Kurosuki Raiga, lying on the ground, was already a wreck. Although barely breathing, he was still alive.
After all, Aoba didn't know whether Tenten and the others' mission was to capture alive or to kill.
He picked up the lightning blade on the ground, which remained intact.
He swung it twice in his hand and felt its peculiarities; finally he realized what kind of person this guy was.
A former member of Kirigakure's Seven Swords who had been one-shotted by four Konoha genin.
One of the ones Might Duy had kicked into a tragic mess.
He could be considered a shame among jonin.
At least Zabuza could still spar with Kakashi a bit, but this Kurosuki Raiga was taken out by a genin squad.
And he even had a red-eyed charm that was supposed to be his trump card.
Aoba gave the unconscious Kurosuki Raiga a kick with his foot, rolled his body half a turn, and exposed a cloth sack he'd been pressing.
He could sense a child inside, but the child was probably knocked out by the recent impact.
After confirming the two people's conditions, Aoba paid them no more mind, gripped the lightning blade, and looked back at Uzuki Yugao and the others who had come over.
"Yugao-nee, was your mission to capture him alive or to kill him? If it's to capture him alive, I can help stabilize his injuries."
"The mission was to drive him out of the River Country. Whether he lives or dies doesn't matter much."
Uzuki Yugao explained casually, then stared at Aoba with a puzzled look, "Aoba, why did you suddenly come over here? And what's with your appearance..."
As she spoke, Uzuki Yugao reached out and rubbed Aoba's face; she wanted to see whether it was a transformation jutsu or the real thing.
Beside her, Tenten, Sakura, and Karin all opened bright, shining eyes, looking eager to try.
If Uzuki Yugao weren't there, they would have already pounced.
Right now, the Aoba's appearance was even more handsome than before, he'd really filled out.
Fine drizzle clung to his clothes, which had been somewhat loose, sticking them to his body and outlining his well-built frame.
Aoba didn't seem to mind Uzuki Yugao's touch; if anything, the atmosphere wasn't quite right, it was still raining.
"Yugao-nee, there's a reason I look like this. I'll explain later. For now, finish your mission first."
"Mm."
Reluctantly, Uzuki Yugao withdrew her hand and looked at the Kurosuki Raiga collapsed on the ground.
"This guy is a missing-nin from Kirigakure, Kurosuki Raiga. He's no good, he likes to bury this village's people alive. Just kill him."
"Aoba, this Kurosuki Raiga was the one Yugao-nee had planned for us to practice on. You just finished him off; how are you going to compensate us?", Tenten reined in her drooling gaze and complained.
"Huh?"
Aoba looked at Tenten in surprise, glanced at the fallen Kurosuki Raiga, then looked at Uzuki Yugao, "If I'm not mistaken, Kurosuki Raiga should be one of Kirigakure's former Seven Swords, right?"
"Hah! With the three of us, dealing with one of the Seven Swords is nothing, piece of cake."
Tenten put her hands on her hips and puffed out her little chest like a proud tsundere.
"That's right, that's right. We already took care of his men, but you came and spoiled our fun. You owe us compensation."
Karin shouted, and there was no hiding the look in her eyes.
Sakura, though only sparkling-eyed, had already taken advantage of others not seeing her and was pressed against him getting naughty.
Aoba's mouth twitched, the prestige of the Seven Swords was a bit too low here.
He quietly grabbed Sakura's mischievous hand and smiled, "In that case, after this mission I'll take you all to a place I just discovered, it's really fun."
He meant Roran.
"A fun place? Is it just the two of us?"
Hearing "fun," Karin's eyes lit up instantly.
"We'll all go together."
"..."
Karin pouted.
"Raiga!"
While the group was chatting, a faint boy's voice rang out, drawing everyone's attention.
A boy's head poked out of the cloth sack under Kurosuki Raiga. Seeing Raiga's ravaged state, he burst into loud crying.
The group exchanged glances.
"Yugao-nee, what do we do with this?"
Aoba hadn't expected the charm to wake so quickly. It seemed Raiga had protected the kid at the last moment.
Plus, Aoba's punch had been aimed at Raiga himself; the shock that landed on the child had been minor, so he woke up quickly.
Uzuki Yugao stroked her chin and considered while the crying, Ranmaru's cry, grated on her nerves a bit.
A hand-chop knocked him out again.
Cries have differences; when she'd cared for Aoba as a newborn, she hadn't found his crying annoying at all. Instead she'd found it interesting and pleasant, rhythmic even. But after Aoba learned to talk, he'd stopped crying.
If Aoba heard her inner thoughts, he would surely object loudly. He was newborn then, unable to move or speak, and could only cry to express his needs. But he'd been faking cries; certainly not like normal crying.
"This kid did a lot of bad things following Kurosuki Raiga, but his bloodline limit is pretty decent, he gave us a lot of trouble..."
"Then take him back to the village for observation for a while."
Aoba suggested.
If he could be reformed, great; if not, the ninja world's eyes were quick to judge.
"Alright, I'll go with your call."
Uzuki Yugao nodded in agreement.
Ninja efficiency was high. After dealing with Kurosuki Raiga, Uzuki Yugao went to find the client and rescued the villagers who had been enslaved by Raiga.
Then the group returned to Konoha amid the grateful blessings of many villagers.
Of course, gratitude alone can't repay such a debt.
After all, there was a gold mine under that village that they couldn't protect by themselves, and Konoha happened to have specialists for that. One certain gold miner even worked in Konoha.
———
Aoba used the Flying Thunder God Technique to bring Uzuki Yugao and the others from the River Country back to Konoha.
By the time they finished all the follow-up work for the mission, night had finally fallen.
To celebrate completing their first A-rank mission, Uzuki Yugao took everyone to have grilled meat.
Aoba also explained why he had suddenly grown up like that.
Now Tenten and the others had a legitimate reason to be handsy with Aoba.
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