Their way back to the Land of Lightning is filled with joy. The Land of Lightning's representative even hums happily all the way back home because they succeeded in striking some good deals.
They will even increase Zoro's payment because of this which he won't refuse. It's always good to have more money than less, after all.
On their way back, Zoro does some sparring matches with Yugito, Samui, Yasu, and B. They are more relaxed now and aren't in a rush, so they can play around a little.
Fighting a strong swordsman like Zoro will be a great experience for the young ninjas, so Raikage lets them spar on their way back even if it will consume more time because he knows Zoro will leave to travel again after finishing this job.
The group doesn't go to Kumogakure right away, but to the Land of Lightning's Capital to drop off the representative group and meet the Lightning Daimyo.
Luckily, Zoro won't need to meet the Daimyo. Only Raikage will go with the representative. So Zoro and the others can relax in the Capital and look around.
While looking around the Capital, Zoro also gathers information. Torao who almost never shows up during this escort job is helping him collect information as usual.
Zoro is surprised to know that Konoha has just put Orochimaru in the Bingo Book. He thought it was strange that he never saw Orochimaru's name before because he thought that snake had been labeled as a criminal before Naruto was born.
Turns out Orochimaru was still a Konoha ninja until a while ago. But now his crimes have been exposed and he is labeled as a criminal, an S-Rank missing nin.
"I see. His crimes must have been exposed because of Danzo's death. If it didn't happen, then he won't get exposed this quickly."
"What are you looking at?" Yugito asks curiously when she sees Zoro is looking at the Bingo Book seriously in front of the inn.
"I am thinking of my next bounty hunting target."
"Oh, right, you are a bounty hunter. Hmm? Isn't he one of Konoha's Sannin?"
"Yeah. He is now a criminal wanted by Konoha. Seems like they found out that he has been conducting dangerous and taboo experiments that even use human subjects."
"I heard Konoha is doing a very thorough cleaning in their internal structures after the 9 Tails incident. There are a lot of new wanted nins from Konoha as the result of this cleaning."
"Yeah, they are offering me more money." Zoro smirks because now his targets have increased.
"But you need to be careful, alright? You need to avoid this Orochimaru at all cost, at least for now. He is a powerful ninja at the level of a Kage, so you won't be able to defeat him with your current strength."
"I know. Don't worry, I always choose my targets carefully. While I like fighting strong people, I still know my limits too. Dangerous battles are exciting, but I won't fight a hopeless battle. I love my life, you know."
"Well, if you understand."
Yugito is genuinely worried that Zoro will hunt a very dangerous individual. They have just been together for almost 2 weeks, but Yugito already feels close to Zoro, so she feels worried.
She doesn't have many people she can call friends, so she doesn't want to lose one of those friends.
"You also need to be careful too." Zoro suddenly looks at Yugito seriously.
"I always am."
"No, I mean you need to be even more careful and get stronger. When I heard that the 9 Tails was released, my first thought was that there are people who want the Tailed Beasts. I heard that people were suspecting the Uchiha clan to be the culprit of that incident because of the sharingan reflected on 9 Tails' eyes. But personally, I think that isn't the case. The Uchiha clan won't be stupid enough to do that when they don't even have a good reputation in their village."
"So you suspect it was done by an outsider?"
"Yeah. It's not like other villages never targeted Uchiha's sharingan. So it's possible that someone got a sharingan and used it to release 9 Tails. Then maybe, that person will also try to do the same thing in other villages. That person must be powerful too because he could break through the tight security around Konoha's Jinchuuriki."
"Right. I heard she was giving birth when she got attacked. Konoha tried to hide it, but the fact eventually spread. They must've known that the seal would weaken during her labor. So they must've prepared a very tight security."
"Yet that tight security was breached. Even the 4th Hokage, someone known to be the fastest, faster than even Raikage couldn't stop him. That's why you need to be very careful. If that person only targets Konoha, then you won't be in danger. But if his goal is the Tailed Beast, then he might come for you. So you need to get stronger because the one who can protect you the best is yourself."
Zoro decides to warn Yugito about the possibility of being attacked for her Tailed Beast. Of course, he can't say anything about Akatsuki because they aren't well-known yet, so he says it in a round about way and hides it as a mere suspicion.
"It seems like you are worrying too much. But I'll keep that in mind. Besides, I don't have any plans to stay as I am now. I always want to get stronger. Who don't?"
"Well, that's true."
They finally return to Kumo after staying for 2 days in the Lightning Capital. The way back is faster without the country's representative's group, so they arrive in less than a day.
Zoro receives his payment the next day and they really give him a lot more than promised. But as he thought, bounty hunting is more fun. He has done a lot of escort jobs for years, but he just can't like it even if the pay is good.
That's why he quickly goes back to his bounty hunting job after finishing this job. He has collected information and set his eyes on a target that isn't too far, so he sets out a day after receiving his payment.
Of course, he needs to bid farewell to his new friends before leaving.
"Yo, Fool! Ya Fool! You are already leaving, even though it's still morning~." B comes with Yugito and Samui as they have become close with Zoro in their last job.
"Where are you heading to now?" Yugito asks while Samui stays silent as usual.
"Well, I'm not so sure. I always just travel anywhere I want and check if there are wanted nins nearby. Most of the wanted nins are moving from place to place. Only those who are confident with their power stay in one place and build hideouts. But finding these hideouts isn't easy and they always have annoying traps, so I don't prefer going there. Though it also depends on their skills. That's why I always investigate them before deciding whether it's worth hunting them or not. I don't want to die stupidly just because I want to get some extra money, you know."
"I see. There are a lot more things to think about when hunting wanted criminals, huh? Do you always look into your targets thoroughly before you hunt them?" Samui joins in the conversation.
"But of course. Information is the most important in any job. I'm sure you ninjas also know it the best. Furthermore, I'm a Solo Player. Torao can't help me with the fight that much, so I need to consider mine and the enemies' strength before making decisions."
Torao who sleeps inside Zoro's Haori yawns as if proving that he isn't helpful in battles.
"He is a summoned creature but he can't fight?" Samui looks at Torao disappointedly.
"His main job is transportation. As you know, I am incredibly terrible with direction." Zoro says it without a bit of shame and even looks smug about it.
"Ah."
"What are you looking smug for?"
Everyone in the escort group already knows that Zoro is direction blind. He often strayed out of their paths even though those were straight paths which were ridiculous.
So now they understand how important Torao's presence is for Zoro. Without Torao, Zoro would never arrive at any destination.
They talk some more before Zoro finally leaves Kumogakure on Torao's back after the cat transforms into its tiger-sized form. He can finally hunt criminals again.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Read up to +20 chapters ahead in my p@treon page
p@treon.com/creampuffs69
Chapter 76. Six Paths of Pain
Please like and support this book too if you like it, thank you