"Uncle Shigeru, you look great, and the fish you're selling are much fresher than before."
Awa, unlike six years ago, has gradually developed into a coastal town with numerous fishing boats gathered here. Rows of trucks carrying Ice Blocks are also waiting here.
Apart from the large stalls, there are still many small fish stalls selling a variety of small and large fish. While the big fish stalls are responsible for wholesale sea fish from various places, these small fish stalls are the source of food for the people around their dining tables.
Tatsuma and Minato squatted in front of a small fish stall, Tatsuma holding a struggling fish in his hands, speaking to the elderly man with gray hair in front of him.
"Have you two bought fish from me before?"
Shigeru was somewhat surprised. Those who came to his small fish stall were regular customers from the surrounding area. Strangers wouldn't come to such a stall where the appearance and quality of the fish couldn't be guaranteed.
Tatsuma nodded and said, "Yes, we came six years ago. You probably don't remember."
"Six years ago?" Shigeru fell into thought, but he didn't recall any related memories. He even forgot what he was doing six years ago, though he could remember clearly events from seven, eight, ten, or fifteen years ago.
But the memories from exactly six years ago seemed shrouded in darkness. He tapped his head and said, "I'm getting old, can't remember too many things. But since you've been here before, you're a regular. I'll give you a discount, young man."
"Thank you then."
Tatsuma didn't refuse. He grabbed the slightly larger fish on the fish stall and put them into the nearby basket. He grabbed quite a few. Shigeru quickly asked, "How many of you are eating?"
"Four people."
"This is too much for four people."
Shigeru wanted to stop Tatsuma from picking more fish, but Tatsuma calmly brushed his hand aside and smiled, saying, "We're going to barbecue and skip rice, just fish."
"That's still too much."
After murmuring this, Shigeru didn't stop Tatsuma, but waited as Tatsuma picked out one big fish after another. After scanning the stall and finding no big fish left, Tatsuma said, "Uncle Shigeru, could you weigh them for us and then gut them all?"
"Sure."
Shigeru nodded and somewhat laboriously began weighing the fish. Leaning back, he moved away from the scale to see the numbers clearly. He said, "Twenty-two and a half pounds, seven ryo per pound."
Before he finished speaking, Tatsuma handed over a two-hundred-ryo bill and said, "Consider the extra as payment for helping gut and descale them."
"Let's talk about the discount."
Shigeru wanted to refuse, but he hadn't seen such a large bill for a long time. Tatsuma shook his head with a smile, directly placing the money into the biscuit tin used for storing money in front of him, saying:
"I will help you gut them, but I need to wash my hands first."
"Sure, over there, you can wash there."
Shigeru couldn't hide his smile as he directed Tatsuma. Tatsuma and Minato went over, washed their hands, and didn't immediately return. Instead, they wandered around the area, chatting with porters and vendors from time to time.
After a while, they returned to Shigeru's fish stall. Seeing the two finally back, Shigeru quickly stood up and said, "I thought you got lost. Take the fish. Fish that's been gutted for too long won't taste good. There are too many fish for you to carry. Take this fish basket. I weave them myself during fishing bans; they're not worth much."
"Thank you."
Tatsuma didn't refuse, took the fish basket, bid farewell, and walked towards a distance. Gradually moving away from the crowd, Minato approached Tatsuma slightly, placing a hand on his chest, pointing to himself with his thumb, and lowering his voice, "There are two ninja teams, probably from the Mist Village."
"They probably guessed our identities too. They're rogue ninja from the Hidden Mist Village chasing us, but coming to the Land of Fire is impolite."
Tatsuma didn't look back and walked a short distance further. Tatsuma and Minato reached out to push aside the bushes in front of them and entered the forest. Behind them, eight men dressed as fishermen frowned as they watched.
Seeing the two disappear into the woods, they instinctively moved closer. Just as the two leaders were about to push aside the bushes and investigate, they suddenly felt a chill at their necks.
Tatsuma and Minato appeared suddenly, holding trident Kunai against their necks. Tatsuma asked directly, "Mist Village ANBU?"
The two dared not make a move, and their six team members behind them tensed up, readying themselves for combat. But just as they were about to attack Tatsuma and Minato, the Mist ninja held up a hand, halting their actions. Then he said,
"It's our duty. You must have noticed those two rogue ninja as well, right?"
"You've crossed the line. I don't care whether those two are the rogue ninja you mentioned. In my eyes, they, like you, are invaders."
Tatsuma's tone was calm. Upon hearing this, the Mist ninja slowly raised his hands, indicating no hostility, and then said, "Sakamoto Tatsuma, Minato Namikaze, may I ask your current status?"
"Consider us half colleagues."
Tatsuma wasn't surprised by his fame spreading far and wide. In fact, he intended to use this to his advantage, hoping to lure these people to follow them. That's why he and Minato hadn't disguised themselves.
The Mist ninja responded, "We can withdraw from the Land of Fire immediately. But could you hand over the bodies of those two rogue ninja?"
"I haven't said I would kill them. Besides, the secrets in the mind of a Hidden Mist Village Jonin are quite valuable."
Tatsuma's tone was relaxed as he spoke. The Mist ninja frowned and said, "Konoha's going a bit too far with this?"
"No one forced the Mist Ninjas or the rebel ninjas of the Mist Ninjas to come to the Land of Fire, but since they are here, they have to listen to our rules."
"What do you mean?"
Hearing that Tatsuma seemed to be referring to more than just the two rebel ninjas they were chasing, the Mist Ninja frowned and said with a smile, "I mean, the secrets in the minds of your Mist Village ninjas are very valuable."
At this time, the Mist Ninja suddenly realized, and the moment he turned around, he quickly formed seals with his hands raised high, but just as he had completed half a turn and had not seen Tatsuma's appearance, he suddenly felt a chill on his neck.
Minato also acted almost at the same time. The two leading jonin were killed instantly. The six members who had been alert were about to make seals with their hands, but they only saw Tatsuma and Minato throw three kunai each.
The Konoha ninjas are not accurate with their kunai throws!
This was their last thought, and they could not think any further.
"Ding~ [Speed +10], [Seal +5], do you want to pick it up?"
"Collect."
In the bushes, Tatsuma snapped two branches inscribed with the Flying Thunder God technique, gathering Chakra in his palms as a signal.
Caterpillar and Vulture arrived at the scene. Caterpillar waved his hands, sending countless insects flying out, which landed on the six bodies and swiftly devoured them.
Vulture began cleaning up the inevitable bloodstains. Minato took out two scrolls and sealed the bodies of the two Mist Village Jonin who led the pursuit.
Less than fifty meters away, some resting laborers remained unaware of the sudden event that claimed eight lives, masked by the scent of fish overpowering the faint smell of blood.
After cleaning up the traces, the four exchanged glances and disappeared into the forest again. Tatsuma also took the fish basket, bought for two hundred ryo, unwilling to waste it.
Arriving at an uninhabited rocky beach, Tatsuma suggested, "How about we grill some fish?"
"Leader, are you serious?"
Vulture asked in surprise. He had thought Tatsuma went to the city area to attract the attention of the Mist ninja, but now Tatsuma actually wanted to grill and eat fish.
Tatsuma nodded and said, "Otherwise, I wouldn't have let them be killed. And look around, there are plenty of fire remnants here, indicating many people have grilled fish here before. It's a good spot."
"Leader, do you bring seasoning on missions?"
Caterpillar asked calmly. Tatsuma hesitated for a moment, then looked at Minato. Minato quickly shook his head. Which serious ninja brings seasoning on a mission? When they grilled fish in Awa six years ago, they happened to meet a merchant caravan and exchanged some seasoning.
And with Jiraiya as their unconventional team leader, they often did things like grilling fish near mission sites.
Tatsuma glanced reluctantly at the fish basket and said, "If only you had said earlier, we wouldn't have killed them. Releasing them could have earned us some merit points."
Vulture approached Tatsuma and pointed at the fish basket, saying, "Leader, look, the fish are still moving. If we release them now, the flames of this karma won't come back to haunt you in the dead sea!"
The freshly slaughtered fish indeed twitched for a while, as is common with freshly slaughtered animals.
Tatsuma gave Vulture a disdainful glance and thought to himself, "Truly worthy of the Shimura clan, mastering the art of passing the buck."
"Never mind, Caterpillar, you can feed them to your bugs."
Tatsuma looked at Caterpillar, who shook his head and said, "My bugs are selective eaters. They don't eat fish."
"They don't seem picky when they're eating people."
"They enjoy it."
It wasn't mealtime yet, and those who came here for a picnic probably wouldn't arrive this early. If they waited another two or three hours to borrow seasoning from them, it would waste too much time.
After pondering, Tatsuma sighed and handed the fish basket to Vulture beside him, saying, "Vulture, you can take credit for this good deed."
"I don't even believe in the Six Paths Sage."
Vulture said with a mouthful, reluctantly taking the fish basket to "release" them. Despite being from the corpse disposal team, even for fish corpses, Vulture ensured proper handling.
Returning them to the sea was impossible. He returned to the forest, found some wild animals' feeding spots, and scattered the fish around. Since he couldn't gain merit from saving the fish, he aimed to earn merit by allowing other animals to feast.
After Vulture finished handling the fish corpses, the four set off again. After all, they had dealt with those who might steal their labor's fruits, and next up was harvesting those fruits.
Four hours later, they finally arrived at the hiding place of their first mission target. Tatsuma landed, touched the ground with two fingers, sensed around, and then stood up, saying, "Usugaki, the rogue ninja from the Hidden Mist, is in the village. There are no decent ninjas around, so we don't need to worry about accomplices."
Minato took out two small scrolls, threw one to Tatsuma, who opened it to find a beige hooded cloak and a Yaksha mask. Putting on the cloak and mask, Tatsuma said, "Minato, you go lure him out of the village."
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