Chapter 166
Naruto nodded.
"A capitalist, who brought chaos to a small country, causing the people of the Land of Waves to suffer immensely. Of course... with just capital, one can't achieve much; there must be a hidden hand behind it—"
Naruto didn't finish his sentence.
Kakashi covered Naruto's mouth.
The unspoken part of the sentence was, "—there must be the tacit approval of the Daimyo of the Land of Waves."
Collusion between officials and merchants, an old trick.
"You'd better be talking about the Land of Waves."
Sako looked at Naruto.
"Also, Naruto, you'd better not mess up our mission."
"Haha, Mr. Tazuna, let's go."
Kakashi narrowed his eyes, which curved into crescents as he smiled.
Tazuna no longer dared to underestimate the trio.
Just a child, yet he could deeply discern the essence of everything.
These Ninja... might be even more terrifying than big villains like Gato.
Soon, the group set off, heading for the Land of Waves.
"Naruto, this child, possesses strong political insight... just like his father Minato..."
Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled as he watched Naruto's back disappear down the stairwell, nodding with satisfaction...
Chapter 111: Crushing the Demon Brothers with One Kick
A Ninja's journey from Konoha to the Land of Waves would only take a maximum of two and a half days.
However, Tazuna was an ordinary person.
So, the group's pace was much slower.
It took a full six days to reach the eastern coast of the Land of Fire.
From there, a half-day boat ride would take them to the Land of Waves.
And just as the group was about to pass through the coastal forest before them... Bang!
Naruto stomped his foot into a puddle.
"?"
Sakura blinked.
Naruto: "My shoelace came undone."
"Hah..." Sakura had a look of "Naruto, stop messing around!"
Then, shaking her head and sighing, Sakuracontinued to walk forward.
Watching the team walk away.
The puddle under Naruto's foot slowly began to seep a blood-red color.
Naruto pressed down hard again.
After that, the blood-colored puddle suddenly transformed and reverted into two dead bodies.
The Demon Brothers: Meizu and Gozu.
Hidden Mist Village Ninja, Ninja.
Unlike Zabuza, they were not Rogue Ninja.
Although they had intricate connections with Zabuza, as the Hidden Mist internal structure was not monolithic.
But... it should have been Gato who hired them to assassinate Tazuna.
Two Hidden Mist Chunin were thus crushed to death under Naruto's foot.
Their disguise... was completely detected in advance by Naruto, who knew the plot.
Afterward, Naruto walked forward with his hands in his pockets, still with his usual swagger...
"Resolved?"
Kakashi and Sako looked at Naruto, who had caught up.
Unscathed... This was to be expected.
For a powerhouse like Naruto, even someone like Mizuki could be crushed with one kick.
Of course, that would require borrowing the Nine-Tails Power.
But now, Naruto was able to take down the Demon Brothers without any Nine-Tails Power, which indicated that Naruto's own strength was also very formidable.
"My 100 Chakra..."
The Nine-Tailed kept grumbling.
Did the 100 Chakra leaked, converted, and purified by the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style not count as his Nine-Tailed's anymore?
"Yours is mine, and mine is still mine."
Giant-Naruto said so.
Nine-Tailed: "..."
Kakashi: "The Nine-Tails Power is too strong..."
Thinking about Naruto taking down the Demon Brothers with one kick, Kakashi couldn't help but sigh.
The teacher's child might become even stronger than the teacher...
The misty sea.
"Go straight across this bridge, land on the other side, and that's the Land of Waves..."
The boatman rowed the boat, speaking softly.
Out of his friendship with Tazuna, he agreed to ferry these Konoha Ninja this one time.
As they approached his homeland, Tazuna's expression grew increasingly serious.
"Everyone from Konoha, actually... you've probably already guessed that Gato wants my life..."
In the Land of Waves, everyone was in danger, so hiring Ninja for protection to return home was normal.
However, if it was Gato targeting him specifically... that was another matter entirely.
And Tazuna was a person Gato was determined to kill.
Because as a master bridge builder, he wanted to break Gato Shipping Company's monopoly and blockade to connect the Land of Waves to the Land of Fire.
This way... the economy could prosper again.
"The Land of Waves has become extremely poor in recent years... I can't afford more money; if possible, I actually wanted to request a B-rank mission..."
Tazuna said.
D-rank and C-rank missions don't involve fighting Ninja.
B-rank missions, however, do involve facing Ninja.
Theoretically, Tazuna should have offered B-rank funds.
"Then there's nothing we can do..."
Kakashi shook his head.
"We'll escort you ashore and then leave."
No money, no work; after all, everyone needs to eat.
"Hahahaha, it's fine."
Tazuna suddenly burst out laughing.
"You don't need to worry. Even if I die, only my adorable 10-year-old grandson Inari and my daughter Tsunami would cry for me... They're an orphan and a widow, who would live out their lives alone. Ah... perhaps they'll be killed by Gato too, hahaha..."
Kakashi: "Uh..."
"Inari's mom~my~?"
Naruto perked up at the mention.
After all, Inari's mother... had a very good figure.
"No problem, we are righteous Konoha Ninja."
Naruto stood up, smiling as he looked at Tazuna.
"Uncle Tazuna, don't worry, we will bravely fight against evil forces!"
"Naruto kid..."
Tazuna's eyes gradually brightened, and finally, he cried with emotion.
"You guys from Konoha... are really good!"
Nine-Tailed: "..."
...Land of Waves coastline.
Within the jungle, Zabuza, known as the Demon of the Hidden Mist, was concealed.
After the Gato brothers were killed, he realized there was a big problem.
When he saw Kakashi and his group passing by, he immediately widened his eyes.
"I didn't expect... to encounter such a big fish..."
The renowned Copy Ninja, Kakashi Hatake of the Sharingan, famous throughout the Ninja World... would actually be participating in this escort mission.
"No wonder..."
Zabuza showed a sinister smile.
The reason the Demon Brothers were so easily taken down was now obvious.
Facing a powerful opponent like Kakashi, dying in an instant was their fate.
"Haku..."
Thinking this, Zabuza looked at his subordinate beside him.
"You've been... acting a bit strange lately."
"That's your imagination, Mr. Zabuza..."
Haku's face was cold, with an indescribable gloom.
This was completely different from the usually gentle Haku.
Initially, Zabuza thought someone had impersonated Haku, but after investigating, he found that Haku was still Haku.
It was just that her way of thinking seemed to have changed.
"Haku, you don't have to be so hard on yourself..."
Zabuza reached out and patted her shoulder.