Two Lightweights, Conflict Begins

"Let's talk about it tonight."

Hearing Itachi's somewhat emotional words, Juzo spoke softly.

In his view, Itachi was simply overthinking things.

After all, he was an S-rank Rogue Ninja and one of the first Seven Ninja Swordsmen. He knew quite a few of Mist Village's secrets, yet wasn't he still alive and well?

Although he was already a Rogue Ninja, deep down, he never believed that Mist Village, one of the Five Great Villages, was weaker than Konoha Village...

As for the Itachi before him, his identity was even more interesting. Only he and his younger brother had survived from the Uchiha Clan.

They shared the same bloodline and bloodline limit as the legendary Uchiha Madara.

His younger brother was protected by Konoha, and no one dared make a move in Konoha.

Itachi Uchiha had thus drawn the attention of the entire ninja world. No one could resist studying such a bloodline with immense potential.

Juzo could already imagine how many people would come after him once Itachi's identity was exposed.

Thinking of this, Juzo looked at the conical hat Itachi had tossed aside and sighed inwardly.

"Fine, then I'll sleep for a while."

After hearing Juzo's words, Itachi lay down on the floor mat and closed his eyes to rest.

Seeing Itachi lie down, Juzo fell silent.

"Brat doesn't know the first thing about respecting the old or caring for the young..."

After a moment of silence, Juzo grumbled.

Then, feeling bored, he rummaged around in his clothes.

He pulled out a wooden carving that already had a rough outline.

Taking out a kunai, he began carving.

But after making a few cuts, he froze.

The figure in his memories had somehow become blurry.

There were too many details he could no longer remember clearly...

Time passed in the blink of an eye. Juzo looked speechlessly at the wooden carving, which he had only cut a few times all afternoon, then dejectedly tucked it back into his clothes.

He then opened the door and called for an attendant to order some food, planning to eat first and decide what to do that night afterward.

The sound of the door opening made the lightly sleeping Itachi open his eyes. He then silently sat up.

"The food will still take a while. Why are you already awake?"

Watching Itachi drink water, Juzo spoke softly.

"I'm not sleeping anymore. The commotion outside has died down quite a bit. By the time we finish eating, it should be about right."

After taking a sip of tea, Itachi set down his cup and spoke quietly.

Seeing Itachi turn serious, Juzo said nothing and merely paced around the room.

After kneeling in place all afternoon, his blood was not circulating well, and his legs had gone numb.

Although quite a few people were staying at the inn, it did not affect how quickly the dishes were served.

Before long, fragrant food was delivered to their room.

The two ate in silence, quite in the spirit of not talking while eating or sleeping.

The food was soon swept clean by the two of them.

Itachi habitually picked at his teeth.

That action left Juzo speechless.

"Brat, look at my mouthful of sharp teeth. They're so efficient. Look at you—you're not even thirteen yet, but food gets stuck between your teeth all the time. Eat less candy."

"..."

After the attendant cleared away the dishes, the two put on their conical hats and left the inn.

Night had fallen. With the shops along the street closed, the once-lively streets had grown quiet.

Only people heading out to drink or eat, people taking walks after dinner, and idle hooligans still wandered the streets.

"Together, or separately?"

When they reached a fork in the road, Juzo asked softly.

"Together. We're only getting a feel for the terrain right now, so there's no need to fuss over it."

Itachi responded calmly to Juzo's question.

"Fine."

After walking for a while, Itachi complained inwardly.

Their outfits were a little too eye-catching...

As a result, passersby kept looking at them with strange expressions.

But Itachi understood why.

Who would stupidly wear a conical hat in the middle of the night...

Even though there were streetlights at night, this outfit somehow stood out even more in the dark.

Several hours later, the two had roughly covered the entire small city, but Itachi still could not guess where the Rogue Ninja was hiding.

This kind of city was filled with all sorts of people, making it especially difficult to infer the other party's thoughts from a psychological perspective.

Still, it was not as though they had gained nothing.

Itachi had spotted quite a few people with the same goal as them.

If Kakuzu had been here, he would probably have been ecstatic.

Itachi had noticed that quite a few people were either wearing masks or using Transformation Technique under chakra disguises. Many of these shady figures were probably on the bounty lists as well.

With Kakuzu's sensitivity toward gold coins, he definitely would have made a considerable haul.

"Did you find anything?"

Back in their room, Juzo asked softly.

Itachi shook his head, indicating that he had no leads.

Seeing Itachi's response, Juzo gloomily removed his conical hat and hung it on a rack to the side. He then walked over to the floor mat and plopped down.

Watching Juzo, Itachi felt helpless.

Juzo was not actually stupid. He was not like certain people whose whole body, forehead included, was made of muscle.

He was simply too lazy to think.

"Rest for a while. There might be a good show tonight."

After thinking for a moment, Itachi spoke softly.

"Let's hope so."

Juzo took a sip of tea and found it dull. He pulled out a jar of liquor from a sealing scroll, took a clean cup, poured himself a drink, happily took a sip, and replied.

It was clear that Juzo's gloom came quickly and went quickly...

Seeing this, Itachi skillfully sat across from Juzo, picked up a cup, filled it for himself, and started drinking as well...

"Your alcohol tolerance is terrible. Don't drink too much, or you'll hold us up when it matters."

Seeing Itachi pour himself a large cup, Juzo's heart ached, feeling that fine liquor was being wasted. He hurriedly drained his own cup, then refilled the teacup before smoothly stowing the liquor jar back into the sealing scroll...

"..."

Itachi's face darkened as he watched the scene.

He was thoroughly shocked.

So this is the kind of person you are, Juzo...

Juzo acted as if he had not seen Itachi's scrutinizing gaze. He merely stared quietly at the contents of his cup, lamenting that it would be nice to have some drinking snacks.

After spending time with Itachi, the honest Juzo had learned a few tricks of his own.

"Knock, knock, knock."

Just as the liquor in both their cups had been drained, with Juzo's expression unchanged while Itachi's face was flushed and his gaze slightly unfocused,

there came a knock at the door.

"Who is it?"

Looking at the slightly tipsy Itachi, Juzo made no move to get up and merely called toward the door.

"Your benefactor..."

After a long silence, the person outside gave an amusing answer.

"..."

The answer from outside left Juzo unsure how to respond for a moment.

Meanwhile, Itachi's previously unfocused eyes became clear.

"Call me Dad, and Dad will open the door for you..."

Itachi's astonishing words left Juzo dumbfounded. He had seen that Itachi wanted to speak and had been curious what the suddenly clear-eyed Itachi would say.

He had not expected Itachi to suddenly say something that left him completely bewildered.

So Itachi, with his poor alcohol tolerance, had still drunk too much after all...

Juzo was not the only one bewildered. So was the bounty hunter outside, who had his own schemes in mind.

Seeing that many people had come this time, he had planned to play dirty and persuade the other bounty hunters to find the prey together first, sticking together for safety.

Since it involved a Rogue Ninja from a major village like Konoha, he worried that people from Konoha and the other major villages might come as well. Then they might end up empty-handed. That was why he had suddenly come up with this plan.

Itachi and Juzo's strange attire, along with the chakra fluctuations in their bodies, had told him that they were not easy opponents. That was why he had come at night.

But he had not expected the people inside to refuse to play by the rules, leaving him caught between advancing and retreating.

Would calling him Dad be too embarrassing? Judging by his tone, the word "Dad" clearly did not sound like anything good...

After thinking about it, the bounty hunter outside angrily berated himself for having such thoughts, then left awkwardly...

"What does 'Dad' mean?"

After the person outside left, Juzo stared blankly at Itachi and asked.

Itachi shot Juzo an annoyed look.

"It means father... Read more books when you have time..."

Just as Juzo was growing bored and Itachi was beginning to feel sleepy,

a powerful chakra fluctuation erupted not far away.

The two instantly sobered up, stood, grabbed their conical hats, and put them on. With a flash, they left the inn through the window, looking incredibly cool.

As for why they did not use the door, neither of them could probably explain it.

Only after reaching the rooftops did they realize that more people had come this time than they had expected.

The chakra fluctuation was like an explosion that drew out all the fish...

Everyone rushed toward the source of the chakra fluctuation.

The two sat atop a roof, watching the two figures fighting below.

Itachi felt a little regretful. If only he had some sunflower seeds right now.

"When do we make our move?"

Seeing one of the fighters easily smash apart the ground, Juzo compared him with the description and realized that he was their target, Yamamoto Jisi. He then leaned close to Itachi's ear and spoke softly.

"It seems the people's strength is quite formidable. The target surfaced so quickly..."

In response to Juzo's words, Itachi sighed softly without answering directly.

"You think you can snatch the kill from so many people and retreat unscathed?"

Noticing that Juzo was getting impatient and preparing to ask again, Itachi responded with a question.

"They're all small fry. Let's activate Plan A and each fight our own battle. We'll sweep them all aside in one go."

Itachi's question made Juzo feel as if his strength was being doubted, and he replied unhappily.

Well, it seemed Itachi was not the only one who had gotten drunk. Juzo was getting carried away too.