I'm retrieving corpses in Konoha.

Uchiha Natsuya left the tavern and went to a side alley.

After waiting, a figure appeared not far in front of them and knelt down on one knee to pay respects.

The figure wore a mask and was dressed in the uniform of the Dark Guard.

Uchiha Natsu did not bring Shisui and Kakashi with him, but only a few ordinary members of the Shadow Guard, all of whom were special Jonin.

Kakashi and Shisui left the Anbu due to the war and joined the Uzuki Yugao squad.

They are now one of the main forces facing Pain. To prevent Pain from suddenly raiding their base, they need to keep the top-tier fighters in Konoha.

Bringing Yugao Uzuki along is an exception; the situation is special.

"Investigate someone for me. I need the results within twenty minutes." Uchiha Natsu reached out and handed a slip of paper to the ANBU ninja.

"Yes." The ANBU ninja bowed and disappeared in a flash.

About ten minutes later, the ANBU members returned ahead of time, holding a scroll in their hands and bowing as they handed it to Uchiha Natsu.

Uchiha Natsu picked up the scroll, opened it, and found that it contained all of a person's information, including his current address, all clearly and specifically printed inside.

[I highly recommend Wildfruit Reading; it's really good for tracking your books. You can download it here and give it a try.]

The man in the photo is one of Tsunade's creditors from the daytime incident at the hotel.

?

The next morning, Uzuki Yugao slowly opened her eyes and woke up to find that instead of a dark "basement," she was in a proper room.

Remembering her teacher's terrible behavior yesterday, Uzuki Yugao was speechless. She sat up in bed and turned to look at the window.

An excellent teacher who got his underage students drunk is standing by the window with his hands behind his back, admiring the scenery outside.

Just as Uchiha Natsumi said, Uzuki Yugao, who had been modified by Sage Maru, did not experience the adverse reactions that a normal person would have after waking up from a drunken stupor. Instead, she felt refreshed and was no different from usual.

Anyone who has taken the herb, even a six-year-old child, who has drunk so much alcohol yesterday, will wake up feeling perfectly fine after a good night's sleep.

It will not cause memory loss or discomfort upon waking up after drinking, nor will it affect the healthy development of the mind, body, or brain.

But Uzuki Yugao always felt a strange sense of guilt about minors—especially underage girls—drinking, as if they had done something wrong.

She was still being led astray by the teacher... Thinking of this, Uzuki Yugao's forehead creased with even more black lines.

Uchiha Natsu turned around and said gently with a smile, "You're awake. Wash up and have some breakfast."

Uzuki Yugao didn't answer, but just snorted and turned her head away, so that her teacher would realize one fact: your disciple has not forgiven you, please don't try to get close to me, thank you.

Uchiha Natsu shook his head helplessly, turned around and continued to look at the scenery, showing no signs of anger.

In reality, aside from being quite strict in guiding Uzuki Yugao's training and missions, Uchiha Natsumi was always very gentle.

In the first year of their master-disciple relationship, Uzuki Yugao would sometimes get upset with him over trivial matters.

However, as time went on, this happened less and less, and for some reason, Uzuki Yugao was no longer as lively as she had been at the beginning.

Perhaps it's due to getting older, or perhaps it's due to the influence of illusion magic, but in any case, he's becoming increasingly silent.

Now, it feels like we've gone back to that time—the little purple-haired boy, because the teacher was overly cautious, had to live in the basement after completing the task, and he puffed out his cheeks to express his dissatisfaction.

Uchiha Natsu had no family in this world and lived alone for ten years until he left the Corpse Disposal Team and became Uzuki Yugao's teacher.

Living alone has become living with someone else. If I had to say who I'm closest to as family, it would be Uzuki Yugao.

They lived together, fought side by side, and spent three years of their lives together. Looking back now, they were just like a brother and sister who depended on each other for survival.

In the restroom, Uzuki Yugao was somewhat surprised.

Despite drinking so much alcohol, there was no smell of alcohol; instead, as usual, her skin naturally exuded a light and elegant fragrance.

However, this still cannot negate the fact that the teacher got his underage disciple drunk, so Uzuki Yugao decided to add this crime to the teacher's list as well.

Her teacher now faces two charges.

First (Important※): I forgot the most important promise I made to my disciple.

Secondly, he got a female disciple underage drunk and, for some ulterior motive, broke the shadow clone that the disciple had prepared in case of emergency. His behavior was extremely heinous.

Looking at the few lines of small writing in her notebook, Uzuki Yugao felt increasingly disgusted with her teacher, so she picked up her pen and added two words at the beginning of the next line.

Third:

Thirdly, the blank space was left blank, and she felt that the teacher would fill it in for her sooner or later.

Uzuki Yugao was finally satisfied, and then, through the gap in a previous page, she inadvertently saw the densely packed small characters inside.

That was her diary, which she started writing on the day she graduated. Whenever she went on a mission with her teacher, she would write in her diary.

This diary hasn't been updated in a long time.

Uzuki Yugao looked somewhat dazed, raised her hand to touch her chest, and recalled the scene when she was in Konoha for the previous meeting.

"In exchange, I gained the ability to see the Immortal Jade... huh?"

She murmured something to herself, then snapped out of her reverie, quickly closed the diary, sealed it away in a scroll, and put it away safely.

After a quick wash, the master and apprentice had breakfast together. Then, Uchiha Natsumi took Uzuki Yugao and left the inn, heading to the tavern from the previous night.

Uzuki Yugao stood at the entrance of the tavern, looking at Uchiha Natsumi with a speechless expression.

"Master, do you want your disciple to sleep from night to morning, and then from morning to night?"

Although she didn't want to talk to the teacher who was performing poorly in the short term, she just couldn't hold back anymore.

I have absolutely no idea what that serious teacher is thinking now.

Logically speaking, anyone else would have suspected that Uchiha Natsu had ulterior motives towards him.

But Uzuki Yugao didn't know that; she knew what kind of person her teacher was.

In her mind, even if a stunning beauty like Hinata Rena, who was as big as a cow, were stripped naked and thrown on him, nothing could possibly happen.

Oh right, this has already been confirmed; the time we went on vacation in Yunyin is good evidence of that.

Moreover, as Uchiha Natsu said, their relationship was more like that of family. Is there really a brother in this world who is interested in his sister?

As everyone knows, such a person simply does not exist.

That's why Uzuki Yugao was confused. What was the teacher's motive for doing this?

Uchiha Natsu turned around upon hearing this, and the master and disciple stared at each other in disbelief before he finally realized what was happening.

Feeling that his feelings had been misunderstood, Uchiha Natsu said with a black line on his forehead, "How could I be so improper?"

Maoyue Xiyan hummed and smiled without saying a word.

?

Uchiha Natsu's lips twitched, and he said speechlessly:

"I'm here on a mission. I have a feeling I'll encounter the Immortal Jade today, and it's probably in the vicinity."

Upon hearing the name "Immortal Jade," Uzuki Yugao immediately suppressed her other emotions and became serious.

Uchiha Natsumi was very satisfied. That's how Uzuki Yugao is. No matter how much she jokes around before, she will instantly become serious when it comes to doing serious business, without any hesitation.

Uchiha Natsu lifted the tavern's curtain and led Uzuki Yugao inside.

Despite what happened at the tavern yesterday, it remained open today as usual.

The proprietress had only rested for one night and her injuries had healed. She was now sitting nervously behind the cashier, glancing at the door every now and then.

The tavern owner would occasionally peek out from the kitchen, glance around, and then retreat back to continue working.

In reality, the tavern didn't have much money saved up. They had just spent all their savings on a major renovation a few days ago.

After the renovation, the first floor became two floors, allowing the tavern to accommodate more guests and make money faster.

Under normal circumstances, they can earn enough rent before the next month's "rent collection" and then have no worries.

Unexpectedly, this happened. The mayor felt that the Land of Fire was on the verge of destruction and wanted to amass wealth like crazy.

Of course, on the surface, this wasn't the mayor's idea, but rather his son's.

Everyone knew the truth, but dared not speak out, since the town mayor held absolute power here.

If you ask why the merchants still choose to remain here and endure oppression, there are naturally reasons.

Tanzaku Street has a large flow of people, so even if you only pay rent once a month, you can still earn more than in other places.

Aside from Konoha, which has a large population and a unique nature, Tanabata is currently the most prosperous town in the Land of Fire.

The premise is that no second rent will be charged.

Some of the businesses that were on good terms with the tavern in the past were no longer willing to provide financial assistance, as they were also being charged double rent and were struggling to make ends meet.

If we have no money to pay, our shop will be vandalized today.

Closing the door won't help. Takisuke, who wants to establish his authority and intimidate others, won't let them off just because the door is closed.

They could only pin their hopes on the benefactor from last night, but the couple knew the chances were slim.

The town mayor supports a ninja clan, who can track them down through various means, so even if ordinary people try to escape, they can't.

The drinkers from last night also arrived early, eager to see how things would unfold.

Compared to the young man in black, Takisuke's image is already that of a heinous criminal; if all else fails, they'll just...

Let's all chip in some money; resistance is a dead end.

A somber mood hung over the entire tavern, but in a certain booth, a high-spirited gambling game was taking place, standing out starkly from the atmosphere.

Chapter 200: The outcome was decided in seconds.

Inside the cubicle, Tsunade, Shizune, and a bald man sat on either side.

On the table in front of them were simple gambling equipment.

Next to Tsunade on the table was a small box filled with cash. However, the box was small, so even when it was full, there wasn't much money in it.

Meanwhile, on the bald man's side, there was a pile of chips on the table.

These chips were discarded by the casino; even if you won them, you couldn't spend them. Now they're being used to pay off Tsunade's debts.

This morning, this major creditor somehow found them and came over early to collect the debt.

Tsunade felt unlucky, but there was nothing she could do. She could only deal with the situation carefully while looking for an opportunity to slip by.