The Blade of Betrayal was that short, curved sword.
Its blade was blood-red, engraved with blood grooves, and it gleamed with a cold light under the lamp.
Jokichi felt a bit panicked just looking at it.
This thing carried a wound-tearing effect when used against traitors.
What originally would be a minor scratch would turn into a fatal wound.
However, the definition of a "traitor" here was very ambiguous.
It did not refer to a betrayal of identity or affiliation, but a betrayal of the heart.
Take a spy, for example.
Someone who superficially belonged to Konoha but was actually a Kumogakure spy, hiding in Konoha solely for Kumogakure's benefit.
If he did something to wrong Konoha, it would not be considered a betrayal.
Because he was never loyal to Konoha in the first place, so how could it be a betrayal?
Besides this kind of organizational betrayal, there was also love, friendship, family, cooperation, transactions...
Betrayals in various forms and situations all fell under the category of a traitor.
But there must be loyalty first, followed by betrayal.
Otherwise, it was just deception, not betrayal.
Furthermore, if a person who was betrayed first retaliated with a betrayal, it was not considered betrayal, but revenge.
To give an example.
If a man's wife secretly cheated on him, and he secretly cheated on her in return, it was not considered a betrayal.
In short, this "traitor" status was somewhat idealistic.
The third item, the Honest Person, was an item that altered personality, just like the Kind Heart.
The Fishman Belt was similar to the Beast King Belt forged from Kiba, but one was beastification, and this was fishman transformation.
The abilities after transformation naturally matched the transformed state.
This harvest...
Although it was very good, for a master like Kisame, it was just barely passable!
After checking all the items, Jokichi threw them into the system space and went to sleep.
A night passed silently, and the next day, the sun rose high.
Jokichi got up, brushed his teeth, and ate as usual.
Although Gato was dead, to prevent retaliation from his fleeing subordinates, Team 7 still split into two groups.
They took turns protecting Tazuna and his home.
Today it was Jokichi and Naruto's turn to guard the house.
So, he took his fishing rod to the pier out back to fish early in the morning.
Although he didn't catch a single fish all day, no retaliation from Gato's subordinates occurred either.
Just like that, time passed bit by bit, and a month quickly went by.
The Great Naruto Bridge in the Land of Waves was finally completely built.
Team 7 said their goodbyes at the bridgehead to the citizens of the Land of Waves, led by Tazuna.
Then, as the first group of people to step onto the bridge, they returned to Konoha.
...
When Team 7 returned to Konoha, it was already May 29th.
It was a beautiful time with vibrant spring colors and bright sunshine.
Standing in front of the Konoha gates, looking up at the Konoha symbol above, everyone except Yamato felt a sense of nostalgia.
Probably, anyone who goes far away from home for a long time for the first time feels this way upon returning!
"I'm going to the Hokage's office to submit this mission report. We have tomorrow and the day after off, and we'll start a new mission the day after that."
Yamato gave the group a few instructions, smiled, and continued.
"So, we'll dismiss here. Go back and rest!"
Yamato's decision won everyone's unanimous praise.
Naruto even shouted things like "Long live Yamato-sensei".
Yamato smiled and walked straight into Konoha, heading toward the Hokage building.
"Then let's say our goodbyes here!"
Jokichi also greeted the two of them, then crossed the Konoha gates and went home.
Honestly, this mission was quite relaxing.
Besides the two fights, the rest of the time was spent either fishing or standing on the bridge looking at the sea.
It was like going on a vacation.
However, traveling from the Land of Waves back to Konoha took a whole day, which was still quite tiring.
He wanted to go back and get some good rest.
Naruto and Sakura waved goodbye to Jokichi.
And then...
"Sakura, it's just the two of us left, want to go on a date!"
Naruto rubbed his hands together and leaned in with a smiling face.
However, it was unknown whether he was imagining a successful date or some other scenario.
In short, his smile was very sleazy, the kind that girls absolutely despise.
"No, I want to go home and rest."
Sure enough, seeing Naruto's improper smile, Sakura refused without mercy.
Then, disregarding Naruto's reaction, she walked straight through the Konoha gates and headed home.
After shouting and chasing after her a few times to no avail, Naruto's posture slumped, his face full of dejection.
"Forget it, I'd better just go back and get a good sleep!"
Saying that, he dragged his exhausted body home.
...
Returning home, Jokichi took a shower and changed into a clean, loose-fitting dojo uniform.
Then he lay down on the veranda outside the dojo.
Propping himself up on his right elbow and resting his face on his right hand, he casually gazed out at the courtyard.
The May breeze seemed to want to dye his white dojo uniform the color of fresh green as well.
A plate of peanuts and mung bean cakes sat in front of him.
He picked one up and popped it into his mouth from time to time, but his eyes remained fixed on the lush, leafy oak tree.
The courtyard was only so big, and the scenery consisted of just one oak tree, a rockery, a spring, and a shishi-odoshi.
Having looked at it for so many years, even though the spring colors were beautiful, Jokichi didn't feel it was anything new.
However, whenever he was tired, lying down on this veranda, enjoying the early summer breeze, and feeling the tranquility of nature, his heart felt exceptionally relaxed and comfortable.
In the past, whenever he got tired from training, he would lie here for a while.
Spring, summer, autumn, and winter; although the scenery varied, experiencing the different views through scorching sun, torrential rain, biting wind, and heavy snow similarly brought a sense of relaxation and comfort.
"Jokichi, Jokichi..."
At this time, a pleasant voice called out from outside.
Jokichi looked up and saw a young girl dressed in purple barging in unceremoniously.
Seeing Jokichi lying on the veranda, a look of joy washed over her face.
Her footsteps quickened, and she almost teleported to the edge of the veranda to sit down.
A faint scent of cosmos flowers wafted from the girl.
Smelling the girl's body fragrance, Jokichi could no longer maintain his previous relaxed and comfortable state.
He sat up, leaned against the pillar, raised his right leg, and rested his arm on his knee.
He sighed somewhat helplessly.
"Ino, don't you have a mission to do?"
"Team 10 has the day off today!"
"..."
Is this considered a coincidence?
"I saw Sakura came back, so I came to see you."
Ino looked at Jokichi with a sweet smile on her face.
As long as she could look at the person she loved, she was incredibly happy.
"But I just got back from a mission and want to get some good rest."
"It's okay, you just keep lying down and resting, I won't make a sound."
"..."
Jokichi stared silently at Ino.
She narrowed her crescent-moon-like eyes and met his gaze without any timidity.
"Phew!"
Jokichi let out a deep breath, pulled back a bit, and continued lying on the veranda.
However, the faint body fragrance from the girl drifted over from time to time.
No matter how much Jokichi tried to ignore her, he couldn't recover his previous comfort.
Still, he held his composure and pretended nothing had happened.
"Whoosh!"
A gentle breeze blew, messing up the girl's hair.
Ino reached up to brush it aside, revealing her snow-white, delicate neck.
Jokichi caught this scene from the corner of his eye, and his throat swallowed very disappointingly.