Over the next few days, the Konoha Squad and Yagura visited every accessible place in the village.
On the surface, it was said they were searching for Orochimaru's whereabouts, but anyone with a bit of sense knew it was just an excuse.
When they broke into Kirigakure, the masked man had already fled. If Orochimaru had been there, he would have fled too.
These three scoundrels weren't just stealing Kirigakure's information, they were openly investigating.
Yet, the ninjas of Kirigakure couldn't do anything to these individuals. The moment they got a little too close, a water needle would pierce their chests.
At night, these loyal subordinates even had to stand guard for them, fearing that rebellious elements might harm the Mizukage.
After several days, Satoshi and the others were fine, but their own internal conflicts led to several fights.
Five days later.
The Konoha Squad felt it was time, so they discussed their withdrawal. Thus, they summoned Genji and others from Kirigakure.
"Since the person we are looking for is not in the village, it's time for us to withdraw."
Upon hearing this, the Kirigakure side felt a weight lift from their hearts. Finally, they're leaving. Just wait until they're on their way back. They'll deal with them then.
Unexpectedly, Satoshi once again displayed his 'inhuman' qualities.
"Next, let's discuss compensation."
"What? Compensation? Kid, do you even know what you're saying?!"
Genji truly had no idea how to deal with Satoshi. He had fought his entire life but had never encountered such an unprincipled kid who acted on every whim.
"What do you mean by compensation?"
Satoshi cleared his throat and said righteously, "Five days ago, our Konoha delegation arrived in the Land of Water with good intentions, upholding peaceful exchange and pursuing rogue ninjas."
"Your village, without distinguishing right from wrong, brazenly launched an attack. This act not only caused severe physical and psychological trauma to our three members but also alerted the targets, the masked man and Orochimaru, leading to their escape and causing our important pursuit mission to fail."
He paused, his gaze sweeping over the faces opposite him, twisted with anger.
"Shouldn't your village, for such an impolite and grave error, provide due compensation to Konoha and to us, the envoys who have suffered physically and mentally?"
After hearing this, the representatives of Kirigakure were so angry their teeth ached.
Who exactly suffered great losses?
Which of you three was injured?
Do you have no shame?
Genji suppressed his inner fury, squeezing out a few words through gritted teeth. "What do you want?"
"Just a bit of money, 1,220,000 ryo."
1,200,000 was the money Satoshi lost to Tsunade. The remaining 20,000 was a bonus for Kakashi and Tenzo.
It wasn't easy to come out for a mission, so a little pocket money was due.
"Alright."
Genji had prepared for a huge expenditure, but he didn't expect Satoshi to ask for so little. Over a million ryo was something Kirigakure could afford.
He looked back at Mei, who pulled out a stack of banknotes and handed them to Satoshi.
Satoshi said, "Thank you for your care these past few days, senpais. When you have time, please visit the Land of Fire as guests, and I'll treat you to ramen."
Mei glanced at Satoshi.
Next time she went to the Land of Fire, the first thing she would do was chop off that scoundrel's head.
"We've given you the money, and I'll even give you a ship. Return the Mizukage to us, and you can leave."
Satoshi looked surprised. "Who said we were going to return the Mizukage to you?"
His response was met with even more astonished faces from the Kirigakure ninjas.
Genji felt like he was about to have a brain hemorrhage.
"Didn't you just ask for the money?"
"That was interest. Do you understand?"
"…"
Satoshi waved his hand and said, "It's happily decided then. We'll first invite Mizukage-sama back as a guest. Once you find the person we're looking for, we'll send him back."
Mei naturally didn't believe Satoshi's nonsense. "You cunning brat, even if we hand over the person you want, Mizukage-sama won't return so easily, will he?"
Satoshi was immediately displeased.
What kind of talk was that?
Did he really look like someone who didn't keep his word?
She was quite perceptive.
After some back-and-forth negotiation, Kirigakure finally found a ship.
Satoshi said, "Mizukage-sama, say a few words to your subordinates. Barring any surprises, you'll be staying in the Land of Fire for a while."
Yagura pondered for a moment and said, "Elder Genji, while I am away from Kirigakure, please manage the village's affairs on my behalf."
"The first thing you must do is abolish the Blood Mist Policy."
"Also, the masked man is a very dangerous individual, you must be careful."
After speaking, Yagura voluntarily boarded the ship.
Satoshi stood on the deck, waving goodbye to the ninjas of Kirigakure.
"Goodbye everyone, please rest assured. We will take good care of the Mizukage and won't let him go hungry."
Seeing the smiling Satoshi, Mei was furious. "Elder Genji, are we really not taking action?"
Genji shook his head.
According to their previous plan, they would have many ninjas strap explosive tags to themselves and launch a suicide attack. Even if they couldn't kill them, they would at least leave one or two as hostages to threaten Konoha.
But who would have thought that Satoshi would take the Mizukage with him?
This made all their efforts for naught.
Genji believed that they were absolutely capable of such shameless acts as using the Mizukage as a human shield.
"Let's just think about how to get Mizukage-sama back. Who exactly is that masked man?"
—
Kakashi asked, "Satoshi, are we really taking the Mizukage back? This is causing quite a stir."
Satoshi didn't speak, he just stood up and pointed in several directions. "Here, here, and there, all have Chakra fluctuations. If we didn't have this Mizukage as a protective charm, they would have rushed us already."
"But…"
"No buts, Kakashi-senpai. Or perhaps you'd like to send him back?"
Kakashi rolled his eyes, pretending not to hear.
Satoshi counted out 20,000 ryo in banknotes and handed them to Kakashi and Tenzo respectively.
"It has been a hard work. Go back and eat something good to recuperate."
Kakashi looked at the money, then at Satoshi. He had never seen such a shameless person.
On Konoha's side, everyone had not received news from Satoshi and his team for a long time, leading to mixed feelings of joy and worry.
Naruto was the most anxious. He only knew that Satoshi had gone on a mission, but after such a long time without returning, he worried if he had encountered any danger. He often heard news of ninjas being injured or even dying on missions.
Fugaku also had a headache. Satoshi still lacked practical experience, wouldn't taking on such a dangerous mission be a bit too much?
Of course, Danzo was the happiest. Ever since Satoshi departed, he dreamt of Satoshi being severely wounded by the madmen of Kirigakure and then killed by Orochimaru during his escape, bringing him the Sharingan.
At that time, he would pin the blame on Kirigakure, and if the madmen of Uchiha had the guts, they could go seek revenge.
Now, a considerable amount of time had passed, and there was still no news from Satoshi.
Danzo had reason to believe that this Uchiha genius had fallen.
"Danzo-sama, there's news about Satoshi."
Danzo quickly asked, "Where did he die? Is his body still intact?"
The subordinate's expression changed slightly, he couldn't answer that.
"All three of them returned alive…"
"Tsk." Danzo was very displeased.
"He managed to return alive even after all that? A bunch of good-for-nothings in Kirigakure."
"Not only that, they also brought back someone. The current Mizukage, Yagura."
Danzo's eyes instantly widened. "Who did you say?"