Such a Fair... Fat Sheep

There was nothing false about the saying that Orochimaru had bases all over the world.

No matter what country someone was in, they might dig around underground and turn up a snake den.

That was one of the things Dōmeki admired most about Orochimaru. It was just so extravagant!

The only person who could probably match that kind of wealth was Miss Konan, the richest woman in the Shinobi World, who worked herself to the bone squeezing a ninety-year-old man out of his retirement savings.

If she had exchanged those six hundred billion Explosive Tags for money earlier, she could have bought all of the Five Great Nations, and the Shinobi World would have been at peace long ago.

The northern base Orochimaru had ordered Dōmeki to visit this time was on an island in the Land of Hot Water, to the northeast.

The reason was-

"A monster?" Dōmeki looked at Orochimaru in confusion. There was no shortage of legends about monsters in this world: the Nine Tailed Beasts the Sage of Six Paths had separated from the Ten-Tails, the legendary ghost Moryo of the Land of Demons, the Zero-Tails Shinnō had created, and so on. Even obscure ninja beasts, such as the monsters of the Three Great Sage Lands, had been recorded. But Dōmeki couldn't remember any monsters in the Land of Hot Water. Surely it wasn't Jashin, whom Hidan worshipped?

Meanwhile, Orochimaru was injecting an unknown liquid into a lab mouse. As the mouse screamed in agony, its eyes took on the appearance of a snake's, and patches of scales spread across its body. But then the mouse solidified into a stone statue.

"Natural energy?"

A purer form of the special energy Dōmeki had once sensed in the Sound Four's incomplete Cursed Seal Mode appeared in the mouse. Orochimaru made no attempt to hide his research into natural energy from his disciple.

Orochimaru had once tried and failed to learn Ryūchi Cave's Sage Mode, so he had settled for researching the Cursed Seal instead. But judging by how the four had suffered backlash and spent a week laid out after using it for only a short while, his research was still incomplete.

Orochimaru regretfully smashed the mouse before turning to Dōmeki.

"That's right! The ninja at the base once discovered a rampaging humanoid monster. I hear its entire body was made of wood, and it attacked everyone it saw!"

"I'm very curious!" Orochimaru habitually licked his lips, a sign that he was excited. "It looks like it would make a valuable experimental specimen!"

"So, Shun-kun, could you bring that person back for me?"

"Rampaging? Made of wood?" Dōmeki pictured a misshapen White Zetsu in his mind. No, he seemed to remember someone else who could do that too.

Suddenly, Dōmeki found the matter interesting as well. Besides, he had long heard of the Land of Hot Water's hot springs!

So Dōmeki prepared to bring Haku and Kimimaro along. Opportunities for a trip on the organization's tab were hard to come by, so he would treat it as a reward for the two youngsters' diligent training!

On the training ground, the two boys were locked in combat. But both the frigid ice and the sharp white bones sent the spectators scrambling back, crying out that two more monsters had appeared. Some were even reminded of the terror of being dominated by a certain red-haired boy.

"Two more little monsters!"

Muttering under her breath, Tsuchi Kin looked away and rapped the distracted red-haired girl on the head with her knuckles. "Kid, focus on your training!"

Karin held her head, but she still felt a little dissatisfied.

"Big Sister Kin, if I keep training under the three of you, when will I be able to catch up to those two?"

When the Cow Trio heard the little girl's question, beads of sweat appeared on their foreheads, and they roared inwardly, How could training alone make it easy to catch up to those inhuman monsters?!

But the three glanced at the girl's red hair and swallowed their complaints. Maybe it wasn't impossible?

Karin keenly noticed the change in their expressions and guessed in disbelief, "Could it be that the three of you aren't even as strong as Haku and Kimimaro?"

"How could that be!" Stung, Zaku Abumi couldn't help shouting, "Even Akainu has to respectfully call me big brother when he sees me!"

But he failed to notice that his two companions were staring in horror at something behind him.

As he was going on about how he had looked after that pitiful newcomer, he suddenly felt someone put an arm around his neck. Just as his whole body stiffened, sure enough, that familiar, devilish voice sounded beside his ear.

"That's right. Big Brother Zaku took very good care of me back then!"

"Big Brother Shun!" Karin looked at the newly arrived Dōmeki in delight.

"Um, well..." Though the boy was embracing him warmly, Zaku felt his legs going weak. The bones he had once broken in a match even began to ache faintly.

Dōmeki greeted each member of the Cow Trio before releasing Big Brother Zaku.

He stepped forward and patted Karin's head as she narrowed her eyes, then solemnly entrusted her training to the three of them. The Sound Ninja trio were only average in strength, but their fundamentals were extremely solid, making them the best teachers for the girl at her current stage.

Karin immediately picked up on something in Dōmeki's words. "Big Brother, are you leaving Otogakure again?"

"That's right. I'm taking Haku and Kimimaro on a mission!" Dōmeki nodded.

The little girl looked at the two of them, especially Haku, with some reluctance. Then she said firmly to the boy, "Big Brother Shun, I'll train hard, and soon I'll be able to help you!"

The Land of Hot Water.

After Dōmeki, Kimimaro and Haku set foot in the country, they couldn't help being drawn to its peace and tranquility.

Its natural scenery was captivating, and its hot springs were another attraction, drawing visitors from many countries to vacation there. Combined with its thriving entertainment and service industries, they had made the Land of Hot Water the Shinobi World's best-known tourist destination.

Merchants and travelers from every country in the Shinobi World came and went, so ninja from various villages carrying out missions were a common sight here too. Naturally, the ones seen most often were ninja from the neighboring villages of Konoha and Kumogakure.

The Land of Hot Water lay in the northeast of the Shinobi World and had a mild climate year-round, so the young women here dressed especially lightly.

Dōmeki's eyes swept over the lovely young women, barely able to take them all in. He decided that the scenery was no less impressive than the Land of Water's.

But neither Haku nor Kimimaro, serious children that they were, was moved by the scenery around them. Even Dōmeki, who liked teasing the two youngsters, felt somewhat helpless at how stiff they were.

By the time the three entered Yugakure, however, they sensed that something was off about the atmosphere.

"Are they holding some kind of celebration over there?"

Haku pointed curiously at a building packed with people. Kimimaro looked closely for a moment before suddenly saying, "That's a gambling den!"

Dōmeki's expression turned a little peculiar, and he muttered quietly, "It couldn't be such a coincidence, could it? Am I really going to meet someone extraordinary here?"

"Someone even you consider extraordinary, Lord Dōmeki?" Haku and Kimimaro's faces instantly filled with curiosity.

Dōmeki suddenly grew excited. "Come on, I'll take you two to make a little fortune!"

Using their exceptional skills, the three squeezed their way to the front of the crowded gambling table, where a mound of snowy-white fullness immediately caught their eyes.

"What a fair Legendary Sucker!"

Dōmeki couldn't help saying it aloud.