There was still a huge gap between rogue ninjas and those trained in a shinobi village.
Poor Nakamura probably never attended a ninja academy and didn't know the most basic rule, if there's smoke near the enemy, always be cautious.
Instead of securing a safe position to defend and counterattack, he recklessly rushed to attack first.
His battle instincts were seriously lacking.
Yami turned around, searched the room, and found over 400,000 Ryō.
After pocketing them, he walked out and headed straight for the master bedroom.
The two guards at the door were still sleeping soundly, undisturbed even when Yami kicked them aside.
Without hesitation, he pushed open the door.
Yugao had already completed her task.
She stood by the window, calmly wiping the blood from her sword.
Yami ignored her and turned his attention to the massive bed, nearly four or five meters wide.
Two beautiful women lay there peacefully, completely unaware of what had happened.
A faint smile lingered on their lips as if they were enjoying a wonderful dream.
Tch.
This bastard deserved to die.
Yugao followed Yami's gaze, then turned her eyes toward the bed.
The moment she saw the two half-naked women, her face flushed red.
With a quick movement, she used her sword to pull the blanket over them.
Then, she swiftly covered Yami's eyes.
"Yami, don't look at things you shouldn't.
Or else, you'll get a stye in the future!"
Yami smirked.
"I was looking at them with a critical eye. What do you know?"
Yugao let out an exasperated sigh.
Kids these days... how do they even come up with excuses like this?
Clearly, their guardians weren't educating them properly.
Suddenly, she recalled a certain old pervert lurking around the village recently.
Could he have been the one who corrupted Yami?
Far away in Konoha, Jiraiya staggered out of a Kabuki Hall, his steps unsteady.
Out of nowhere, he suddenly sneezed, nearly falling over.
After steadying himself, he rubbed his nose and chuckled.
"Hehe... must be those lovely ladies talking about me."
"Ahh... being too charming is such a burden."
Lost in his own narcissism, he hummed a tune and wobbled home.
His off-key singing filled the streets, earning him a barrage of curses from annoyed villagers.
Back in the mansion, Yugao warned Yami again.
"Stay away from that white-haired uncle who hangs around the women's bathhouse."
Yami, of course, knew exactly who she was talking about.
He nodded in agreement.
After confirming their mission's completion, Yugao opened the window and threw a kunai outside, a signal for Hizashi and Kurenai to come in.
Hizashi entered first, immediately taking out a camera to snap a photo of Fujimoto Keisuke's corpse as proof of the assassination.
Then, he began searching the room.
With Byakugan, all hidden compartments and secret stashes were fully exposed.
Even before entering, Hizashi had already memorized the best places to search.
In just over ten minutes, they gathered all valuables in the house.
"A total of 1.2 million Ryō in cash, along with several land deeds," Hizashi announced.
"We can't cash in the land deeds easily, so we'll hand them over to the village.
As for the cash, we'll give the village half—leaving us with 600,000 Ryō.
We'll split it evenly. 150,000 per person.
Is everyone okay with this?"
It was an unspoken rule among shinobi, missions often had extra profits, and the village usually turned a blind eye, as long as they paid their cut.
Hizashi followed the standard practice, offering half to keep the higher-ups happy.
But Kurenai frowned.
"I took too much," she said.
"I didn't contribute at all in this mission.
I won't take a share, you three can split it instead."
"You can't say that," Hizashi shook his head.
"We're a team—a unit.
There's no such thing as 'who contributed more' in any single mission."
"Exactly."
Yami casually grabbed the Ryō from Hizashi.
"If you don't take it, how can I take it?
If I don't take it, how can Hizashi-sensei take it?
What, are we supposed to just take the money and then report ourselves to the Third Hokage?"
"Yami!"
Kurenai glared at him, fuming.
Her beautiful eyes burned with frustration.
"If you don't know how to talk properly, then just shut up!
What kind of person do you take me for?!"
"Then just take the money already."
Without hesitation, Yami pulled out 250,000 Ryō and shoved it into her hands.
Hizashi's eyes widened.
"Yami, I said 150,000 per person. You calculated wrong."
"No, you calculated wrong."
Yami divided another 250,000 per person, keeping the land deeds for himself.
"We'll just give 200,000 to the Hokage as a gesture of goodwill.
Why give him more?"
"If he has a problem with it, he can talk to my old man."
"This..."
Hizashi hesitated, but ultimately didn't argue.
Shinobi work was expensive.
While he didn't necessarily need the extra 100,000, he couldn't decide for Kurenai or Yugao.
Besides... if trouble came, they had...
A little guy to take the fall.
After dividing the loot, the team swiftly left Fujimoto Keisuke's mansion and returned to their hotel for the night.
The next morning, everyone except Yami woke up early.
Yami slept in until 10 AM.
Hizashi didn't scold him.
Children in their growth phase needed plenty of rest, after all.
Since the Third Hokage hadn't given them a strict deadline, there was no rush.
Once they left Tanshō Street, their travel pace slowed.
They camped in the wilderness for two nights and arrived at Wildfire Town by midday on the third day.
Before entering, Hizashi gave instructions.
"Remove your forehead protectors.
I'll use Henge no Jutsu to disguise myself as a civilian.
We're investigating a spy, we need to keep a low profile."
Since the Byakugan and Konoha forehead protectors were dead giveaways, it was safer this way.
Even Yugao and Kurenai changed out of their ninja vests, opting for regular clothes.
Yami's eyes lit up at the sight.
Without warning, he ran toward Yugao, arms outstretched.
"Hug me! Onee-san!"
Before Yugao could react, Kurenai snatched him up first.
She pinched his soft little cheeks with a smirk.
"What, so Kurenai Onee-san can't hold you too?"
Yami suddenly didn't mind.
Looks like... he won this round.
(To be continued.)
***
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