The Deadpan Actor-Kisame

"...That old geezer didn't lie to you."

Kisame suddenly spoke.

He still held a crumpled piece of paper with a few lines written on it.

It was something Shirozumi had handed him after he caught up just now.

Apparently... his lines?

At Kisame's words, everyone turned to look at him.

"We only took one ryo for the mission."

Kisame continued reciting his lines.

Fortunately, Kisame already had dead fish eyes and a flat voice, so he didn't need any emotion or acting skills.

"What?"

Tazuna and Kakashi's Team were both dumbfounded.

A bowl of ramen cost sixty ryo. What could you even do with one ryo? Buy a piece of candy?

Was this some kind of charity organization?

"Heh heh, old man, you have a daughter-in-law named Tsunami, right?"

Kisame smiled and continued.

"What?! Did you do something to Tsunami?"

Tazuna came to his senses, suddenly realizing what was going on. He asked with grief and indignation written all over his face.

"We didn't do anything. I can only say that Tsunami is... quite juicy."

As he spoke, Kisame even licked his lips.

"Waaah, we've had such a hard time!!"

This time, Tazuna really burst into tears.

"Old man, you also have a grandson named Inari, right?"

Kisame continued.

"What?! Inari? What happened to my precious grandson?!"

At that, Tazuna abruptly stopped wailing and stared wide-eyed.

Clearly, his daughter-in-law Tsunami wasn't what he cared about most.

After all, his son was dead, and his daughter-in-law had remarried.

But his grandson was his darling.

Had his grandson been kidnapped and sold?

"He's quite juicy too."

"Huh?"

"..."

"Waaah, my poor grandson!!!"

After hearing Kisame's answer, Tazuna was stunned and fell silent for a moment.

He took in Kisame's "perverted" appearance and decided that Kisame really did seem like the sort of person who would do something like that. Despair welled up in his heart, and he started wailing again.

At last, his cries were sincere.

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei, what does 'juicy' mean? And are those two really not enemies?"

Naruto walked over to Kakashi, scratching his head as he asked.

"It's not something you can understand yet. As for them... for now, it seems they aren't enemies. Otherwise, they've had countless chances to kill our mission target."

After explaining to Naruto, Kakashi walked over to Shirozumi and glanced at the old man wailing nearby. "Mr. Tazuna, please quiet down. If I'm not mistaken, those two were just joking with you."

Once things had quieted down, Kakashi asked Shirozumi, "What's the purpose of your appearance? Do you want us to abandon the mission and leave it to you two?"

"Huh? That won't do, Kakashi-sen—Mmph!"

Hearing that the high-level mission he'd finally been specially allowed to take might be taken away, Naruto panicked. He was just about to shout when Sasuke shoved a soldier pill into his mouth by throwing it with a shuriken.

"Your mission is simply to escort this old man to the Land of Waves, right?"

"...The mission details are confidential, but since you've asked, I can answer as the Jonin leading the team. That's right."

"Then it doesn't matter whether you abandon it or not. Our objectives don't conflict.

"But I can give you a friendly warning: one of your enemies this time is a member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen."

"...Thank you for the information. My subordinates and I will discuss it. Would you mind waiting a moment?"

After receiving confirmation, Kakashi led Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura to the side and began discussing the matter.

As for Tazuna, the mission target?

He was naturally left all alone.

Before discussing things with the three Genin, Kakashi had already analyzed the situation in his mind.

They'd said that one of their enemies this time would be a member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, and one of them was carrying a Ninja Blade.

That suggested they might have taken the mission specifically to deal with this "enemy."

That was the only way to explain why they'd accepted it for such a bizarre reward as "one ryo."

And their willingness to travel with them on the mission was probably so they could use the team to hold off any other ninja who might appear...

"Come on, Kakashi-sensei! We finally got a high-level mission. We can't give it up!

"Sasuke, Sakura, say something! Do you want to go back to pulling weeds and helping that fat lady find her cat?"

Naruto started shouting again while Kakashi was thinking.

At Naruto's outburst, the other three were at a loss for words.

Their decision to move aside and discuss things had instantly become pointless.

Fortunately, after spending some time together, they had begun to get used to one another's personalities.

"I agree with the dead last."

Sasuke glanced at Kisame and Shirozumi in the distance.

He carried the burden of revenge. Taking low-level missions was a waste of his life.

Naturally, he didn't want to give this one up.

"I-I agree too."

Sakura actually wanted to give up, but since Sasuke had decided not to, she could only grit her teeth and agree.

"Very well."

Kakashi nodded, then turned to look at Shirozumi and Kisame. "You two."

There was no need for him to say anything more.

Naruto had shouted so loudly that they hadn't kept their voices down either. Everyone had heard the result of their discussion.

"Kisame, use the Transformation Jutsu. You and Samehada are too conspicuous to the enemy."

Shirozumi nodded, then instructed Kisame.

Everyone set off again and continued on their way.

A day passed.

Kakashi was teaching the three Genin Water Walking on the river when a thick mist suddenly rose over the water.

Kakashi instinctively looked over at Shirozumi and Kisame, who were resting on the ground.

This wasn't those two's doing. There was another enemy!

"Be careful! We're under attack!"

Kakashi shouted to the three of them.

Shirozumi and Kisame still showed no sign of stepping in, so Kakashi had no choice but to face the enemy alone.

"The Mist Technique is Kirigakure's signature jutsu, right? Then how do you see your enemies?"

Shirozumi took a bite of his rations and asked Kisame.

"We can't. We rely on experience and training. If you sharpen one sense, such as hearing or smell, to the extreme, you can use the Mist Technique to assassinate enemies..."

"Then if you run into someone with the Byakugan, doesn't using the Mist Technique just help them out?"

"Uh... yes."

Kisame looked a little awkward.

"No wonder Kirigakure treats the one Byakugan they got like a treasure. But that Ao hasn't done much to develop his abilities. He can only use the Byakugan to gather information."

"Mm... so the one who came really is Zabuza."

"By the way, when you select members for the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, is the most important qualification whether their names include fruit?"

"..."

Shirozumi's question left Kisame speechless again.

And it seemed like that might really be the case.

Obviously, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen were selected based on relevant factors like seniority, talent, and strength.

An abstract, meaningless factor like whether someone's name included a fruit wouldn't be considered at all.

But then again, all their names really did include fruit.

It felt as though an invisible hand of fate were pulling the strings.

After chatting with Kisame for a while, the battle on the other side was drawing to a close.

Clang!

Just as Kakashi was about to finish off Zabuza, Kisame sprang into action. Samehada instantly cut apart the Kunai in Kakashi's hand.

Kisame's sudden move completely stunned the masked man loli, who had been hiding nearby and was about to use needles to seal Zabuza's points, making him appear dead and trick the others.