After cleaning up the battlefield and treating the injured ninjas, Seimei and his group finally began their return journey to Konoha.
Of course, they were not alone.
A four-person elite team of ANBU also followed them from the shadows, ready to strike down any element that might pose a fatal threat to Seimei and his team.
Fortunately, the return journey was relatively uneventful.
With Hyuga Ginjo and Seimei's reconnaissance abilities, they easily went around several powerful chakra beasts without any issues. After all, they were already pretty tired from the continuous fights in the last couple of days.
As long as they could avoid trouble and reach Konoha as soon as possible, that was what they should do without stirring up unnecessary trouble or engaging in meaningless combat.
As for the weak chakra beasts they had encountered during the journey?
They were either completely ignored, cut down, or became lunch for Seimei's team.
A few bandits, stray ninjas, and rogue samurai did try to ambush them. But their strength was too weak.
Seimei, the ever-generous and dutiful child of his father, Senju Tobirama, happily sent their soul to the Pure Land with a smile on his face.
After all, cleaning up trash and keeping the Land of Fire pristine was one of the key responsibilities of Konoha ninjas.
So, even though Seimei didn't get any mission rewards by getting rid of these bandits and stray ninjas, he still didn't hesitate to get rid of them.
As a dutiful ninja in training, he generously reduced the workload of the Missions Department of Konoha, even if the contribution was minuscule in the grand scheme of things.
It was perfectly reasonable…😊😊
Finally, when Seimei and his group reached the gate of Konoha, the sun was already sinking on the western horizon.
Only after Seimei crossed the gate and entered Konoha did he allow himself to relax.
The mission this time was truly perilous.
Not only did he have to battle against a full-blown beast riot controlled by a formidable AA-rank mutated fire demon, but he also had to deal with Sunagakure ninjas' ambush.
Not to mention the tiresome patrol mission he had to carry out in the Kitakari town while apprehending rogue ninjas and samurai every day, and he had to do all that without damaging the nearby infrastructure.
It was exhausting beyond belief.
He had to stay alert even when taking a nap or sleeping at night.
Such was the life of a Shinobi.
More than half of their lives were spent completing dangerous missions. And during these missions, they had to stay alert constantly, with no moment of mental or spiritual peace.
In some way, the profession of Shinobi was worse than the profession of a corporate slave…cough cough…corporate employee in Seimei's previous life.
Long missions. Short rests. Meager payment unless you're performing an S-rank or A-rank task. And no overtime payment.
In some ways, being a Shinobi was worse than being an overworking workhorse.
A toolman in every possible sense.
At least, this was a supernatural world. Ninjas had chakra in their bodies, which made them far more physically and mentally fit than an average human, who had not unlocked chakra.
Just a little quality rest was enough for a tired Shinobi to become fresh as a lettuce, ready to continue living as a capable toolman once again.
The more Seimei thought about it, the darker his face became.
Basking in the mild red sunlight of the setting sun, Seimei suddenly felt a little emo.
But he quickly snapped out of it.
Now that he was in Konoha, he could finally go home, have a relaxing bath, eat some good ol' home-cooked meal, and sleep soundly like a log.
He would get three days off from the academy classes after completing such a long mission anyway.
It was better to relax a bit.
These seven days he was away from Konoha felt like seven years of torture.
He would definitely lounge around like a lazy young master from a Wuxia novel.
What was that phrase again?
Yeah!
He would lie flat like a salted fish for three whole days.
And this time, nothing could stop him from lazing around.
However, he soon snapped out of his daydream by Senju Haku's voice.
Senju Haku smiled and said, "All of you must be quite tired right now."
"Don't worry. You can go to your homes and rest. I will meet Lord Hokage right now and submit the mission report, containing every event that transpired during our mission in the Kitakari town, including the details of the Suna ambush."
"And don't forget to meet me at the entrance of the Missions Hall by 8:30 AM tomorrow to collect your mission rewards."
"Now, disperse."
Hearing this, Uchiha Sorata and Aburame Shoji nodded silently before disappearing from the spot using the Body Flicker Technique.
"Got it, Captain. See you tomorrow," said Hyuga Ginjo as he, too, activated the Body Flicker Technique to vanish.
"I'm off," responded Seimei while giving Haku a slight nod before flickering away toward the Senju residence.
Senju Haku watched his subordinates disappear and took a deep breath.
"Well, it's time to meet Lord Hokage and submit the report."
Senju Haku murmured as he walked toward the Hokage Building, where the current leader of Konoha, the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama, resided till late at night for work.
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A few minutes later, Senju Haku was standing in front of Tobirama, who was sitting at a table while reviewing various scrolls.
Tobirama quickly scanned through the scrolls in his hand before resting his deep crimson eyes on Haku.
He quietly signaled him to continue.
Senju Haku wasted no time and immediately handed Tobirama two scrolls containing the mission completion details and the series of events that transpired in Kitakari town.
Then, Senju Haku said, "Lord Hokage, your intuition was right. It was the Suna ninjas, who were instigating unrest along with other rogue Shinobi in the border town."
"We were ambushed in the town several times by rogue Shinobi and the disguised Sand ninjas."
Haku began to explain everything he had witnessed and all the notable events one by one.
"On the last day of our mission, a beast riot of at least 1,500 chakra beasts under the control of an AA-rank mutated fire demon."
"Although we successfully exterminated all the chakra beasts and the town was unscathed, at least 80 of our fellow ninjas either died, were crippled, or were seriously injured."
"Station commander Uzumaki Benitsu and ANBU uncovered that the beast riot was artificially instigated by the Suna forces as well."
"And at the forefront of all chaos was a powerful Elite Jonin from Sunagakure, Masaru."
"I saw his name in the latest issue of the Bingo book. He should have a bounty of twenty million Ryo."
"They even set up an ambu…"
BOOOOOOOOM!!!
However, before he could continue, a terrifying chakra burst forth from Senju Tobirama, who was looking at the event records in the scroll while listening to the brief report of Senju Haku.
The objects in the room began to shake under the powerful chakra. The table he was sitting at formed several fine cracks.
If this table weren't reinforced with precious materials, it would have already turned into splinters under Tobirama's immense chakra pressure.
Even Senju Haku, who was standing in front of him, felt his head spinning.
His knees almost buckled under the pressure.
Although he wasn't the primary target, the suffocating killing intent and chakra pressure radiated from Tobirama made it hard for him to breathe.
He didn't dare to move. He stood frozen in one place like a wooden statue.
Lord Hokage seemed truly enraged.
And he wasn't wrong.
Tobirama was really angry right now.
He had already been through the mission and event reports.
And the details left him incensed.
He sent his son to experience the life of a ninja so he could adapt quickly after graduation.
He thought Kitakari town, infested by rogue Shinobi and Suna ninjas, would be a good training experience.
But what did he just read and hear?
A beast riot? A fucking beast riot?
And one that was artificially orchestrated by the Suna ninjas?
Although the scale of the beast riot was small, Tobirama knew how terrifying this horde of mad beasts charging forth under the strict command of an AA-rank chakra beast could be.
Even an Elite Jonin could die or get fatally injured.
All it would take was just one distraction and one well-timed attack. And then, the ninja would be surrounded by chakra beasts, who would stop at nothing to tear him apart.
This was a battlefield. A true meat grinder of life where even the mightiest could fall before reaching the rank of a true Kage-level Shinobi.
And in an S-rank beast riot, even a Kage-level ninja could die.
The result of the battle spoke for itself.
After weakening the beasts and eliminating a large number of them through explosive tag bombardment, the remaining beasts still killed or fatally injured more than 80 ninjas.
Many others had suffered from several injuries of varying degrees.
Konoha lost 80 capable ninjas.
His son, Seimei, could have died. He had no formal training or the required experience to participate in large-scale warfare.
If Seimei were unlucky, Tobirama might have needed to retrieve his corpse right now.
Even though Tobirama knew that being a ninja meant dancing with death, just the thought of how his son could have died meaninglessly due to the plot of some Suna bastards enraged him.
He truly wanted to go out and strangle the bastard Reto, the First Kazekage, right now.
And after orchestrating a beast riot, these bastards still had the nerve to ambush Konoha ninjas within the borders of the Land of Fire?
They were clearly looking down on Konoha.
The more he thought, the angrier he became.
Since they wanted war, he would give them war.
But first, he needed to root out all the enemy ninjas and samurai from the other four major elemental nations, who were lurking in the dark and trying to harm the Konoha ninjas and citizens of the Fire Country.
He had had enough of this nonsense.
After a few seconds, Tobirama finally calmed down and reined in his vast chakra and chilling killing intent that he subconsciously radiated.
And when he did, he heard a sudden thud sound.
He looked up and saw Senju Haku kneeling down. His figure was shaking, and he was panting hard, trying to breathe as hard as possible.
Oops. I slipped again.
Tobirama thought inwardly. But outwardly, he still maintained a calm face.
He quickly changed the topic.
"You did well."
"And thanks for looking over Seimei, too."
Senju Haku quickly responded, "It's my duty as a captain and an Elite Jonin of the Senju clan, Lord Hokage."
"After all, he is the heir of the Senju clan. It's only right for me to protect the legacy of the Senju clan."
Tobirama hummed in approval before asking, "What about the bodies of the ninjas that died during the beast riot and the ambush later?"
Hearing this, Senju Haku quickly retrieved a few more scrolls and handed them over to Tobirama.
He added, "I only have the three bodies of the fellow Konoha ninjas who had died during the ambush and the corpses of all Suna ninjas we have killed."
"This includes the dead body of Masaru, the Elite Jonin who orchestrated and plotted everything in Kitakari town, including the beast riot."
"As for the corpses of Konoha ninjas who fell during the beast riot, they would be sent here in a day or two by the ANBU."
Tobirama nodded calmly and inquired, "If that's all. You can leave now."
"That's all, Lord Hokage. I will take my leave now," said Senju Haku as he retreated from the Hokage building.
Once Tobirama was alone again, he looked at the scrolls again and fell silent.
"We built Konoha and tried so hard to maintain the peace."
"But you bastards just couldn't hold it anymore, huh?"
"You want war so badly?"
"You think now that my brother is out of the picture, you could pick on Land of Fire and Konoha without any worry?"
"You even tried to specifically target my son?"
"Do you think I won't be able to see how you specifically tried every possible method to eliminate Seimei?"
The chakra inside Tobirama's body began to boil once again as he stood up, walked to the window, and gazed at the darkening sky shimmering with countless stars.
"You will pay."
"Every single one of you."
"I will make sure you die miserable deaths."
"The child you wanted to kill so badly will annihilate your ninjas in front of your very eyes."
"He will make sure you bastards bleed tears of blood and regret."
"And when you see your forces crumble, I will strike and take your heads myself."
"No one crosses me and lives to tell the tale."
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