"Please have a seat, gentlemen. As you can see, these are all pickled by us..."
"Just bring whatever you have." The man in the conical hat tossed a money pouch to the waiter, who weighed it in his hand and beamed.
"Alright! Gentlemen, your food will be ready soon~"
He could tell that these hat-wearing individuals didn't want to be bothered, so he tactfully left, giving them enough space.
Once the waiter was gone, the group began to chat idly.
"This place is quite similar to the village... Both have thick fog."
"The Land of Waves is an island nation after all, with high humidity."
"We need to be careful after passing through the Land of Waves. Although our secret base on the coast of the Land of Fire is well-hidden, those Konoha guys shouldn't be underestimated... They have the Byakugan and the Sharingan."
Knock, knock.
The sudden knocking sound interrupted their idle chatter. The man sitting in the middle took off his hat, revealing his face.
"As ninja, we should act discreetly. Although ninja are rarely seen in the Land of Waves, we still need to be cautious."
If you want to be discreet, why don't you put your hat back on... Several subordinates thought to themselves, but they didn't dare to voice their dissent. They could only lower their heads and apologize.
"Sorry, Jinpachi Munashi."
"Mm." Jinpachi Munashi nodded slightly, closing his eyes to rest.
He was of average height, wearing a white headband, his beard tied into small braids. He had thick lips, and his left eye was covered with a black cloth. His attire was somewhat eccentric, but the world of shinobi was full of strange outfits, so few people paid him much attention.
More striking than his appearance was the large sword strapped to his back.
—It was debatable whether it could even be called a "sword." It lacked a sharp blade, instead being as wide as a door panel. The back of the blade was cylindrical, and the body was covered with a sheath, obscuring its contents.
If someone from Kirigakure were present, they would know that the door-like blade was covered with rows upon rows of explosive tags!
The man carrying this sword was also quite famous.
Jinpachi Munashi, one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, the wielder of the Exploding Blade: Shibuki!
Removing his hat to reveal his face was actually meaningless for Jinpachi Munashi. The Exploding Blade: Shibuki was very distinctive. Any ninja could recognize it at a glance, and wearing a hat couldn't conceal his identity.
As for sealing the Exploding Blade: Shibuki in a scroll... Few of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, including Jinpachi Munashi, did that.
They lived by the sword and gained fame through it. If they couldn't grasp the hilt at a moment's notice, it would be an insult to the title of "Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist."
With Jinpachi Munashi's warning, his subordinates became much more subdued, communicating only through silent glances as they waited for the food to arrive.
"Oh, welcome, sir! Please come in, please come in! Have a seat inside!"
However, instead of their food, they received another guest.
Wearing a straw raincoat and with his head lowered, a lone figure entered from the doorway and walked straight to the table next to the Kirigakure ninja.
The newcomer had his back to them, his face obscured. They could only tell that he was a long-haired male.
"As you can see, these are all pickled by us..."
The lone guest interrupted the waiter with a money pouch and said softly,
"Bring me a pot of tea, good tea."
"Alright!"
The waiter excitedly ran off again, feeling that the guests he encountered today were particularly generous, their spending shockingly lavish.
He was thrilled, but the Kirigakure group wasn't so relaxed.
The Kirigakure ninja accompanying Jinpachi Munashi were all battle-hardened veteran Chunin. Kirigakure was an even more unstable and violent organization than Konoha. They had experienced more battles than ninja from other villages and were more experienced.
They immediately noticed that the lone guest's position was delicate... Extremely delicate.
The distance between the guest and Jinpachi Munashi was a highly ambiguous five meters, just outside the reach of Jinpachi Munashi even if he took a step forward and swung the Exploding Blade: Shibuki!
Distance was always the most crucial factor for close-combat ninja, bar none.
An expert... Several Kirigakure ninja quietly gripped their kunai, looking at Jinpachi Munashi.
The Seven Ninja Swordsmen member didn't panic. He simply stared at the guest and said slowly,
"Konoha?"
"Ah, yes."
A straightforward question, a straightforward answer.
Not concealing one's identity might be a good thing in peacetime. But in these turbulent times, such "honesty" implied irreconcilable conflict!
"That's a fine sword... Is it the Exploding Blade: Shibuki? It seems you are Jinpachi Munashi, one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist."
"Indeed. So you...?"
Before Jinpachi Munashi could finish, the guest turned around, revealing a handsome and gentle face, along with a pair of eyes as pure as a blank slate.
"Hyuga Yuto, just a nobody."
Is that Tsunade's disciple? This is troublesome... Jinpachi Munashi sighed inwardly. It had been six months since Hyuga Yuto became Tsunade's student. Kirigakure's intelligence network couldn't possibly be unaware of this.
"So, Jinpachi Munashi, why are you in the Land of Waves?" Hyuga Yuto asked, his expression not unpleasant. Due to his exceptional handsomeness, he even exuded a warm and sunny aura.
"Traveling, training, sightseeing..." Jinpachi Munashi grinned, revealing his sharp teeth.
"I can do whatever I want. But what does it have to do with you? This isn't the Land of Fire."
"Yes, this is the Land of Waves, I know." The Branch House boy chuckled.
"But finding you was quite a task. Even with my Byakugan, it wasn't easy."
"Oh? So?" Jinpachi Munashi's hand tightly gripped the hilt of his sword. The formidable swordsmanship honed over thousands of days and nights gave him the confidence to lunge towards Hyuga Yuto and deliver a fatal blow in a tenth of a second.
Hyuga Yuto didn't seem the least bit nervous. He continued to smile.
"Seriously, my mission is to prevent you from entering the Land of Fire."
"I'm a very sociable person." The Branch House boy pointed at his face.
"I'm quite good with words, and I'm also perceptive. I was thinking, if I could persuade you to return to the Land of Water, that would be great. After all, we wouldn't have to fight."
"But you also know that whether it's Konoha or Kirigakure, the higher-ups are cautious and intelligent individuals. When I return to the village and say that I persuaded you to turn back, without evidence, the higher-ups won't believe me."
"So, do me a favor, could you give me your Exploding Blade: Shibuki? With that, our higher-ups will believe me."
"Of course, it's fine if you don't want to. After all, it's a treasure of Kirigakure. I don't like forcing others. Anyway..." Hyuga Yuto paused, his tone becoming gentle, as if whispering to a lover.
"I'll bring your heads and your swords back together."
A deathly silence fell upon the lakeside tavern.
After a long while, Jinpachi Munashi burst into laughter, his voice growing louder and louder.
"Arrogant... brat!"
A massive explosion erupted into the sky.
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