I just returned to Konoha and found that my entire clan was gone.

The black patterns instantly covered the area, and a puff of smoke made it impossible for Sasuke to see what it was. The sudden excessive extraction of his chakra made him feel unwell, and the slightly shaky ground almost caused him to fall.

The ground was shaking? Sasuke sensed something was wrong. The smoke finally cleared, and he saw a Swift Falcon, about the size of two or three adults. It wasn't as big as the Po Jun, and its blue fur was a deeper shade. Its sharp eyes were staring at Sasuke.

Sasuke saw that the Swift Falcon had activated its Sharingan and was staring intently at the swift falcon in front of it, knowing that it was absolutely not going to show weakness in the first encounter.

Upon seeing the Sharingan in Sasuke's pupils, the Swift Falcon displayed an expression of "I knew it" as if it were human, and even spoke in human language.

"Ye Lan, how could you so easily sign a contract with someone? Have you forgotten the conditions you promised our clan?"

Ye Lan, who had been silent until now, finally spoke up: "Qisha, you're still the same as ever. I didn't expect Sasuke to summon you. Sasuke's strength is indeed not strong enough now, but he is still my clansman, and I still have faith in his talent."

"I can see that, but this kid is far inferior to you back then!" The swift falcon named Seven Kills jerked its body, and Sasuke, who was about to fall, immediately bent down and grabbed Seven Kills' back tightly with both hands. He knew that once he fell, this summoning beast would no longer recognize him.

Not to mention the help they will provide in future battles; no matter the reason, I cannot afford to fall.

Seven Kills didn't expect Sasuke to still not give up. It flapped its wings and flew into the sky, intending to use the air currents and its own speed to shake Sasuke off. As for other techniques that use natural energy, Seven Kills wouldn't use them.

Ye Lan looked up at Qi Sha, who was spinning and tumbling in the air, but didn't pay much attention. To truly gain the recognition of a summoning beast, one must pass this test. Even if one has the strength to force it to be used, most summoning beasts will not go all out.

This state continued for more than an hour, and Qi Sha did not stop. Sasuke on his back had turned pale, and the churning in his stomach made him want to vomit. Seeing Sasuke's poor condition, Qi Sha turned around and said.

"Kid, if you can't hold on, get down now. I need to go back and continue my training. I don't have time to play around with you here."

Right now, Sasuke's three-tomoe Sharingan stared into Shichisatsu's sharp eyes. The Uchiha's innate genjutsu talent manifested at this moment, and Shichisatsu's speed suddenly slowed down, with some confusion appearing in his eyes.

Just when Sasuke thought he had succeeded, Shichisatsu suddenly realized what was happening, instantly regained his composure, and said disdainfully, "Your Sharingan is far inferior to Ye Lan's. I've already experienced genjutsu before."

Ye Lan had been silently observing Qi Sha and Po Jun. According to human clan relationships, Qi Sha and Po Jun could be considered distant cousins. However, Qi Sha was much younger than Po Jun and not as strong as Po Jun was now. In other words, he still had a lot of room for improvement.

When Ye Lan first met Qi Sha, it was only the size of an adult. It has made considerable progress over the years.

"So, how about this move?" Sasuke also went all out. After evolving to the three-tomoe form, he actually had more chakra than Ye Lan had imagined. Squeezing out the last bit of chakra, Sasuke's body was filled with lightning, and his self-created Chidori Stream appeared before the world for the first time.

Seeing Sasuke covered in lightning, Qi Sha was somewhat amazed. He hadn't expected that this kid, who was as young as Ye Lan, could create such a ninjutsu. Although it was a bit immature, Sasuke's extraordinary potential was still evident.

Sasuke placed his hands on Shichisatsu's back, spreading electric current throughout Shichisatsu's body, trying to paralyze him and force him to stop.

At this moment, a layer of lightning also appeared on Qi Sha's body, much brighter than Sasuke's Chidori Stream. He said with pleasure, "Kid, didn't Ye Lan tell you that our Swift Falcon clan is born to live in storms? Your lightning is not even an appetizer in my eyes."

As he spoke, Qi Sha's entire body crackled with lightning, transforming into a bolt of lightning in the sky. The entire sky seemed to resound with the sound of thunder, and even ordinary people in the distance looked up, thinking that a heavy rain was about to fall.

"Ah..." Sasuke could no longer hold on. How could a human body fight against lightning? In addition, he had run out of chakra and was severely exhausted. He fainted on the spot and fell off Shichisatsu's back.

Ye Lan watched Sasuke fall from the sky without moving. Just as he expected, Qi Sha only paused in the air for a moment before flying to Sasuke's side, carrying him on his back, and then slowly landing.

Ye Lan walked over to Qi Sha and Sasuke. After checking Sasuke, she saw that he was not seriously injured. Qi Sha was still able to control himself and did not hurt Sasuke too much.

"Ye Lan, is this also part of your plan?" Qi Sha asked directly after a moment of silence, it was unclear whether he was asking about Sasuke or something else.

"If you think so, then so be it," Ye Lan said casually, completely ignoring Qi Sha's question.

"I've already heard about the Uchiha clan from Brother Pojun. What exactly do you want to do?" Qi Sha asked directly, no longer beating around the bush.

"Po Jun, that chatterbox... What I do depends on what the other party does. You know my Seven Kills," Ye Lan murmured.

"Is revenge absolutely necessary? Although I am not human, I can sense that the affairs of your race are not so simple..."

“Revenge?” Ye Lan interrupted Qi Sha. “Maybe. If someone slaps me and I slap them back, that’s not revenge, that’s fairness. Only when I kick them twice more, is that revenge.”

Ye Lan picked up the unconscious Sasuke and said, "Do you know why, even though we've known each other the longest, I prefer spending time with Po Jun?"

Qi Sha remained silent. It was the first Swift Bird to see Ye Lan, yet Ye Lan had never communicated with it. To be honest, it was impossible for him not to harbor any resentment.

"Because no matter what I do, Po Jun will support me; it never thinks too much." Ye Lan left Qi Sha with only a lonely back view; on this path, he trusted no one.

Chapter 73 Goodbye (Part 1)

"call-"

Sasuke, who was lying on the bed, suddenly sat up and looked around at his surroundings with some confusion. It seemed that he was in an inn in Kirigakure.

"Awake?" Ye Lan had already taken a stroll outside and guessed that Sasuke was about to wake up, having just returned not long ago.

"Failed?" Sasuke still retained the last bit of consciousness before he lost consciousness. He had fallen directly off Qisha's back. He never expected that the summoning beast that Yelan had taught him would ultimately be unusable.

"No." Ye Lan didn't have the habit of keeping people in suspense and said directly to Sasuke, "You've succeeded once you can get the Seven Killers to use natural energy."

You mean?

“That’s right, it will be your partner from now on.” Ye Lan looked at Sasuke, who was in a daze, and placed his hand on Sasuke’s head, but the feel of the hand was really not good.

Sasuke realized what was happening and immediately slapped Ye Lan's hand away. "Don't touch my head! I'm not a child..."

After saying that, he crawled back into bed and stopped talking.

...

"Shikamaru, how did things go?" After a few days, Ino and the others' injuries had improved. Ye Lan was fed up with eating seafood every day, so he asked Shikamaru directly when he saw him.

"It should be soon. Asuma is handling most of the work; I'm just helping out..." Shikamaru glanced at Yoru. Since his last meeting with the Mizukage, Yoru hadn't appeared before the Kirigakure higher-ups. These past two days had exhausted him and Asuma.

A group of people were staying at the ninja academy that Kirigakure was about to start construction on. Most of them were children who had not yet become ninjas.

Ino, whose injuries had healed, was teaching some children how to use ninja tools. Compared to the ruthless teacher, the pretty older sister was more popular, and soon she was surrounded by a group of children.

"I never knew Ino had this side to her..." Choji said, munching on potato chips as if he had an endless supply.

"I guess it's out of some kind of sympathy..." Shikamaru had told them about the events in the Village of Blood Mist. Although he didn't know much about it, he had heard a lot about the chaotic situation in the Hidden Mist Village in the past few days.

"Jonin Yelan." An antelope appeared in the shadows beside a tree in the sunlight, and she called out Yelan's name softly.

"I'll be right there." After saying goodbye to Shikamaru, Ye Lan headed straight for the antelope.

Shikamaru glanced at the antelope. He hadn't seen it much since delivering the food that day, and Sasuke had also been nowhere to be found. When he asked about Ye Lan, he was only told that he had gone to train. It seemed that since the two Konoha ninjas died, Shikamaru felt that everyone had changed.

Perhaps it's always been the same as before, except that Shikamaru never cared about these details before. Now, facing life and death for the first time, Shikamaru's thoughts are gradually changing.

"What is it?" Ye Lan was also a little curious as to why Antelope had suddenly found him. Since that day at the hospital, he hadn't really paid much attention to the woman in front of him. Like Shikamaru, this was the first time he had seen Antelope since she recovered from her injuries.

"Jonin Yelan, I sent information to Lady Tsunade a few days ago explaining our situation, and I just received her reply today." The antelope's voice was unreadable as it handed a letter to Yelan.

Ye Lan didn't ask how the antelope passed on the information, nor did he ask why the antelope hadn't greeted him. After all, she was still an ANBU member, and no one except the Hokage had the right to order her around.

"Where is Asuma?" Logically speaking, Antelope should have informed Asuma first before informing him. No matter how much Tsunade trusted him, Ye Lan would not consider himself to be more important than Asuma.

"Asuma, the Jonin, is still discussing things with the higher-ups in Kirigakure, so I didn't want to disturb him," Antelope said without any concern.

After understanding the situation, Ye Lan stopped asking questions and began reading Tsunade's letter.

The letter was brief, simply praising Ye Lan a few times and explaining that she would send reinforcements to Ye Lan and his group, allowing them to reunite with the support ninja before leaving Kirigakure together. It made no mention of her dissatisfaction or anger towards the Akatsuki.

As expected of Tsunade, she's always been decisive and efficient. Ye Lan had no doubt that the letter might be forged, and it was precisely because of its concise content that the antelope didn't seem to care and handed it to him directly while Asuma was away.

"Who is coming? When do you estimate they will arrive?" The letter didn't say who the person was, but Ye Lan could guess. He just wanted to know when they would arrive, as he didn't want to keep waiting here.

"It should be in the next few days, but they probably won't come directly to Kirigakure. After all, if too many Jonin from Konoha come, it will have a bad influence. They'll probably wait for us in a village not too far from Kirigakure."

Antelope shared his guess: the message was delivered by a messenger bird specially trained by the Anbu, which was much faster than human foot speed. Even though the ninjas who came were all elites from Konoha, it would still take a few days to arrive.

"As for whose it is, I'm not quite sure either." Antelope shook her head in the end. She wouldn't speculate on things she wasn't sure about; if she didn't know, she simply didn't know.

A few days later, thanks to the hard work of Shikamaru and Asuma, all the details were finally finalized, and Mei Terumi also increased the investment in the Ninja Academy by another 300 million ryo after many efforts.

This was the most frustrating thing she had ever done since becoming the Water Shadow. Every time she thought about having to be subservient to those elders after becoming the Water Shadow, she couldn't help but feel frustrated. She felt that she had gotten a lot more wrinkles these past few days.

"Have they all left?" Mei Terumi sat in her office chair. No matter what, the other party was just an envoy from Konoha, so she would never personally see them off. She simply asked Ao beside her.

"They've already left, Lord Mizukage." Ao's expression shifted several times before he finally spoke with some hesitation, "Lord Mizukage, did we trust Konoha's people too much? You know, that was just a facade..."

Mei Terumi raised her hand to interrupt Ao, "We're both women, and I trust Tsunade's character. Besides, haven't you noticed? Uchiha Yoru has been avoiding us ever since our last conversation..."

"You mean he has some ulterior motive?" Ao's eyes hardened. Remembering that Ye Lan and the masked man shared the same Sharingan, a chill ran down his spine. It would have been better if Terumi Mei hadn't said anything; what if Ye Lan had ulterior motives towards Kirigakure...?

"Idiot!" Mei Terumi scolded angrily, "Didn't you see that they were showing goodwill? Have you ever seen a ninja with ill intentions who doesn't stay in the village every day to gather intelligence?"

Ye Lan and Sasuke swaggered in and out of the village every day. Anyone in Kirigakure who wasn't blind could see them. It was obvious that I had no designs on Kirigakure. If I wanted to cause trouble, I would have to get close to the higher-ups in Kirigakure. But after that one time, Ye Lan, knowing the village's fear of the Uchiha, never showed his face again.

"Furthermore, according to the investigation, Uchiha Yoru is the younger brother of Shisui of the Body Flicker Technique." This information from Mei Terumi wasn't exactly a secret; anyone who had been to Konoha and did some research would know it. It just made Ao's expression change.

"I see, no wonder it felt somewhat familiar." Qing touched his sealed Byakugan, feeling a faint pain. He had witnessed Shisui's terrifying power firsthand.

Meanwhile, Ye Lan and his group had only been out of the Hidden Mist for a short time when they arrived at a small fishing village.

"What are we doing here? It's not time to rest yet, is it?" Ino asked curiously, having only been out of Kirigakure for half a day.

"Yo!"

A smug voice rang in everyone's ears, and as Ye Lan had expected, it was indeed this guy.

A Konoha ninja with white hair on his head walked out from a corner of the fishing village, holding a novel with 18+ printed on it.

"Kakashi-sensei?" Ino exclaimed in surprise upon seeing Kakashi. Sasuke and the others didn't look much better; they had no idea why Kakashi was there.

"You're still the same as always, Kakashi." Asuma stepped forward and smiled upon seeing a familiar face.

"I'm not the only one who came this time..." Kakashi shouted in a loud voice before he could finish his sentence.

"Everyone, it's been a long time since the Chunin Exams!" Anko, wearing a brown coat, jumped down from the roof of a house, with Aoba, wearing sunglasses, beside her.

Why is this guy here too? Ye Lan wasn't curious about Kakashi's arrival; he was Tsunade's true right-hand man. However, he genuinely hadn't expected Anko to come.

Chapter 74 Goodbye (Part Two)

"Why are you here too?" Ye Lan looked at Hong Dou. Wasn't this guy investigating the murder of the Kanagawa family? Why did he have time to come here?

"Why aren't you welcoming me?" Even though she said that, Hongdou still hugged Yelan like a buddy.

"It's confirmed. That famous bounty hunter is probably a member of the Akatsuki. The underground bounty office saw him wearing a black robe with red clouds. After Lady Tsunade found out, she stopped me from investigating further."

Upon hearing Hongdou's account, Ye Lan stopped struggling. By that count, he had already met nine members of the Akatsuki organization. It seemed that the man named Pain had put in a lot of effort.

"What are you doing? Let go of Ye Lan!" Jingye was a little angry when she saw Hongdou and Ye Lan being intimate. For the infatuated Jingye, this was unforgivable, so she stepped forward to pull the two apart.

"Oh dear, I didn't expect you to be so popular." Hongdou released Yelan without hesitation. She wouldn't hold a grudge against such a young girl and just said with a hint of amusement.

"I remember you little girl had a crush on Sasuke, didn't you? What, now you've taken a fancy to Ye Lan?"

"Yes, I like Sasuke, but that doesn't stop me from liking Ye Lan too!" Ino readily admitted. Unlike other girls who were shy, she believed that if she wanted something, she should just take action directly, looking at Anko with a defiant gaze.

Hongdou, unconcerned, deliberately straightened her body. Ino, seeing the other's figure, looked down at her own flat chest and fell into deep thought.

"What's so great about her? In a few more years!" Ino turned away immediately. How could an old woman like that have any advantage?

Ye Lan had already consciously withdrawn from the battlefield when the two were arguing. No matter when, you should never interrupt when women are arguing.