Raking in Gold

The next day.

In Konoha, Kurenai Yuhi arrived early beneath the designated tree in the park.

With a prodigy of Yemu's caliber as her student, she could not afford to slack off.

She wanted to prove herself to everyone who looked down on her. She, Kurenai Yuhi, could guide a genius properly!

Although her own contribution might not amount to much.

Kurenai was well aware of that.

"What's the mission this time?"

Lost in thought, Kurenai suddenly heard a familiar voice behind her and jumped.

"Phew... do you walk without making a sound?"

Kurenai explained helplessly, "A C-rank mission. We're escorting a merchant from the Land of Iron."

"Come with me. I'll give you a quick introduction to the Land of Iron."

"The Land of Iron isn't part of the Five Great Nations. It's a neutral country that takes no part in any wars. There are no ninja there, only samurai."

"The merchant we're escorting has traded with our Land of Fire for years. He's fairly important."

Kurenai led the three of them to the village gate.

The person they were escorting was a middle-aged man with stubble.

"Hello, Garp."

"We're the Konoha ninja assigned to escort you."

Kurenai greeted Garp.

"Hello."

Garp wore a smile.

Inside, however, he was cursing up a storm.

Konoha was really brushing him off, sending a woman and three brats.

After all, he was a merchant with a respectable reputation in the Land of Iron.

"Yemu, I'm so dizzy. Let me snuggle up to you~"

Sitting in the carriage, Qingxue Uchiha saw that the moment was right and promptly flopped onto Yemu Hyuga's lap.

Yemu, however, said nothing.

He was gradually extending his perception outward.

He wanted to see whether he could encounter any familiar faces or anything interesting.

This was Yemu's first time leaving the village.

He had a plan of his own, too.

He was going to rake in some gold.

As for why he needed gold?

To craft puppets.

The Tenseigan could create chakra cores, allowing him to control puppets just as he controlled chakra.

Why craft puppets?

Simple. If he was going to act like a tyrant, he would have to unify the entire shinobi world.

Otherwise, all those red traits of his would go to waste.

But some of the materials for puppets were incredibly expensive, and Yemu's wallet was currently empty.

Forget puppets-he could not even afford the core materials that could hold chakra.

"Hehehe~"

Qingxue Uchiha sprawled across Yemu's lap, giggling foolishly.

When Yemu ignored her, she assumed he had finally accepted her completely.

So her head began to wander as she prepared to nuzzle against him.

Beside Yemu, Hinata watched with envy written all over her eyes.

Sometimes she wondered whether, if she were as shameless as Qingxue, she might have an easier time.

Would she be happier, too?

"Ahem... Qingxue, I'm still here."

Seeing Qingxue cross the line, Kurenai gave a light cough to remind her.

She looked at Yemu, who was clearly thinking about something.

Something puzzled her. Why were there silvery-white strands mixed into his hair?

Could he have overtaxed his body?

At that thought, Kurenai gave Qingxue a strange look.

Had she already become a man-draining minx at this age?

Wouldn't she turn into a walking succubus in another few years?

Still, Yemu really was handsome. No wonder these two girls were so infatuated with him.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

"Why is my zipper open?"

Yemu Hyuga finally snapped out of his thoughts.

He tolerated Qingxue's outrageous antics, but that did not mean he had no shame whatsoever.

"M-my teeth were itchy~"

Qingxue Uchiha held the zipper between her teeth and looked up at him, a faint blush coloring her delicate face.

"Get off me!"

Yemu shoved Qingxue away and gave Kurenai an apologetic look. "Sorry, Sensei. This girl's not quite right in the head."

"Right, Hinata?"

Hinata Hyuga came back to her senses and nodded obediently.

Her face was flushed as well, though there was no telling what she was thinking.

In fact, her body had stiffened the moment Qingxue started her antics.

She had not even dared to breathe too loudly.

"All right, all right. There's no need to be so nervous. C-rank missions don't involve fighting other ninja."

Kurenai had barely finished speaking.

An explosive tag detonated in front of the carriage.

Boom!!

The blast surged outward, killing the horse pulling the carriage on the spot.

Kurenai's gaze instantly sharpened. "Yemu, get out of the carriage! We've got trouble!"

"Qingxue, Hinata, protect Garp in the back."

After issuing her orders, Kurenai quickly leaped out of the carriage.

Hinata, meanwhile, looked as though she had yet to process what had happened.

"I'll go take a look, too. Big Hinata, stay here for now."

Qingxue Uchiha gave Hinata a pat, silently marveling at the feel. Yemu had probably been enjoying that for quite some time.

Her family in her previous life had been involved in organized crime. She had witnessed murder and death firsthand.

After all, Qingxue had been raised as the family's future successor in her previous life.

On the contrary.

Qingxue was a little worried about whether Yemu, who had been an ordinary university student in his previous life, could handle the despair in someone's eyes as they lay dying.

"What did you come down for?"

Yemu looked curiously at Qingxue beside him.

Their enemies were only a few bandits.

Somehow, they had managed to buy explosive tags from Konoha.

"Why don't you two give it a try? This is a good chance to get some actual combat experience."

Kurenai was puzzled as to why they had encountered an attack during a C-rank mission.

After all, according to Konoha's intelligence system, if there was any chance of an attack along the escort route, the mission could not possibly be C-rank.

Still, this was a good opportunity for her students to grow.

"Qingxue, why don't you go? Other than the one in the middle, who's a genin, they're all ordinary bandits."

"Sure."

Despite the bandits' vicious appearances, Qingxue Uchiha showed no panic. Instead, a faint smile curled her lips.

Her decisiveness.

Made Kurenai look at her with curiosity.

In her eyes, Qingxue Uchiha usually seemed rather frivolous.

Why was she so calm when facing the first life-or-death battle of her life?

Before long.

Qingxue was fighting the bandits.

Blades flashed and crossed, and blood blossomed.

When the bandit leader, a genin, realized they were Konoha ninja.

His first instinct was to run.

If you encountered Konoha ninja as a bandit in the Land of Fire and did not run, you certainly deserved a thumbs-up.

But then he thought of the mysterious figure in a black robe with red clouds back at his hideout. If he returned empty-handed, he would die either way.

Since he was going to die anyway, he might as well take someone with him.

Just as the bandit raised his katana and was about to land his sneak attack.

Yemu appeared with the Body Flicker Technique and slapped the bandit leader across the face.

Smack!!

The terrifying force sent the bandit spinning several times through the air.

Watching from nearby, Kurenai shuddered inwardly at the terrifying speed of Yemu's Body Flicker Technique.

Sure enough, when Yemu had fought her earlier.

He had held back quite a lot.

Yet as the bandit lay at death's door, Yemu Hyuga used medical ninjutsu on him.

Restoring him to full vigor.

"If you don't want to be tortured, take me to your hideout."

Yemu whispered quietly.

Well, wasn't this an opportunity?

The bandits' hideout was bound to drop plenty of gold.