Ch-39 Returning to Konoha.

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Nawaki was utterly shocked after witnessing Michikatsu's abilities. He didn't know what to say because the events of the day had been overwhelming for him to process. Being ambushed by the Sunagakure Anbu, betrayed by his teammate, and facing the desire of a Jonin leader to kill him—these were too much to bear.

Michikatsu looked at Nawaki, who seemed lost in thought, and said, "Why are you standing there in a trance? We don't have time for that."

"Yes," Nawaki nodded.

Michikatsu removed all the bodies of the Anbu ninjas he had killed and placed them on the ground. He instructed Nawaki, "Put them inside the sealing scroll; we'll need to submit it later."

Nawaki nodded and began to arrange the bodies properly, sealing them within the Sealing Scroll. However, before Nawaki placed the bodies of the ninjas inside the sealing scroll, Michikatsu injected his blood into their corpses as part of his plan to create an alibi for himself.

"As I mentioned earlier, do not divulge my abilities that you witnessed today to anyone. If someone presses you for information, simply say that I possess some poison-related ability, nothing more than that. I trust you as my friend," Michikatsu stated.

"Do not worry; I will never disclose your abilities under any circumstances," Nawaki assured him.

"Good," replied Michikatsu.

After completing their task, they departed. Nawaki was tending to the injured Anbu Chunin who had been harmed by Nakamura. At the very least, they hoped to gather information about the objectives and mission of these Sunagakure ninjas who had attacked them.

After the travel of half a day they arrived at the gates of Konoha, and coincidentally, Tsunade and Jiraiya happened to be passing by.

"Tsunade, there's a new barbecue shop that just opened. Let's go; I'll treat you," Jiraiya suggested.

"No, I have work at Konoha Hospital, and I'm quite busy. You go on ahead," Tsunade replied.

"Can't you postpone your work?" Jiraiya persisted.

At that very moment, Tsunade noticed Michikatsu and Nawaki registering their entry at the Konoha gate.

Tsunade quickly approached Michikatsu and Nawaki, bombarding them with questions, "What happened? Why did you return so soon? Where is your Jonin leader and your other teammate? Who is the person you're carrying with you?"

"We'll explain everything, but not here; let's go to the Hokage's office," Michikatsu replied, continuing to walk towards the Hokage building.

Jiraiya and Tsunade exchanged glances, and Jiraiya remarked, "That person's mask is from the Sunagakure Anbu."

"Yeah, I noticed that too," Tsunade confirmed.

Tsunade then walked over to Nawaki and asked, "Could you at least give me a brief overview of what happened?"

Nawaki simply shook his head and denied to talk anything about it and remained quiet.

Soon, they reached the Hokage building and headed to the area where missions were submitted. Behind the counter sat Homura, who observed the flow of mission submissions.

Homura spotted Michikatsu and Nawaki and inquired, "Are you here to submit a mission? I recall that your Jonin leader had accepted a mission bound for the Amegakure battlefield. Why have you returned so early?"

"We did come here to submit our mission, but not to you. I want to meet the Hokage," Michikatsu stated.

Homura asked, "Why can't you tell me?"

Michikatsu responded bluntly, "Because you are not the Hokage."

Michikatsu's reply was straightforward, and Homura, considering him to be a child, glanced at Jiraiya and Tsunade for further information. However, both Jiraiya and Tsunade simply shook their heads in response.

"Do not treat me like a child, and do not forget that I am a ninja of Konoha, a Genin, with the right to meet the Hokage in emergency matters. This is related to the Sunagakure Anbu," Michikatsu explained, gesturing towards Nawaki.

Homura carefully examined the person Nawaki was carrying and recognized the attire of a ninja, immediately discerning that this was a Sunagakure Anbu.

"Alright, come with me. I will take you to Hiruzen," Homura said, leading Michikatsu, Tsunade, Nawaki, and Jiraiya in the direction of the Hokage's office.

++++

Hiruzen, who was currently inside his office making sure everything was fine in the bath house of Konoha specially female ones, heard a knock on his door and responded, he immediately put aside the crystal ball and said, "Come in."

Homura entered with Michikatsu and the others, saying, "Hiruzen, this is Hatake Michikatsu. He has something important to report to you."

"Something so important that it must be reported directly to me?" Hiruzen inquired.

"Hokage-Sama, that is correct," Michikatsu affirmed. He gestured towards Nawaki, who nodded and set the injured ninja down. He then retrieved a sealing scroll and performed a series of hand signs eleven times, each time causing a dead body to materialize.

Upon witnessing so many bodies, Hiruzen rose from his seat and scrutinized them. Nine of the bodies belonged to Sunagakure Anbu, while the other two were identified as Nakamura and Matsuda.

Hiruzen turned to Michikatsu, his expression seeking an explanation.

Michikatsu began, "Allow me to explain everything from the beginning. Two days ago, Jonin Nakamura informed us that we would be joining a reinforcement squad heading to Amegakure. However, on the day of the mission, he changed the plan and stated that we would be delivering supplies to Amegakure instead. We assumed that this change was due to the reinforcement squad taking the front position, making it more practical for us to handle the supply transport. After half a day of travel, we found ourselves quite far from Konoha."

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