40. After Tragedy

Because of Zoro's interference, Kurama's claw doesn't pierce through Minato and Kushina. The sealing process also goes well after that even though Kurama keeps cursing at them.

"Then, I can expect a good reward for helping this much, right?"

"Yes, we'll definitely give you appropriate rewards. Thank you for all your help."

Minato bows a little at Zoro, followed by Kushina and Hiruzen who still doesn't really understand what happens.

But then Kushina suddenly collapses, making Minato flustered. Zoro doesn't sense any change with her chakra, so he thinks that it's just exhaustion because she pushed herself too far even after getting Kurama taken out of her body.

"By the way, who's the bastard that released that big fox on the village? How dare he drop a big ass fox on top of me. I'll make sure to crush him if I meet him."

"That's... I don't really know his real identity, but he introduced himself as Uchiha Madara."

"WHAT?! Are you serious, Minato?"

The one getting surprised by that answer is Hiruzen. Zoro is getting surprised by the old man's shout instead.

"That was what he said, but I think he just used Uchiha Madara's identity. Even if Uchiha Madara were still alive, he would be very old. But that person was still young."

"Hmm, but I thought there were many mysterious ninjutsu that defies logic, right? I mean you can seal something as big as that fox inside a human body, so wouldn't it be possible for Madara to still be alive by using a strange ninjutsu? Like putting his soul on someone or maybe he has a jutsu to keep him young and alive. I don't know much about ninjutsu, so maybe I'm wrong."

"No, it really is possible. If Uchiha Madara survived the battle against the 1st Hokage, then he could have used a mysterious jutsu to keep him alive."

Minato and Hiruzen shudder at the thought of that person being the real Madara. Surely he was quite weak when Minato fought him. But maybe he hasn't recovered his power yet, that's what Minato thinks.

"Tsk! Madara or whatnot, I will still hunt him. I always hold my grudge and make sure to return it. But sigh, you guys sure are lucky."

"What do you mean?"

"Hmm? Well, I heard Uchiha's sharingan is very powerful especially for Genjutsu. But you guys have the whole Uchiha clan in your village. Then, won't it be easy for you to counter Madara's sharingan with the whole Uchiha's sharingan? I heard he betrayed Uchiha too, so he is the clan's enemy, right?"

While he is at it, Zoro thinks that he might as well try to help Uchiha survive. He doesn't know whether Minato as a Hokage can manage the village better than Hiruzen, so this is just a kind of gamble.

"It's not like you have someone at Hashirama Senju's caliber to stop him alone if he is really Madara. Heh, they were so famous that I even heard about them in the Land of Iron. The only one that makes a big name from Konoha lately was just Yellow Flash. I heard quite a lot of him even while traveling from place to place. But it doesn't seem like he is stronger than Hashirama Senju."

Zoro just keeps talking, acting clueless about the real identity of the Yellow Flash. Hiruzen and Minato just look at each other, assuming that Zoro doesn't know that Minato is that Yellow Flash, and they keep silent about it.

"Yawn! I'm getting sleepy. Then I'll go find another inn to stay. I'm expecting a reward soon. Ah, I hope you guys don't die stupidly."

"Huh? Wait! What do you mean by that, boy?"

Hiruzen seems offended by what Zoro just said.

"Well, it's only been a day since I came here to exchange a bounty. But even I could sense that your village isn't harmonious at all. Maybe only Kiri has worse atmosphere compared to this place. I've visited the 5 great villages and so far Kumo seems to be the most solid. They don't even look down on their 2 jinchuurikis who basically sacrifice their lives for their village. I'm sure that if they have great clans at the level of Uchiha, Hyuga, and Senju, they would have become the strongest village by now. Heh, the fact that you have some great clans yet still only be on par with the other 4 villages is actually laughable. Oops, sorry for my loose mouth. Seems like I blabber too much because I'm too tired after fighting a Tailed Beast alone."

Zoro leaves while smirking widely. He feels really good after talking bad of a village in front of the current and former leader of that village.

He wants to do it in other villages too, but he never met their Kages. Also, he only dares to do it from now on because he knows he can run away now if things go wrong.

When he returns to the village, people are gathering outside. Ninjas are evacuating the victims caused by Kurama.

Zoro closes his eyes for a moment to pay respect to the dead before going to find an inn. Luckily, he can find an inn to stay in this chaotic situation. They don't even ask him to pay after he explains that the inn he was supposed to stay in is destroyed.

The next day, the situation is still quite chaotic, so Zoro doesn't go to the Hokage office yet to get his rewards. He's not sure the Hokage will have time for him, after all, so he'd rather look around the village.

When walking around, he stumbles upon the famous Ichiraku Ramen shop. He thought it would be closed, but it's open as if it's a normal day, so he enters and orders their ramen.

When he asks why the shop doesn't close today like other shops, the owner says that it's because they are in such a situation that they need to open so people can eat.

With such chaos, people won't have time to cook at home and the tired ninjas will need to eat after working hard. So if all food shops are closed, then everyone will starve.

"Also, ramen is a comfort food for many people. So they will calm down after eating a good bowl of ramen. It's also just half the normal price for today."

"Heh, I guess that's true. At least it's better to cry with a full stomach than an empty one because then you will have the energy to even cry."

After filling his stomach, Zoro continues his walk to see if he can find someone he knows from the story. But as he thought, he can't recognize anyone because they aren't pictures anymore.

Even he couldn't recognize Kushina if not for her unique jutsu like the adamantine chains or Minato if not for his 4th Hokage robe. They are real people now, so they look very different from the pictures in the manga he reads.

In the afternoon, the village holds a ceremony to mourn the victims. Among them is the 3rd Hokage's wife who was killed by Obito after helping Kushina give birth.

There are quite a lot of deaths. But the number will be higher if Zoro doesn't send Kurama away forcefully. Minato also wouldn't be able to focus on fighting "Madara" if Zoro didn't hold Kurama.

That's why they give him a generous amount of reward because his contribution is very high in this incident. They call him to the Hokage office after the ceremony to give him his reward and it's not disappointing at all.

Zoro gladly accepts it even though he can see some people don't like seeing him receive that much, especially the man with an X-shaped scar on his chin.

'He must be Danzo, right? What's with his clear hostility to me even though I haven't done anything to him? Does he hate seeing an outsider being treated so well for saving his village? Damn bastard couldn't even do anything and doesn't like me getting some reward money.'

"Zoro-kun, I'm sorry but we can't mention your contribution to the villagers."

Minato has a helpless and apologetic smile. He probably wants to mention Zoro's contribution, but the old advisors must have opposed it.

"Heh, you guys wanna save face, huh? Well, it doesn't matter. I am a mercenary and bounty hunter, not a hero. Money is more important for me than fame. Then, if that's all, I will take my leave."

As usual, Zoro just says whatever is in his mind even if it offends some people here. He never cares about what others think of him, after all.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

Read up to +20 chapters ahead in my p@treon page

p@treon.com/creampuffs69

Chapter 60. Fighting Future Teachers

Please like and support this book too if you like it, thank you