After leaving the clan grounds, Kazama Kaguya soon arrived at the agreed meeting place.
It was a ramen shop tucked away in a quiet area.
The moment he stepped inside, Kazama Kaguya spotted a man with a shark-like face sitting coldly in the corner, radiating an aura that warned others to keep their distance.
"Teacher Kisame, long time no see."
"Kazama Kaguya, I thought you'd retired."
Inside the ramen shop, Kisame Hoshigaki scrutinized the sickly-looking boy before him.
As he spoke, his sharp shark teeth showed faintly. The crushing pressure of an elite Jonin bore down on Kazama Kaguya, bringing back memories of their first meeting after he'd opened his eyes in this world.
After a brief silence, Kazama Kaguya calmly replied, "That's right. I have you to thank for it, Teacher Kisame. If not for the psychological trauma your decision to destroy your comrades to protect intelligence caused me, I wouldn't have retired. I might have been killed long ago on a mission to persecute bloodline clans."
"The incompetence of the weak."
Kisame Hoshigaki gave a derisive laugh. "As a ninja, if you can't even protect intelligence, there's no reason for you to stay alive."
So that's why you died! Kazama Kaguya grumbled inwardly, but on his face, he wore an expression of admiration.
"Teacher Kisame is as dedicated as ever."
He liked Kisame Hoshigaki's attitude.
Cold, professional, and steadfast in his principles.
Conviction was an anchor, a foothold that gave one's existence stability. It was a virtue, but it could also be a weakness others exploited.
And Kisame's greatest strength and weakness was his determination to protect intelligence.
He sat down opposite Kisame. After holding his gaze for a moment, he said calmly:
"But, Teacher Kisame, what if the intelligence you've worked so hard to protect—and the village's interests—have long since become playthings for others to trample at will?"
"Hm?"
Kisame Hoshigaki narrowed his eyes and furrowed his brow as he studied Kazama Kaguya.
His skin was deathly pale, and he was so thin he looked as if he could die at any moment.
Unlike the terrified boy who'd screamed when they first met, the person sitting before him now was nearly dead, yet more mature. He seemed to genuinely possess some kind of secret intelligence.
That air of confidence couldn't be faked.
"Go on. What exactly did you want to talk about when you asked me here?"
He'd already searched the area around the ramen shop when he arrived. No one was watching them.
At that, Kazama Kaguya's lips curled into a smile. He immediately unleashed another secret art, Talk no Jutsu: Strike Weakness Technique, and said, "Teacher Kisame, obtaining and protecting intelligence has never come without a price. You're the one who taught me that."
"..."
Kisame Hoshigaki's shark-like face twitched. After a moment's silence, he said, "You retired, and you've grown."
Seeing Kisame sit there, waiting for him to name his price, Kazama Kaguya breathed a quiet sigh of relief. Then he pulled a scroll from inside his clothes.
"Teacher Kisame, this is one piece of intelligence I've acquired. I guarantee it's one hundred percent accurate."
Kazama Kaguya pushed the scroll toward him. "The price for obtaining it is recorded inside, too."
"You sound confident."
Kisame Hoshigaki furrowed his brow even more. He couldn't understand what a retired, weak Genin—a sickly wretch on the verge of death—could possibly be relying on to talk so freely today.
Just as he firmly believed, obtaining and protecting intelligence never came without a price.
Someone frightened out of their wits by the cruelty of the Ninja World had no right to possess high-level intelligence.
"Read it, and you'll see, Teacher Kisame."
As he spoke, Kazama Kaguya ordered a bowl of Tonkotsu Ramen and gestured for Kisame Hoshigaki to look over the scroll.
Kisame Hoshigaki stared at the scroll in his hands, then glanced at Kazama Kaguya's unruffled expression. His face grew colder still.
But out of professional duty as a member of the Intelligence Protection Force, he opened the scroll.
It was small, just over a palm's width, and there wasn't much writing on it. Yet what it said made Kisame Hoshigaki's pupils contract. He was struck speechless with shock.
"Impossible!"
His first reaction was to reject the intelligence as false.
What was written there was simply too hard to believe.
"Teacher Kisame, nothing is impossible."
Kazama Kaguya replied calmly, "After all, this is the Ninja World. Even if the Sage of Six Paths came back to life tomorrow, I'd think that was perfectly normal."
"..." Kisame Hoshigaki froze.
After a moment's silence, he asked in a hushed voice, "Can you guarantee this intelligence is accurate?"
"One hundred percent."
With his otherworldly perspective as a transmigrator, Kazama Kaguya knew his intelligence was accurate.
He pointed to the words at the end of the scroll. "So, Teacher Kisame, what do you think of the price?"
After reading the price for the intelligence, Kisame Hoshigaki asked in confusion, "No restrictions on my freedom, and I protect you for three months? Is someone trying to assassinate you?"
His first thought was that the higher-ups were about to make a move against the Kaguya Clan. Otherwise, Kazama Kaguya wouldn't have made such a request.
He hesitated.
The intelligence was valuable, but getting involved in a power struggle between the village's leadership and a bloodline clan was dangerous. One careless step, and he could end up dead without a trace.
Kazama Kaguya naturally saw what Kisame Hoshigaki was thinking. He said calmly, "Don't worry, Teacher Kisame. I won't drag you into a power struggle."
That was the honest truth!
Once the Kaguya Clan was wiped out, there wouldn't be any power struggle left.
All that remained would be a rogue ninja who wanted to survive.
Kisame Hoshigaki breathed a sigh of relief. "If that's the case, then your intelligence is worth the price."
Hearing that, Kazama Kaguya felt as if a weight had been lifted from his chest. He immediately bowed to Kisame Hoshigaki.
"Then I'll be counting on you, Teacher Kisame. As for when you'll fulfill your end of the deal, start the next time you hear intelligence related to me."
He'd said everything he needed to. There was no point staying any longer. Kazama Kaguya got up to leave, taking the Tonkotsu Ramen he'd just ordered with him and putting it on Kisame's tab.
Step by step, he walked out the door. Looking at the thick fog blanketing Kirigakure, he muttered in a voice just loud enough for Kisame Hoshigaki to hear:
"I hate foggy weather. If I ever get the chance, I'd love to visit Konoha in the Land of Fire. I hear the climate there is pleasant. What a shame..."
His muttering gradually faded into the fog, like an offhand complaint.
Kisame Hoshigaki sat quietly in the corner, idly turning the scroll over in his hands. His shark-like eyes silently watched Kazama Kaguya walk away, and his mouth split into a grin as he spoke in a rasping voice.
"Heh. Kazama Kaguya, you're interesting. Karatachi Yagura, Fourth Generation... are you really still yourself?"
Kazama Kaguya left the ramen shop. Only when the cold, fog-laden wind blew against him did he realize his back was already soaked with sweat.
"The pressure was intense. No wonder he could go toe-to-toe with Emperor Kai."
Kazama Kaguya had a fair amount of admiration for Kisame Hoshigaki.
He was a true ninja.
He kept his word and lived by his principles.
In the end, to protect the Akatsuki Organization's intelligence, he'd even taken his own life. His dedication to holding fast to his beliefs was truly worthy of respect.
That was exactly what Kazama Kaguya had counted on when he came up with this plan.
If it worked, escaping Kirigakure would be manageable.
Talk no Jutsu: Strike Weakness Technique really was powerful. Striking at another person's weakness could bring him considerable gains.
Though there'd definitely be a fierce backlash later for setting someone up, he was going to die anyway. Why worry about all that? He just had to get through the biggest obstacle first.
As for failure, that wasn't going to happen.
Kazama Kaguya trusted Kisame Hoshigaki's character, and he believed in the power of Talk no Jutsu.
After all, it was the culmination of ninja wisdom, a secret art used by countless powerful figures since the Sage of Six Paths.
"'See your true self'? You're something else, Teacher Kisame. I hope we can talk this calmly again the next time we meet."
The pit was dug, the man had fallen into it, and he'd given him the hint he needed.
Kazama Kaguya waved toward the ramen shop in the distance, then returned to the clan grounds.
He'd barely stepped through the torii gate when one of the guards called out to him. "Hey, you sickly wretch. If you're still alive tonight, attend the meeting at midnight."
Kazama Kaguya stared at the clan member with lifeless eyes and replied expressionlessly, "Got it."
There was no point getting angry with someone who was about to die.
Kazama Kaguya knew that tonight's meeting would almost certainly be about planning the rebellion.
When he returned to his quarters, he carefully tied the prepared Summoning Storage Scroll to his body. Then he took out a map and went over the escape route again, setting his destination as Konoha.
By nightfall, Kazama Kaguya entered the meeting hall.
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