"From the town of Pearl — a township under the Land of Water!" Aoi replied as if it were common knowledge. "Is there a problem with that, Oda?"
"Pearl Town..."
Kaneda stood frozen for a long moment, before forcing the words out through gritted teeth. "Don't call me Oda. It is Mr. Kaneda to you!"
"Very well, Oda..." Aoi couldn't help but grin. He had realized by now that Kaneda had clearly mistaken him for someone else earlier.
"Follow me!"
Kaneda stood up abruptly and led Aoi and his group to a run-down, dilapidated waiting room. It was crowded with all kinds of ninja and utterly chaotic.
As soon as Aoi's group sat down, Kaneda turned to leave with a cold expression...
"Oda," Aoi reached out and stopped him. "When will Master Kiyomasa come to see me?"
"Stay here and wait quietly." Veins bulged on Kaneda's forehead as he gritted his teeth and sneered. "And I told you — stop calling me Oda..."
"Alright then, Oda."
Kaneda was absolutely seething with rage.
He had seen the luxurious ship flying the flag of the Land of Water and had automatically assumed Aoi and his party were official buyers representing the nation.
Who would have thought that after welcoming them into the VIP lounge and notifying Master Kiyomasa, he would discover they were frauds...
Master Kiyomasa's business was already struggling, and now he had made such a huge blunder. Who knew how he would be punished?
And it was all this brat's fault!
Kaneda stormed off furiously, but Aoi didn't pay it much mind. In his view, since the VIP treatment was reserved for official envoys of the Five Great Nations, it was no big deal to lose it.
Truly powerful people never feel humiliated or angry over such trivial matters. When your goal is to unify the world, why would you care about such petty privileges...
Just like the ninja from other small nations, Aoi filled out the complicated forms, paid the deposit, and waited for an audience with the master craftsman, Kiyomasa.
And so began the long wait...
One day, two days, three days passed...
By the fifth day, everyone who had been ahead of him in line had already left. Aoi's expression began to turn icy.
Even those who had registered after him had come and gone, yet his order remained untouched. It was as if he had been deliberately erased from the list...
There was only one person who could be behind this — Kaneda.
Kaneda wasn't hard to find. As Kiyomasa's agent, he spent his time between the docks and the VIP lounge, constantly hunting for wealthy, high-status clients.
Today, he had secured another big deal, escorting a group from a noble clan in Kumogakure into the VIP area...
While Kaneda was feeling rather pleased with himself, Aoi stepped in his path, his voice cold. "Oda, it's been quite a while, hasn't it?"
"It is Mr. Kaneda!"
The moment he saw Aoi, Kaneda's face twisted into a disdainful sneer. "People from tiny towns really have no manners. You don't even understand the difference between rank and status!"
"Rank and status?"
Aoi actually laughed. Even the Mizukage treated him with respect and courtesy, yet here was this man presuming to lecture him on standing...
What a frog at the bottom of a well!
Aoi's patience had run out completely. He demanded sharply, "Did you push my order to the very end of the queue? Answer me."
A freezing killing intent radiated from him, as if the very air around them had turned to ice...
"Don't you dare act tough with me!"
Kaneda sneered, baring his teeth. "Fine — I'll tell you straight. Yes, I held your order back. And what exactly do you think you can do about it?"
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