Chapter 84 (Patreon)

On their way back to Konoha, Team Eight and Team Ten encountered the rescue unit sent to find them.

It was Team Seven, led by Kakashi Hatake.

Since the incident at the Tenchi Bridge had never occurred, there had been no reason to reorganise Team Seven under a new captain. Yamato was nowhere to be seen among them.

Sai, however, had still joined the team, filling the vacant third position in Team Seven.

The moment they spotted Mihawk and the others approaching, Naruto Uzumaki and Kakashi, who were walking at the front of the group, visibly relaxed.

“Hey! You went after them without even calling me? That’s not fair!”

The first thing Naruto did was complain to Mihawk and Nara Shikamaru.

His words warmed the hearts of everyone in Team Ten.

Shikamaru smiled and scolded him in return. “Weren’t you away training? How were we supposed to find you?”

“Yeah, right. Like I’d believe that!”

Naruto did not believe a single word.

He might not have been the most perceptive person in the village, but even he understood how intelligent Shikamaru was. Had Shikamaru genuinely wanted to find him, he would have figured out a way without much difficulty.

Still, now that Naruto could see that everyone was safe, the tension finally left his shoulders.

Kakashi’s attention was focused on something else.

His gaze first swept over Team Eight. Aside from the dust gathered during their journey, Mihawk, Hinata, and Shino appeared completely unharmed.

He then looked toward Team Ten. Shikamaru, Ino, and Chōji all had bloodstains on their clothes, though none of the blood seemed to belong to them.

Kakashi narrowed his visible eye and cautiously asked, “You three… succeeded?”

The members of Team Ten looked at one another.

Then all three turned toward Kakashi with wide grins.

“We did.”

Kakashi’s expression changed slightly.

Their answer left him deeply shaken.

After his own encounter with Akatsuki’s artistic duo, along with Jiraiya’s warnings from several years ago, Kakashi understood exactly what kind of shinobi belonged to that organisation.

Every Akatsuki member was an S-rank rogue ninja.

Each of them possessed enough power to threaten an entire nation. Even Kakashi would struggle to confront one of them alone, and depending on the opponent, he could easily lose his life.

Yet these young shinobi had eliminated two of them.

As a thought occurred to him, Kakashi’s gaze shifted toward Mihawk and Shikamaru.

Those two had most likely played the greatest roles in the operation.

One possessed an exceptional intellect and an extraordinary talent for strategy.

The other possessed overwhelming strength and astonishing swordsmanship.

They complemented each other almost perfectly.

After speaking briefly with Team Seven, all three teams returned to Konoha together.

They arrived in the village the following afternoon.

Naturally, their first destination was the Hokage’s office. Team Eight and Team Ten needed to report the outcome of their unauthorised operation—and face the Fifth Hokage’s anger.

The moment they entered her office, Tsunade gave both teams a thorough reprimand.

However, once she had personally confirmed that none of them had suffered any serious injuries, she quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

The anxiety that had weighed on her since learning of their departure finally eased.

After several more stern warnings, Tsunade ordered them to return home and rest.

Contrary to what they had expected, she did not impose any formal punishment.

The six shinobi separated beneath the Hokage Residence.

As usual, Mihawk and Hinata headed toward the village market together to buy ingredients for dinner.

As they walked, Hinata lowered her gaze and spoke in a subdued voice.

“Mihawk-kun… do you think Shino and I are holding you back?”

Mihawk paused in surprise.

He gently placed an arm around Hinata’s shoulders and asked, “What makes you think that?”

Hinata leaned against him, her expression unusually troubled.

“Whenever we face a powerful enemy, Shino and I never seem to be able to help you very much. You’re always the one standing in front of us and protecting us from everything.”

Her fingers tightened around the edge of her sleeve.

“What happens if we encounter someone even stronger in the future? What if we become a burden and place you in danger?”

Hinata would never have entertained such thoughts in the past.

However, in the Land of Rivers, she had witnessed Deidara’s final self-destruction.

Then, during their latest mission, she had seen Hidan remain alive even after his body had been dismembered.

Hinata understood that Team Eight—and Konoha as a whole—would likely continue confronting Akatsuki in the future.

Every member of that organisation was an extremely dangerous criminal with strange and terrifying abilities.

Should Team Eight encounter another Akatsuki pair, would she and Shino become liabilities?

Worse, could an enemy use them to threaten Mihawk?

Hearing her concerns, Mihawk smiled faintly.

He raised a hand and gently stroked her hair.

“Don’t worry. Anyone who intends to hurt you will have to get through me first.”

His expression became firm.

“And no matter who our enemy is, I won’t give them a single unnecessary second to threaten any of you.”

“Mhm.”

Hinata knew Mihawk was trying to reassure her.

She quickly gathered her scattered emotions and pushed those fears from her mind.

Even so, she silently reminded herself that she needed to make her future training more demanding.

She wanted to become strong enough to stand beside Mihawk rather than remain behind him.

After finishing their shopping, the two returned home and began preparing dinner.

The moment they opened the door, a familiar figure rushed toward them.

Hanabi immediately threw herself into their arms.

The warmth of the house washed away the exhaustion that had accumulated during the journey.

Before long, the three of them slipped back into their usual routine, looking less like teammates and more like a family.

Mihawk sat on the sofa and entertained Hanabi while Hinata went into the kitchen to prepare dinner.

Hanabi, who had already grown to nearly a metre and a half tall, casually sat across Mihawk’s lap. Her weight did not trouble him in the slightest.

The two began by talking about everything that had happened during the past two days, particularly Mihawk and Hinata’s mission.

Mihawk did not hide anything from her.

He recounted the entire operation truthfully, though he avoided describing anything too gruesome.

Perhaps because they had not seen one another for two days, Hanabi had been more frightened than she wanted to admit.

That fear had only made her miss them more intensely.

After they had spoken for a while, Hanabi suddenly glanced toward the kitchen.

Through the open doorway, she could see Hinata standing with her back to them, carefully preparing that evening’s meal.

Hanabi lowered her voice and leaned closer to Mihawk’s ear.

“I was worried about you.”

Her cheeks reddened slightly as she rested her forehead against his shoulder.

Mihawk’s eyes widened for a moment.

He glanced toward the kitchen before gently patting Hanabi on the back.

“I’m sorry we worried you. But we came home safely, didn’t we?”

Hanabi nodded, though she continued clinging to him.

In the kitchen, Hinata had tied an apron around her waist and was cutting vegetables with a kitchen knife.

She sliced the meat and vegetables into thin, even pieces before arranging them neatly on a silver tray.

Once she had finished, she instinctively glanced toward the living room.

Her favourite person was playing a hand-clapping game with her younger sister.

The sight made Hinata purse her lips into a gentle smile, her beautiful face filled with happiness.

When Hinata turned back toward the counter, Hanabi once again leaned against Mihawk and continued talking quietly with him, making up for the two days they had spent apart.

By the time dinner was almost ready, Hanabi finally climbed down from Mihawk’s lap with obvious reluctance.

Mihawk pinched her cheek between two fingers, silently scolding her for being so clingy.

Hanabi did not care in the slightest.

She immediately wrapped both arms around one of his and pulled him toward the dining room.

The three of them sat around the table together.

Their family of three then began that evening’s dinner.