Zhang Yu narrowed his eyes.
Threatening the other group members, too?
How could he let that slide?
With a thought, he opened the group management panel.
[Group owner Zhang Yu has muted Madara Uchiha for five minutes.] The group fell silent for a moment. Then Hashirama's messages immediately popped up. [Hashirama Senju: Wise decision, boss!] [Uchiha Izuna: ...]
Zhang Yu tapped the table.
[Zhang Yu: Five minutes.] [Zhang Yu: Hashirama, hurry up and tell us.]
Only then did Hashirama seem to breathe a sigh of relief and quickly explain.
[Hashirama Senju: We're on the road to the Land of Waves.] [Hashirama Senju: It was too hot, so Madara let his hair down.] [Hashirama Senju: Then... there were two Kirigakure ninja lying in wait by the road.] [Hashirama Senju: They mistook Madara for a woman.]
Zhang Yu froze.
Then he burst out laughing.
He looked at the group messages and struggled to contain himself as he read on.
[Hashirama Senju: They even talked about him in private.] [Hashirama Senju: They said Madara was beautiful, tall, and had a cold air about him.] [Hashirama Senju: They also said they wanted another look, if only he didn't look so scary from behind.]
Zhang Yu finally couldn't hold it in.
"Pfft."
Tobirama looked up.
"Boss?"
Izuna had already fallen silent.
In the group, Hashirama continued.
[Hashirama Senju: When Madara heard them, he nearly activated Susanoo on the spot.] [Hashirama Senju: Kakashi and I both had to hold him back to stop him from killing them right there.]
Zhang Yu covered his forehead, his shoulders shaking.
Madara Uchiha.
The Asura of the Ninja World.
Mistaken for a woman by Kirigakure grunts.
And teased for being beautiful.
Those two Kirigakure ninja really had guts.
Five minutes passed quickly.
The moment Madara's mute expired, his messages popped up.
[Madara Uchiha: Zhang Yu.] [Madara Uchiha: How dare you mute me.] [Madara Uchiha: Those two Kirigakure ninja have to die.]
Zhang Yu replied immediately.
[Zhang Yu: Calm down.] [Zhang Yu: I'll reward you with an extra bottle of vodka when you get back.]
The group fell quiet for a moment.
Then Madara's reply came noticeably slower.
[Madara Uchiha: Two bottles.]
Zhang Yu's mouth twitched.
[Zhang Yu: One bottle.] [Madara Uchiha: Deal.]
Hashirama replied in an instant.
[Hashirama Senju: Boss, I helped hold him back too.] [Zhang Yu: You'll get one too.] [Hashirama Senju: Great!]
Izuna followed with a message of his own.
[Uchiha Izuna: Brother, you've been wronged.]
Tobirama suddenly chimed in.
[Tobirama Senju: Brother, don't use this as an excuse to get more liquor.]
Hashirama went quiet.
Zhang Yu smiled and shook his head, then activated the third-person viewing perspective on Madara.
The scene quickly appeared.
On a forest path in the Land of Waves, Team 7 and the others had stopped by the roadside.
Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke stood at the back, each wearing a stranger expression than the last.
Tazuna huddled to the side, not daring to make a sound.
Kakashi stood in front, a little sweat on his forehead.
Hashirama stood beside Madara, one hand on his shoulder, his smile already close to slipping.
Madara's long black hair hung loose, and his expression was frighteningly cold.
He stared fixedly at the two Kirigakure ninja behind a tree not far away.
The two had frozen stiff.
They clearly hadn't expected that a few quiet remarks would be heard so clearly.
Still less had they expected the long-haired man they had mistaken for a woman from behind to give off such terrifying killing intent.
Madara spoke slowly, enunciating each word.
"Kirigakure."
"Very good."
Hashirama hurriedly tried to persuade him. "Madara, calm down."
Kakashi raised a hand with a wry smile.
"These two really couldn't keep their mouths shut, but let's not wipe out the mission location just yet."
"Move," Madara said coldly.
Hashirama gripped his shoulder harder.
"You can't kill them."
Kakashi planted himself even more firmly in the way.
"At least not right now."
Kakashi smiled helplessly, secretly admiring the two reckless Kirigakure ninja who had dared to tease Madara Uchiha.
They had some truly extraordinary nerve.
Even if they didn't know who the man before them was, the killing intent coming off Madara alone should have been enough to make them shut up and play dead.
But these two had done just the opposite.
Not only had they talked about him, they'd gone into detail.
Beautiful?
A woman?
Tall?
A cold air?
Kakashi felt his scalp tighten.
Any one of those words, applied to Madara Uchiha, was like tossing an Explosive Tag into a volcano.
Naruto stood behind them, his face nearly twisted from holding it in.
He wanted to laugh.
But he didn't dare.
Sakura was also clamping a hand over her mouth, her face flushed red from holding it in.
Sasuke's expression was the most complicated.
On one hand, he thought the two Kirigakure ninja were unbelievably stupid.
On the other, looking at Madara's icy face made him a little uneasy.
Tazuna, needless to say, was huddled in the back, breathing as carefully as he could.
Hashirama still had a hand on Madara's shoulder, and his smile had grown extremely strained.
"Madara, calm down."
"They just couldn't keep their mouths shut."
Madara slowly turned to look at Hashirama.
"Do you think this is funny?"
Hashirama shook his head at once.
"No, not at all."
That was what he said, but the corner of his mouth twitched involuntarily.
Madara's expression darkened further.
"Hashirama."
"Do you want to dance?"
Hashirama pulled his hand back instantly, his expression as serious as if he were in a meeting.
"Kakashi, interrogate them."
Kakashi: "..."
Even he had to admire how quickly Hashirama changed the subject.
Still, the matter at hand was important.
Kakashi looked at the two Kirigakure ninja, his voice turning cold.
"Talk."
"Who sent you?"
The two Kirigakure ninja had been badly frightened by Madara.
They had originally intended to remain defiant, but when Madara stepped forward, both of them immediately shuddered.
One of them gritted his teeth. "We're Kirigakure ninja."
"I could already tell that," Kakashi said calmly.
The other ninja's face turned pale. Bracing himself, he said, "Our target is Tazuna."
"Someone paid for his life."
Naruto immediately exploded.
"I knew it!"
"Old man, you really did lie to us!"
Tazuna's expression was grim, but he didn't dare make a sound.
Sakura was a little shaken as well.
Without Hashirama and Madara accompanying them, if the two Kirigakure ninja had launched a surprise attack, the recently graduated Genin might not have been able to hold out.
Sasuke clenched his fists, his face darkening.
He didn't like being used as a tool to be sent to his death.
Kakashi continued, "Who's your employer?"
The Kirigakure ninja hesitated.
Madara gave him a cold look.
"Talk."
At that single word, both Kirigakure ninja felt as though an invisible hand had seized them by the throat. Cold sweat instantly broke out on their foreheads.
"G-Gato!"
"It's Gato!"
"He hired us and other ninja too. We don't know exactly how many!"
"We just came ahead to scout!"
Kakashi frowned.
Gato.
He had heard the name before.
Using his position as the owner of a shipping company as a cover, he controlled criminal forces, exploited small countries, hired rogue ninja, and used dirty methods.
That meant this was no ordinary escort mission anymore.
Tazuna lowered his head. Finally unable to hold out any longer, he said hoarsely, "I... I didn't have the money to post a high-level mission."
"The Land of Waves is under Gato's control, and we can barely keep building the bridge."
"If we can't finish it, our country is done for."