In the dim forest at dusk, a figure was running frantically, occasionally turning his head to check behind him.
It seems I escaped.
Just as the running figure was reassuring himself, he suddenly stopped the next second.
A figure wearing a black and gray standard vest and a fox mask appeared in front of him, waiting silently.
The person who was running gasped for breath, his eyes filled with panic as he looked at the figure in front of him.
"You've already taken everything! And you killed our people! Why! Why do you still have to chase me?"
In an instant, the fleeing person screamed hysterically at the figure.
Shinji simply listened to the man's words, looked at the disheveled person in front of him, and slowly drew his long sword.
The next second, his figure vanished, and he cut across the opponent's neck.
A head rolled at Shinji's feet, its empty eyes staring directly at him.
"If I ask you, I probably won't get any useful information, so it's better to bring back your head."
Shinji muttered as he looked at the rogue ninja's head. He took out a scroll, and squatted down to seal the head.
"Mission complete."
After putting away the scroll, he looked at the headless corpse slumped on the ground and used a small fireball to clean up the scene.
He had performed so many missions recently that he himself had almost lost count, and this time the mission was to investigate and clear out a group of rogue ninjas who were rampant in the Land of Fire selling Chakra metal.
"It's time to go back." Shinji looked up at the sky, ready to return to the village.
The recent period of killing, even he himself was a little unaccustomed to it.
—
It was already morning the next day when he returned to Konoha.
After Shinji handed over his return-to-village certificate to the two Konoha gate guards, he immediately used a Body Flicker Technique to leave.
"This guy, he's been too crazy lately, hasn't he?" Kotetsu said as he watched Shinji disappear.
Izumo said grumpily, "Why are you always so talkative?"
Although he said that, this was also their daily way of passing the time.
Izumo still answered Kotetsu's question, "It's more than just crazy. You know Kakashi-senpai was once called the 'Mission Maniac'."
"This one is even more exaggerated than Kakashi-senpai."
For those who left the village, the gate guards all kept records.
Even if Shinji wore a mask, after a few back-and-forths, they knew who he was. As for Kakashi, with his distinctive hair, they could recognize him even if he wore a mask.
Shinji, of course, didn't know about the discussion between the two Konoha gate guards.
At this moment, he was sitting on the sofa in the Hokage Office, slowly drinking tea from a teacup.
Hiruzen was behind his desk, reading the mission report written by Shinji. After a long time, he put down the report and rubbed the bridge of his nose.
"This group selling Chakra metal is the end of what we can trace. We still haven't found the real mastermind."
The underground trade of Chakra metal had been Hiruzen's number one problem recently. This was a strategic resource belonging to the ninja villages.
"Sensei, I think our focus shouldn't just be on the Land of Fire." Shinji reminded him.
As he had been following most of these missions recently, he had learned a little about it. The Chakra metal of several groups within the Land of Fire all had unknown origins. But once they wanted to investigate clearly, the target always pointed back to the Land of Fire.
"Hmm, that's right."
Hiruzen, who had been in power for decades, nodded upon hearing this.
Shinji looked at the toad dozing on the Hokage's desk and asked, "By the way, sensei, is there still no information from Jiraiya-senpai?"
Hiruzen looked at the toad and shook his head, saying, "No, according to the intel Jiraiya provided a few days ago, he has almost scoured Otogakure in the Land of Rice Fields and still hasn't found Orochimaru's whereabouts."
Shinji put down his teacup upon hearing this.
As expected of Orochimaru.
Otogakure, his main base, had just been established, and he could already hide himself so skillfully.
And Jiraiya couldn't just brazenly investigate thoroughly. After all, although the Land of Rice Fields was a small country, it had a Daimyo, and Shinji estimated that Orochimaru must have used genjutsu on these people. Otherwise, the Land of Rice Fields wouldn't have been constantly pressuring Konoha through diplomatic channels.
Although Hiruzen didn't care, the Daimyo of the Land of Fire had specifically instructed them not to take any action for the time being.
"I've already asked Jiraiya to approach it from other angles. For now, we can only wait for news." Hiruzen said slowly, taking his pipe and getting up to sit on the sofa.
Shinji nodded upon hearing this, guessing that Jiraiya and Kakashi wouldn't be able to send back news anytime soon.
However, logically speaking, Jiraiya should have started by investigating the officials of the Land of Rice Fields.
"As for the head you brought back, let the intelligence team decipher it."
"You should take a break. You've almost met your mission quotas. For now, go back to the academy and rest for a while."
Hiruzen could naturally see that Shinji was currently heavily stained with killing intent and bloodlust. But this was an inevitable path for a ninja, and no matter how experienced you were, it would be like this.
It was just that his young disciple needed to meet mission quotas to be promoted to Jonin. Otherwise, Hiruzen wouldn't have assigned so many missions to Shinji. So he planned to let Shinji rest for a while.
"Okay, that's good. I can relax too." Shinji said, handing a cup of hot tea to Hiruzen.
—
Shinji quickly went to the Anbu base to change his equipment, then turned and headed towards the training ground. Shinji hadn't seen his disciples for a long time.
On the training ground, Naruto and the others, who had just finished a training session, were resting under a tree.
Today was the weekend, so the few of them had consciously come here.
"Shikamaru, when do you think sensei will be back?"
Naruto, with his hands behind his head, was sitting cross-legged under a tree, a bit bored, as he asked Shikamaru beside him.
"I don't know. After that one morning when I ran into sensei, I haven't seen him since." Shikamaru replied with his eyes closed.
It had always been Shinji's Shadow Clones teaching classes later on. And to avoid unnecessary Chakra waste, they hadn't come to the training ground.
"Naruto-kun, wipe your sweat first." Hinata, who was nearby, took out a handkerchief and handed it to Naruto, speaking as she did so.