"Thud!"
As Sasuke slowly released his grip, a small-fry shinobi dropped to the ground like a dead fish. Tiny arcs of bright blue lightning still flickered over his body from time to time, making him twitch faintly.
Sasuke glanced at the Heaven Scroll in his hand, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly, then casually tossed it to Naruto beside him.
"Naruto, put the scroll away."
"Hey, hey, Sasuke! We've already collected both the Heaven and Earth Scrolls. There's no need to take his scroll too, is there?"
Naruto called out as he fumbled to catch the scroll.
Hearing Naruto's words, Sasuke merely brushed nonexistent dust off his hands and gave him a calm glance. The corners of his mouth rose slightly before he continued:
"What do you know? This is the price they pay for attacking us. That's how things work between shinobi. If people don't pay a price for doing something wrong, they'll just do it again.
"Besides, you saw it too. They weren't attacking the two of us just now. They were going after Karin. With guys like these, just knocking them out was already going easy on them."
At that, Sasuke glanced at Karin, who was examining the shinobi's injuries, and his expression softened a little as he said:
"Karin, don't worry. I knew what I was doing when I hit them. They should recover in about half an hour."
Karin had finished checking the shinobi on the team by then. Knowing Sasuke was right and that he really had held back, she nodded and said:
"All right, let's put these guys up in the trees first. That way, if wild animals come along before they can move again, they won't be left defenseless."
Naturally, Sasuke and Naruto had no objections to Karin's suggestion. Each of