You Too, with Those Big Honest Eyes?

"I didn't see any need to agree, but you can tell me what your request is. If you want us to collect your bodies and bury you, I'm afraid that will be difficult. Hida Yuichi's mission for Konoha was very clear: kill all the mountain bandits, recover your head and the wealth you previously plundered, and return them to Hida Yuichi."

Meikyō spoke expressionlessly.

Okamoto Ichiro sighed, his dark face full of helplessness.

"We considered resisting, but the people who released us from the mine before were Sunagakure ninja. So I know exactly how powerful you ninja are. We simply can't resist you. A few of you working together could easily raise the ground of an entire mine spanning dozens of square meters. You probably have even more terrifying abilities. If we resisted, I doubt many of us would survive."

Raise the ground of an entire mine?

Uchiha Meikyō's expression remained unchanged, but he felt a little awkward inside.

They did not have that kind of ability. It would be more plausible if Dan Katō were here.

If he was right, that had been the Earth Style jutsu, Earth Release: Earth Tremor.

The stone in a mine was far harder than the shallow soil near the surface. Raising the ground of an entire mine spanning dozens of square meters would probably require several ninja working together, and the one directing the jutsu would have to be a Jonin who had mastered the Chakra nature transformation of Earth Style.

Okamoto Ichiro continued speaking.

"Hida Yuichi had too much treasure taken from him. Before my men left, they only took a small portion. The rest is all in the basement beneath the third house from east to west in the stronghold."

"As for my request, after you Ninja Lords take my head, I hope you can spare the others in the stronghold. You needn't worry about Hida Yuichi. I already had my men change their names and scatter throughout the Land of Fire. It would probably be troublesome for you to catch them."

Meikyō did not immediately answer Okamoto Ichiro's request. Instead, he first looked to the two teammates beside him and asked for their opinions.

"Meikyō, you're the one with the better ideas. You decide."

Inuzuka Ryo answered without hesitation.

Aburame Nami remained silent and merely nodded.

"Then I can agree. Once this is over, I'll burn this stronghold down and tell Hida Yuichi that all of you perished in the flames."

Meikyō nodded at Okamoto Ichiro, then tossed the Wakizashi in his hand to Inuzuka Ryo.

"Ryo, I'll leave things here to you for now. Nami and I will check the location where the treasure is hidden."

Inuzuka Ryo caught the Wakizashi and looked complicatedly at Okamoto Ichiro, who was still seated.

"Uncle Okamoto, I'm sorry. If I ever gain that kind of power, I definitely won't let something like this happen to anyone else again!"

With that, Inuzuka Ryo raised the blade high.

Okamoto Ichiro smiled and closed his eyes.

The basement entrance.

Insects crawled rapidly out from within and flew into Aburame Nami's wide sleeves.

"How is it? Were there any traps inside?"

Meikyō asked Aburame Nami.

She merely shook her head faintly.

"After we go in, let's split up and tally the amounts."

"Alright."

Aburame Nami was as sparing with words as ever.

By the time the two finished counting, Inuzuka Ryo entered the treasure-filled basement with Tetsu Maru, carrying the bloodstained Wakizashi.

"Finished?"

Meikyō looked away from the antique in his hand and turned toward Inuzuka Ryo.

"Mm."

Inuzuka Ryo raised a box in his hand, then returned the Wakizashi to Meikyō.

"How did the two of you do with counting this treasure?"

"Excluding antiques and other items that are difficult to appraise, I have a total of 1,723,000 ryo here." After speaking, Meikyō looked at Aburame Nami, who was waiting quietly to one side.

"1,180,000 ryo exactly."

Aburame Nami remained as concise as ever.

"That makes 3,003,000 ryo, which is 330,000 ryo short of what Hida Yuichi said."

"So should we tell Hida Yuichi that the 330,000 ryo was already spent by the bandits?"

Inuzuka Ryo scratched his head as he asked.

"No. More precisely, the bandits used up 1,130,000 ryo in total, and it can't be recovered. Fortunately, the remaining antiques, calligraphy, paintings, pearls, agates, and such are still here."

"Meikyō, you mean..."

Inuzuka Ryo's eyes widened. Then he said somewhat sheepishly:

"If you ask me, that won't do. We should report 1,830,000 ryo. That way, the remaining 1,500,000 ryo will be just enough for the three of us to split evenly."

With an expression that said, You've got the right idea, Meikyō gave Inuzuka Ryo a thumbs-up.

"Ryo, that's a brilliant move!"

"Hehe, Meikyō, you're pretty ruthless too!"

Tetsuseki Town, Lord's Mansion.

Hida Yuichi stood at the entrance. He accepted the box from Inuzuka Ryo, opened it for a glance, then tossed it to a servant beside him. He turned with a hearty laugh toward the carts full of treasure behind them.

But after the inventory was checked, the smile on Hida Yuichi's face gradually vanished.

"This... Ninja Lords, doesn't there seem to be something wrong with the amount of money and goods recovered?"

"What's wrong with it?"

Before Meikyō could answer, Inuzuka Ryo had already stepped forward.

"This was all we saw in the stronghold. Isn't that right, Tetsu Maru?"

"Woof! Woof!"

Tetsu Maru wagged his tail happily, his tongue hanging out and swaying gently from side to side with his body.

"What a pity. But I guess those mountain bandits had already spent it before, so it can't be recovered now!"

Inuzuka Ryo put on a deeply regretful expression.

"Is that really so? Still, I have another question for the three Ninja Lords. The mission clearly required the complete extermination of these mountain bandits, so why is there only Okamoto Ichiro's head? Where are the others?!"

Hida Yuichi looked at Inuzuka Ryo with a gloomy expression.

Meikyō gently pressed a hand onto Inuzuka Ryo's shoulder, stepped forward, and negotiated with Hida Yuichi.

"Your mission only required this head and the recovered treasure as proof. Though it required the mountain bandits to be exterminated, it did not request corresponding evidence. I was worried the corpses would cause an epidemic if left there, so I burned the other bandits' bodies along with the stronghold."

"Is that so? No matter. Even if bodies are burned, plenty of things will remain. I now request an addition to the mission: bring back those things as evidence!"

"Lord Hida."

Meikyō's expression darkened as well.

"You say traces remain after corpses are burned, but... I am an Uchiha! Uchiha Fire Style is the strongest Fire Style in the Ninja World. After being burned by our Fire Style, you still expect a corpse to remain?"