Two figures, their bodies completely concealed beneath cloaks and conical hats, were walking across a reddish-brown wasteland. They were heading west, with the Land of Rain and its lush jungles already left far behind.
Although the two moved at an unhurried pace, their strides and rhythm perfectly ordinary, for some reason they were traveling far faster than one would expect.
"This time, I heard our target is some big-name figure..."
Deeply concealing his true purpose of probing for information, one of them spoke in a casual tone. Though the two were teammates with the same mission and synchronized movements, they maintained an extreme distrust of each other.
"A big-name figure? Hearing that from someone like you feels like sarcasm," the other said.
His tone was cold, but he still answered the other man's question. This showed that he still "respected" his companion to some extent.
"A person's fame and strength aren't necessarily proportional. For example, before coming to the Land of Rain, I'd never heard of someone like you."
"Everyone has a different personality and way of doing things. Someone like you, who has lived through countless wars and never stopped fighting for your ninja village, is precisely the kind of person I understand the least... You aren't one of those brainwashed youngsters, are you?"
Faced with this slightly contemptuous accusation, the first man merely smiled without offering a rebuttal.
"I'd like to know what an elder like you, someone who survived from the Warring States era into the era of ninja villages, is actually pursuing."
"A very good question, and one that's very easy to answer... Simply put, wealth—or, more bluntly, money."
"..."
He felt he had been too polite when asking the question. Why had he used the neutral term "survived"? He should have followed his true feelings