After Sailing with the Pirate King, I Returned to Konoha - 214

Chapter 214: Ninja Hero Kosei Arrives!

A childish voice hummed a tune popular on the seas. A tiny figure less than a meter tall walked along the road with light, energetic steps. Kosei wore a miniature cape and a wide-brimmed hat that covered her entire field of vision, looking like a walking mushroom come to life.

Beneath the mini cape, she still wore the same short-sleeved shirt and shorts from when she first arrived in this world. At least she wasn't walking barefoot anymore. Shoes embroidered with "little suns" adorned her feet, making intimate contact with the ground as Kosei skipped along.

"Ah, Haku should be able to see the letter Kosei left, right?"

After successfully boarding a merchant ship from the Land of Vegetables to the mainland and walking for half a day, Kosei finally thought of Haku, who had been caring for her all this time. As for Zabuza, Kosei thought he wasn't good-looking, so she rarely thought about him.

Don't let Kosei's young age fool you. She wasn't some clueless brat. From her first contact with Zabuza and Haku's attire to Mei Terumi's rejected recruitment invitation, Kosei understood clearly that these two just wanted peaceful lives.

But she couldn't stay there forever. Rather than continuing to ask them to help find her father, Kosei chose to leave alone one morning. These two were good people. Although Zabuza was a bit ugly, Kosei still hoped they could live the lives they wanted.

At this moment, about five to six hundred meters behind Kosei, two figures followed from afar. Who else could it be but Zabuza and Haku?

Though Kosei seemed naturally blessed with terrifying physical abilities, she still underestimated these two ninja. Her stealthy early-morning departure had long been discovered. As for that "farewell letter" with more drawings than words, since she knew so few characters, Haku solemnly kept it with him.

"Zabuza-sama, must we follow from this far away?"

Haku asked, somewhat puzzled. In his view, since they worried about Kosei traveling alone, they might as well openly accompany her. Unexpectedly, Zabuza just shook his head.

"Haku, you don't understand her feelings. You saw that letter, too."

How strange, even the "Demon" Zabuza had a day when he'd lecture others about not understanding hearts.

"Ah, you're right."

Haku recalled Kosei's sincere wishes in that farewell letter. Let the little one stay this happy. We just need to follow from afar.

Haku and Zabuza weren't worried about danger to the little girl. They truly worried about Kosei being deceived. After all, during their brief time together, they'd discovered one thing: Kosei really didn't doubt others' words much.

This mindset won't do. The ninja world is full of deception!

Thinking this, the three left the forest area in this distant "formation." Ahead lay a vast desert wasteland. If memory served, they should have entered the Land of Grass's territory.

Good, just a small nation, nothing to worry about.

Thinking this, the two watched helplessly as a bloodied, staggering figure walked straight toward Kosei. Meanwhile, Kosei, due to her overly vision-blocking hat, only noticed when the person was nearly upon her.

Bang!

The one sent flying was Gaara. The arrow tail piercing his shoulder happened to hit the stone wall, "popping" the entire arrow out. This also caused another gush of blood from the wound.

Strangely, the sand that automatically protected its master took no action this time, leaving it unknown whether it was because Gaara was too weak or for some other reason.

"Ah! It's over! Kosei killed someone!"

Kosei stood there unharmed. Just her hat was knocked off, letting her see the seemingly near-death Gaara before her.

"Hey, hey, are you okay?!"

Kosei's little legs pattered over to Gaara, leaning against the stone wall, frantically pulling items from her cute little bag handmade by Haku. Soon she found bandages and wanted to dress his wounds.

This sharp pain seemed to restore some clarity to the dazed Gaara. His gaze refocused.

"A child?"

Gaara looked strangely at the little girl before him, then immediately seemed to remember something and shouted, "Watch out!"

Sand immediately formed a shield according to Gaara's will, blocking him and Kosei. The next instant, another spiral arrow shot toward them.

Having lost too much blood without eating, Gaara was nearly spent. The sand shield only managed to block the first arrow before being shattered by a second following close behind.

At this critical moment, Gaara still tried reaching out to push the little girl away. The enemies targeted him. In his amnesiac state, Gaara wasn't as violent as he'd previously appeared. Perhaps this personality was originally his.

But Gaara's arm couldn't push Kosei as imagined. Instead, the force made him lean further against the stone.

Zabuza and Haku, far away, saw Kosei under attack and immediately drew weapons, charging over.

Slap.

A small hand firmly caught the arrow, then casually tossed it aside.

"You're a good person, so they must be bad people."

Though Gaara's action didn't succeed, Kosei understood his intent. In her simple moral view, such people were good. And those four standing ahead wanting to hunt down good people must be bad.

Instantly, the childhood stories Granny told about "heroes acting righteously" and "heroes eliminating evil" replayed in her mind. A dramatic sound effect seemed to play in everyone's heads.

When Kimimaro's group reached Gaara's position, they saw the little girl pick up her hat, place it on her head, then strike an exaggerated pose with one hand forward, one back, in a horse stance.

"Ninja world hero! Simply called 'Ninja Hero', Kosei arrives!"

This scene left the pursuers somewhat stumped. Jirōbō twitched his mouth, saying nothing. Tayuya and Kidōmaru looked like they wanted to laugh but didn't dare. Only Kimimaro maintained his icy expression.

"Kill her. Take the Jinchūriki."

They'd already chased quite a distance. With the Jinchūriki about to collapse, naturally, they couldn't give up now.

Hearing Kimimaro's words, whatever thoughts the other three had turned to killing intent.

"Looks like you're just unlucky, kid."

Jirōbō spoke while reaching to grab Kosei. Having been some distance away earlier, the group hadn't clearly seen Kosei catch the arrow barehanded, assuming Gaara had acted. Therefore, the three weren't very serious, not even activating curse mark states.

"What?"

Jirōbō's strength ranked highest among them. Even without the curse mark state, ordinary people couldn't resist. But this time, his outstretched hand was firmly caught by Kosei.

Crack.

The crisp sound of breaking bones rang out. Gaara snapped to attention, preparing to knock Jirōbō away—but he didn't need to act.

Jirōbō flew backward like a ball, his hand bones shattered from Kosei's kick.

This kid has problems!

The moment his hand bones shattered, Jirōbō activated curse mark state, but, taking Kosei's kick, he still flew through the air vomiting blood.

Kimimaro's pupils sharply contracted. Black patterns appeared on his body as bones extended from his arms and chest.

"Dance of the Larch!"

This was his defensive technique, using enhanced bones to form armor, blocking enemy attacks while causing counterattack damage.

Crack!

The next moment, the rib extending from his chest contacted that tiny fist, and cracks instantly spread across it.

Such powerful strength!

Kimimaro's face showed disbelief, but before he could continue, Kosei's roundhouse kick arrived. This little girl's strength and speed far surpassed Kimimaro's group. Even with Kimimaro barely reacting with his dynamic vision and reflexes, his body couldn't keep up with that terrifying speed.

When Haku and Zabuza arrived nearby, they saw Kidōmaru's completely incapacitated trio of unknown life or death, plus Kimimaro still struggling to hold on.

Seems we're a bit unnecessary here.