On the night of the Nine-Tails, I shattered the Tailed Beast Ball with a single punch.

Nagasawa: ...

He's memorizing the map of the hidden areas so he can easily infiltrate them.

"Yes, yes, every time I go into Lord Kizuki's office, he's always looking at documents."

He was looking for information on the Kusanagi Anbu and some confidential documents.

"Just now, Lord Kizuki said he would donate all his money to the Anbu for its development. Someone who loves the village so much shouldn't be punished so severely."

It's not his money anyway, so I'll just donate it.

The group of Kusanagi ninja pleaded for Nagasawa's life, leaving Nagasawa stunned.

If it weren't for his Observation Haki being activated, which allowed him to know that these were all Grass Ninja, Nagasawa would have thought that Konoha's Anbu had successfully infiltrated the Grass Ninja, and that those pleading for mercy were all Konoha spies.

Seeing so many ANBU ninjas pleading for Kizuki, the leader of the Grass Ninja frowned.

He didn't say he was going to do anything to Kizuki. Kizuki was the one who asked to be expelled from the Anbu. Why does it seem like he's the one who's going to severely punish Kizuki?

The leader of the Grass Ninja was somewhat displeased. With such a high reputation in the Anbu, how could he, as the leader, be placed?

He began to reflect on whether he had been relying too much on Kizuki lately, which might have sent the wrong signal.

The leader of the Grass Ninja said directly, "Since you don't want to stay in the Anbu anymore, Kizuki, you should take a good rest for a while. You've been so busy lately."

Nagasawa nodded, then said, "Yes, but leaders, you must be careful. You must not let the Root find another opportunity to take advantage of you."

The leader of the Grass Ninja nodded coldly. Everything pointed the finger at the Root, and even his two squad leaders shared the same thought.

'If it were Konoha, it would be one thing, but how dare a mere department within Konoha act like this?' The Grass Ninja leader sneered inwardly.

Their Kusanagi Anbu also has access to some Root members' lists.

Chapter Thirty: This is Konoha

In the end, Nagasawa managed to escape as he had hoped.

He did not commit suicide, but was killed by the "Root" at home, pierced by the Chidori Lightning Release.

According to the ANBU ninja's investigation, it should be the Lightning Release ninjutsu used by the Root member who was disguised as an Iwa ninja, and it has extremely strong penetrating power.

Another piece of evidence is a hastily drawn tree root in blood hidden under Kizuki's body.

The ANBU ninjas believed this was a hint that Kizuki was trying to give them.

The leader of the Grass Ninja Village was furious and immediately mobilized all the village's ninjas to surround the village and search it one by one.

Unfortunately, Yongze and the others had already returned to Konoha with the mission information.

Thinking about all this, Nagasawa couldn't help but sigh, "Sure enough, sometimes the dead are more useful than the living. The leader of the Grass Ninja must be furious."

However, keeping Mu Yue alive wasn't entirely useless; at least it ensured there wouldn't be any flaws in the time of her death.

Nagasawa guessed that Danzo might be in trouble, as the Root's external forces would definitely be impacted.

Even if the Grass Ninja don't take action themselves, they can still put up bounties on the black market or directly hire ninja organizations.

"Squad Leader Nagasawa, you're smiling so happily! Is something good happening? Tell me about it so I can share in your joy," Inuzuka Midori said excitedly.

Yongze smiled and said leisurely, "Of course I thought of the training plan for you. Get beaten up in the morning, train your bodies in the afternoon, and get beaten up again in the evening."

Inuzuka's green face fell. "What kind of training plan is this? We get beaten up in the morning and then beaten up again in the evening. Isn't this just getting beaten up for most of the day?"

"That's why I'm laughing. Just thinking about how you all look bruised and battered, like pigs, makes me laugh uncontrollably," Nagasawa said, laughing as he spoke.

“Squad leader, you’re a really powerful bastard,” Inuzuka Midori said sincerely.

"You flatter me, but I suggest removing two words, otherwise your face might look even more swollen than others," Yongze said with a smile.

Inuzuka Midori nodded, thought for a moment, and said, "Class president, you're such a big jerk."

Yongze was stunned. Good heavens, it wasn't that they removed the "bastard" part, but rather the "strong" part.

He tapped Inuzuka Midori's head hard with his finger, ruffling all her hair, and said:

"You can't stand not being a little mischievous, can you? You want to cultivate Haki, right? The training I've arranged is to introduce you to the basics of Haki."

Just thinking about Nagasawa's steely posture made Inuzuka Midori's eyes sparkle. So cool! I really want him.

"Then I'll practice. Midori likes training the most. Midori can withstand beatings." Inuzuka Midori immediately changed his words.

Nagasawa smiled and waved his finger: "Even if you want to train, I might not be willing to. Since you refused once, you won't have another chance. You can just watch Kakashi and Salt Water train then."

"Sigh, what a pity. Armament Haki can greatly enhance physical skills," Nagasawa said deliberately.

"Ah, this is too much..." Inuzuka Midori felt like crying but had no tears left.

“Mr. Nagasawa is lying. He would never leave you alone.” Hana smiled and patted Inuzuka Midori’s head. This child is so cute, it’s just that she has a mouth.

"Tsk, the Uzumaki family is really convenient," Nagasawa said, stroking his chin.

Being able to tell if someone is lying just by observing the flow of chakra is very ninja-like.

"Really?" Inuzuka Midori looked at Nagasawa with expectant eyes.

Yongze laughed and said, "It depends on your performance. If you keep being naughty, you really won't get any more points."

Inuzuka Midori fell into deep thought, then revealed a resolute expression. She took out a roll of bandage from her ninja tool pouch, wrapped it around her head, and sealed her mouth shut.

For the sake of her cool secret technique, Inuzuka Midori endured this hardship!

Yongze remained silent. Was this due to his awareness of his own loose tongue, or was it due to his lack of confidence in his ability to control his speech?

"Kaka..."

"Is there something you need?" Kakashi asked quickly, not giving Hana a chance to call out Kakashi's name.

Throughout the journey, to prevent this controversial name from being exposed, Kakashi kept a close eye on Hana Rin, almost to the point of using his Sharingan.

Whenever Hana was about to speak, Kakashi would interrupt her directly, not giving her a chance to say that name.

Hua Ling blushed slightly and asked, "Why are you staring at me?"

Kakashi: ...

"And your real name is Kakashi, right?" Hana asked.

Throughout their journey from the Grass Ninja Village, the four of them addressed each other as usual, so Hana quickly noticed that Nagasawa and the others called him Kakashi instead of Kakato.

So Hana-ling thought that Kaka-dong was probably the pseudonym Kakashi used for his missions.

Kakashi nodded. There was no point in hiding it; anyone with ears could find out.

Even if Yongze and the others use his code name, it will still be exposed when they return to Konoha. In Konoha, he is one of the more well-known types.

"Kakashi, what a nice name, Ninja Master." Hana smiled.

"Did Kakashi use some special pseudonym in Kusagakure?" Midori Inuzuka asked curiously, having removed her bandages at some point.

Kakashi said calmly, "No, they're just ordinary names, like Watanabe and Tanaka."

"Is that so?" Inuzuka Midori looked at Kakashi with a suspicious gaze. Her intuition told her that things couldn't be that simple.

"Yes, that's right," Hua Ling confirmed with a smile.

"Tch, boring." Inuzuka Midori lost interest; she had thought she might get some interesting information.

Instead of teasing Nagasawa, it would be nice to tease Kakashi. It would be interesting to see the genius, cool boy get his comeuppance.

Kakashi breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Hana with gratitude.

At the same time, he thought to himself, "Squad Leader Yongze is right, women are all natural actresses. I never thought Hua Ling could lie like that, and so convincingly at that."

If he hadn't known what was going on, he probably would have been fooled by Hua Ling's smile.

Soon after, a magnificent gate appeared before the five of them. It was the gate of Konoha, the strongest ninja village in the ninja world. They had returned to Konoha.

Looking at the huge door and the crowds of people coming and going, Hua Ling felt a sense of disorientation.

This is much more impressive than Kusagakure. Just this gate alone puts Kusagakure to shame.

"Is this Konoha?" Hana looked into the giant gate, the place where she might live in the future.

“That’s right, this is Konoha!” Nagasawa said calmly, then turned to look at Hana:

"Welcome to Konoha Village, a peaceful and prosperous place. From now on, you are a resident of Konoha and will begin your new life."

Hana remembered everything she had suffered in Kusagakure, the hardships she endured wandering the war-torn ninja world, and Kakashi's help. She smiled sincerely and said, "That was wonderful."

Chapter Thirty-One: Mutual Flattery in Business Is Necessary

After returning to Konoha, Nagasawa asked Kakashi to help Hana rent a room at an inn as a temporary place to stay, and then he took the mission information and headed straight for the Hokage Building.

Nagasawa walked familiarly to the Hokage's office and knocked on the door.

Speaking of which, ever since Minato became Hokage, he has been coming to the Hokage's office almost every two or three days. He knows the way so well that he has never been to the Hokage's office before.

Shuimen, who was processing documents, heard a knock on the door and politely said, "Come in."

Nagasawa opened the door, walked in, and placed the documents directly on Minato's desk, saying with a smile:

"We have lived up to your expectations. The mission has been successfully completed. This includes information on the three Grass Ninja we captured, as well as the Grass Ninja I killed."

A hint of joy flashed across Minato's face, but he didn't rush to open the file bag. Instead, he smiled and said, "Nagazawa, as expected of you, you're back so quickly, in just under two weeks."

If you factor in the time spent traveling, the actual time spent was probably no more than a week. Inviting you into the Dark Side was definitely one of the best decisions I've ever made in my life.

Nagasawa chuckled and teased, "Minato, your speaking skills have improved quite a bit since you became Hokage. Are you trying to win people over?"

"If I don't praise you a bit, I'm afraid you'll quit because you're tired, after all, you're just an ordinary Chunin." Minato teased back with a smile.

Nagasawa didn't mind and said with a smile, "It seems that Minato understands me best."

Who doesn't like being praised? He's not a masochist; he gets more excited when he's being criticized.

Of course, it also depends on who is being praised. If it's just some nobody with no talent or fame, then he won't feel anything.

But Minato is different. He is a well-known ninja in the ninja world, someone who forced an enemy ninja village to issue an order that "if you encounter Minato Namikaze during a mission, there will be no punishment for abandoning the mission." He is also the Fourth Hokage.

Therefore, Nagasawa would naturally feel a sense of accomplishment and comfort.

"Oh, right, there was another unexpected gain this time. I found a wandering Uzumaki clanswoman in Kusagakure and brought her to Konoha." Nagasawa said, remembering Hana Rin's situation.

"The Uzumaki clan members... Kushina would probably be quite happy." Hearing Nagasawa's words, Minato thought of Kushina.