Endure!

"The Hokage's son!" The shopkeeper's pupils contracted sharply. As he weighed the truth of those words, he put on an honored expression. "So you are Lord Hokage's son. Please forgive my earlier disrespect."

"Although this guy acted a little strange just now, it's perfectly normal for him to be intimidated by such an impressive title!" Asuma nodded smugly and let out an "Mm" through his nostrils. Better stick to the original plan!

"The Hokage's son is like this?" Though doubtful, Hagyi did not dare test him. He took the initiative to explain himself. "I am Hagyi, a merchant from the Land of Lightning. Since this is my first time in Leaf Village, I did not know the identities of you two guests. I sincerely apologize."

"Who cares where you're from?" Asuma waved impatiently. "I came here mainly because of the second year Class Leader election. I was planning to buy some fresh top-grade beef from you to win over my classmates."

"Even five- or six-year-old children know to bribe their classmates? Has Leaf Village already become this corrupt?" Hagyi sneered inwardly, but asked cheerfully, "Then how many pounds of beef would you like to buy?"

"No rush. Let me look around first." Asuma wore the air of an expert.

Hagyi laughed inwardly and followed after him as though watching a show.

Yet ten minutes passed, then half an hour, then an hour...

Hagyi was beginning to fall apart. That little brat with his nose in the air was still picking through the meat.

"Damn it, I have an operation tonight toooooo!" Hagyi screamed inwardly. He took a deep breath and barely forced out a "happy" smile. "Lord Hokage may already be preparing dinner. Why not come back tomorrow to choose?"

Asuma rolled his eyes at him. "Idiot, the Class Leader election will be over by tomorrow. What use would this beef be then?"

Hagyi roared inwardly. How was I supposed to know when you elementary school kids hold your Class Leader election?!

Finally, after dawdling for another half hour, Asuma patted a piece of beef with a disgusted look. "This one."

Hagyi nearly burst into tears. He could finally send this tormenting little demon away!

Seemingly afraid Asuma would change his mind, Hagyi hurriedly said, "I'll wrap it up for you right away."

"Wait, I'm not finished. Are all merchants this impatient?"

Hagyi froze mid-motion. "Ha, haha, I was too hasty."

Asuma nodded approvingly and said with an old-fashioned air, "Cut me ten pounds of lean meat. There cannot be even the tiniest bit of fat, understand?"

Hagyi relaxed slightly. Thank goodness.

After some sharp knife work, Hagyi happily wrapped up the meat. "Then I'll now..."

"I'm not done yet. I also want ten pounds of fat. There cannot be even the tiniest bit of lean meat, understand?"

A surge of fury rose in Hagyi's chest, and he nearly drew his cleaver and chopped someone on the spot.

"The world is so beautiful, yet I am so irritable. This is not good..."

Taking a deep breath, Hagyi forced a smile. "All right, I'll cut it right away."

Hearing those words filled with such bitterness, even Soseki, who had been watching from the side, was nearly "moved."

After another round of fussing about.

By the time moonlight had climbed onto the chopping block, Hagyi was silently weeping inside. "It's finally cut!"

When Hagyi wrapped up the fat and brought it over, Asuma saw the numbness in his eyes and almost could not bear to continue. Then—

"Oh, right. Another ten pounds of bones. I just remembered that the dogs at my Inuzuka clan classmate's house love bones the most."

"Oh." Hagyi answered mechanically, like a salted fish that had lost all its dreams.

However, the instant he lowered his head to remove the bones, killing intent surged in his eyes, and the veins in the hand gripping the cleaver bulged.

"Have I already been exposed? No, if I truly had been exposed, they would not have sent two little brats. Endure a little longer. At the very least, I cannot be the one to expose myself first."

Endure!

What followed was another long silence.

At last, the bones were removed as well.

"Do you two young guests have any other requests?" Hagyi bent at the waist, appearing exceedingly servile. In truth, he was like a tiger stalking prey, his entire body ready to strike.

But at that moment, Asuma muttered softly from in front of him.

"You didn't even get angry after all that. How boring. Didn't they say you Cloud Hidden people have the worst tempers?"

Hagyi froze, sensing a different implication in those words.

Before he could figure anything out, Asuma continued, "Hmph! The Second Hokage died at the hands of you Cloud Hidden people! I will definitely avenge this grudge!"

"Whew, so that's why!" Hagyi felt warmth and dampness in his palm. It had already been soaked in sweat.

Hearing that, he hurriedly explained, "We of Cloud Hidden were victims of that coup as well. Even Lord Second Raikage was killed by the Gold and Silver Brothers."

"Hmph! But those two were still Cloud Hidden people!" With that, Asuma stalked out with an unhappy expression. "Consider yourself lucky this time. I'll be back next time!"

Not enough cash—time to run!

Although Asuma had neither paid nor taken the beef, Hagyi was too busy feeling relieved to care. Naturally, he did not dare stir up any more trouble.

"Whew, it's finally over." Hagyi rubbed his wrist, his mouth twitching as he looked at the tableful of beef. "What I hate most are little brats, especially little brats from Leaf Village!"

After they had walked some distance away from the shop, Asuma whispered excitedly, "That guy definitely has a problem."

Soseki nodded. "And it's a big one!"

"Then what do we do next...?"

"Leave the rest to the adults."

Asuma's excited expression stiffened, then he chuckled. "For something this uncertain, maybe we shouldn't trouble other people?"

Soseki appropriately revealed a trace of surprise. "You want to track them by yourself?"

"No, aren't you coming too?"

"No, that's too dangerous!"

"It won't be dangerous." Asuma was rarely serious. "Leaf Village is protected by a barrier. If powerful outside ninja enter, the old man and the others will receive word immediately. So the people involved can at most be the ninja escorting the merchant caravan."

"That's still dangerous. After all, we aren't even ninja."

"Ninja cannot all be lumped together." Asuma spoke disdainfully. "For geniuses like us, dealing with ordinary genin is far too easy. Besides, Cloud Hidden surely would not be willing to send their village's geniuses on such a dangerous mission."

"What if they have chunin?"

"If they're chunin, even if we can't beat them, we should still be able to protect ourselves. Besides, this is Leaf Village. If they realize they can't capture us immediately, they'll definitely give up."

Seeing that Soseki was still hesitating, Asuma added, "What if they act tonight? Then it'll be too late to notify anyone."

Only then did Soseki nod with a "grave" expression. "All right. But if they don't act tonight, we must notify the village tomorrow."

Seeing that he had convinced Soseki, Asuma pumped his fist excitedly. "Great! The counterespionage squad is ready for action!"

Soseki sighed softly, seemingly apologetic for his recklessness, though a strange gleam flashed through his eyes. After all, we'll be dealing with a sensitive target this time, so I can only trouble you to take the blame for me, Asuma.

PS: (Some readers may think these names are strange, but Samui from Cloud Hidden is pronounced like the Japanese word for cold, and Omoi is pronounced like the Japanese word for heavy. I'll just casually use the Japanese pronunciation for fast here.)

Thanks to Magical Idiot and Interesting Soul for the 5,000 donation, Sanyu Wumengsheng for the 2,000 donation, Reader 20190819230018490 for the 500 donation, Dark Little Chili for the 500 donation, Visitor from the World of Wuxia for the 200 donation, Sky and Mortal Dust for the 200 donation, Qiyue Youzi for the 200 donation, Everything Is Floating Clouds Piaopiao for the 200 donation, and Only Me Brother Tao for the 100 donation.