"Alright, it's already so late. You can go back and rest, we still have work to do."
Nara Choumei walked to Ren's side, patting his shoulder as he spoke.
"Okay, then I'll head back first. See you tomorrow, Choumei Uncle, Lord Jiraiya, see you."
After Ren finished speaking, he scurried away, leaving the two Old Men in the tent looking at each other.
"This brat."
Nara Choumei smiled helplessly, while Jiraiya shrugged, shifting his attention back to the documents in front of him. He gritted his teeth and continued to bury himself in work. Nara Choumei also tragically sat back at his desk, looking at the mountain of documents in front of him, and could only helplessly accept his fate, picking up his pen, ready for an all-nighter.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Ren returned to his bed and after chanting the Tailed Beast tongue twister a few more times, sleepiness overcame him. Before long, he tilted his head and fell into a deep sleep.
The next morning, Ren was awakened by Rin, who came to check on his injuries. Still feeling a bit sleepy, Ren could only helplessly turn over and lie on the bed for Rin to examine him.
"You're recovering well. You can completely remove the bandages now."
Rin looked at Ren's almost fully healed wounds. While happy for Ren, she was also slightly surprised by his powerful self-healing ability.
"Then I'll trouble you, Rin. I still need to report to Lord Jiraiya later."
"Okay."
Rin nodded and skillfully helped Ren remove the bandages, then applied some medicine to help the wound heal quickly. Finally, the task was complete.
"Thank you, Rin. I'll be going now, or I'll be late and Lord Jiraiya will scold me."
"It's fine. You go ahead. I also have to start work here."
"Mmm."
After saying goodbye to Rin, Ren walked on his way to work, breathing in the fresh morning air and feeling the new Chakra surging within his healed body, which made him feel incredibly joyful.
But before Ren could celebrate too early, he heard news from Jiraiya that was not too good for him.
...
"What? The Third Old Man wants to transfer me back to the Village?"
Ren looked at Jiraiya, who was drowsy from staying up all night and waking up early, and asked in surprise.
"Yes, it's you. Don't make such a fuss. It's just that the Old Man said he needed you for something and wants you to go back for two days."
Jiraiya said to Ren, yawning and with dark circles under his eyes.
"I'm just a Chunin... The Village doesn't lack one Chunin like me, right..."
Hearing Ren's muttering, Jiraiya rolled his eyes and said somewhat ill-temperedly.
"Brat, don't be ungrateful. Look how many people in this Konoha Camp want to be transferred back to the Village. Why are you so eager to stay on the battlefield? Besides, you're not leaving for good. I bet you won't even stay back for more than a few days."
At this point, Jiraiya paused his speech and waved his hand impatiently.
"In half an hour, there's a team being sent back to the Village. You can go with them. I've already arranged everything, so you can just go. Alright, hurry up and go, I'm very busy here."
Ren, being chased away, muttered as he walked.
"No wonder he couldn't catch up to my teacher. He's ugly and has a bad temper. Even Kiba would be scared of him."
"Bastard!"
Hearing the roar from behind him, Ren quickly picked up his pace, dashing out of the tent. Under Jiraiya's angry shouts from behind and the surprised gazes of nearby Ninja, he quickly left the area, leaving only a few passing Ninja looking at each other...
Ren arrived at the gathering point shortly after and saw the convoy that was preparing to depart being loaded with supplies. Ren walked directly to a Jonin who appeared to be in charge and asked.
"Hello, Mr. Jonin, is this the convoy returning to Konoha Village?"
"Uh? You are?"
This Jonin was a slender young man, appearing to be under thirty. He was currently coordinating the number of people and supplies according to the list in his hand. Faced with this suddenly appearing young man, he was still somewhat wary.
"Hello, I am Hoshimi Ren. Lord Jiraiya sent me here to return to the Village with you."
A look of confusion first appeared on the man's face, then after a moment, he reacted and said with some surprise.
"Hoshimi Ren? You're that genius who was transferred from the Sand Battlefield and reached Jonin strength at such a young age?"
"Uh-haha, you flatter me. It's all just empty reputation. May I..."
Before Ren could finish speaking, the other party understood his meaning and said with a smile.
"Lord Jiraiya has already given us a heads-up. You can just follow us. Oh, by the way, my name is Takizawa Natsu, and I'm in charge of this convoy. Please take care of me."
"Please take care of me, Big Brother Natsu. Is it okay for me to call you that?"
"Hahaha, of course, it's fine. Get in the carriage first, we're about to leave."
"Okay."
Ren sat on the roof of the carriage, waiting for the convoy to depart, when a surprised voice suddenly came from behind him.
"Ren?"
"Eh?"
...
"I didn't expect that Aburame Senior would also be transferred back to the Village."
Ren looked at Shibi Aburame beside him with some emotion. The latter was still the same, wrapped in his loose robes, only speaking a few brief words.
"Hmm, how are your injuries?"
Ren scratched his head and grinned.
"It's nothing serious. After treatment, it's almost completely healed."
"That's good."
"..."
The taciturn Shibi Aburame made Ren feel a bit bored, so he idly found a pile of supplies, cleared out a gap just big enough for him to sleep in, and began to close his eyes and rest, under the strange gazes of the nearby Ninja. As for danger, don't be ridiculous, with the head of the Aburame Clan personally present, what kind of bandits or rogue Ninja could pose a threat?
When Ren opened his eyes, it was already dusk. Ren crawled out of the gap, stretched, and looked around. Well, he didn't recognise this road back to Konoha, but he figured they should be arriving soon.
"Awake?"
Ren turned his head and saw Shibi Aburame sitting in his original spot, looking over. Ren immediately perked up and ran to sit next to Shibi Aburame.
"Awake, awake. Aburame Senior, how was it? Nothing happened on the way, right?"
"Two groups of bandits tried to rob us. They've already been dealt with."
Ren looked around and indeed saw some Ninja with residual bloodstains on them. From the looks of it, they hadn't been dead for long.
"Sigh, why be a bandit when there are so many other things to do? And even if you are a bandit, why rob Ninja? Aren't you just asking for trouble..."
Shibi Aburame ignored Ren's mumbling and instead raised his hand to point forward.
"We're here."
"Huh?"
Ren turned his head, and when he saw the familiar large gate, a smile also appeared on his face.
I'm back, Konoha Village!