The next day, outside the town of Yokota.
"It's almost time. What was the village thinking, having us just send the coordinates and wait here? Don't they want to save the Fourth Raikage?" On an abandoned rooftop, Karai paced anxiously, stretching his neck to look around, like an ant on a hot pan.
"Impossible! The village would never abandon Lord Raikage. There might've been a delay! After all, the distance between the village and the Land of Cedar is too great. It's hard to cover that in a single day," Amai replied from the other side of the rooftop, his face showing anxiety no less intense than Karai's.
If Tsunade really did put the Exploding Worms back just because they failed to pay on time, then Lord Raikage would truly be in danger!
"Damn it. Kumogakure sacrificed too much for this worthless ninjutsu scroll," Amai muttered after a pause, pulling out the blood-stained scroll and glaring at it in frustration.
Though they'd managed to retrieve it, the scroll had been drenched in the blood and flesh of the Nokizaru group during Tsunade's rampage—now fused together and completely unreadable.
It was nothing more than a piece of useless paper...
"No point waiting. Let's go save Lord Raikage ourselves. The chances are slim, but it's better than sitting around doing nothing."
"Alright." After a brief hesitation, Amai clenched her teeth, tucked the scroll away, and agreed.
Bang!! Just as the two were about to leave, a heavy object suddenly landed in front of the abandoned house with a loud crash.
The sudden shock made both of them jump in fright!
But when they looked down, they saw a large iron box bearing the Kumogakure forehead protector insignia. The lock on it was a universal seal—one only Kumo jonin could open.
"This is... Mabui's Heavenly Transfer Jutsu!" Karai's eyes lit up in realization. Having followed the Raikage on many missions, he instantly understood. He leaped down and quickly formed seals. "Release...!"
"Here it is—five hundred million Ryo." When the lock clicked open, Amai gasped with joy upon seeing stacks of banknotes neatly arranged inside.
But then came the pain. Just imagining all this money about to end up in Tsunade's hands made his heart ache bitterly.
"Wait, what's that..." Karai noticed a letter tucked into the corner of the cash pile. He quickly picked it up and scanned its contents.
After a moment, a long-lost smile appeared on his face. "It says: after handing over the money, head to the closest location to treat Lord Raikage immediately. Reinforcements will arrive soon, and we are to cooperate fully in recovering the 500 million medical fee."
"I see! If it's just post-op recovery, I guarantee I can restore Lord Raikage's combat strength within an hour." Amai nodded, relief written all over her face.
The two exchanged a knowing glance. Without another word, they sprang into action—one guarding the money box, the other heading to find Tsunade for the exchange.
---
Meanwhile, at the Yokota Hotel.
"Hehehe! Who would've thought those bandits had such valuable loot? I actually got eight thousand Ryo!" In the room, Taro's face was flushed with excitement as he counted his cash.
"It's all thanks to big brother. Without his idea to use the captives for labor, we wouldn't have earned anything beyond the mission reward," Jiro added, equally thrilled. For once, they'd truly seen how profitable ninja work could be.
Eight thousand Ryo! That was more than they could earn in months.
"Just eight thousand and you're that happy?" Ishikawa curled his lip, unimpressed. For taking out an entire bandit group, that amount was honestly too little. If the bandits hadn't spent so much on buying powerful crossbows, their haul would've been much more.
As for the captives? The mayor had ordered them all shackled and turned into forced laborers.
"Ishikawa, come with me." Kakashi, who had been silent, suddenly spoke up.
Ishikawa didn't say a word. Ignoring his two younger brothers, he got up and followed Kakashi out.
"The next step is negotiation with Kumogakure. If all goes well, great. But if things go south and a fight breaks out, your job is to take Taro and Jiro and evacuate immediately," Kakashi said seriously as they stepped into the corridor.
If Kumo intended to act aggressively, they'd be fully prepared. With Ishikawa's current strength, he and his brothers would stand no chance—they wouldn't be lucky like last time.
"Of course, withdrawing doesn't mean abandoning the mission altogether," Kakashi added before Ishikawa could respond. He took out a small bottle from his pouch.
"Teacher, what's this?" Ishikawa asked, eyeing the thumb-sized white bottle curiously.
Kakashi narrowed his eyes and revealed a meaningful smile. "This is the Cell Exploding Bug I retrieved from the Nokizaru group ninja tool bag. If Kumogakure really goes back on its word, Lady Tsunade and I will definitely become their targets. That's why I want you to evacuate and look for the right opportunity to release this bug."
"I understand." Ishikawa accepted it, surprise flickering in his eyes. He hadn't expected it to be the cell-level explosive bug, completely invisible to the naked eye.
He had been worried something might go wrong, but now he wasn't afraid. They had Tsunade and Shizune in their corner. The enemy didn't.
"Go tell Taro and Jiro to get ready. It's almost time," Kakashi said, checking the time before turning to head toward Tsunade's room.
Not daring to delay, Ishikawa tucked the small bottle away and went to find his two younger brothers to prepare.
A few minutes later, when Ishikawa and his brothers returned to Tsunade's side, they saw Cloud Ninja Amai leading Tsunade and the others out.
Meanwhile, the Fourth Raikage, still unable to move freely, was being held by Kakashi and Shizune as they followed closely behind.
No one spoke; just a simple glance was exchanged before Ishikawa and the two brothers silently joined the group and exited the hotel.
The journey was smooth. Before long, they arrived at the designated exchange site.
"Five hundred million ryo—it's really five hundred million ryo! Lady Tsunade…" Shizune's eyes sparkled with excitement as she checked both the count and authenticity. Her voice trembled with joy. She was finally going to pay off her gambling debts!
It hadn't been easy. Truly, it hadn't.
"Excellent. Then I'll leave the Raikage to you—but before that…" Tsunade nodded in satisfaction, raised her hand, and without warning, shoved a vial of medicine into the Raikage's mouth.
The speed was so fast it was like a bolt of lightning. Not even the Raikage, let alone the others, had time to react.
"Tsunade, what did you just do?!" the Raikage roared, face darkening. Forced to swallow the unknown medicine, he instantly felt uneasy.
If this were poison, wouldn't he be forever controlled by Konoha?
"Relax. It's just a special knockout drug," Tsunade replied calmly. "You won't be able to form chakra for the next day, and your whole body will feel weak."
The Raikage and the others from Kumogakure instantly paled.
Especially Karai and Amai—they had been counting on cooperating with the Raikage to reclaim the medical fees. Without his combat strength, they couldn't possibly defeat Tsunade, one of the Legendary Three, let alone Kakashi.
Even if reinforcements arrived, what good would it do? Unless the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, Killer B-sama, came in person…
But was that even possible?
"Seal…" Before either of them could respond, Shizune had already finished her hand seals, locking the money inside the box with a sealing scroll and stowing it away, leaving the Kumogakure side with no room to maneuver.
"Well then, Raikage, we'll take our leave here," Tsunade said with a casual wave. Giving Kakashi a look, she took off running with Shizune in tow.
Obviously, Kumogakure wouldn't give up 500 million so easily. If they didn't run now, when would they?
"Ishikawa, Taro, Jiro—let's go." Kakashi didn't hesitate. Understanding Tsunade's signal, he called for the three brothers and took off after them.
"Damn you, Tsunade…" the Raikage growled through gritted teeth, trying to chase, only for his legs to give way. His body turned weak and heavy, and he collapsed.
Amai rushed forward to catch him. "Should we go after them? If we act now, we might still catch them before the day is up."
"One day?" The Raikage gave a bitter smile. "She's one of the Legendary Sannin. Do you think we can catch up in a day? And even then, who knows if the drug really wears off in just a day…"
"Huh? Then we're just going to let it go? That's 500 million taels! The village already sent reinforcements—" Karai shouted, gritting his teeth in frustration.
"Of course we're not letting that money go!" the Raikage snapped. "If we can't catch Tsunade, we'll head to Sugi Village instead. They want that damaged scroll back, don't they? Then let them buy it from us!"
"Eh…" Hearing the shameless idea, Karai and Amayi exchanged awkward glances, their faces heating with embarrassment.
Sure, they might recover some losses that way… but it was undeniably disgraceful.
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