Chapter 60

"The other party is a Jounin. This mission is a bit tricky, brother."

"Even a Jounin can be killed by a sneak attack. He's not invulnerable."

The two looked at each other and quickly followed.

Everyone in Team 7 continued to move forward slowly as if they didn't notice.

Suddenly, there was the sound of chains behind them.

In just an instant, Kakashi's body was torn into three pieces!

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura gasped in shock.

"Haha, kill one first!"

The two were extremely excited. This was the first time in their lives that they had killed a Jounin.

Kazuki and Sasuke looked meaningfully at the pieces of wood on the ground.

Do they really not want to confirm what they've done?

The quality of wood and the human body are quite different, right?

Didn't they notice it at all when they tore it apart?

It's no wonder these two are still Chuunin at their age—they can't even notice such a small detail.

There's also a clumsy way to hide like this in roadside water.

If it weren't for their natural brute strength, even a Genin could easily kill them.

"This is next!"

The Ghost Brothers' second target was Sakura, who seemed to be the weakest.

But Sakura's strength was not weak at all.

Facing the two men's double-team, she swiftly dodged and appeared behind them.

The Demon Brothers obviously didn't expect that this girl, who looked the weakest, could be so agile, and they were momentarily surprised!

Fortunately, they weren't weak and quickly moved to avoid Sakura's kunai attack.

"Prick your hands and kill the target first!" one of the Demon Brothers said.

"Good!"

They abandoned their plan to kill Kazuki and the others first and instead planned to kill Tazuna.

But the person standing in front of Tazuna at this time was Kazuki, and rushing at him was tantamount to seeking death.

"Get out of the way, brat!"

The two used their chain weapons to attack, but Kazuki refused to dodge. A kunai appeared out of thin air in his hand to deflect their attacks.

Then he instantly appeared beside them, his voice ghost-like as he slowly said,

"Who are you calling a brat?"

The two of them felt a chill in their hearts, and the movements in their hands stopped.

They couldn't understand why this seemingly harmless kid could whisper so devilishly.

And most importantly, what was this terrible coercion all about?

Even their boss Zabuza never put such terrible pressure on them!

"Why don't you speak?"

"If you don't say anything, then just go and die."

Kazuki didn't waste any time. He raised his kunai and stabbed the two frightened men through the heart.

Tazuna, standing nearby, watched the ruthless tactics of the boy in front of him, feeling both scared and relieved.

If I had dared to talk too much earlier, would there be one more corpse lying on the ground now?

"Kazuki, you shouldn't just kill them like that."

Kakashi scratched his head and walked out from behind the tree with a helpless expression.

He had wanted to interrogate the forces behind the two.

But with them dead, he could only analyze the situation himself.

"Their purpose is clear. If you want to find out who's behind this, you don't have to go to so much trouble. You can just ask Mr. Tazuna directly."

Tazuna, pointed out by Kazuki, was immediately stared at by four people.

This kind of pressure was extremely terrifying for an ordinary person like him.

"This…this…"

Tazuna was sweating profusely and didn't know where to start.

On the one hand, he worried that Team 7 would reject the mission if he told the truth clearly, and on the other hand, he feared that Kazuki might kill him if he lied.

After all, Kazuki and the others looked much scarier than Kakashi!

The corpse of the Demon Brothers who had just provoked them was still lying in front of him.

This forced him to carefully consider whether his next words would be his last.

"Mr. Tazuna, if you cannot tell the truth, then this mission will have to be terminated. There has been a ninja attack, which exceeds the scope of the mission you entrusted."

Kakashi, who was usually good-natured, showed a rare serious expression.

The scope of C-level missions is limited to threats from bandits and the like, at most.

Missions involving ninjas are all B-level or above.

If the mission was falsely reported, they could not only cancel the mission directly, but they also wouldn't have to refund the mission reward.

Seeing that Kakashi wasn't going to speak for him, Tazuna knew he could no longer hide the truth. He could only tell the story of Gatō's evil deeds in the Land of Waves, hoping to gain the sympathy of Team 7.

But none of them were inclined to get involved.

You said that Gatō exploited civilians, abused women, and oppressed the people in the Land of Waves?

What does that have to do with us?

The Blood Mist Massacre is still going on in the Hidden Mist Village. Why don't you help them?

So when Tazuna groveled and begged them to continue to protect him, both Kazuki and Sasuke chose to remain indifferent.

Sakura, however, was somewhat moved.

"Kazuki, how about we help him?"

"Yes, yes, please help me. Do you want an eight-year-old child to cry all day long in front of the portrait of his dead grandfather?"

Kazuki refused to be swayed by such emotional manipulation and calmly said, "It's easy for us to help you, just give us money. Considering that you may encounter enemies with Jounin strength next, let's charge according to the remuneration for an A-level mission. Fifty thousand ryo, and I won't ask for more—the lowest price for an A-level task."

"This…I…I don't have that much money. We could only raise 60,000 ryo from the whole village. The rest of the money is being used to build the bridge."

Tazuna's face looked very grim.

This was really all he could muster.

"Kazuki-kun…"

Sakura was still soft-hearted and couldn't bear to see Tazuna so desperate.

She tugged on Kazuki's sleeve, hoping he would reconsider.

But Kazuki had his own principles and wasn't swayed by emotions.

Even though he couldn't help Tazuna, Kazuki gave Sakura some face and stopped making things difficult for Tazuna.

But getting their help for free was out of the question.

I'm not a philanthropist, why should I help you?

Do you have a willful and unruly child? Or a fair-skinned and beautiful widow's daughter-in-law at twenty-eight years of age?

Seeing that Kazuki was unwilling to help, Sakura looked to Sasuke.

But Sasuke was clearly on Kazuki's side and wasn't about to burst out with compassion to help this old man who was trying to manipulate them.

In the end, she had no choice but to look at Kakashi.

Kakashi was more sympathetic than Kazuki and Sasuke, but he wasn't very willing to risk his team's lives for a dangerous mission of unknown levels.

After much consideration, Kakashi expressed that he needed to consult Hiruzen Sarutobi for his opinion.

As the leader of the team, he couldn't gamble with his team members' lives!

This mission was full of unknown dangers and couldn't be decided on a whim.

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+60 chapters on p@treon/tambeerg

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