Killer B looked up, meeting Shinju's gaze through his sunglasses.
Even while gravely injured, he still struck a rap pose.
"Yo yo, it's your man Killer B-sama in the house! I almost couldn't come back from the dead, but you saved me, my saviors! Skr~"
Shinju: (||๐_๐)
"You're this badly hurt, and you still have the energy to rap?"
Killer B scratched his head, a little embarrassed.
"Rap is my dream, you know! I can't give it up that easily! ୧⍢⃝୨"
Then he asked,
"Did my brother ask you to save me? As expected, Konoha's full of kind people... ꒦ິ^꒦ິ"
Shinju nodded.
"You could say that. Your brother, the Raikage, thinks you went missing because of Sasuke from our village. He was furious about it — if I didn't find you soon, Kumogakure and Konoha might've gone to war... ┐(´-｀)┌"
Upon hearing that, Killer B's guilt deepened.
"Brother, you fool! Konoha's my benefactor! How could you speak ill of them?! Ծ‸ Ծ"
Shinju perked up immediately.
"Then tell me in detail — what exactly happened these past few days? Was it really Sasuke who attacked you?"
But before Shinju could finish, he heard Killer B inhale sharply. "Hissss~~"
Shinju, sharp as ever, instantly understood what that meant.
He placed a glowing green hand over Killer B's wounds, medical chakra gathering in his palm.
After a few moments of healing, Killer B's complexion clearly improved.
Then he asked for some dried food from Shinju. As he chewed, he began recounting what had happened that day.
"Yo yo~ It was a bright sunny afternoon. I was rappin' and dancin' in front of my house, layin' down my killer moves, drawin' a crowd—"
Shinju: (ー_ー)!!
"Enough with the rap! Get to the point already! (ꐦ ಠ 皿 ಠ)"
Killer B didn't mind, clearing his throat before continuing.
"Then I got attacked by that masked guy... He was insanely strong! I got beaten back hard — nearly lost my life! (｡•ˇ‸ˇ•｡)"
"Just then, Sasuke and a few young guys wearing Akatsuki cloaks showed up. He didn't say why, but he started fighting alongside me against the masked man."
"Afterward, when he saw I was badly injured, he volunteered to cover our retreat. I used a bit of deception and hid my body underwater. To avoid the rest of the Akatsuki pursuing me, I followed the river downstream and ended up here."
"So Sasuke didn't attack you — he actually saved you?" Shinju asked.
Killer B nodded.
"That's right! That kid's gotten a lot stronger since the last time we met. That black flame of his... even I was shocked! (＾ワ＾)"
"Speaking of which, shouldn't you be with him right now? Where is he? I want to thank him in person! (๑`･ᴗ･´๑)"
Shinju shook his head.
"He disappeared. I couldn't find him."
"He must've been taken by that masked guy," Killer B said, patting Shinju's shoulder. "Don't worry, I'll have Kumogakure help search for him. This one's on me."
"Anyway, let's head back to Kumogakure first. The longer I'm gone, the tenser things get between our villages..."
Shinju nodded and teleported them away using Flying Thunder God.
...
Raikage's Office.
Several Kumogakure elders were still deep in discussion about Killer B.
"Even though that red-haired kid from Konoha went after him, I fear Killer B's chances of survival are slim..."
"Kumogakure's lost a tailed beast!"
"Should we declare war on Konoha?!ヽ('⌒´メ)ノ"
"Calm down! We still don't know who the real culprit is."
"What's there to doubt? It's definitely that brat Sasuke! Or maybe this whole thing's a Konoha conspiracy to weaken us! (▼ヘ▼#)"
"If you ask me, we should strike first!"
"Don't be rash! Konoha now has that red-haired Shinju guarding it, plus their chakra tech is way ahead of the rest of us. If we start a war now, it won't end well for Kumogakure! ▼_▼"
"You've got a point... but what, are we supposed to swallow this humiliation? (╯^╰)"
"Of course not! We're one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages! For the past twenty years, we've always been the ones doing the bullying — when has anyone ever dared to bully us?! (′д｀σ)σ"
"Well, that's not exactly true... The last time we sent an elite team to assassinate Shinju, didn't we get completely humiliated by him? ¯\(ツ)/¯"
"What are you implying?! You trying to embarrass me?! (*Ӧ)σ"
Just as the argument reached its peak, Shinju suddenly appeared in the office with Killer B.
"Yo, what's all the noise about?"
The elders froze. (꒪⌓꒪) ∑(✘Д✘๑) (Ő∀Ő)
The atmosphere instantly turned awkward.
After all, just moments ago, they'd been discussing whether to attack Konoha... or maybe demand some serious compensation.
And now — the Konoha big shot himself had appeared!
One elder was the first to react, turning toward Killer B.
"B! What happened? Where have you been all these days?"
Killer B scratched his head and briefly explained everything that had happened.
As the elders listened, their faces grew stiff.
"I see... So we actually owe Sasuke from Konoha a thank-you..." one of them muttered, feeling awkward.
Shinju could guess perfectly well what these people had just been talking about. Their earlier arrogance when the incident began already had him irritated — and now that the truth was clear, there was no way he was going to let Kumogakure off easy.
He was reasonable, sure. But that didn't mean he'd take a loss.
Now that he had the moral high ground, there was no way he'd let these old men wriggle out of it.
"Whoosh!"
Shinju dropped himself right into the vacant main seat, then arrogantly kicked his legs up on the meeting table.
His sharp gaze swept across the room.
"What's this? You think a simple 'thank you' is enough to brush me off? (ꐦ ಠ 皿 ಠ)"
"You people from Kumogakure don't plan to take responsibility for what you've done to Konoha?!"
An elder, sensing the danger in Shinju's tone, forced a smile.
"Shinju-san, you misunderstand. Konoha is our ally, and you're an honored guest of Kumogakure. How could we ever hold you accountable... (ꈍᴗꈍ)"
"Hmph!"
"You say that," Shinju continued, "but your actions tell a different story!"
"If Kumogakure doesn't give me a proper explanation, this won't be over! ╰_╯"
The elders glanced nervously at each other.
With Shinju's power, if he decided to cause trouble right now, there was honestly nothing they could do to stop him.
One of the younger officials muttered timidly,
"Maybe... we could compensate him... five million?"
The moment the words left his mouth— smack!
The elder beside him slapped him across the head.
"Five million? That's not even enough to cover Shinju-san's appearance fee! (ꐦ°᷄д°᷅)"
Then, putting on a smile, the elder leaned toward Shinju and held up two fingers...