Old Ninja

The grim atmosphere inside the clothing store hadn't improved with Minato Namikaze's arrival. If anything, it had grown even more oppressive.

The Chilling Killing Intent continued to rise, locking onto Minato Namikaze as well. He was also a target Pakura, the Scorching Release User, wanted to kill.

Minato was taken aback. This was his first time dealing with Pakura, and he truly couldn't understand why she wanted to kill him.

In the end, though, Pakura reined in her killing intent. After all, they were in Konoha, and she had no confidence in her ability to defeat and kill both of Konoha's young prodigies at once.

"Don't call me Miss Pakura. Just call me Pakura."

Pakura coldly corrected Minato's way of addressing her, seemingly taking offense at the feminine form of address.

"Uh, all right, Pakura... Ambassador Pakura."

Minato ultimately couldn't bring himself to call Pakura by her name alone. He was a very polite person.

Because of his politeness, he stepped between the two and took on the role of mediator, introducing them to each other.

"This is Uchiha Jiang Feng of Konoha—"

"No need to introduce him. Heavenly Flying Immortal Uchiha Jiang Feng. He defeated the Son of the Raikage in Tanzaku Town a few days ago and fought his way out of an encirclement by dozens of Jonin."

Pakura coldly cut Minato off. "In today's Ninja World, even the blind and deaf have surely heard his name and his exploits."

Minato suddenly understood. Indeed, Pakura had already been in Konoha for two days, and with the Hokage Office promoting Jiang Feng so heavily, introducing him was entirely unnecessary.

Minato turned to introduce Pakura instead. "This is Pakura, an envoy from Sunagakure, known as the Scorching Release User—"

"No need to introduce me."

Pakura interrupted Minato again. "He knows me. This isn't the first time we've met."

"You know each other?"

Jiang Feng smiled. "I took part in the Chunin Exam held in Sunagakure three years ago. Pakura was the chief examiner for one of the rounds."

Minato suddenly recalled what had happened three years ago.

After the Second Shinobi World War, Sunagakure had been severely weakened. Konoha, whose attempt to expand its influence had failed, also realized it couldn't keep taking advantage of others. Konoha already had the best geographical position; it didn't need to expand, and it certainly shouldn't.

In any case, for various reasons, both villages had recognized the importance of peace. To ease the tense atmosphere between them, the two villages had frequent exchanges.

For example, they held the Joint Chunin Exam.

The first Joint Chunin Exam between the two villages had been held in Sunagakure. Konoha had sent participants, and Jiang Feng had taken first place, making a name for himself.

Pakura was one of Sunagakure's top fighters. It made perfect sense that she had served as an examiner for one of the rounds and crossed paths with Jiang Feng.

"I should've killed you three years ago."

Pakura regretted it deeply. Her regret was written all over her face; anyone could see it.

She and Minato were the same age. By the time she had made a name for herself, Minato had also risen to prominence, making him a difficult target. But she'd had every opportunity to nip Jiang Feng in the bud.

"You regret it?"

"Of course I do."

"Too bad all you can do is regret it. Some things only come around once. Once you miss your chance, it's gone forever."

Pakura sneered. "Not necessarily. Sooner or later, I'll kill you, and that day won't be far off."

"Do you know what kind of plot I hate most when I'm reading novels?" Jiang Feng suddenly asked.

"What kind of plot?" Gold Medalist Straight Man Minato figured he was supposed to ask.

Jiang Feng explained, "I hate it when a villain provokes the protagonist, and the protagonist—unable to get revenge right away because he isn't strong enough or for some other reason—says something like, 'Letting him die now would be far too easy for him.'

"Some authors will even add an aside like, 'Years later, when the protagonist went to take revenge, the villain could never have imagined that the boy he once bullied would become his greatest threat.'

"Whenever I see something like that in a novel, I know the protagonist is probably in for more suffering, and the villain who bullied him will live for at least a few dozen more chapters."

If you've been bullied, just put up with it for now. What's the point of bragging about revenge you can't even get yet?

Even someone as dim as Pakura could tell Jiang Feng was mocking her empty threats, making her look like a fool instead.

"Hmph!"

Enraged and embarrassed, Pakura snorted. She left the three of them with a flawless, jade-white back—perfect for cupping—and vanished into the spring breeze, into the setting sun.

Minato glanced at Pakura's retreating figure, then at Konan. In the end, he couldn't help asking, "You and her three years ago... You know what I mean."

Given Jiang Feng's personal habits, Minato had every reason to suspect he'd done something to Pakura and then abandoned her.

"I'm impressed by your imagination. I was only thirteen three years ago, and she was already eighteen," Jiang Feng sighed.

A five- or six-year age gap could be huge, or it could be small. The younger you were, the larger the difference felt by comparison.

After a pause, Jiang Feng added, "Besides, I only like young, pretty women."

Minato began to wonder if Jiang Feng had something wrong with his taste. "She's both young and pretty."

"I'll tell Kushina you said that. The shopkeeper and Konan can both testify that you called Pakura young and pretty."

Konan nodded. She didn't know why she was nodding, either.

Perhaps it was because Minato had called another woman young and pretty right in front of her.

Minato's eyes suddenly widened. The Hokage had done him in, and now Jiang Feng was trying to do the same?

"Even if you tell Kushina, I won't deny it. Pakura is young and pretty!" Minato gritted his teeth.

"But she isn't a woman."

"She isn't?"

"She's a Ninja. A very pure, very old-school Sunagakure Ninja."

Minato suddenly understood why Pakura had shown killing intent toward both Jiang Feng and him. He was a clever man, after all.

Pure and old-school—in other words, she was thick-headed, lacking the wisdom to deal with people, and the kind of person who only knew how to cut people down and go for late-night runs.

Why did she want to kill Jiang Feng?

Because she was a Sunagakure Ninja, and Jiang Feng was a powerful Konoha Ninja.

Why did she want to kill Minato Namikaze?

Because she was a Sunagakure Ninja, and Minato Namikaze was also a powerful Konoha Ninja.

She stubbornly believed that Sunagakure and Konoha were completely at odds, after all. The two villages had fought until they were both battered and bloody in the Second Shinobi World War.

"She really is... a simple person," Minato said, racking his brains to come up with the word "simple."

Ordinary Ninjas might not know, but any Ninja with access to the leadership of Sunagakure and Konoha, and an understanding of the state of both villages, could see that relations between them had been rather delicate in recent years. The leaders on both sides wanted peace far more than war.

As one of Sunagakure's strongest young Ninjas, Pakura was surely in contact with the village's leadership and knew its decisions.

And yet she had still shown killing intent toward Jiang Feng and Minato. "Simple" was hardly enough to describe her political acumen.

"So why is she in Konoha?"

"Sunagakure invited Konoha to hold another Joint Chunin Exam. It'll be held in Sunagakure again, and Pakura is the envoy they sent."

"Her? An envoy? Has the Kazekage gone crazy?"

Jiang Feng was genuinely surprised for once. He simply couldn't connect the Pakura in his mind, whose only thought was killing people, with the word "envoy." Did she even have the brains for the job?

"Flowers bloom and fade, the sun rises and the moon sets. Those things are certain. No one knows what the Kazekage is thinking," Minato sighed.

When the Kazekage snapped his fingers or the Hokage made a move, Minato was the one who suffered. Working with someone like Pakura would make even him uncomfortable.