The drunken old man, Tazuna, saw the man who had appeared out of nowhere walk straight up to him and immediately snapped to his senses, shuddering violently. Age brought wisdom, and Tazuna's years had not been wasted. From experience, he knew full well-
Judging by the way this man had appeared and the respect everyone showed him, he was definitely not someone to be trifled with. And now that he had come straight up to Tazuna, he was clearly here for him. Tazuna could no longer pretend to be drunk, and his expression turned grim.
Shin Uchiha walked up to Tazuna and looked at the old man, who was still playing dumb. He said nothing, merely standing before him with a smile. But only Tazuna, facing him directly, could clearly see that there was not a trace of amusement in his eyes. Instead, they were filled with coldness.
Tazuna waited a while. Seeing that the man before him remained silent, he could only ask cautiously:
"My lord, is there something you need?"
Shin Uchiha flicked his fingers and looked at Tazuna, speaking with pointed significance:
"Nothing much. I simply received some interesting intelligence. It said that the Land of Waves has fallen under the control of the wealthy merchant Gato. Then I heard you were from the Land of Waves, so I became a little curious."
"I wonder whether you hired our Konoha ninja simply to escort you home, or to have them risk their lives fighting Gato."
Shin Uchiha looked at Tazuna's grim expression and continued:
"I just wonder whether you know that missions ranked C and below in our village are generally handled by Genin and Chunin, whose strength is limited.
"And if a wealthy merchant like Gato hires ninja, they will be at least Jōnin. For someone