thedancenovel Chapter 182 182
Chapter 182 182
"Or rather… Kirigakure itself."
She took a quiet breath, then leaned closer to Shiki and lowered her voice.
"Shiki-sama, we—"
"Yeah, I know. It's fine." Shiki smiled faintly, his eyelids half-lowered.
So these were the people Kirigakure had stationed to keep watch on the Kaguya Clan.
A clan that was being monitored this heavily from so early on… no wonder they were wiped out so easily in the end.
Still, that thought only made Shiki smile a little.
He didn't know the exact point in time when the Kaguya Clan would be annihilated, but judging from the scale of Kirigakure's surveillance now, that day probably wasn't far off.
Which meant this was actually good news.
Soon enough, he'd be able to follow the Kaguya Clan straight to the Fourth Mizukage and cut him down.
"Let's go." Shiki chuckled and walked up to knock on the Kaguya Clan's main gate.
…
Ten minutes later, Shiki and Rin Nohara were thrown out of the Kaguya Clan compound, both wearing stunned expressions.
"Our Kaguya Clan needs mercenaries? What a joke!"
The man standing at the gate wore the Kaguya Clan's distinctive kimono. Thick dark circles hung beneath his eyes, and two red markings stood out on his forehead as he cursed at them with clear contempt.
Bang!
The gate slammed shut right in front of them.
A cold, disdainful mutter drifted out from behind it.
"These days, just anyone thinks they can come knocking at the Kaguya Clan…"
Shiki stood there for a long moment, completely blank.
Then the disbelief slowly turned into something else.
…He had actually been looked down on?
Of course, Shiki hadn't shown his real face. Transformation Jutsu was one of the few actual ninja techniques he had learned himself, while most of his strength came from his template abilities. So it wasn't strange that that arrogant bunch from the Kaguya Clan hadn't recognized him.
But still…
They had looked down on him.
Not only that, they had thrown contempt in his face after he had personally come to offer his services.
He hadn't even met the clan head before getting kicked out at the gate.
Shiki took a slow breath, and a dangerous glint flashed through his eyes.
I, Golden Lion Shiki… the man who beats Tailed Beasts around like pets… was actually underestimated by the Kaguya Clan?
This is just…
Interesting.
Shiki rubbed his chin, a strange thought rising in his mind.
So this was the kind of feeling those people from his previous life had when they hid their identities, got underestimated, and then came back to crush everyone later.
It really was a rather novel experience.
Though with his personality, he had no idea how long his patience would last if he kept playing along.
Still… since he had run into it already, he might as well enjoy it a little.
After all, chances were he'd never bother doing something this pointless again.
By now, Rin Nohara had also recovered from the shock, but her face was already filled with anger.
She didn't care about being thrown out herself.
But Shiki-sama—someone who should have been respected by the entire shinobi world—had been kicked out together with her.
And the worst part was that this whole thing had started because she had suggested that ridiculous "hide your identity" act in the first place.
"Shiki-sama… let's just beat them up." Rin's face was full of frustration.
"Of course not." Shiki answered without hesitation, a playful smile tugging at his lips. "We just need to stand on the other side instead… and wipe them out that way."
Naturally, he wasn't about to tell her that he was actually starting to enjoy this little identity game.
At least for now, there was no reason to flip the table.
"So…"
Shiki turned and started walking away with long, unhurried steps.
If the Kaguya Clan didn't want him helping them deal with Kirigakure…
Then he would just help Kirigakure deal with them instead.
As for Obito and the Fourth Mizukage…
He would deal with that when the time came.
Kaguya Clan, one way or another, I'm definitely taking you down.
When I decide to kill you, not even the Sage of Six Paths himself is saving your asses.
Shiki strolled off at an easy pace, seemingly picking a direction at random and heading deeper ahead.
Rin Nohara followed in silence at first, but after walking for a full ten minutes, she finally couldn't hold herself back anymore.
"Shiki-sama… where are we going?"
"To find someone… ah, there they are." Shiki paused slightly, speaking as his Observation Haki locked onto the presence ahead.
The two of them were now deep inside a dense forest.
The thick canopy overhead blocked out the sunlight, leaving the whole place dim and cold.
The damp air mixed with the heavy smell of decay, making the area feel like an untouched wilderness no one had set foot in for years.
"Come out," Shiki said calmly.
A few seconds passed.
Nothing.
The forest remained deathly silent.
"Tch." Shiki clicked his tongue, then bent down and picked up a small stone.
With a casual flick enhanced by the Float-Float Fruit's power, he sent it flying.
Throw!
Whoosh!
The tiny stone shot out like a bullet, tearing through the air before smashing into a tree with a heavy bang.
Crack—
The massive trunk—so thick that even three people linking arms wouldn't have been able to wrap around it—snapped on the spot.
From behind the broken tree, a female shinobi with a curvy figure stepped out.
Her eyes were full of shock as she stared at Shiki.
"Who are you?" she demanded. "How did you know I was here?"
Shiki casually scratched his cheek, clearly making it up on the spot.
"Hm… I'm just a wandering mercenary from far away. Nothing special."
Then, for no real reason at all, his expression suddenly turned serious, like he was about to say something world-shaking.
"…But if you really need a name—"
He placed a hand against his chest.
"Monkey D. Luffy."
"I'm not here for anything complicated," Shiki added as if that explained everything. "I just wanted to ask… do you happen to need mercenaries?"
Beside him, Rin stared at him with wide eyes, then quickly forced her expression back under control.
"…Mercenaries?"
The woman froze for a second, and the look on her face turned odd.
Truthfully, mercenary work was nothing unusual in the Land of Water.
The internal strife there had always been complicated. If they used too many of their own people for every dirty job, the losses would only pile up faster.
Because of that, the mercenary trade had become extremely active in the Land of Water, attracting wandering shinobi and even samurai from all over.
Even some of Kirigakure's own ninja clans had taken private mercenary jobs in secret before.
But…
In the mercenary business, reputation was everything.
And these two had just appeared out of nowhere without warning, asking to be hired?
What kind of idiot did business like that?
Normally, when someone needed outside help, they would contact a trusted middleman first. That person would guarantee the mercenary's background and introduce the right people.
Who in the world just walked up and asked this so directly?
Then again, Shiki had done the exact same thing at the Kaguya Clan's place.
And unsurprisingly, they had thrown him out too.
Without a middleman, who was supposed to believe him?
Still…
"Don't you people just want to wipe out the Kaguya Clan?" Shiki asked flatly, not even trying to hide it anymore as he went straight to the point. "The Kaguya Clan isn't weak. Aren't you planning to hire mercenaries to reduce Kirigakure's losses?"
The female shinobi's expression changed instantly.
That was supposed to be a classified operation.
How did this man know about it?
Of course, no competent shinobi would admit anything just because someone threw out a few pointed words.
"Who are you?" she said coldly. "Kirigakure has no—"
"No intention of targeting the ninja clans directly, so you need them to make the first move first?" Shiki cut in with a look of disdain. "Yeah, yeah. Enough already."
He waved a hand, clearly unimpressed.
"You're waiting for the Kaguya Clan to lose their minds and attack Kirigakure first, so you can strike back openly."
"But if it comes to that, your losses won't be small either."
He took a step forward.
"So…"
His eyes locked onto hers, the pressure in them suddenly becoming real.
"Why not just hire some mercenaries?"
As he spoke, he casually drove his fist backward—
Bang!
A Kirigakure shinobi who had appeared behind him at some point was smashed straight to the ground.
At almost the same time, Shiki's foot came down and stomped on another shinobi who had just surfaced from underground, forcing him right back into the earth.
Then, without even turning his head, Shiki flicked a stone with his foot.
Whoosh!
The stone tore through the air and slammed into a Kirigakure shinobi who had been about to attack Rin from the side.
Rin froze.
Then her expression changed immediately.
She was a battle-hardened shinobi herself, yet one of Kirigakure's men had nearly slipped into her blind spot without her noticing.
These people…
At the very least, they were jōnin.
And judging by how they moved, those jōnin were clearly taking orders from this well-built female shinobi.
A hidden stronghold like this wouldn't just appear near the Kaguya Clan for no reason.
Which meant—
This was Kirigakure's surveillance base for monitoring the Kaguya Clan.
"Who are you?" the female shinobi asked again, her face turning solemn.
She lowered her stance slightly, like a leopard ready to spring at any moment.
"I told you already." Shiki looked at her like she was asking the dumbest question in the world. "My name is Monkey D. Luffy."
That expression instantly made the woman's pretty face flush red with anger and shame.
"No matter who you are… I'm afraid I can't let you walk away so easily." The female shinobi took a slow breath.
Then, unexpectedly, she smiled—a dangerous, alluring smile.
"At the very least… I'll leave you with a melting kiss."
"…A kiss?" Rin froze for a second.
Her eyes widened slightly, completely caught off guard by the sudden shift.
Before she could even react—
The female shinobi moved.
In an instant, her figure blurred forward, hands already forming seals.
"Lava Release: Melting Apparition—!"
But before the technique could be completed—
A shadow stepped into her range.
"…A kiss, huh?"
Shiki's voice came out calm, almost amused.
"Sure. I'll take it."
Before she could react, his hand shot forward.
He pulled her straight into his arms—
And kissed her.
"Mmph—!"
Her eyes snapped wide open in shock.
Her chakra faltered for a split second.
What…?!
Her mind went blank.
He… actually—
While she was activating Lava Release?!
Her entire body stiffened, the jutsu collapsing mid-execution.
….
Inside a hidden base roughly a hundred miles away from the Kaguya Clan—
"What's the meaning of this, Mei Terumī?"
A Kirigakure shinobi with a massive, strange-looking blade strapped across his back stepped forward, his eyes narrowing coldly.
"This is our meeting place. Why did you bring outsiders here?"
Mei Terumī fell silent for a moment.
She glanced at Shiki, then at Rin, who had been quietly following behind him the entire time. After that, she turned her gaze back toward the man and answered calmly,
"It's nothing, Mero. They're hired help."
"Hired help?" Mero repeated, his brows drawing together even tighter. "We're discussing action against one of Kirigakure's own ninja clans, and you brought in two mercenaries who aren't even from our village?"
His voice turned heavier with each word.
"Mei Terumī… you understand what that means, don't you?"
A shinobi village existed to protect its own.
If the village itself moved against one of the ninja clans under its banner, that was the kind of matter that could never be put on the surface so easily.
Once word got out, it would invite criticism from every side.
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