"...That old man didn't lie to you guys."
Kisame suddenly spoke.
He was still holding a crumpled piece of paper with a few lines of text on it.
This was what Bai Mo had given him after he caught up.
He said it was... a script?
As soon as Kisame spoke, everyone's gaze turned to him.
"For the mission reward, we only took one ryō."
Kisame continued to recite the script.
Fortunately, Kisame himself had dead fish eyes and a rather emotionless voice, so he didn't need any emotion or acting.
"What?"
Tazuna and Kakashi's team were all baffled.
A bowl of ramen costs 60 ryō; what could one ryō buy? A piece of candy?
Was this some kind of charity organization?
"Hehe, old man, you have a daughter named Tsunami, right?"
Kisame chuckled and continued.
"Nani?! Did you do something to Tsunami?!"
Tazuna instantly snapped back to reality, understood, and asked with a look of grief and indignation.
"We didn't do anything. I can only say, Tsunami, she's very moist."
As he spoke, Kisame licked his lips.
"Waaahhh! We're truly suffering!!"
Tazuna really started to cry this time.
"Old man, you also have a grandson named Inari, right?"
Kisame continued.
"What?! Inari?! What happened to my precious grandson?!"
Upon hearing this, Tazuna immediately stopped his wailing and crying, his eyes wide.
Clearly, his daughter Tsunami wasn't his biggest concern.
His grandson was the apple of his eye.
Could his grandson have been kidnapped and sold?
"He's also very moist."
"Huh?"
"..."
"Waaahhh! My poor grandson!!!"
After hearing Kisame's answer, Tazuna was stunned and silent for a moment.
After sizing up Kisame's 'perverted' appearance, he felt that the other party was indeed capable of such things, and despair instantly welled up in his heart, making him start wailing again.
This time, his cries were truly heartfelt.
"Kakashi-sensei, what does 'moist' mean? And are those two really not enemies?"
Naruto walked up to Kakashi, scratching his head as he asked.
"That's not something you can understand right now. As for them... for now, they don't seem to be enemies. Otherwise, they would have had countless opportunities to kill our mission target earlier."
After Kakashi explained to Naruto, he walked up to Bai Mo, glancing at the wailing old man: "Mr. Tazuna, please quiet down. If I'm not mistaken, these two were just joking with you."
Once it quieted down, Kakashi asked Bai Mo: "What is the purpose of your appearance? Do you wish for us to abandon the mission and hand it over to you two?"
"Huh? No way, Kakashi-sen... Waaah."
Naruto, hearing that the specially approved combat mission was about to be canceled, instantly grew anxious. Just as he was about to shout, Sasuke used a thrown shuriken to plug his mouth with a military ration pill.
"Your mission is simply to escort this old man to the Land of Waves, right?"
"...The mission details are confidential, but since you ask, as the leading Jōnin, I can answer: that is correct."
"Then whether you abandon it or not doesn't matter; our goals don't conflict anyway.
However, I can give you a friendly reminder: among your enemies this time, there is one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist."
"...Thank you for the information. I will discuss it with my subordinates. Could you wait a moment?"
After receiving confirmation, Kakashi pulled Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura aside and began to discuss.
As for the mission target, Tazuna?
He was naturally left alone on the side.
Before discussing with the three Genin, Kakashi had already conducted an analysis in his mind.
The other party said that one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist would appear as their enemy in this mission, and one of them was holding a Ninja Sword.
This suggested that the other party might have taken on the mission specifically for this 'enemy'.
This would explain why the other party accepted the mission for the peculiar reward of 'one ryō'.
Their willingness to accompany them on the mission was probably to have them hold back any other ninja that might appear... "Kakashi-sensei, we finally have a high-level mission; we can't give up!
Sasuke, Sakura, say something! Do you want to go back to pulling weeds and helping fat old ladies find their cats?"
Naruto shouted again while Kakashi was thinking.
At Naruto's shout, the other three's faces darkened.
Their act of moving aside to discuss instantly became meaningless.
Fortunately, after spending some time together, they had started to get used to each other's personalities.
"I agree with the dead last."
Sasuke glanced at Kisame and Bai Mo in the distance.
He carried a blood feud, and performing those low-level missions was a waste of his life.
Naturally, he was unwilling to give up.
"I, I agree too."
Sakura actually wanted to give up, but since Sasuke decided not to, she could only grit her teeth and agree.
"Alright then."
Kakashi nodded, then turned to look at Bai Mo and Kisame: "You two."
No need to say more.
Naruto's shouting earlier had caused them to no longer lower their voices, and everyone had heard the result of their discussion.
"Kisame, use the Transformation Jutsu. You and Samehada are too conspicuous to the enemy."
Bai Mo nodded, then instructed Kisame.
The group once again set off, continuing their journey.
A day passed.
Kakashi was teaching the three Genin how to walk on water when suddenly, a thick mist rose from the river.
Kakashi instinctively looked at Bai Mo and Kisame, who were resting on the ground on the other side.
This wasn't done by those two; there was another enemy!
"Be careful, enemy attack!"
Kakashi shouted at the three.
Bai Mo and Kisame on the other side still showed no signs of making a move, so Kakashi could only choose to face the enemy alone.
"This Hidden Mist Jutsu is the signature ninjutsu of Kirigakure, right? So how do you yourselves see the enemy?"
Bai Mo took a bite of dry rations and asked Kisame.
"We can't see them. We rely on experience and training, pushing one of our senses like hearing or smell to the extreme, then we can assassinate enemies using the Hidden Mist Jutsu..."
"Then if you encounter a Byakugan, wouldn't activating the Hidden Mist Jutsu be like opening it for them?"
"Uh... yes."
Kisame's expression showed a hint of awkwardness.
"No wonder Kirigakure treated a single Byakugan like a treasure. But that 'Ao' didn't develop it much, only using the Byakugan to gather information."
"Hmm... The person who came is indeed Zabuza."
"By the way, when you Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist select candidates, is the most crucial condition whether their name contains a fruit?"
"..."
Bai Mo's question once again left Kisame speechless.
It seemed that it really was the case.
Obviously, the selection of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist was based on factors such as qualifications, talent, and strength.
Abstract and meaningless factors like whether a name contained a fruit would not be considered at all.
But surprisingly, all their names did contain fruits.
It felt like an invisible hand of fate was at work.
After chatting with Kisame for a long time, the battle on the other side was coming to an end.
Clang!
Just as Kakashi was about to finish Zabuza, Kisame made his move, and Samehada instantly cut through the kunai in Kakashi's hand.
Kisame's sudden move bewildered the Masked Man who was hiding in the shadows, originally planning to use needles to seal Zabuza's pressure points to fake his death.
....
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