Chapter 7 "Itachi looked like he was worried about his lover..."

You wait for Itachi's answer, and even more so, you anticipate the look of humiliation and anger on his face. Your gaze traces his profile again and again, trying to find even the slightest trace of life in his beautiful and delicate features.

However, to your disappointment, he wasn't angry at all. Instead, he calmly nodded and said, "Okay, is this the price I have to pay? Then I choose to accept it."

What... you just accepted it like that? No other reaction at all? You pursed your lips, but there was no going back on what you'd said, so you said, "Then it's settled."

He certainly has no idea how many more tricks you have up your sleeve. With your plan succeeding, you casually wave him away, indicating that he can leave. He obediently gets up to leave, but turns back at the door and asks, "Is this an agreement only between me and him?"

You picked up the magazine from the bedside table and continued reading, glancing at him occasionally, "Yeah."

You only realized later that what he meant by that sentence was that he was asking if you had made such an agreement with Shisui.

But none of that matters anymore, because you plan to leave Konoha after resolving the Uchiha issue.

It's really not easy. After hiding in Konoha for so many years, you're finally able to go out. This trip is mainly to inspect your businesses in person, and how about we also visit the orphanage you established, especially those orphans with bloodline limits? They'll be the main force of your security team in the future.

However, if you go out, especially on a long trip, you'll definitely need to hire a bodyguard, or more accurately, a ninja.

Because you didn't want to attract Konoha's attention, you hired ninjas from other villages, I think they were from Kirigakure, where your first shop was located. As for their names, you didn't look closely; these ninjas' names were all very strange and hard to remember without careful study.

Getting back to the point, you just promised Itachi the night before that you would resolve the conflict between the Uchiha and Konoha for him. How efficient you are! You made the promise and then immediately wrote a letter to the Daimyo of the Land of Fire, explaining the situation with reason and emotion.

Okay, basically it's a threat that if they don't interfere, you'll have to move your factories and industries out of the Land of Fire. Without your tax contributions as a major taxpayer, let's see how they fill the financial hole next year.

The daimyo of the Land of Fire was arrogant, but not stupid. He could distinguish between what was important and what was not, so he quickly issued a document.

A few days later, Itachi discovered that the high-ranking officials who had previously been clamoring at the Uchiha as a threat to Konoha had suddenly become as obedient as dogs and kept quiet about it. Although he didn't know what you had done, you had indeed saved the Uchiha.

He was about to go back to thank you properly, but when he got home he found out you had already gone on a long trip. Sasuke was a little worried and said to his brother, "Mingxi said it was too boring to stay in Konoha alone, so she went on a trip. Isn't that too dangerous?"

It wasn't a question of whether or not it would happen, but rather something that was definitely dangerous, Itachi thought to himself. He thought, "You haven't gone far yet; I can accompany you on this long journey." But then Sasuke handed him another letter. He opened it and saw only a short sentence written on the folded paper—

Don't follow me.

The tone was like that of someone talking to a clingy puppy.

"You even anticipated his current thoughts?" He put away the letter, and Sasuke asked curiously, "What did Aki write to you, brother?"

"She reassured me."

"Is that all?" Sasuke was determined to get to the bottom of things. Well, what could he do? He'd only left a letter for his brother, not for him. He was still feeling a little resentful.

Itachi nodded and said affirmatively, "Yes, that's all."

Sasuke glanced at the letter in Itachi's hand again and said sullenly, "Fine." As he grew older, he felt more and more that the distance between himself and you all seemed to be getting farther and farther. He couldn't get involved among you, and this feeling often made him feel very depressed.

Unlike Sasuke's frustration, you successfully reunited with the ninja who was responsible for escorting you after leaving Konoha.

"Hmm... it's Mr. Momochi, right?" You barely remember his surname.

Zabuza, his face wrapped in bandages, glanced at you. Although you spoke politely, your demeanor didn't suggest you were polite at all. Subsequent events along the way indicated you were indeed a nasty character. He said, "Can we begin our journey now?"

You countered, "Does Mr. Momochi treat every client who commissions an escort mission this way?"

Zabuza's attitude was indifferent, his gaze sweeping over, silently asking: What exactly do you want to say?

You shrug, unfazed by his gaze, and say, "I was just thinking that if there were a customer satisfaction survey, Mr. Momochi's consistently cold expression might make him seem like the kind of ninja with terrible service."

Although you said you were in a hurry, because you weren't used to being carried around by him (it made you feel nauseous), you mostly walked leisurely.

"Ninjas are tools themselves, and the only criterion for evaluating tools is whether they are sharp and easy to use."

Ah... this idea that ninjas are just tools is really deeply ingrained. You might even suspect it's a mass brainwashing, all to allow those in power to better control these ninjas.

"Not necessarily." You think the ninja business could be expanded, and the current model of a group of ninjas from one village is somewhat inefficient. If a unified platform could be established, and information about ninjas from all over the world could be placed on the platform, it would directly connect clients and ninjas for missions.

This would likely be much more efficient. Of course, some platform fees would still be charged. This is just a preliminary idea and is not yet fully formed.

After spending some time with you, Zabuza discovered that you were different from his previous clients. Not only was your personality awful, but you also often took advantage of your good looks to do things that harmed others for your own benefit. When he found out, you would just smile at him awkwardly but without any remorse.

During the day, you're used to walking on your own. At night, you eat a few motion sickness gummies, put on an eye mask, snuggle into his arms, and give him a "that's enough" gesture. He then takes you on a nighttime journey. This is a last resort, otherwise, at your current pace, it would take you more than half a year to reach Kirigakure.

Occasionally, one might encounter bandits or other thieves on the road. Some are after money, others for other reasons, but their fates are all remarkably consistent: they are all dealt with by Zabuza.

He's killing people under the tree, and you're watching the moon from the tree. Once he's finished, you bend down and wave to him, saying, "Come see the moon."

The long sword is still dripping blood. Zabuza didn't listen to you. He's not your dog; there's no need for him to listen to everything you say.

He wouldn't come up, so you had to go down. But he was the one who helped you lift up the tree. Going up was easy, but coming down was hard. In the end, you were hanging on a branch, your hands gripping the trunk. The night wind blew, making your dark red dress flutter like a crabapple blossom on a branch.

And this crabapple blossom is grumbling, saying that the branches are too high and your hands are so sore.

"I'm going to fall," you say. This isn't a joke, but a warning. The next second, your hands loosen and let go because you're too weak.

A crabapple blossom fell into the peach orchard with a thud, and you said to him with a grin, "Well, you managed to catch me, didn't you?"

Zabuza felt inexplicably irritated. He suddenly let go, and you landed on the ground. You stomped your feet and weren't surprised to see the corpse. Instead, you asked him how many people he could kill in a minute at most.

One second he was muttering about how his palms were red from being exposed to rough tree bark, and the next second he asked this question.

Zabuza wiped his sword clean and remained silent. You actually wanted to use this question to calculate work efficiency, but since he wouldn't tell you, there was nothing you could do.

The murder was just a minor incident; once the last note of the incident faded away, you continued on your way.

We're finally arriving at Kirigakure. Zabuza finally learns your true identity: you're the mastermind behind all those shops and even an orphanage.

"What, shouldn't you be wide-eyed with surprise?" You proudly raised your chin. Zabuza was indeed a little surprised, because he thought that the person who made such a move should be an older and mature wise man, not a brat like you with a bad temper who likes to make things difficult for others.

"Then you're quite adept at hiding your identity." Even Zabuza would consider this a compliment, but you felt it was sarcastic. Now that you're in Kirigakure, he's no longer of any use to you. You wave to him, "Goodbye, Momochi."

Zabuza later learned that you hadn't actually remembered his name properly, which is why you called him Momochi-san.

What an annoying brat.

You inspected the Hidden Mist Village, because no one would associate you with the mastermind behind the scenes. However, your appearance could indeed cause some trouble, so you copied Zabuza and wrapped bandages around your face. Anyway, ninjas' attire is very strange, so you blended in unnoticed.

While you were inspecting Kirigakure, Itachi, far away in Konoha, was still waiting for your news. Although you hadn't promised him that you would write back, he was still waiting. His mother, Mikoto, asked him to collect the bedsheets. The two of them stood on the rooftop and worked together to collect the bedsheets. She saw what her eldest son was thinking and said, "Aki will definitely come back."

But Itachi said, "I'm not worried that she won't come back."

"So what are you worried about?"

Itachi seemed thoughtful. He just felt that someone as good as you would definitely attract many people like moths to a flame, so he said, "I'm worried that many people will come crawling to you again."

Mikoto couldn't help but laugh out loud, "Itachi looks like a wife worried about her lover cheating on her."

Itachi didn't deny it; his intuition was right, because you did indeed see many enthusiastic people in Kirigakure, and that boy named Haku froze on the spot when he saw you.

A note from the author:

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