A rich haul

The enormous serpent's body was charred by the lightning, and the residual current left the two people inside its belly numb all over.

A moment later, two hands tore open the blackened belly from within.

Shuofang Si crawled out, filthy from head to toe, with strands of scorched snake innards still wrapped around him. His fingers trembled slightly from the lingering numbness of the lightning strike.

He gulped down air and glanced back at the giant serpent, now reduced to charcoal, then at the two Thunder Swords in the center of the strike, still flickering with faint arcs of electricity. He stepped forward and pulled them from a mangled corpse that no longer looked human.

The Main God's cold, mechanical, gender-neutral electronic voice rang out in his mind: "Kakuzu killed. Reward: one B-rank side plot and six thousand reward points."

Just then, a rustling came from behind Shuofang Si, and he turned to look.

Sasuke also crawled out of the blackened snake belly, with strips of snake skin still wrapped around him and trailing wisps of smoke.

He braced one hand against the ground and knelt there, panting for quite a while before he stood.

He glanced at Kakuzu's unrecognizable remains on the ground, then looked up at the two Thunder Swords in Shuofang Si's hands, still crackling with electricity.

Without a word, he darted away, vanishing into the depths of the night.

"Sasuke!" Sakura's voice came from a distance, choked with tears and anxiety.

She had just left the unconscious Naruto in Neji's care. As soon as she came over, she saw Sasuke dart away and disappear.

But Sasuke did not pause at her cry. His dark afterimage bounded through the treetops a few times before disappearing completely into the night.

Kakashi stood behind her, watching the receding figure. He opened his mouth, but ultimately said nothing.

He did not know what to say to the boy.

Whether as his teacher or as a Konoha ninja, he found it difficult to decide what to do.

Honestly, he did not even know how he should face Sasuke.

Seeing Sasuke flee actually made him breathe a sigh of relief. His nerves, stretched taut for half the night, finally relaxed.

Neji supported the unconscious Tenten with his uninjured shoulder.

Sakura came back with reddened eyes, helped Naruto up from where he lay on the ground, and hoisted him onto her back.

Kakashi surveyed the scorched earth around them, ravaged beyond recognition by the battle. He sighed and pulled his forehead protector down over his eye.

"Let's head back to the curry house first."

He turned toward Shuofang Si, who was still regulating his breathing. Kakashi fell silent for a moment, a complicated expression on his face.

"Thank you for killing him. You've completed your own commission. If you're dissatisfied with how the mission was carried out, you can submit feedback at the mission commission hall."

He paused, but still went on to say the rest.

"Still, for the sake of what happened back then, let me warn you. Konoha hasn't put a bounty on you, but there are undercurrents stirring in the village. You'd be better off not returning with that face."

Shuofang Si nodded indifferently. Once he returned and enhanced himself, he might not have any reason to fear them.

Besides, he had never intended to stay in Konoha for long.

Kakashi glanced at Naruto on Sakura's back, then looked at Shuofang Si. After a moment's hesitation, he asked, "How did you know Naruto's parents were the Fourth Hokage and his wife?"

Shuofang Si pointed at his head. "Use your brain. How many people in the village have Naruto's hair color?"

"Then work out when the Nine-Tails Rebellion happened. It's easy enough to deduce, isn't it? He's always wearing that outfit with the spiral pattern, too. One guess was all it took."

Kakashi was momentarily speechless. Blond hair, a birth on the day of the Nine-Tails Rebellion, and that outfit with the spiral pattern-taken together, those clues really were obvious enough.

Yet all these years, not a single person in the village had thought to connect them.

Or rather, everyone had chosen to ignore the circumstances behind the boy they called the demon fox, himself included.

He had spent so many years in the Anbu and seen Naruto at his most miserable, yet he had never truly cared about him.

A flicker of guilt crossed Kakashi's eyes, then gave way to something firmer. He silently made up his mind. Naruto, I'll take you seriously from now on. That's my responsibility.

Since Kakashi had the sense not to pry into his strength, Shuofang Si paid him no further attention.

He stretched and turned toward the Life Curry House. After a whole night of work, it was time to rest.

As he walked, he tallied up the night's earnings in his head.

Ten rogue ninjas from the Kurosuki family and twenty-six Sound ninjas had earned him eighteen hundred reward points in total.

On top of that were two C-rank side plots and four thousand points from Raiga Kurosuki, plus one B-rank side plot and six thousand points from Kakuzu.

That made one B-rank side plot, two C-rank side plots, and eleven thousand eight hundred reward points in total.

Before entering the Main God Space, his points had already hit rock bottom. Now he had struck it rich overnight. Sure enough, coming back to the Naruto World to farm points felt fantastic.

As he walked, he circulated the Eight-Nine Mysterious Art to regulate his breathing and mend his body, which had been riddled with damage from the lightning and black spikes. Once he returned to his room, he planned to use the Nine Yin Manual's Healing Chapter for a thorough recovery.

Outside the Life Curry House, Sandayu and the driver were anxiously guarding the entrance.

Each held a kitchen knife scrounged up from somewhere in one hand and a torch in the other, nervously watching the distant battlefield.

Even the weather over there had changed. Thunderclouds churned, lightning tore through the night sky, and the ground beneath their feet shook.

Now the battle seemed to be over, but a strange man covered in blood and grime was walking toward them.

Sandayu swallowed and summoned his courage to shout, "Y-you! Who are you? Where are the Konoha ninjas?"

Shuofang Si could not be bothered with him and simply kept walking toward the entrance.

Sandayu panicked and raised his voice, trying to sound fierce despite his fear. "Stop! Come any closer and I won't hold back!"

But for every step Shuofang Si took forward, he took one back, the kitchen knife in his hand trembling like a leaf in the wind.

He shot the driver beside him a meaningful look, but the driver pretended not to see. When Shuofang Si drew closer, he simply darted behind a pillar.

"Mr. Sandayu, Mr. Kakashi is back!" the driver shouted, pointing into the distance.

As though granted a reprieve, Sandayu hurried over to Kakashi. "Mr. Kakashi, who is this man? He looks dangerous! Hurry and protect us!"

Kakashi was exhausted. He truly did not want to deal with this man at all.

He did not have a single trace of chakra left, and his whole body felt as though it were falling apart. All he wanted was somewhere to lie down.

He waved weakly. "That's Mr. Arasaka Si. All right, go back and rest. Everything's fine now."

Then he remembered the situation in the Land of Snow. He had dealt with that country before, but had no idea what things were like there now.

He hoped this escort mission would be no more complicated than a B-rank mission.