Chapter 59: Chapter 59
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"Sakumo-san."
Yoichi and Kakashi made their way to Sakumo's resting place, thanks to Kakashi's keen sense of smell. It's uncertain how he trained it, but his nose is almost as good as those of the Inuzuka clan.
"Yoichi-san, thank you very much for earlier. Without your help, our mission would have failed, and our teammates might have been in danger!"
After saying this, Sakumo bowed deeply to Yoichi, expressing his heartfelt gratitude.
Without Yoichi's final strike and the commotion he caused by shouting in the Land of Rivers, the mission would have ended in failure, and the Land of Fire and Konoha might have faced unpredictable consequences for the attempted assassination of a minor country's lord.
Sakumo had given it some thought and realized just how severe the consequences of exposing Konoha ninjas' identities after a failed mission could be.
"It's okay, Sakumo-san. Since I happened to be there, it was natural to lend a hand."
Yoichi said, waving his hand. After a moment, he added, "I only helped because of Kakashi and out of respect for you. The outcomes of Konoha's missions have nothing to do with me!"
Hearing this, a ninja from Sakumo's team, who didn't quite like what was said, interjected, "Hey, how can you say that?"
"Let's rest up for now. We need to recover some chakra before we hit the road again. We can only rest easy once we reach Kikyo Castle."
Sakumo interrupted, understanding Yoichi's lack of fondness for Konoha, especially after incidents of betrayal within the village that also involved his son.
Therefore, Sakumo empathized with Yoichi, who had just saved their squad. Arguing over such minor issues didn't seem right.
"Father, so it was you just now. That kick really hurt."
Kakashi said, holding his chest, still feeling the pain from that kick. His ribs might not be broken, but they were definitely injured.
"Sorry, Kakashi. But as a ninja, one must be prepared to endure injuries or even death. Besides, I gave you plenty of hints earlier."
Sakumo ruffled Kakashi's hair, then asked, "By the way, were you on a mission in the Land of Rivers?"
"We weren't on a mission. Kakashi and I originally wanted to find a summoning beast. We heard there were documents in the Land of Rivers' lord's mansion, so we sneaked in to look."
Before Kakashi could reply, Yoichi spoke first. He wasn't trying to hide anything from Sakumo; after all, Kakashi would likely tell his father later, and Sakumo was trustworthy in terms of confidentiality.
The issue was the presence of others, especially a member of the Sarutobi clan, who were staunch allies of the Senju, Nara, and Akimichi clans, with the Sarutobi acting as witnesses to their alliance.
These people couldn't be trusted, so the excuse Yoichi provided was sufficient for them to deal with Konoha's higher-ups.
Sakumo nodded, then asked, "Is that so? What do you plan to do next, Yoichi-san?"
Yoichi sighed, "We haven't found the summoning beast yet, and I'm not satisfied with just going back. I'm thinking of looking elsewhere; Kakashi, do you want to go back with him, or will you come with me?"
After a moment's hesitation, Kakashi replied, "I'll stick with the captain. Is that okay, Father?"
"It's up to you to decide. We should also be leaving now. Kakashi, Yoichi-san, take care. The Sand ninja might be after you."
Sakumo knew not to believe that excuse, but since the other party clearly had their own plans, he chose not to pry further.
Moreover, their current location wasn't very safe. After applying basic first aid and consuming soldier pills to recover some chakra, Sakumo was ready to lead his team back to Konoha.
"Let's part ways here."
"Take care, Yoichi-san."
After bidding each other farewell, they headed in separate directions.
Once Sakumo and his team were out of sight, Kakashi asked, "Captain, you're not seriously thinking of going back to the lord's mansion in the Land of Rivers, are you?"
"What else? We can't just let these past seven or eight days be for nothing. Effort should yield rewards; that's an unchangeable truth!"
Yoichi finished speaking and then, sighing, patted Kakashi on the shoulder, "It's only because we ran into Sakumo-san that I didn't complete the assignment with my usual dedication. Now, we probably can't even go near the underground exchange. The Sand Village will definitely trace it back there."
Kakashi rolled his eyes, hardly believing Yoichi's bluster, especially since they hadn't completed their assignment. How could they even think of claiming a reward?
"Sneaking back into the lord's mansion now, who would expect that?"
Yoichi said with a smile, confident in his knowledge of the mansion's layout and his familiarity with its interior. Infiltrating using genjutsu would be simple.
"Let's go. After we get what we're owed, we'll head back to Konoha. This trip was supposed to last a month, but with these developments, that's no longer possible."
---
"That's the situation, Lord Hokage."
After Sakumo reported the mission's details, the room fell silent before he continued, "Despite some complications, the mission was a success, thanks to Yoichi-san's intervention. Now, the Land of Rivers is likely in a state of flux."
"A success? Hmm. The presence of an outsider during the mission... I suggest we immediately deploy Anbu to capture Yoichi for interrogation. If necessary, we can even search his brain!"
Danzo spoke coldly, his words causing everyone in the Hokage's office to turn their gaze toward him.
This mission was of great importance, so upon Sakumo's return, the Konoha high command had all gathered in the Hokage's office.
"Moreover, leaving the village without permission should not be overlooked," Danzo added.
"Danzo, let's not sweat the small stuff. We're discussing the mission here!"
Hiruzen interjected, knowing full well that every clan had its dealings outside the village. Not to mention, the Nara clan's deer farm and medicinal herb business often required ninja oversight.
Targeting Yoichi for such a reason would lead to widespread resentment among the clans under the guise of stringent village security measures enforced in the Hokage's name.
"Lord Hokage, the reason I credit the mission's success to Uchiha Yoichi is because our squad hadn't even reached the Land of Rivers' lord's mansion before the mission details were leaked."
Sakumo continued as he produced a storage scroll, "This scroll contains the head of Sunagakure's Sasori. From information extracted from Sasori's brain by Yamanaka Inoichi, we learned that Sunagakure was aware someone would attempt to target the Land of Rivers' lord even before we set out."
"The leak of information made the mission difficult from the start. Yoichi's appearance at the Land of Rivers' lord's mansion was crucial in rectifying the situation!"
(End of Chapter)
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