A Bet with Nawaki

In a remote corner of the Land of Fire's metropolis.

"Nawaki-senpai, how about we make a bet?"

Natsuki suddenly asked.

"What kind of bet?"

Nawaki was slightly taken aback and asked in confusion, "Why are you copying my sister?"

"If we charge in head-on, the two of us might not be able to beat Yasuda."

Natsuki took out a small glass bottle and asked, "I've prepared poison. What have you prepared?"

"I prepared poison too."

Nawaki came to his senses and said, "I'm the senior, so I won't compete with you over that. I can set up traps."

"I'll poison him, and you'll set up traps. We'll bet on whose arrangement works."

Natsuki said after hearing that.

"Great!"

Nawaki said confidently, "I'll definitely win!"

"That's not certain."

Natsuki smiled and said, "Let's start now, before Yasuda comes back."

After traveling for a day and a night, they arrived at the Land of Fire's metropolis.

Once they arrived, Orochimaru gave them an address and washed his hands of the matter.

Following the address, Natsuki and Nawaki found Yasuda's residence.

Yasuda happened to be away at the time.

The two exchanged a glance and climbed over the wall into the courtyard.

Nawaki looked around and began setting traps in the living room.

Natsuki had originally planned to poison the water Yasuda drank, but he changed his mind.

He was worried Yasuda might trigger Nawaki's traps before drinking any water.

After thinking for a moment, he switched to a different poison.

The previous poison had to be ingested, but this one spread through the air and entered the body through breathing.

After finishing their preparations, the two swiftly fled the scene.

"I suddenly remembered something."

While they waited, Nawaki said, "We still haven't decided on the stakes for our bet."

"What do you want?"

Natsuki asked.

"Hehe."

Without hesitation, Nawaki said, "Let me eat ten meals for free."

That was it?

Natsuki could not help but laugh and agreed.

Even without this bet, Tsunade and Nawaki often went to his Izakaya to mooch free meals.

"What about you?"

Nawaki said generously, "As long as it isn't something too outrageous, I can get it for you."

"A wager should involve an equivalent exchange."

After thinking for a moment, Natsuki said, "Then help me find a Summoning Beast."

"Why do you need so many Summoning Beasts?"

Nawaki asked curiously.

"Every Summoning Beast has different abilities. They'll come in handy someday."

Natsuki explained.

"Is that so?"

Nawaki nodded and said, "Fine. If you win, I'll find you a Summoning Beast."

With his status, finding a Summoning Beast was an extremely simple matter.

Theoretically, he could even mobilize the resources of all Konoha.

Just then, Nawaki's Ninja Dog, Saburo, began wagging his tail furiously.

The two immediately stopped talking, because it was the signal that Yasuda had returned.

They exchanged a glance and waited nervously for the traps they had set to activate.

Yasuda opened the door and entered the courtyard.

He reached the entrance and was about to open the door when his gaze suddenly sharpened.

As a Special Jonin of Iwagakure and an intelligence agent, he was highly skilled in both assassination and counter-assassination.

Before leaving home, he had scattered some tiny grains of powder on the ground.

If the door had been opened, faint traces would be left on the floor.

Yasuda glanced at the traces and silently formed hand seals.

His sensory ability spread outward.

The situation inside the living room was completely grasped by him.

"They've already left? They may have left traps behind."

Yasuda took a step back and opened the door from a distance.

But nothing happened.

Yasuda entered the living room and carefully inspected his surroundings, quickly discovering the problem.

He walked to the sofa and pulled out three Explosive Tags from beneath it.

Yasuda then went to the window and found an Explosive Tag beneath a potted plant.

Besides that, he found several Kunai in the corners on both sides of the living room.

After making a full round, all four of Nawaki's traps had been dismantled.

"Chunin-level methods."

Yasuda shook his head.

He did not waste any more time. He began packing his things, intending to leave.

Though he did not know who had discovered him, as an intelligence agent, he had to relocate once exposed.

"Something's wrong!"

Yasuda suddenly felt dizzy and lightheaded. "Damn it, poison!"

Without another word, he took out a bottle of general antidote and poured it into his mouth.

The discomfort eased considerably, but it remained. That meant he needed to find a specialized medical Ninja or a Physician.

Yasuda immediately abandoned his packing and turned to leave.

The moment he stepped outside, he saw a massive water dragon rushing straight at him.

It was Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!

Yasuda had been prepared.

The instant he saw the water dragon, his body flickered as he dashed left at top speed.

Boom!

The water dragon slammed into Yasuda's living room, causing the house to shake violently.

Seeing this, Yasuda could not help but breathe a sigh of relief.

He immediately locked onto Nawaki.

Where had this child come from?

The thought flashed through Yasuda's mind, but his hands did not slow.

Demonic Illusion: Hellfire Technique!

Nawaki, who had been forming hand seals, instantly froze in place, feeling as though flames were burning all over his body.

Seeing that his Genjutsu had worked, Yasuda's lips curled upward.

But in the next second, a chill ran through his entire body.

He instinctively turned around and saw a flash of blade light.

A stunned expression appeared on Yasuda's face.

He looked down and saw a sword piercing through his body.

One Sword Style: Iai: Lion Song was already incredibly fast, not to mention that it had been enhanced by Cast-Weight Magic: Gravity Reduction and Reinforcement Magic.

On top of that, Yasuda had been poisoned, making his reactions somewhat slower than usual.

Of course, most importantly, Natsuki had used Nawaki as bait to draw Yasuda's attention, allowing him to kill with a single strike.

"His Genjutsu is really powerful."

Nawaki dispelled the Genjutsu and said with a pale face.

It had taken him three seconds to break free of the Genjutsu.

In a one-on-one battle, three seconds would have been enough for him to die three times over.

"We're still young. It's normal that we're no match for him."

Natsuki stepped back and withdrew the Sword of the Thunder God.

"But he still died by our hands!"

Nawaki quickly recovered his spirits and said with a broad grin.

Two Ninja Academy students had killed a Special Jonin. No one would probably believe it if word got out.

Natsuki smiled but said nothing.

As long as he killed two more Chunin, he could unlock Shadow Assassin from the Megumi Fushiguro Template.

Yasuda's death had also brought the progress of the Three-Fox Demon Technique from the Shippo Template to two-thirds.

"All four of my traps were destroyed by Yasuda. Looks like you won the bet."

After entering the living room, Nawaki found that none of his traps had been triggered.

"Even if you lost, you can still eat ten meals for free."

Natsuki said casually.

"That's true, but I can afford to lose."

Nawaki clenched his fists and said, "When we get back, I'll definitely have Sensei teach me properly how to set traps."

"I suggest you specialize in Explosive Tag traps."

Natsuki's eyes flickered as he said, "Most traps are useless against powerful Ninja, but Explosive Tag traps are an exception."

An Explosive Tag was essentially a Fire Release Ninjutsu.

If a Ninja was hit by an Explosive Tag, they would either die or suffer severe injuries.

But Explosive Tag traps were not common.

The reason was that Explosive Tags were too expensive.

In the original story, even Nara Shikamaru had to carefully budget when buying Explosive Tags and did not dare buy too many.

But Nawaki did not lack money.

More importantly, in the original story, he had died in an Explosive Tag trap.

If he could specialize in Explosive Tag traps, perhaps he could avoid that fate.