Hidden Endurance!

"Son of the Hokage!" The shop owner's pupils contracted violently. He pondered the truth of the other party's words, while maintaining an expression of honor on his face, "To think you are the Hokage's son, I apologize for my previous rudeness."

"Although this guy was a bit strange earlier, it's normal for him to be stunned after hearing my illustrious name. I'll proceed as planned!" Asuma nodded smugly, letting out a grunt from his nostrils.

"Is this the kind of person the Hokage's son is?" Although he was suspicious, he didn't dare to test it and took the initiative to defend himself, "I am Hagyi, a merchant from the Land of Lightning. This is my first time in Konoha, and I was unaware of your identities. I sincerely apologize."

"I don't care where you're from!" Asuma waved his hand impatiently, "I'm here mainly for the second-year Class Leader election. I plan to buy some fresh, top-quality beef from you to bribe my classmates."

"Even five or six-year-old children know about bribing classmates. Has Konoha really become this corrupt?" Hagyi thought with disdain, but still asked with a cheerful smile, "How much beef do you intend to buy?"

"No rush, let me take a look first." Asuma put on an air of being an expert.

Hagyi chuckled inwardly and followed behind the other party as if watching a show.

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

Hagyi's composure was starting to crack. That brat with his nose in the air was still there, picking and choosing.

"Damn it, I have operations tonight!" Hagyi yelled inwardly in frustration. He took a deep breath and forced a "happy" smile, "Perhaps the Hokage is already preparing dinner. Why don't you come back tomorrow to pick?"

Asuma shot him a glare, "Idiot, by tomorrow I'll have already been chosen as Class Leader. What use would this beef be then?"

Hagyi roared inwardly, How would I know when you elementary schoolers hold your elections!

Finally, after another half hour of dawdling, Asuma patted a piece of beef with a look of disdain, "This piece will do."

Hagyi almost wept with joy. Finally, he could get rid of this troublesome little demon.

As if worried Asuma might change his mind, Hagyi quickly said, "I'll wrap it up for you right away."

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

Hagyi froze, "Ha, haha, it's me who's being impatient."

Asuma nodded with satisfaction, speaking in an old-fashioned manner, "Cut me ten pounds of lean meat. Not a speck of fat, understand?"

Hagyi felt a slight sense of relief. Thank goodness.

After a display of sharp knife skills, Hagyi happily wrapped the meat, "Then I'll now..."

"It's not over yet. I want another ten pounds of fatty meat. Not a speck of lean meat, understand?"

A surge of anger welled up in Hagyi's chest, nearly making him draw his knife and attack.

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

Taking a deep breath, Hagyi forced a smile, "Alright, I'll cut it now."

Hearing those words filled with hardship, even Soseki, who was watching from the side, was almost "moved."

After another round of fussing.

Seeing the moon had already climbed onto the chopping board, Hagyi shed silent tears, "It's finally done!"

When Hagyi handed over the wrapped fatty meat, seeing the numb look in his eyes, Asuma almost couldn't bear to continue, and then—

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

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

However, the moment he lowered his head to debone the meat, killing intent surged in his eyes, and the hand holding the cleaver bulged with veins.

Have I been exposed? No, if I had been exposed, they wouldn't have sent two brats. I need to endure a bit longer. At least, I can't be the one to expose myself.

Endure!

What followed was another long period of silence.

Finally, the bones were also prepared.

"Do you two young guests have any other requests?" Hagyi bent down, appearing very fawning, but in reality, he was like a leopard staring at its prey, fully prepared to make a move.

But at that moment, Asuma's low grumble came from in front of him.

"He's not even getting angry at this. How disappointing. Aren't people from your Cloud Village supposed to have fiery tempers?"

Hagyi was startled, catching a different nuance in the words.

Before he could figure anything out, Asuma continued, "Hmph! The Second Hokage died at the hands of your Cloud Village! I will avenge this!"

"Phew, so it was because of this!" Hagyi felt his palms grow warm, already soaked in sweat.

Hearing this, he hurriedly explained, "Our Cloud Village was also a victim of that coup. Even Lord Second Raikage was killed by the Gold and Silver Brothers."

"Hmph! But those two were always people of your Cloud Village!" Asuma said, then walked out with a displeased expression, "You're lucky this time. I'll be back!"

Not enough cash, so he made a quick getaway!

Although Asuma didn't pay and didn't take the beef, Hagyi was too relieved to care and didn't dare to cause further trouble.

"Phew, it's finally over." Hagyi rubbed his wrist, looking at the table full of beef, his mouth twitching, "I hate brats the most, especially Konoha brats!"

After walking a distance from the shop, Asuma exclaimed excitedly, "That guy definitely has something wrong with him."

Soseki nodded, "And it's a big something!"

"Then, what should we do next..."

"Let the adults handle it from here."

Asuma's excited expression faltered, then he chuckled, "Shouldn't we avoid bothering others with something so uncertain?"

Soseki, at the opportune moment, showed a hint of surprise, "You want to track them alone?"

"No, aren't you coming with me!"

"No, that's too dangerous!"

"It won't be dangerous," Asuma said, uncharacteristically serious. "Konoha has barrier protection. If any powerful outside ninja enter, the old man and the others will be notified immediately. So, the most we'll encounter are the ninja escorting the caravan."

"That's still very dangerous, considering we aren't even considered ninja."

"You can't lump all ninja together," Asuma said dismissively. "Genius types like us can easily deal with ordinary genin. Besides, the Cloud Village definitely wouldn't want to risk their own geniuses on such a dangerous mission."

"But what if they have Chunin?"

"If they have Chunin, even if we can't defeat them, we should be able to protect ourselves. And this is Konoha. If they realize they can't capture us immediately, they'll definitely give up."

Seeing Soseki still hesitant, Asuma added, "If they make their move tonight, it'll be too late to notify anyone now."

Upon hearing this, Soseki finally nodded with a "grave" expression, "Alright. But if they don't act tonight, we must notify the village tomorrow."

Seeing that Soseki had been persuaded, Asuma excitedly punched the air, "Great! The counter-espionage team is ready to move!"

Soseki let out a light sigh, as if apologizing for his recklessness, but a strange glint flashed in his eyes, "Since we'll be dealing with sensitive individuals this time, Asuma, I'll have to trouble you to take the blame for me."

PS: (Some readers might find the names a bit strange, but Samui from the Cloud Village is pronounced similarly to the Japanese word for 'cold,' and Omoi is pronounced similarly to the Japanese word for 'heavy.' I've just picked some random Japanese names with similar pronunciations.)

Thanks for the 5000 reward from Magical Two-Bit and Interesting Soul, 2000 from Sansan Wumeng Sheng, 500 from Book Friend 20190819230018490, 500 from Dark Little Pepper, 200 from Guest from the Wuxia World, 200 from Sky and Dust, 200 from Qiyue Youzi, 200 from Shenma Doushi Fuyou Piaopiao, and 100 from Weiwu Taoge.