Outside Kirigakure Village, a tall green pitcher plant with half its body buried in the ground silently watched the rebuilt, advanced village.
"No way to sneak in. It looks like anyone can enter, but there are plenty of Anbu keeping watch in the background."
"Still, this place is supposed to be able to block any assassination attempts, so I guess it’s not surprising."
Black Zetsu mumbled in a voice only the two of them could hear, frowning slightly.
The white half narrowed its eyes a bit and quietly scanned the area without making a sound.
Even though only two greeters were standing there, a number of Anbu were secretly hiding nearby, all keeping a close eye on Zetsu.
They were usually the ones spying on others, so they were naturally very sensitive to being watched.
Suddenly feeling all those eyes on them didn’t feel good at all.
"How about just going in through the front gate? Didn’t Itachi and the others go straight through Gate 553?"
White Zetsu blinked and hinted.
"That’s the only way now."
A full pitcher plant stood up and walked toward the gate of Kirigakure Village.
"Welcome to Kirigakure Village. The entry fee is six ryo. Fees for the hot springs, water park, and lodging must be paid separately."
"If you have any special requests, please show your reservation documents."
The greeter standing at the front looked at Zetsu and froze for a second, clearly unsure what to do.
But she still kept her professional smile and spoke kindly and politely.
Zetsu looked a bit confused as he glanced at the sign next to her. Paying to enter a village? What kind of rule was that?
Except for Kirigakure, you could either sneak into the other villages or show an armband to prove you were a visitor.
But he wasn’t even wearing clothes—where would he carry money?
Zetsu had just come up from underground, splitting into black and white halves, and he wasn’t wearing anything at all.
He was completely naked, which made him look very suspicious.
"That’s weird. I’ve seen plenty of strange people here..."
"But trying to enter with no clothes on... that doesn’t feel right."
The two greeters whispered to each other carefully. Even with their training, this guy was just way too strange!
"I don’t have any money..."
Before White Zetsu could finish, the greeters suddenly raised their voices.
"Walking around naked in broad daylight? That’s so indecent!"
"Security! Security! Get him out of here, don’t let him come any closer!"
As soon as they shouted, several Anbu jumped out and dragged Zetsu away.
Black Zetsu didn’t want to back off, but clearly, this wasn’t the right time to argue.
"No choice now, but this mission wasn’t that hard anyway."
"Itachi and Biwa Juzo should be able to handle it."
White Zetsu shrugged helplessly and spoke lightly.
Kirigakure Village really knows how to make money.
"If we don’t treat him soon, he might bleed out. Let’s just take him back quickly."
"Let’s catch up a bit, and then head home early after we’re done."
After Biwa Juzo handed over the Executioner’s Blade, Hatake Satoru pointed at him and gave a reminder.
"Yeah! Got it! I’ll take him back right away!"
Hozuki Mangetsu nodded eagerly and pulled out a scroll from his weapon pouch.
At the moment, he wasn’t that interested in the ninja swords.
Still, ninja swords were valuable, and since they belonged to their own village, they couldn’t just leave them lying around.
"By the way, about canceling the S-rank missing-nin status... you’ll have to talk to the elders, right?"
"Even if you said you’d do your best, it might not work out."
"What will you do if they don’t agree?"
While Mangetsu was packing up, Biwa Juzo stumbled a bit and looked back at Hatake Satoru, who had already gone off on his own.
He couldn’t help but feel that these guys were a little too casual—whether it was opening up the village to outsiders or the way they dealt with rogue nin.
"Elder? You mean the old guys like Genji?"
"Who cares about them? They just go on and on—boring old men, that’s all!"
Hozuki Mangetsu ran ahead without even turning his head.
Biwa Juzo was at a loss for words. Kirigakure, both the village and this new Mizukage, felt totally different from before.
Staying here... might actually be kind of fun.
"I’m the Mizukage now, you better think twice before you talk."
Hozuki Mangetsu cut Juzo off without hesitation, completely shutting him down.
Yeah, having a kid as Mizukage really was crazy.
Hatake Satoru and Shisui didn’t go far with Itachi—just to their usual dessert shop.
Dessert shops that only sell sweets usually close around 9 p.m.
But this one had been forced into staying open 24/7 by Hatake Satoru, since designing and thinking up plans took a lot of brainpower.
Working late into the night until your brain shuts down—finding there’s no dessert in that moment feels like a smoker having no cigarettes, at least to Satoru.
Hatake Satoru led the two of them to a window seat.
It was already past midnight. Almost every other store had closed.
Only a few inns still had lights on, besides the street lamps.
Dessert shops were usually full of girls, so the decorations were all cute and pink.
The staff couldn’t help but glance a couple more times while taking their order.
Maybe it wouldn’t have stood out during the day with more people around, but now it was the middle of the night.
Three grown men sitting around a table, ignoring the odd looks, happily chatting while ordering all kinds of desserts.
Aren’t men usually drinking beer at this time?
"Soybean cream Daifuku—it’s super tasty~"
"I was the one who suggested how to make it, by the way!"
Hatake Satoru proudly showed off to Itachi while watching the plate being set down.
Shisui had to nod on this one.
"Even though I hate to admit it, yeah... it’s really good."
Having the energy to work and still experiment with your favorite foods—no one could tell if this guy had too much free time or not enough.
"You’re amazing, Satoru."
"I didn’t expect to see you here in Kirigakure, but if you’re the one behind these huge reforms, it actually makes a lot of sense."
Itachi casually said while holding a three-color dango covered in sauce.
"So you mean I always do stuff that seems crazy to you?"
Hatake Satoru took a bite of Daifuku, puffing up one cheek.
"Pretty much. You should be aware of that by now."
In front of Shisui was only a cup of tea. After several days of eating sweets nonstop with Satoru, his teeth had started to protest.
He was honestly starting to suspect that the two sugar freaks in front of him had teeth made of metal—how were theirs still fine?
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