Civilians in Konoha, forging their own paths

After entering the territory of the Land of Fire, Dihuang Wan's speed actually slowed down a bit, and his tense nerves relaxed a bit!

The continuous journey these days has made Dihuangwan mentally exhausted.

"Is it because I have been too comfortable in Kirigakure over the years? I feel tired just from traveling so fast!" Dihuangwan secretly warned himself that he needed to adjust his state as soon as possible!

Thinking back to everything he had experienced in Kirigakure, it was like a slide show, scenes flashed by, "Alas, what a pity, I can't say goodbye to the little girl Ming in person! According to the style of the Terumi clan, the birthday present I left under the secret compartment on the floor should be found! As for the recipes I left behind, other chefs will naturally learn them after reading them, and the little girl won't be unaccustomed to eating them!"

What Dihuang Wan didn't know was that the recipes and gifts he left behind had been found by the little girl herself! What he also didn't know was that the little girl never drank porridge again, and she never even went to the kitchen again!

She said that if it wasn’t Brother Xin who made the porridge, she wouldn’t drink it! If it wasn’t Brother Xin who grilled the fish, she wouldn’t eat it!

She put away the recipe left by Dihuang Wan and the puppet carved by Dihuang Wan himself, and never let anyone see it again!

"Ming girl, when we meet next time, I will recognize you but you won't recognize me! By then, we will be enemies!" Thinking of this, Dihuangwan felt very uncomfortable. He could hardly imagine the scene of himself fighting against Terumi Mei in the future!

"Well, to be honest, I'm not a qualified undercover agent. I have such feelings towards people from the enemy village! The Third Hokage transferred me back, which can be regarded as saving me and letting me escape!" Dihuangwan put away his thoughts and continued to move forward in the direction of Konoha.

Finally, Dihuangwan arrived at Konoha Village in the evening of the next day!

When they were ten kilometers away from Konoha, Dihuangwan's heart began to beat wildly uncontrollably!

That is a special reaction that you will have when you return home after being away from home for many years!

It was not until he entered the Konoha Village through the Anbu secret passage and breathed in the air that belonged to Konoha that his mood calmed down!

After calming down, Dihuangwan rang the bell in the standby room, which was the bell that was transmitted to the Hokage's office. Then he stayed in the standby room, waiting to be summoned by the Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen!

After waiting for a while, the bell in the standby room rang, and Dihuang Wan disappeared in the standby room!

Inside the Hokage's office, nothing has changed, the only thing that has changed is that the Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen's beard has become thicker!

Dihuangwan's figure appeared! He knelt on one knee and said, "Hokage-sama, Anbu Yu comes to report to you!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at Dihuangmaru's figure. Although he was shrouded in a black robe and a mask, his figure was obviously taller than more than three years ago, and his voice was more mature, completely shedding his childishness!

"Dihuangmaru, you've been undercover for such a long time, thank you for your hard work!" Sarutobi Hiruzen did not call Dihuangmaru by his code name, but directly called him by his real name.

Dihuangwan was confused, but continued to listen to Sarutobi Hiruzen's subsequent words.

"Dihuangwan, I declare that you will temporarily withdraw from the Anbu sequence. In the future, you will be active in the village as an ordinary jonin!" said Sarutobi Hiruzen.

Dihuang Wan was stunned after hearing this and didn't know how to respond for a moment. He didn't quite understand why his identity as an Anbu was revoked just after he returned!

"Don't be confused, take off your Anbu black robe and mask first!" Sarutobi Hiruzen said again.

Dihuang Wan nodded and accepted the order, then took off his black robe and mask, revealing his real face!

"Well, you're already a man! Much more mature than you were three years ago!" Sarutobi Hiruzen said when he saw Dihuangmaru's face.

"Hokage, after all, I am almost 18 years old and will soon become an adult!" Dihuangwan touched his hair and smiled the same silly smile as he did four years ago!

"Just report your undercover work first! We'll talk about other things later!" said Sarutobi Hiruzen.

"Yes, Lord Hokage!" Dihuangwan replied.

Then Dihuangmaru reported to Sarutobi Hiruzen about his undercover experiences over the years, including the big gift he gave to Kirigakure before returning. Of course, he concealed the part about Mei Terumi and only said that he used the identity of a chef to hide in the Terumi clan.

Two hours later, the two men finished discussing the undercover mission of Dihuang Wan!

It was already dark, but the conversation between the two continued!

"Dihuangwan, you completed your undercover mission very well! The intelligence you sent back is very valuable. The village used the intelligence you sent back to carry out many important tasks! It avoided a lot of losses! It produced many positive effects!" said Sarutobi Hiruzen.

"Lord Hokage! This is what I should do! Everything is for Konoha!" Dihuangwan bowed deeply and said calmly.

Seeing Dihuangwan's reaction, Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded, "Dihuangwan, you have indeed matured! Based on your contribution, I will record 30 S-level missions for you!"

Dihuangwan thought it was reasonable. If he had performed other Anbu missions in the past four years, he would have been confident that he could have surpassed the record of 30 S-level missions. But who made him live too comfortably in the past few years? So be it!

"Thank you, Lord Hokage!" Dihuangwan bowed deeply again.

"The mission has come to an end! Next, I will tell you why I want you to leave the Anbu and be assigned to the ranks of ordinary jonin!" said Sarutobi Hiruzen.

"The undercover mission you carried out this time lasted too long. Many undercover agents, if they continue to carry out dark missions in the Anbu after returning, will have withdrawal reactions that even the parties themselves cannot detect. It will be difficult for them to integrate into the group, and they will gradually become psychologically distorted, causing great harm to themselves!" Sarutobi Hiruzen explained.

After listening to Sarutobi Hiruzen's words, Dihuangwan immediately understood that this was a psychological problem. The world lacked treatment for mental illness. Although Dihuangwan felt that he would not have any psychological problems, he agreed with Sarutobi Hiruzen's words. After all, not everyone is like him. The members of the Akatsuki organization in the anime are basically all patients with mental illness!

"So, letting you leave the Anbu is to help you recover as soon as possible, embrace the sunshine, and completely get out of the shadow of the undercover mission!" said Sarutobi Hiruzen.

"Yes, I understand, Hokage!" Dihuangwan replied, "I will adjust back to my current state as soon as possible! And reintegrate into the village collective!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded, "The Second Ninja World War has begun, and Konoha is facing a complicated situation. In three days, the village will send a medical team from Konoha Hospital to the battlefield of Rain Country! The fighting there is fierce, and there are too many seriously injured. Many wounded soldiers died because they could not get timely medical treatment! Although Tsunade is there, it is a drop in the bucket, so this medical team is very important! Dihuangwan, in three days, you will follow this medical team to the battlefield of Rain Country! After arriving at the battlefield, obey the dispatch of the front-line commander and join the battle sequence of Rain Country!" said Sarutobi Hiruzen.

"Yes! Lord Hokage!" Dihuangwan knelt on one knee and accepted the task!

Although Dihuang Wan has been away from the village for many years and misses home, it is wartime after all! Dihuang Wan knows what is important! Besides, there is already a three-day buffer period!

Before leaving the Hokage's office, Dihuangwan suddenly thought of something, took out the monkey clan's summoning scroll, and handed it to Sarutobi Hiruzen, "Hokage, the undercover mission has been completed, and the monkey clan's summoning scroll is returned to you!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen took the scroll, "Dihuangwan, the Sarutobi clan is the contracted spirit beast of the Sarutobi clan. They can only sign a formal spiritual contract with the Sarutobi clan. Outsiders cannot do it, so it's a pity!"

"I understand, Lord Hokage, I will find my own psychic partner!" Dihuangwan nodded to show his understanding.

"Lord Hokage, if there is nothing else, I will withdraw first!" Dihuangwan said.

"Wait!" Sarutobi Hiruzen took two puffs of his pipe, then said, "You have completed your undercover mission very well. The mission record has been recorded. I will give you another chance to choose an S-level ninjutsu from the Sealed Scroll! Come to the Hokage's office tomorrow morning to choose! After you choose, let's go to the training ground together. I will personally see how strong you have become in the past four years!"

When Dihuangwan heard that he had the opportunity to choose an S-level ninjutsu from the Book of Seals, his heart was pounding! But he remained calm on the surface and bowed deeply in response.

Dihuangwan said again: "Hokage-sama, although I have retired from the Anbu, can I keep this fish-faced mask? I like this mask very much!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at Dihuangwan in surprise, then nodded to indicate yes.

The mask of Anbu is used to cover the face to hide its purpose, there is nothing special about it. There are many ninjas wearing masks and oil paint in the whole ninja world. There are some extra masks in Anbu. This fish-face mask was left vacant in Anbu for many years because it is too ugly. Just take it away!

After that, Dihuangwan left the Hokage's office!

He returned to the Anbu dressing room, put the Anbu equipment back, left the fish-face mask, and walked out of the Anbu base in his regular clothes!

Now on the streets of Konoha, although it is late, there are still many shops and stores open on the main street and there are many customers!

"Konoha Village, I'm back!" Dihuangwan jumped onto the electric pole, opened his arms, took a deep breath, and shouted silently in his heart!