Chapter 173: Fishing

The first ray of morning sunlight streams in, revealing traces of chaos in the otherwise tidy room.

For instance, there are marks on the walls around the room, clearly left by kunai knives, shurikens, and hand swords. The smell of blood in the room is quickly being blown away as the window opens.

"Lord Sesshomaru, everything has been tidied up."

Disguised as a young girl, Tsunade holds her injured arm, her face pale and her expression still tinged with last night's panic. She looks as if she's hiding something, avoiding eye contact.

Sesshomaru sits neatly in the room, gazing coldly at the young girl in front of him, his eyes expressing utter disbelief.

However, upon seeing the wound on the girl's shoulder, it's obvious that Tsunade's arm is injured. The pain is making her sweat uncontrollably, but her fearful eyes keep her from making a sound.

Watching this, Sesshomaru (Uchiha Yoru) thinks to himself, "What a Tsunade, truly worthy of her reputation as a long-standing ninja, perfectly impersonating an ordinary person."

Last night, during the skirmish, he had coldly ignored her. She was fortunate but still sustained a shoulder injury, just like any regular person who hadn't dodged in time.

Tsunade's disguise was very convincing last night; if it had been anyone else, they would have been completely fooled. Unfortunately for her, she met Uchiha Yoru.

At the same time, Tsunade, who is also pretending to be a frightened young girl, sneers inwardly. "Good job, you little devil. Not only are you ruthless, but you're also meticulous, trying to test me at the same time."

Both are acting. Tsunade is confident that her actions last night at least dispelled the notion that she is a ninja.

"Drag those two bodies to the door and let the inn staff take care of them. Keep everything as usual; don't reveal anything," Sesshomaru says coldly, his voice tinged with weakness.

Watching this, Tsunade sneers inwardly again. "Well done, you little devil, still testing me at this point."

She knows exactly how potent the medicine she administered is, and she's well aware of the little devil's injuries from last night as a medical ninja.

This little devil still has some fight in him, but he's pretending to be this weak.

Clearly, he wants to lure her into a trap.

"Lord Sesshomaru, are you alright?"

Tsunade fakes a concerned and fearful expression, making it almost impossible to spot any flaws. If Sesshomaru (Uchiha Yoru) hadn't known her identity, he might have fallen for her act.

Facing the girl's concern, he directly swept her with a cold gaze, immediately causing the girl Tsunade to shrink her neck and take two steps back.

Tsunade, somewhat flustered, supports two corpses leaning against the corner of the wall. Due to her arm injury, she strains, her face flushed, while forcefully enduring the pain in her arm.

Plop~

After doing all this, Tsunade, out of breath, panted heavily. Her complexion became even paler by three shades, and she couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat.

A thin layer of cold sweat broke out on her forehead. The girl's face showed signs of pain, but she dared not express it. She could only curl herself up in the corner, like a little wildcat that has been hurt.

"Come here."

Observing all this from the shadows, Sesshomaru sneered in his heart. If you want to play, let's see who's more skilled. He spoke coldly.

Upon hearing this, Tsunade's eyes were filled with alarm. She wanted to flee but hesitated, seemingly concerned about the injured Sesshomaru.

It must be said that Tsunade expressed her emotions of concern, fear, and confusion quite vividly.

Dragging two adult corpses, coupled with her restless night and arm injury, left her feeling rather weak.

Moving cautiously, her legs trembled with weakness. Her eyes were filled with timid glances, clearly a normal yet kind-hearted girl.

She had not taken the opportunity to escape earlier. Was this young devil still suspicious of her?

"Don't move."

Just as Tsunade was quietly on guard, Sesshomaru (Uchiha Yoru) calmly took out a roll of medical bandage from his blade pouch.

"Advanced medical bandage. Antibacterial, accelerates cell repair. Take off your clothes."

Hearing this, Tsunade inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. However, her expression did not reveal any of her inner thoughts. Timidly, she rolled up her sleeve, exposing the wound on her smooth arm.

Her skin turned slightly red as it made contact with cold fingers, and a layer of goosebumps appeared.

With skilled fingers, he wrapped the bandage around Tsunade's shoulder. The art of this single wrapping action made Tsunade think that he was extremely proficient at it, likely having wrapped many wounds for others and himself.

"I've added some crushed soldier pills to the wound, it will speed up your healing. You didn't hurt your bone, so your injury will be fine in at most half a month."

With skillful craftsmanship, the bandage was quickly wrapped around the shoulder, allowing the arm joint to move without any hindrance.

The girl's timid face broke into a kind smile, "Thank you, sir."

Everything seemed calm as if nothing had changed. However, Sesshomaru, who was now sitting semi-reclined against the wall, looked weak. He felt numb all over, which was really bothering him.

It felt as though his body had gone numb from sleep; it was that kind of full-body numbness. The effects of the medicine were strong; it seems he still had a long way to go in building immunity to toxins.

Just then, a knock sounded from outside the door, and a familiar voice called out, "Sir, your meal has arrived."

Seeing this, the girl Tsunade instantly showed an innocent smile and turned to walk towards the door.

Behind her, Sesshomaru (Uchiha Yoru) revealed a cold glint. He discreetly used a towel to wipe away the residual blood on his nails from the earlier bandaging, and licked it with his tongue.

The sensation on his tongue told him that this life-filled blood confirmed that she was indeed Tsunade, one of the Three Ninjas.

With the sound of the door closing again, the table inside was already filled with food, and the servant who delivered the meal entered with a bowed head.

In this chaotic town, they were already used to seeing death, so they took such occurrences in stride. Even to avoid causing trouble, they were very cautious; the servant never raised his head from the moment he entered.

Only after the food was set up did the servant respectfully bow and slowly retreat, closing the door behind him.

When outsiders were present, Sesshomaru feigned an air of indifference. As the figure departed, he could clearly hear someone collecting a body at the door. Finally, when there was no more movement, he let out a sigh of relief.

Weakly leaning against a folding screen, he looked at Tsunade with indifference, "You feed me."

His tone did not carry a command; it was as if it were a matter of course.

Tsunade noticed the slight trembling of his fingers and smiled inwardly. She knew this feeling all too well.

With his body numb and fingers tingling, even holding chopsticks would be unstable. She was well aware of Uchiha's pride; he would never show this embarrassing state in front of others.

But one can't simply not use hands and eat directly with the mouth, right?

"Milord."

A young Tsunade slowly approached; her arm was injured too. Fortunately, her right hand was fine. Holding chopsticks with her delicate hand, she fed the other person bite by bite.

The posture seemed somewhat ambiguous, but both were calculating in their minds at this moment.

Tsunade was secretly pleased, thinking, "This medicine of mine will keep you occupied for a few days, kid."

Meanwhile, under Sesshomaru (Uchiha Yoru)'s indifferent expression, he was furious inside, thinking, "Well done, Tsunade. I haven't even come after you, yet you dare to scheme against me."

Good! This time he was truly serious, and even after dealing with the two ninjas last night, he already had a general idea in mind.

"You raise your skill by an inch; I'll raise my evil by a foot, Princess Tsunade! You were the first to provoke me."

Thus, the two seemed to have established trust, but in reality, both had their own calculations.

So he calmly stayed in the inn for several days without going out, and the numbness in his body made him even more irritated in secret.

…

Until the fifth day, Kakuzu arrived once again, looking travel-worn.

His green eyes seemed to carry a hint of malice, but that's just how Kakuzu is.

Sitting down face-to-face, Kakuzu discreetly glanced at his employer. With his wealth of experience, he instantly recognized that something was amiss.

"You're injured?"

When Kakuzu said this, he sounded rather angry. To him, this was his employer; if the employer were to die, who would pay him the remaining money? "Damn it, how dare someone mess with my money," he thought, as if a line had been crossed.

Faced with Kakuzu's peculiar concern, Sesshomaru's eyes twitched. This was indeed a unique form of concern.

"A poison expert got me. It took me three days to recover."

As he spoke, it seemed he touched on a sore point. He was known as a high-level medical ninja, yet he fell victim to the poison.

Sesshomaru looked somewhat grim but took out a glass tube from his pocket and threw it directly to Kakuzu.

"This is a toxin I've extracted from my blood. It's not lethal but can inhibit chakra gathering, causing paralysis."

Sesshomaru had to play his role well. Now he was a rogue ninja, without any backing. Although he had almost recovered from the poisoning, he was in an employer-employee relationship with Kakuzu.

Since Kakuzu was protecting him, sharing this information about the poison was also for his own good.

Another important point was Kakuzu's reputation in the black market over the years.

"This is an antidote I've formulated. Although it can't completely neutralize the poison, it can still suppress half of its effects."

Then another green tube was presented. Holding one tube of poison and one tube of antidote, Kakuzu frowned. "To think that you got poisoned without realizing it."

At this point, Kakuzu discreetly glanced at the little girl beside them, as if suggesting she might be the one who poisoned him.

The young girl, Tsunade, had been going out to buy medicinal herbs for the past three days while also taking care of Sesshomaru. In just three short days, her face showed signs of exhaustion.

Under Kakuzu's gaze, she immediately lowered her head. Though her expression was unseen, the slight trembling of her eyelashes revealed her fear.

"It wasn't her."

Sesshomaru coldly rejected Kakuzu's suspicions, "She has been with me even at my weakest times."

With just one sentence, the girl had accompanied him through his weakest moments.

Upon seeing this, Kakuzu couldn't help but frown and shake his head, "When you send me out on missions, I hope you can take good care of your own life. If not, please pay me my fee before you go get yourself killed."

Hearing Kakuzu's words, a twitch appeared in the corner of Sesshomaru's eyes. Finally, he said in a deep voice, "From now on, I need you to spread the word that I, Sesshomaru, am willing to compare my ancestral sword with the legendary weapon of the God of the Shinobi World. If the person in the shadows is willing, I will offer a reward of ten million."

Ten million is undoubtedly a huge sum, especially just for a comparison test, and that too in the name of the family sword. This resembles the spirit of a warrior.

Upon hearing this, Kakuzu's eyes widened. He regretted not collecting some famous swords; he could have sold them for a good price when encountering such a wealthy person.

"Alright, I will spread the word as you instructed. But I also hope that you can control yourself. The weapon of the First Hokage is clearly being used by someone to create chaos, and Konoha is already keeping an eye on it."

The current Kakuzu is not the same as the one from the future, who would become a member of the Akatsuki and challenge the entire Shinobi World.

The presence of the Rinnegan does give him confidence, but he would not risk his life unnecessarily.

Being targeted by Konoha? Then he would face endless pursuits from their dark forces and ROOT; he would have to flee across the Shinobi World, becoming an outcast, and would even face the risk of being hunted down by some people.

Kakuzu has survived for many years in the Shinobi World due not only to his strength but also his cautious nature. Over the years, not much information about him has been leaked.

"Don't worry, what I seek is to revive my family's honor, not to invite trouble."

Sesshomaru calmly said. Though he may be powerful, he is not yet at a level where he can ignore the major Shinobi villages. Caution is essential for survival.

So the two discussed. What Sesshomaru needs is to first draw out the person in the shadows. As for the issue of snatching the First Hokage's weapon, he doesn't have the strength to do it alone and naturally needs Sarutobi Shinzo's help.

Of course, the specific situation remains to be seen.

~~~

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