Chapter 80: Perfect Stealth Means Eliminating Everyone Who Discovers You
"Hey, you idiot. Do you think I am stupid?" Killer B paused, then his expression hardened into anger. "Who are you two, really?"
He enjoyed rap, but he did not treat it as the center of his life. Kumogakure, the Land of Lightning, and his older brother A all mattered far more.
With the Land of Lightning and the Land of Fire locked in war, Killer B had no reason to believe two suspicious strangers had come all this way just to admire his music.
Kenichi's lips twitched. So much for the "idiot" label. Even after that performance, he still could not fool Killer B.
Fortunately, Kenichi had more than one plan.
While speaking, he had already prepared an explanation. If this one failed, he would switch to another. If that still failed, then they would fight.
"Actually, we are members of Akatsuki," Kenichi said with a light chuckle, rubbing his hands together as if he were a traveling merchant negotiating a deal. "We came to ask whether your village plans to issue any mercenary missions related to the war."
Sasori glanced at him with a strange look but stayed silent. The statement itself was not wrong.
Only the last part sounded a little too casual for the situation.
"Akatsuki? Mercenary missions?" Killer B frowned, studying Kenichi. He had never heard of such an organization.
Still, wandering groups like that were not rare. Rogue ninja and drifters took bounties to survive. Being a shinobi was expensive. Even if the pay was high, the costs were higher, and death was always one bad day away.
Most shinobi spent money fast. Very few saved unless they were certain they would live long enough to enjoy it.
Of course, those backed by clans could afford to be exceptions.
"I am definitely not a spy from Konoha," Kenichi added. Seeing that Killer B still looked unconvinced, he simply removed his mask to increase credibility. "Look closely. I am the A rank rogue ninja Konoha is hunting."
"I do not know you," Killer B said, waving a hand dismissively.
Kenichi touched his nose. He was not exactly famous. In the ninja world, he was still a nobody.
Sasori's posture tightened. Negotiations were clearly not going anywhere.
Then Sasori noticed Kenichi step forward and make a gesture behind his back, rapidly alternating his index and middle fingers as they pointed downward.
Sasori paused, then understood immediately.
"Killer B," Kenichi said with a friendly smile, stopping after only two steps instead of closing the distance. "What is your secret to rhyming? I have always wanted to learn rap, but I can never get the rhythm right."
They kept a safe range.
For an instant, as Killer B processed the question, rap patterns and rhyme schemes flashed through his mind by reflex.
And in that same instant, he met Kenichi's gaze.
A pair of eyes with three tomoe, slowly rotating.
"Move," Kenichi said.
He grabbed Sasori and used the Body Flicker Technique, vanishing in a blur.
They had no choice but to run. Even with a three tomoe Sharingan and an opening like that, controlling the Eight Tails jinchuriki was never going to last long.
Sure enough, less than five seconds after they disappeared, a deafening roar tore through the forest behind them.
Kenichi clicked his tongue. "Only five seconds?"
Still, five seconds was enough.
Kenichi immediately entered Sage Mode as they fled. Lightning like markings spread from the corners of his eyes, and his body surged with strength. His speed climbed sharply, and after pushing hard, they finally shook Killer B off their trail.
"That guy is a problem," Kenichi muttered.
He and Sasori sat down on the ground, surrounded by a group of merchants.
During the escape, they had passed a merchant caravan from the Land of Lightning. Kenichi captured two of them, replaced their faces, and made the two corpses vanish without leaving a trace.
Now they looked like ordinary traders from the Land of Lightning, traveling toward Kumogakure to take supply transport work.
"I want to test his strength," Sasori said, still annoyed that they had been forced to retreat.
"That is the Eight Tails," Kenichi replied, equal parts amused and exasperated. "Killer B is above Kage level. An ordinary Kage cannot just beat him."
The gap between Kage level fighters was not small. Sometimes it was larger than the gap between genin and jonin.
"Are we really sneaking in like this?" Sasori asked, scanning the caravan. Merchants entered Kumogakure constantly, delivering supplies and taking transport commissions.
"Yes," Kenichi said. "It is the most convenient method. Kumogakure is at war. Patrols and security will be tight."
It was not as if other methods were impossible.
For example, if you killed everyone who saw you, that technically counted as perfect stealth.
It was also slow, loud, and guaranteed to attract the attention of A and B.
And Kumogakure had more than one jinchuriki. The Two Tails jinchuriki was also here. Drawing that kind of attention would be a serious nuisance.
Blending into ordinary crowds was safer. Among so many civilians, it would be difficult to identify two disguised shinobi.
Even Konoha, with its Byakugan, had been infiltrated in the future through concealment and disguise. Kenichi was confident Kumogakure could be slipped into as well.
Just as he expected, they encountered patrol after patrol on the road. There were inspections, questions, and more checks the closer they got to Kumogakure. The nearer they approached, the denser the shinobi presence became.
"Most of Kumogakure's ninja really are built like armored bulls," Kenichi said, watching a group of muscular Cloud shinobi pass by. A faint look of satisfaction appeared on his face.
He always felt the ninja of Kumogakure were excellent experimental subjects. Strong bodies meant they could endure pain longer, which meant longer observation windows, which meant a higher chance of breakthroughs.
This time, he intended to take full advantage of the war between Kumogakure and Konoha. He would capture as many Cloud shinobi as possible.
His laboratory could never have too many consumables.
As they walked, a stray thought from Kenichi's old world surfaced again, irritatingly persistent.
He remembered hearing that the LK99 materials paper had been retracted, and that his country's research department claimed it was not room temperature superconductivity.
Whether it truly was or was not, however, would still depend on what later research from other countries proved.
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