The four who woke up were extremely annoyed because all the things they bought were gone.
Only Kiyosuke had made a fortune quietly, but he didn't report to Yuuhi Mahiro and the others that Tsunade was here.
One reason was that reporting it would be useless. Although Minato was Jiraiya's disciple, he couldn't persuade Tsunade to return to the village. He might even get beaten up.
The other reason was that if he revealed Tsunade's location, and Minato and Yuuhi Mahiro went there, his visit to the casino might be exposed. He definitely didn't want that!
With the matter of the Cult of the Evil God over, nothing major happened. Everything went smoothly. A week later, they embarked on the journey back to the Fire Country.
After selling the goods to the buyer and signing the trade contract, Mr. Kazama bought some local specialties of the Land of Hot Water to take back.
These specialties weren't numerous, so they could travel back much faster.
The breeze was gentle, and the sun was just right. The afternoon sun made people drowsy. After lunch, Kiyosuke sat on the carriage. Now that there weren't many things, the eight of them were spaced a short distance apart, and they didn't need to worry too much.
The little white snake emerged from his sleeve. Kiyosuke asked, "What's wrong, Little White? Are there enemies?"
The little white snake nodded in a human - like manner. Seeing this, he turned his head and said to Yuuhi Mahiro, "Teacher Mahiro..."
Yuuhi Mahiro said, "They've been following us since yesterday. I went to check last night. There are several Kirigakure ninjas among them."
"Kirigakure? What are they doing tracking us outside the Water Country?"
"We don't know for the moment, but we need to be careful. There might be a battle soon." Yuuhi Mahiro said seriously.
Kiyosuke was his subordinate, and he knew about his special Kekkei Genkai, so he wasn't worried about his safety. If Asuma and Kurenai worked together, there wasn't much to worry about either.
"Say, last time it was a robbery. What's this about? Is this really a C - rank mission?" The probability of encountering "monsters" was too high. How long had he been out of the village?
However, they needed to be careful of the Kirigakure ninjas. After all, it was one of the Five Great Ninja Villages. Even though they liked internal strife and might not be able to defeat Konoha, they were still one of the Five Great Ninja Villages.
As they were talking, a faint white mist began to appear in the forest. Before long, the mist grew thicker, and visibility became very low.
Hidden Mist Jutsu!
"Maintain the formation! Protect Mr. Kazama!"
The two teams surrounded the carriages of Mr. Kazama and his several attendants. Yuuhi Mahiro and Minato each held their weapons.
"Here they come!"
Yuuhi Mahiro gave a low shout and sliced a ninja wearing a Kirigakure forehead protector with his sword. The next second, the sliced - in - half ninja turned into a puddle of water.
Water Clone!
"One!"
A figure silently appeared behind Kiyosuke, and the kunai in his hand stabbed straight into Kiyosuke's body. But instead of the expected splash of blood, he felt a searing heat, as if being burned by fire.
The pain made him withdraw his hand immediately. Several snakes rushed out from Kiyosuke's collar and bit him.
Kiyosuke, with a flaming hole in his chest, showed a cold smile. "Hello there! Die!!!"
He grabbed the man's face and used Ember!
The flames burst out of the thick mist, burning the man's face beyond recognition and killing him.
"Kiyosuke, you're no... Whoa!!!" Asuma was shocked speechless when he saw the flaming hole in Kiyosuke's chest. Remembering the Kekkei Genkai he had mentioned before, he asked curiously, "Is this the Kekkei Genkai you talked about?"
"Yeah. Don't make such a fuss. Don't worry about me. Take care of yourself!" The flames filled the hole, and his chakra decreased by half a percentage. Fortunately, it wasn't too bad.
"Okay." Asuma nodded blankly. This ability... was kind of cool!
"This kid... Could this be a newly emerged Kekkei Genkai in Konoha? It's worth seizing!" A Kirigakure ninja observing from the shadows had malicious thoughts after seeing what happened just now.
"Little White, find them!"
The little white snake stuck out its head and determined several directions. Kiyosuke immediately created shadow clones.
The shadow clones rushed into the thick mist. He shouted, "Get down!!!" He grabbed Kurenai and Asuma and lay down on the ground.
The next moment!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The shadow clones were detonated by him. Continuous explosions occurred, setting off gusts of wind and heat waves, and also dispersing the thick mist.
The hidden Kirigakure ninjas were exposed, and there were several mutilated corpses on the ground.
"This destructive power is at least B - rank." Yuuhi Mahiro commented. At this moment, a golden figure rushed out. Amidst screams, Minato teleported to his side and threw a Kirigakure ninja to the ground, saying, "All taken care of!"
"Your speed is really fast. 不愧是二代大人创造的忍术（This part might need adjustment if it should be in English.）" Yuuhi Mahiro said sincerely. The speed of the Flying Thunder God Jutsu was too fast for people to react. If he were in that situation, he would be dead.
"It's nothing, Mr. Mahiro. Now it's your turn to show your skills."
Minato said modestly.
Yuuhi Mahiro was a genjutsu - type ninja. He was good at interrogation - type genjutsu, so it was just right to leave it to him.
He nodded, immediately formed hand - seals, and used genjutsu to invade the Kirigakure ninja's mind to extract information.
But as soon as he used the genjutsu, the Kirigakure ninja lost his breath. Yuuhi Mahiro frowned and said, "Kirigakure set a seal in this guy's head. I just triggered it, and his brain was burned. Did you leave any other survivors?"
Kirigakure was very conservative, so this kind of method wasn't unexpected. In terms of confidentiality, these people were among the best in the ninja world.
"I left one alive."
"Seal him, and take these people back."
"Okay."
Minato sealed the last survivor as quickly as possible, and Yuuhi Mahiro asked Kiyosuke and the others to clean up the mess and the battlefield.
Those corpses were put into sealing scrolls. These corpses could be analyzed by Konoha's intelligence department to obtain all the possible information.
After handing everything over to Minato, Minato said, "I'll go back to Konoha first. I'll leave Kakashi and the others to you."
"It's nothing. It's my task." Yuuhi Mahiro nodded.
Minato gave some instructions to Kakashi and the other three, then teleported away with the Kirigakure ninja using the Flying Thunder God Jutsu.
Using the Flying Thunder God Jutsu to rush back to Konoha was a huge waste of chakra, considering the distance. It was estimated that it would be tomorrow before he could come back after reporting the task and taking a rest.
On Yuuhi Mahiro's side, they also decided to speed up. No one knew what might happen on the way, and they needed to hurry.
Mr. Kazama also knew the danger. He was very afraid of death. Otherwise, he wouldn't have hired two teams. Everyone increased their speed of return by more than double.
In the afternoon of the next day, Minato came back. Without saying much, he just told them to speed up. The number of Konoha ninjas patrolling the border of the Fire Country had increased..