After Genma Shiranui officially announced that Mai Shiranui had joined Genma Team, Kamizuki felt like his whole world had fallen apart.
Kamizuki stared at Genma Shiranui, looking deeply unhappy as he began to mutter. At first, his voice was so quiet that Genma, Mangetsu, and Mai couldn't hear a word, despite being trained ninja.
Eventually, they could make out what Kamizuki was saying—but hearing the words didn't mean they could understand them. He was muttering in the dialect of some place in China.
So what was Kamizuki going on about?
They heard him muttering:
"I was so happy to come meet the new team member, and why would you say something like this? I'm so blue... I'm so mushroom... This is my first time being so... mushroom... blue... Why would you shoot me like this?... I'm so blue... I'm so mushroom..."
The first time Kamizuki saw Mai Shiranui, he'd worried that she had crossed over from the world of King of Fighters to Naruto's world to steal his job.
Kamizuki already had to compete with Naruto, the protagonist of this world, for work, while also dealing with all the powerful people here. The pressure was bad enough as it was. Now Mai Shiranui had shown up, looking to steal his job too.
How could Kamizuki not feel blue... not feel like a mushroom...
But Kamizuki had one redeeming quality: he always remembered something he'd heard in his previous life. It went like this: "Life is like being raped. Since you can't resist, you might as well enjoy it."
So it didn't take long for him to return to normal. He stopped pretending to be all blue and mushroomy.
Watching Kamizuki go from acting as if he'd taken the wrong medicine to seeming normal again, Genma and the others felt that something was seriously off with him today.
After observing him for a while and seeing that he didn't slip back into that strange state, they finally relaxed.
Then Genma had Kamizuki and Mangetsu spar with Mai in turn, so they could get a basic understanding of their teammate's abilities.
After that, Genma took on several low-level B-rank missions to help the three of them build some teamwork.
For more than a week afterward, Genma assigned them the same sort of missions.
During their earlier mission to protect the Feudal Lord of the Land of Waves, Genma had noticed this weakness in the team. So this time, he wanted to focus on their coordination and teamwork.
After a week of simple missions, Kamizuki, Mangetsu, and Mai had greatly improved their teamwork and coordination.
Once their week of teamwork training was over, the new Genma Team, led by Genma Shiranui, accepted an A-rank mission.
The mission details were as follows:
An A-rank mission specially commissioned by the head of Santa Village in the Land of Fire for the Hidden Leaf Village.
At some point, a bandit had appeared in the mountains east of Santa Village. He robbed travelers passing through the area.
According to the villagers who had been robbed, the bandit was probably a ninja from some village, but his strength was unknown.
Honestly, the only powerful people in this world were ninja. When ordinary people heard that someone was a ninja, how could they even think of resisting, let alone find out how strong he was?
That was why the head of Santa Village was willing to pay a hefty sum to commission this A-rank mission from the Hidden Leaf Village.
After Genma briefly explained the mission to the three of them and analyzed the information, he realized he still knew too little. So he decided to take his three subordinates to Santa Village first. Oh, and there was also a little black dog.
After making a few preparations, the two men, two women, and one dog set off toward Santa Village.
As they walked, the two women held Adou, whose appearance was much like that of a cute pet, and teased and cuddled him.
Walking beside them, Kamizuki watched as the women passed Adou back and forth. Then he glanced at Mai Shiranui and Sakura Mangetsu, at the rise of their chests... and silently swallowed.
What on earth had Mai Shiranui eaten as a child? She was only fifteen or sixteen, so how could she have such a massive pair of weapons?
At that thought, Kamizuki's eyes drifted toward Genma Shiranui, who was walking at the back with a senbon in his mouth.
Kamizuki looked at Sakura Mangetsu again. Though her figure and chest couldn't compare to Mai Shiranui's, her overall proportions were clearly better than those of an average girl.
As Kamizuki compared Sakura Mangetsu and Mai Shiranui's figures, he suddenly noticed Adou, who was nestled in Mai Shiranui's arms.
With an extremely smug yet comfortable expression, Adou kept acting cute and snuggling against Mai.
To the two women, Adou's expression was simply adorable. But in Kamizuki's eyes, clouded by jealousy, that little face made him want to give the dog a good smack.
After walking for half a day, the four of them finally reached Santa Village, a small mountain village north of the Hidden Leaf Village.
Perhaps because it was so remote, the village felt dilapidated as soon as they entered.
Villagers wandered around in twos and threes. Some carried hoes, others hauled water, and two or three children played and chased one another through the village, bringing a little life to the quiet place.
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