NABC Chapter 10 The Poker-Faced Acting Master – Kisame
Chapter 10 The Poker-Faced Acting Master – Kisame
"...That old man didn't lie to you."
Kisame suddenly spoke.
He was still holding a wad of paper in his hand, on which a few lines of writing were written.
This is what Bai Mo gave him after he caught up.
It's supposed to be... lines from a script?
As soon as Kisame spoke, everyone's eyes turned to him.
"We only accepted one tael as payment for the task."
Kisame continued reciting his lines.
Fortunately, Kisame has dead fish eyes and a voice with little emotion, so he doesn't need any emotion or acting skills.
"What?"
Tazuna and Kakashi's team were both stunned.
A bowl of ramen costs 60 taels. What can you do with one tael? Buy a piece of candy?
Is this some kind of charity organization?
"Hehe, old man, you have a daughter-in-law named Tsunami, right?"
Kisame smiled and continued speaking.
"What?! What did you do to Tsunami?!"
Tazna snapped back to reality, suddenly realized what was happening, and asked with a look of grief and resentment.
"I didn't do anything. All I can say is that Tsunami is very hydrated."
As he spoke, Kisame licked his lips.
"Waaaaah, we're suffering so much!!"
Tazna finally burst into tears.
"Old man, you have a grandson named Inari, right?"
Kisame continues.
"What?! Inari?! What happened to my precious grandson?!"
Upon hearing this, Tazna immediately stopped wailing and his eyes widened.
Clearly, his daughter-in-law, Tsunami, was not his primary concern.
After all, the son died and the daughter-in-law remarried.
But his grandson was the apple of his eye.
Could my grandson have been abducted?
"He's also very radiant."
"what?"
"..."
"Waaaaah, my poor grandson!!!"
After hearing Kisame's answer, Tazuna was taken aback and remained silent for a moment.
After taking a look at Kisame's "perverted" appearance, she realized that he was indeed the kind of person who was capable of such a thing. Despair welled up in her heart, and she started wailing again.
Now, these cries are finally genuine.
"Kakashi-sensei, what does 'very smooth' mean? And those two, are they really not enemies?"
Naruto walked up to Kakashi, scratched his head, and asked.
"This is beyond your current understanding. As for them... they don't seem to be enemies for the time being, otherwise they would have had countless opportunities to kill our mission target just now."
After Kakashi finished explaining to Naruto, he walked up to Bai Mo and glanced at the old man who was howling: "Mr. Tazuna, please be quiet. If I'm not mistaken, these two were just joking with you."
After things calmed down, Kakashi asked Bai Mo, "What is the purpose of your appearance? Do you want us to abandon the mission and hand it over to you?"
"Ah? That won't do, Kakashi-sama... Waaah."
When Naruto heard that his hard-won special combat mission was about to be canceled, he panicked instantly. Just as he was about to shout, Sasuke used a shuriken to gag him with a soldier's ration pill.
"Your mission is simply to escort this old man to the Land of Waves, right?"
"...The details of the mission are classified, but since you have asked, I, as the Jonin leading the team, can answer. That's right."
"Whether you give up or not is irrelevant, since the goals don't conflict."
However, I can give you a friendly reminder: among your enemies this time is one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.
"...Thank you for the information, sir. I will discuss it with my men. Could you please wait a moment?"
After receiving confirmation, Kakashi pulled Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura aside to begin their discussion.
As for the mission objective, Dazner?
Naturally, it was left all alone on the side.
Before discussing the matter with the three genin, Kakashi had already done some analysis in his mind.
The other side said that their enemies on this mission would include the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, and one of them was carrying a ninja sword.
This suggests that the other party may have accepted the mission specifically for this "enemy".
This explains why the other party would accept the task with such a strange reward as "one tael".
The reason they were willing to accompany them on the mission was probably to have them keep other potential ninjas at bay...
"Kakashi-sensei, we can't give up on this high-level mission we finally have!"
Sasuke, Sakura, say something! Do you want to go back to pulling weeds and helping that fat lady find her cat?
While Kakashi was thinking, Naruto shouted again.
Naruto's shout left the other three speechless.
Their actions of running to the side to discuss the matter instantly became meaningless.
Fortunately, after spending some time together, the group has started to get used to each other's personalities.
"I agree with the bottom-ranked player."
Sasuke glanced at Kisame and Bai Mo in the distance.
He carries a blood feud; taking on those low-level tasks would be a waste of his life.
Naturally, they didn't want to give up.
"I agree."
Sakura actually wanted to give up, but Sasuke had already decided not to, so she had no choice but to agree reluctantly.
"Alright then."
Kakashi nodded, then turned to look at Bai Mo and Kisame: "You two."
No need to say anything more.
Naruto's shouting earlier caused them to lose their composure, and everyone heard the result of their discussion.
"Kisame, use your transformation technique. You and Samehada are too conspicuous to the enemy."
Bai Mo nodded, then gave instructions to Kisame.
The group resumed their journey and began their travels.
A day has passed.
Kakashi was teaching three genin how to tread water on the river when suddenly a thick fog rose from the surface.
Kakashi subconsciously glanced at Bai Mo and Kisame, who were resting on the ground on the other side.
This wasn't done by those two; it was done by another enemy!
"Watch out, enemy attack!"
Kakashi shouted at the three of them.
On the other side, neither Bai Mo nor Kisame showed any signs of making a move, leaving Kakashi with no choice but to face the enemy alone.
"This Hidden Mist Technique is the signature ninjutsu of the Hidden Mist Village, right? So how do you yourselves see the enemy?"
Bai Mo ate a mouthful of dry rations and asked Kisame.
"If you can't see, you can rely on experience and training to perfect one of your senses—hearing or smell—and then use the technique of concealment to assassinate your enemies..."
"If you encounter the Byakugan, wouldn't using the Mist Concealment Technique be the same as giving it to the opponent?"
"Uh...yes."
Kisame's expression showed a slight hint of embarrassment.
"No wonder Kirigakure treats the Byakugan like a treasure. However, they haven't really developed 'Blue' much, so they can only rely on the Byakugan to gather information."
"Hmm... It really is Zabuza."
"By the way, when you're selecting members for the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, isn't the most crucial criterion whether the name contains the word 'fruit'?"
"..."
Bai Mo's question left Kisame speechless once again.
That seems to be the key point.
Clearly, the selection of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist is based on factors such as seniority, talent, and strength.
Whether or not a name includes fruit is an abstract and meaningless factor that is not even considered.
But you know what, their names all contain fruit.
It feels like there's an invisible hand of fate controlling things.
After chatting with Kisame for a while, the battle on the other side came to an end.
Ding!
Just as Kakashi was about to finish off Zabuza, Kisame intervened, his Samehada instantly slicing through the kunai in Kakashi's hand.
Kisame's sudden attack caught a masked man hiding in the shadows off guard. He had been preparing to use a needle to seal Zabuza's pressure points and fake his death, but this caught him completely off guard.