Chapter 251: Legal Shota
Masahiko's inner thoughts couldn't reach Kisame. He was intercepted halfway there.
The person who stopped him was a middle-aged ninja wearing the signature cold, indifferent expression of the Hidden Mist Village, holding out a hand to ask for money.
Masahiko was immediately displeased. I'm not your Great-Great-Great-Grandpa, why should I give you money?
"If you want to receive the Lord's protection, it's one million ryo per person."
Masahiko was startled. Only then did he notice that there were a few civilians in Fuguki Suikazan's group, all decked out in gold and silver, looking very wealthy.
Scanning the surroundings again, although there were many ninjas, the other two members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist hadn't arrived yet.
"This fat guy is quite greedy. Did he come here early just to rake in some cash?" Masahiko sighed inwardly, then looked at the ninja extending his hand. "I never thought I'd see the day where someone tried to collect protection money from me."
The cold-faced ninja opposite him revealed an impatient expression. "Either pay up, or go wait on the side to die."
Masahiko wasn't angry. When the gap in status between two people was too vast, he simply couldn't muster up any rage from the other party's rudeness.
He smiled warmly. "Don't be in such a hurry, one million ryo is not a small sum. I'll wait a bit longer. Aren't there two other members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen who haven't arrived yet?"
The other ninja looked at him like he was an idiot. "The two lords stepping into the arena today are exactly those two."
Masahiko looked at the man's expression and took a deep breath. I'm not angry, I'm not angry, the gap in our status is huge. I'm not angry... Not angry my ass!
In the next instant, the ninja in front of him vanished, tossed straight into the spatial dimension by Masahiko.
"Phew~ That's satisfying," Masahiko muttered. Outwardly, however, he put on a panicked expression. "Ninja Lord! Ninja Lord, where did he go?!"
The commotion here attracted Fuguki Suikazan's attention. He waved a hand, and the Kisame behind him walked over.
"What happened?"
It was that familiar "shark" tone. Although it still sounded a bit immature, Masahiko found it rather endearing. In the original series, the voice actor Masahiko admired the most was Kisame's.
Masahiko shook his head. "I don't know either. That Ninja Lord just now wanted to collect two million ryo in banknotes from me. The moment I handed the money over to him, he suddenly vanished."
Kisame's small eyes narrowed into "dead-fish eyes." He turned around and went back to report to Fuguki Suikazan.
"Damn it, two million!" A thick, low roar rang out. "Good thing he vanished early, don't let me catch sight of him again!"
"Lord Fuguki, Hasaku shouldn't have deceived you like this. I suspect he wanted to collect an extra share of wealth for you; after all, that man is carrying a cat," another ninja beside them spoke up.
"Hmph! No need to speak up for him. If he wasn't worried about me finding out, why would he vanish? He's probably become a rogue ninja by now and is fleeing the village! Kisame, stay here. The rest of you, go after him!"
"Yes!"
Over the past ten years, due to the Blood Mist policy, rogue ninjas had frequently appeared in the Hidden Mist Village. It was practically a common sight. Scamming a sum of money and running away was entirely normal—especially two million ryo, which, if spent frugally, was enough to cover a lifetime of expenses.
The several ninjas behind Fuguki Suikazan flashed away, leaving only Kisame behind.
"Lord Fuguki, what should we do with that guy holding the cat over there?" Kisame pointed at Masahiko. Masahiko even smiled and waved at him, causing him to pause slightly.
"Let him come over. One more person doesn't make a difference."
And so, Masahiko openly and smoothly infiltrated the group of wealthy merchants behind Fuguki Suikazan.
Within the group, Kisame was explaining some precautions for watching the battle. Masahiko chuckled inwardly; that fat guy took the money and was actually willing to do the work. Quite responsible.
"Did you memorize all that?"
Masahiko snapped out of his daze and smiled warmly. "Memorized it." Heaven only knew what he had memorized.
Fortunately, this wasn't a high school classroom, and Kisame wasn't a teacher. Otherwise, he definitely would have asked Masahiko to repeat it, which would have been awkward...
Kisame turned to go back. Masahiko looked at the wealthy merchants and really had no interest in chatting with them.
"Shark-faced bro, don't be in such a rush to leave. How about staying to chat a bit?"
Kisame's footsteps stiffened. No one had ever called him that before.
"My name is Hoshigaki Kisame."
"Kisame Isn't that still a type of shark? Your parents must have named you after you were born, based entirely on your face."
Kisame reverted to his dead-fish eyes, ignored Masahiko, and turned back to stand beside Fuguki Suikazan.
"Did I hit a sore spot?" Masahiko snickered inwardly. The young Kisame's personality was quite different from his future self, otherwise he would have drawn his sword and slashed him by now.
Time passed, and more and more people gathered in the arena. Occasionally, a few civilians would arrive, and most chose to accept Fuguki Suikazan's protection. In just this one day, his income had reached nearly twenty million ryo.
"Is collecting protection fees really the best way to get rich?" Watching Kisame bring over another wealthy civilian merchant to explain the precautions, Masahiko pondered inwardly.
Suddenly, the entire arena fell silent. Masahiko thought the main stars had arrived and looked toward the entrance, but the newcomer was merely a boy of about ten years old.
"This kid looks a bit familiar." Masahiko was curious. This boy hadn't brought a cat in with him like he had, yet he still managed to draw the attention of the entire arena.
"Shark-faced bro, who is that boy?" Masahiko asked Kisame with a smile.
"He's a rather remarkable junior." Kisame's tone was already eccentric, but this time he added a touch of mockery that made even Masahiko a bit uncomfortable.
"It's okay, don't be jealous. Everyone in the Hidden Mist Village is used to you, but if you go somewhere else in the future, people will pay just as much attention to you."
Kisame's pale blue face couldn't exactly turn black, otherwise Masahiko was sure he would have seen a black shark...
"If you're curious, go say hello to that junior and see if he cuts you down in one swing. He just slaughtered all the candidates in the graduation exam."
Masahiko was startled. He ignored Kisame's counterattack and looked closely at the boy.
"Zabuza Momochi? Doesn't he have no eyebrows?" It wasn't Masahiko's fault for not recognizing him right away. Zabuza didn't have facial features as distinct as Kisame's, and the only notable trait—having no eyebrows—didn't match up. Although the boy's eyebrows were very faint, they were still there...
"Other people go bald on top when they get older, but he goes bald on his eyebrows?" Masahiko laughed inwardly.
The attention Zabuza drew only lasted for a moment. Although the Hidden Mist ninjas took him somewhat seriously, he had only just become a Genin.
After Zabuza walked past, Masahiko kept his gaze fixed on the entrance. He wanted to see if there would be any more familiar faces.
It wasn't until the orange-red hair of an eleven or twelve-year-old boy entered his line of sight.
"Yagura? He's already this big now?" Masahiko roughly recalled the timeline. It was still over a decade away from his death in the original story, and even then, his appearance was merely that of a thirteen or fourteen-year-old boy.
"Legal shota," Masahiko sighed emotionally, though a second later he felt that something was a bit off about that thought...
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