Mission Complete

After making sure they had gone completely far away.

He slowly straightened up. At last, he no longer had to restrain the corners of his mouth; his grin stretched so wide that his cheeks ached.

This trip had been a complete haul: peak Madara Uchiha had acknowledged him as kin, he had acquired a Kage-level puppet bodyguard, taken control of the White Zetsu army, and raked in emotion points like crazy.

The total balance had already swelled to a heart-stirring number.

He raised a hand and pulled up the system panel for a glance at the current balance.

Good lord.

Six figures.

Ye closed the panel, took a breath, and forcibly shoved down the smugness threatening to spill over.

Work was done. Time to regroup with those three cripples.

"Master..." A Fei wriggled lightly near Ye's shoulder blade from inside his body.

"Call me by my name."

"Ye! Three kilometers ahead, there's an Iwagakure squad—eight people, hiding in the grass for an ambush!"

A Fei had finally said something human.

Ye's pace did not change, but his route subtly shifted twenty degrees southeast—just enough to make this encounter seem perfectly natural.

Obito had only just awakened his Mangekyo Sharingan, and at this point, he had not fused with White Zetsu, so his Mangekyo had not been enhanced.

He urgently needed real combat to test the strength of Obito's Mangekyo at this stage.

Ye's figure flashed, and when he reappeared, he was already standing at the edge of that wrecked clearing again.

Obito was now able to stand while leaning against a tree. His right knee went weak every few steps, while Rin watched him from beside him so closely that he did not dare talk tough.

Kakashi had resumed his perennial deadpan expression, his right hand in his pocket and