After Aoba used a genjutsu to control Gato, he returned to his own room.
The shadow clone originally in the room turned into a puff of smoke and disappeared. He then picked up the Flying Thunder God kunai placed on the ground.
This was something he had made on the ship these past two days. The crafting of the Flying Thunder God kunai was not difficult, what was difficult was during its use, to clearly distinguish among the massive number of imprints in his sensory memory, and the ability to react instantly after teleportation.
If he made a mistake in teleportation, it could be extremely dangerous.
However, it had to be said, having the ability of the Flying Thunder God certainly made many things much more convenient.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
Just as Aoba was still playing with the Flying Thunder God kunai, knocking sounds suddenly came.
"Aoba, it's time for dinner," Yakumo's voice rang out.
"Okay! Coming right away,".Aoba put away the kunai, opened the door, and walked side by side with Yakumo.
"Yakumo, after we eat later, stay alert."
"Eh? Got it."
———
[At the Dining Table]
Tazuna expressed his gratitude to Kakashi and the others.
"In a few more days the Great Bridge will be complete. These days, it's really thanks to you all."
"No need to..."
"Mr. Tazuna, we'll be leaving together tomorrow," Aoba suddenly interrupted and cut off what Kakashi was about to say.
"What?"
Tazuna's expression immediately grew anxious, "Wasn't the mission commission to protect me until the bridge is completed? Although it was my fault at the start for hiding the mission details, but..."
Kakashi said nothing. Aoba was Tsunade's disciple. Him suddenly saying this must have his reason.
"We're not abandoning this commission, just that we need to quickly escort Zabuza and Haku back to Konoha. But tomorrow, Konoha will send a new squad to take over this mission."
Aoba explained, "I've also reported the situation in the Land of Waves to the Hokage. She was very angry after hearing about the Land of Waves' circumstances. Not only will she help build your Great Bridge, she's also willing to help you solve the problem of Gato."
"Really?", Tazuna stood up from his seat, excited.
"Of course it's true. But as for the specifics, we'll talk more in detail after the others arrive tomorrow."
"No problem! No problem! As long as we can get rid of Gato, we'll agree to any conditions," Tazuna happily drank a few more sips of alcohol.
Kakashi looked at the smile on Aoba's face.
It felt like things were starting to get more complicated, but since Aoba said so, then what happens next is no longer their concern.
———
[Late at Night]
After dinner, Sasuke and Naruto started training again.
At first, Sasuke just wanted to digest his food. But when Naruto saw Sasuke was training again, he couldn't sit still either.
When someone better than you is working hard, what right do you have not to?
And so the two of them went from an ordinary post-meal digestion activity to directly competing with each other.
———
"Do these two Konoha brats have unlimited energy or what?"
The Mist ninja who had been secretly observing Aoba's group from behind, looked at the two figures sweating under the moonlight, and couldn't help but feel surprised.
This was inhuman. They had just gone through a fierce battle in the daytime, yet they're going this hard at night too.
Even a jonin couldn't handle that.
"Konoha always has so many talents every year. It's really enviable," Ao, who possessed a Byakugan, let out a sigh.
"They won't pose a threat to us. Don't pay them too much attention. The focus is on the few who came later."
Ao used the Byakugan to look toward the house where Zabuza and Haku were being held.
"The one guarding Zabuza now is the young guy who just arrived today. Judging from appearances, he should also be a freshly graduated genin. Has a lot of chakra, but his actual strength is unclear."
"The jonin leading the new group, her chakra isn't strong. Her strength should be much lower than Kakashi's."
"That red-haired one should be from the Uzumaki clan. Also has a lot of chakra, but seems not very strong..."
"The other two are genin who came along, but one is from the Hyuga clan."
"Lady Terumi Mei, should we take this chance to abduct that little girl from the Hyuga clan...?"
"Don't make trouble," Hearing Ao's words, Terumi Mei shook her head, "Our priority is to take away Zabuza and the beheading blade."
"Understood."
"Ao, you take some people to attack the two Konoha ninjas outside, cause a commotion, take them away, then I'll use the chance to break in and retrieve Zabuza," Terumi Mei laid out her plan. She felt that with her strength, handling a genin-level kid should be more than enough.
"Yes!"
———
"Sasuke, you still wanna keep going?"
Naruto was doing push-ups, his clothes already soaked with sweat.
"Hmph! If you can't keep going, you can take a break."
Sasuke gritted his teeth, looking dazed, clearly struggling to keep it up.
After all, he didn't have Naruto's terrifying physique. He only came out originally just to digest his meal.
If he wasn't unwilling to lose to Naruto, he'd have gone to sleep already.
"Sigh~", Seeing Sasuke acting tough, Naruto couldn't help but sigh.
But before he could say more, several figures suddenly appeared around them.
"Who's there?"
Naruto immediately cried out in shock and leapt up.
"Too slow!"
The few people reached out toward them.
"Leaf Whirlwind!"
Naruto kicked out directly, knocking back the person reaching toward him.
But the dazed Sasuke had already been grabbed by the neck.
Seeing Sasuke's neck being held, Naruto immediately let out a roar.
"You bastard! Let go of Sasuke!"
"Fourth Gate of Pain! Open!"
A powerful burst of air exploded instantly. The nearby Mist nin's bodies all wobbled.
'This guy, didn't he already open it once during the day?', Ao was slightly shocked inside.
But Naruto's big foot was already swinging toward his head.
"Leaf Great Whirlwind!"
Ao immediately pulled Sasuke in front of him. Naruto had no choice but to kick the nearby large tree.
The terrifying force directly snapped that tree, and several others behind it, in half.
"Retreat!", Ao grabbed Sasuke and tried to leave.
BOOM!
At this moment, several bolts of lightning suddenly crashed down from the sky, directly hitting several Mist ninja.
"Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm!"
A blast of chakra shockwave rushed straight at Ao, who was holding Sasuke.
Ao, who had just barely dodged the lightning, didn't have time to react to this sudden attack.
His shoulder was hit, and Sasuke in his hand was thrown away. A lion, ink-painted in sumi-e style, appeared and caught Sasuke.
And ran to the still-dumbfounded Naruto.
"Eh?"
———
After dinner, Aoba secretly told a few people that someone might attack them at night.
Told them to stay alert.
But Naruto and Sasuke ran out right after eating, so he just didn't tell them.
'Let the two of them serve as bait then.'
Aoba walked toward the room where Zabuza and Haku were being held.
He also guessed that the targets of the enemy were very likely these two.
After a long while, Aoba felt bored just staring at the two of them.
He looked at the two, tied back-to-back and remaining silent, and asked, "Zabuza, interested in joining Konoha?"
"Hmph!", Zabuza froze for a moment, but quickly snorted coldly, ignoring him.
"Heh, ever heard of an old saying, 'a wise man submits to the circumstances'?", Aoba chuckled, then looked at Haku leaning against Zabuza's back, "Zabuza, you wouldn't want your girlfriend to suffer, would you?"
Zabuza and Haku were both stunned again, then both of their faces turned red.
"I'm a man!", Haku said with a frustrated expression.
Aoba raised an eyebrow, "Who are you trying to fool? You look just like a girl. How could you possibly be a guy?"
"I... I really am a guy!", Haku was getting anxious.
He didn't care about being misunderstood, but he absolutely couldn't let Zabuza-sama bear such shame for him.
"Then how do you prove it?", Aoba asked.
"I... I, I...", Now that he was tied up, Haku really didn't know how to prove it.
"I do know one way. I remember that there's one part that's different between boys and girls. Just touch it and you'll know," Aoba grinned mischievously.
"You... What are you trying to do?", Haku widened his eyes. His previously calm expression turned into panic.
"Whether you're a man or a woman, I'll know with one try."
"You damn brat!", Zabuza, who had been looking arrogant before, immediately showed a murderous expression as he saw Aoba reaching toward Haku.
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