly miserable—bouncing along the whole way. If he hadn't been completely unable to hold on, he probably would have slept all the way to Konoha.

Feeling Qifeng wake up on his shoulder, Yūhi Kurenai set him down.

"Awake? Can you travel?" Yūhi Kurenai had already taken off his mask.

Qifeng squeezed his swollen arm, the sharp pain making him suck in a breath. After the Experience Card ended, all the injuries from before came rushing back.

Still, he gritted his teeth and nodded. "I can."

The two continued on.

Yūhi Kurenai, probably used to the silence of being in ANBU with no one to talk to, or maybe just taking a liking to Qifeng, seemed to shed his restraint once the mask was off.

"Not bad, kid. Protecting your female teammate—that's what a man should do. Reminds me of when I was young, did the same thing. Attracted who knows how many."

"Bleh—" Qifeng couldn't help stopping and bending over.

After dry-heaving for a while, he looked up to find Yūhi Kurenai's gaze a bit off, wiped the corner of his mouth, and explained, "Took a punch, body's badly hurt. Couldn't hold it in."

Hearing that, the man's expression relaxed. "Want me to carry you again?"

"No, no, no, thanks." Qifeng waved his hands frantically.

Thanks a lot, your whole family.

"Back in my day—"

"Bleh—"

The scene was, to say the least, awkward.

"...Let me catch my breath a bit."

With that, he pulled out a slightly crushed pack of cigarettes, took out one that was still intact, bit it between his lips, snapped his fingers, and a small flame lit it.

Fire Release users—pretty handy at times like this.

He took a deep drag. The smoke hit his sore lungs, and he felt a lot more alert.

Yūhi Kurenai frowned. "You're young. Smoking's bad for your health. A ninja should take care of his body."

With that, he snatched the cigarette from Qifeng's mouth, and under Qifeng's gaze, put it in his own mouth, took a deep drag, then slowly exhaled, enveloping himself in smoke.

"..."

Real nice "bad for your health."

So much for that. A man's mouth is a liar's tool.

He had no choice but to pull out another one and relight it.

Neither spoke again. One puff each, in utter silence, paying no mind to the unconscious Imai Kuriyama, whose brow furrowed slightly in discomfort.

They say the bond between men is forged through sharing gunfire, sharing classrooms, and sharing smokes.

Couldn't be more true.

Yūhi Kurenai was starting to see Qifeng in a better light.

He protected his comrades, completed his missions, endured pain, and knew how to share a smoke.

It almost made him wonder if the reason Kurenai Yuhi would later fall for Asuma was because Asuma smoked—bribing Yūhi Kurenai himself.

The cigarette was finished.

"Senior Kurenai, I'm about ready. Should we hurry up and get moving?" Qifeng had regained some energy. His body still hurt, but the nicotine had numbed it a bit.

"You know me?" Yūhi Kurenai looked a bit surprised.

Qifeng lowered his head and rubbed his chin. "I'm friends with Asuma, and Asuma's friends with Kurenai Yuhi, so..."

"Asuma?" Yūhi Kurenai frowned.

As a father's instinct, he vaguely sensed that the word "friends" coming from Qifeng carried a deeper meaning.

Qifeng could only silently mourn for Asuma for three minutes.

Who told your dad to make things hard for me?

Me, the body-snatcher—I don't hold grudges overnight!