Wen Lan kept his eyes open and felt his vision plunge into darkness instantly—yet there was no pain at all.
He immediately sensed his "Demon Power" activating on its own, attempting to regenerate a new pair of eyes. Startled, he quickly suppressed that force.
Once his eyes were removed, his vision soon returned—though everything was extremely blurry.
These were Uchiha Hikari's eyes.
As the Demon Power continued its subtle restoration, his vision sharpened at an astonishing speed. At the same time, Wen Lan could clearly feel the ocular power within these eyes recovering as well.
About three seconds later, Wen Lan looked at Shizune and said calmly,
"You can remove them now."
"So fast?!" Shizune looked at Wen Lan in surprise, but she still carefully removed the eyes and reinstalled them back into Hikari's eye sockets.
However, when she was about to put Wen Lan's original Sharingan back—
She froze.
Wen Lan's Sharingan were still inside the glass container in her hands, yet Wen Lan already had a pair of Sharingan in his eyes again!
Wen Lan reached out, took the container from her hands, tossed it lightly, and smiled.
"Thanks."
Then he turned to Hikari and asked softly,
"How do you feel?"
Hikari closed her eyes, sensed for a moment, then opened them and nodded lightly.
"My ocular power has recovered. It just feels a bit uncomfortable."
"That's normal," Shizune explained gently.
"Even when it's your own eyes, the neural connections need time to adapt after reconnection."
After saying that, she hesitated, then couldn't help looking at Wen Lan's eyes again.
"Your eyes… they…"
"My recovery ability is extremely strong," Wen Lan said indifferently, wiping the blood near his eye sockets with a tissue.
"Even if only a single cell remains, I can regenerate."
"Then why did you still contract Katsuyu-sir?" Shizune asked in confusion.
"Katsuyu-sir specializes in healing. If it's only for Sage Mode, you could've chosen another summoning beast."
Wen Lan looked at her strangely.
"Who told you Katsuyu is only a healing type?"
"Isn't she?" Shizune asked innocently.
"Uh…" Wen Lan was speechless.
Katsuyu's combat power among summoning beasts—if she ranked second, no one would dare claim first.
And although she looked like many slugs, in truth there was only one Slug Sage. Every Katsuyu anyone had ever seen was just a split body.
Forget combat techniques—her battle experience alone could crush most summons.
Not to mention her acid, which she could either spit out or coat on her body—strong enough to corrode even chakra constructs.
"…Forget it. If you say so, then so be it." Wen Lan didn't bother explaining further.
Everyone walked out of the tavern. Tsunade was standing outside, staring at the sky. When she noticed them coming out, she looked surprised.
"So fast?"
For some reason, Wen Lan suddenly felt the urge to smack her.
Didn't she know you never say "so fast" to a man?
Fortunately, Tsunade agreed to return to the village, and the group headed back together.
They arrived at Konoha around noon the next day.
The guards at the gate didn't react much when they saw Wen Lan—but when they saw Tsunade, their pupils nearly exploded.
One of them rushed forward and bowed respectfully, joy obvious in his voice.
"Lady Tsunade, you're back!"
"Mm." Tsunade replied indifferently.
After registering with Wen Lan, they entered Konoha.
They went straight to the Hokage Tower. The guards there were overjoyed at Tsunade's return and didn't stop them as they entered the Hokage's office.
Wen Lan had Arashi escort Hikari back to the Uchiha compound first.
Inside the office, Minato Namikaze was seated behind his desk, working without even looking up.
"You're back. Sit down for a bit."
After all, only Wen Lan, the Hokage's aide, could enter without knocking.
Wen Lan rolled his eyes, walked over, and kicked the desk lightly.
"Hokage-sir, take a look at who I brought back."
Minato finally raised his head. When he saw Tsunade, his expression changed instantly, and he stood up.
"Lady Tsunade—you've returned!"
Tsunade sat down in a chair nearby and nodded slowly.
"You're the Hokage now. No need to call me with honorifics."
Minato smiled warmly and scratched his head.
"You're still my senior.
By the way, it's wonderful that you're back. Kushina will definitely be thrilled to see you!"
Indeed—Kushina and Tsunade had once lived together in the Senju compound, back when Uzumaki Mito was still alive.
After all, Tsunade was Mito's granddaughter, and Kushina was Mito's clanswoman.
"That little girl must've grown up by now," Tsunade said with a faint smile.
"Yes," Minato nodded happily.
"She was just confirmed pregnant a few days ago."
Wen Lan had been flipping through a document on the desk. Hearing that, he looked up in surprise.
"Aunt Kushina is pregnant?! I've only been gone three days!"
"It was discovered right after you left," Minato said, grinning from ear to ear.
"Oh?" Wen Lan raised an eyebrow.
"Not bad."
After a few more exchanges, Minato looked at Wen Lan seriously.
"Perfect timing—you're back. I was just wondering who to send."
He pulled out a document from a drawer and handed it to Wen Lan.
Wen Lan took it and began reading.
Tsunade looked at Minato with surprise. She hadn't expected him to trust Wen Lan this much.
Noticing her gaze, Minato explained,
"After I took office, I appointed Wen Lan as my Hokage Aide."
Tsunade nodded in understanding, though the shock in her eyes was unmistakable.
Wen Lan frowned as he read.
The report stated that **one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist—Kisame's former leader, Samehada's original wielder, Mangetsu's predecessor, and specifically Zabuza's superior—West Melon Mountain Pufferfish Demon, Kisame's commander, no—
Zabuza's superior, no—
Samehada's former master, no—
Kirigakure Seven Swordsmen member Samehada wielder—Zabuza's superior—Kisame's former leader
Watermelon Mountain Puffer Demon (Kisame's predecessor)
Intended to defect to Konoha by leaking Kirigakure's classified intelligence.
To prove sincerity, he would send subordinates carrying intelligence out of the village on a mission.
Midway, Konoha forces would wipe out that squad and retrieve the intel.
Once Konoha confirmed its authenticity, he himself would defect to Konoha.
Wen Lan's brows knitted tightly.
He remembered this clearly from the original story.
This was the moment Kirigakure entered the Bloody Mist Era under Obito's control.
And during this mission, Kisame Hoshigaki killed West Melon Mountain Puffer Demon, seized Samehada, and defected—eventually joining the Akatsuki.
As Wen Lan pondered Kirigakure, several names surfaced in his mind:
Haku.
Kisame Hoshigaki.
Zabuza Momochi.
The Kaguya Clan.
If he could draw these people into Konoha, its strength would skyrocket.
"I'll take this mission," Wen Lan said decisively, then looked at Minato.
"When do we depart?"
"In three days," Minato replied.
"You'll go with Morino Ibiki and ten ANBU teams, five members each."
He then took out another stack of documents and handed them over.
"These ten files concern Sunagakure."
"Sunagakure?" Wen Lan frowned slightly as he accepted them.
"What do they have to do with this?"
He read quickly.
The contents were blunt.
To maintain Konoha–Sunagakure relations, Sunagakure demanded that Konoha hand over the traitor Pakura (Ye Cang ).
Otherwise, they would cancel the peace treaty.
After finishing, Wen Lan let out a cold laugh.
"So they abandoned Pakura back then, and now they want her back?"
"In the end," he sneered,
"all the benefits go to Sunagakure, huh?"
--------------------------------
Get 18% off my Pat reon using code 6C442 — valid for 3 days only. Limited memberships available on a first-come, first-served basis.
—------------------------------
Pat reon Advance Chapters: patreon.com/YonkoSlayer