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Slurp,slurp—
Blow to cool the noodles, then pick them up and slurp them down.
Even if the Seventh Hokage himself walked in, eating noodles still requires this ritual.
Have to say, the owner’s a piece of work, but the noodles are damn good.
No wonder this shop stays open in the Hidden Mist Village, where business isn’t exactly thriving.
A few mouthfuls down, and the damp chill from the village’s perpetual mist cleared right out of his bones.
Yagura asked Zabuza a few questions and got the basics sorted out.
Nothing complicated: civilian family, water and wind chakra natures, self-taught in both ninjutsu and swordsmanship, worked his way up by constantly picking fights.
Zabuza mentioned he’d also made a little notebook listing every named ninja in the village.
Given his approach of challenging Mangetsu to a duel, Yagura figured this little notebook was basically a death note.
“Can I see it?”
“Yeah.”
Zabuza pulled it out without hesitation, set it on the table, and went back to slurping noodles.
Yagura picked it up.
Kaede Onime and Mangetsu leaned in behind him, curious to see who made Zabuza’s list.
First page: the Third Mizukage.
Mangetsu’s eyes went wide.
“Whoa. Starting with a heavyweight.”
Kaede Onime blinked.
“You really wrote that down.”
Yagura frowned.
“Your handwriting is terrible.”
PFFT!
Zabuza spat out a mouthful of noodles, face flushing red.
“Bastard, mind your own business!”
Mangetsu, now clued in, doubled over laughing.
“Pfft! Hahaha! This crooked mess, you call that writing?”
Kaede Onime silently activated her Double Pupil’s visual clarity, then shut it off.
“It’s… really hard to read.”
Barely legible.
Yagura could just make out the Third Mizukage’s name at the top.
The information below gave him a headache.
Forget it.
Intelligence Zabuza collected himself, authenticity and reliability both questionable.
Just look at the portraits and see who he recorded.
Yagura shook his head and flipped to the next page.
After the Third Mizukage came the Hidden Mist Village’s famed Seven Ninja Swordsmen.
In other words, after the Kage came this batch of elite jonin. New chapters come out on g.com first.
The entire Hidden Mist Village had no second Kage-level ninja.
Next door in Konoha, they had the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi and the Sannin.
Whatever.
No point comparing with that cheat-code village.
Yagura pulled his thoughts back and kept reading.
Executioner’s Blade wielder Juzo Biwa…
flip…
Thunder Swords wielder Raiga Kurosuki, Longsword wielder Jinin Kuriarare, Blastsword wielder Jinpachi Munashi, Bluntsword wielder Ganryu Tono, Greatsword wielder Fuguki Suikazan, Twin Swords wielder Senjin Hozuki…
The first six Swordsmen, Yagura had some memory of them.
The portraits matched.
But the Twin Swords’ Senjin Hozuki.
Wait.
Hozuki?
Yagura glanced at Mangetsu.
If he remembered right, the Hozuki Clan and the Third Mizukage weren’t exactly on good terms.
So why would the Third choose someone from the Hozuki Clan for the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, who answered directly to him?
“Tsk!”
Mangetsu’s face twisted with disgust.
Not wanting to air too much family shame, he kept it brief.
“That guy’s a traitor who sold out the Hozuki Clan for a ninja sword.”
Kaede Onime nodded.
“Mm.”
“I see.”
Yagura nodded and didn’t press further.
He flipped through the rest of Zabuza’s notebook.
Strongest Kage at the top, down to the weakest academy students at the bottom.
Mangetsu was in there.
Kaede Onime.
Mei Terumi.
But no Ameyuri Ringo or Kisame Hoshigaki.
Yagura closed the notebook, then flipped back to the Seven Ninja Swordsmen page.
“What are the current Seven like? Mangetsu, you know?”
Mangetsu snapped his fingers.
“You’re asking the right guy. I’ve got intel on all seven memorized. Solid and reliable.”
“Good.”
Yagura pulled the pen from Zabuza’s chest pocket, ready to add notes to the notebook.
Clan heir handwriting, practiced since childhood.
Way better than Zabuza’s chicken scratch.
Zabuza curled his lip and went back to his noodles, though he kept sneaking glances.
Mangetsu spoke slowly, giving Yagura time to write.
“Executioner’s Blade’s Juzo Biwa is relatively normal compared to the rest. Strength-wise, lower-middle among the Seven. Before the blade, just a chunin. Orphan. The Third sponsored him through the academy.” This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
“Thunder Swords’ Raiga Kurosuki, strong, I think. Can’t remember exactly. But he’s weird. Likes holding ‘grand funerals’ for his enemies. Did well in the graduation exam. Caught the Third’s eye.”
“Longsword’s Jinin Kuriarare and Blastsword’s Jinpachi Munashi, partners. Mid-tier strength, but the cruelest of the Seven. Highest mission completion and kill counts. Slaughtered a bunch of students during their graduation exam. The Third noticed.”
“Bluntsword’s Ganryu Tono, top-tier. My grandfather said his taijutsu is the strongest among the Seven. Older, so lots of combat experience. First ninja the Third invited into the group.”
“Greatsword’s Fuguki Suikazan, lower-middle without his sword, but Samehada’s special. With it, upper-middle. The Third trusts him. He’s been Mist ANBU commander for years.”
“Finally, Twin Swords’ Senjin Hozuki. Mid-tier strength among the Seven. That’s it.”
Swish…
“This looks way better than yours, doesn’t it?”
Zabuza had nothing to say.
Yagura looked at the two contrasting handwriting styles and nodded with satisfaction.
After a moment’s thought, he added a summary line.
All trusted confidants the Third Mizukage cultivated and promoted from childhood through their chunin years.
Not surprising.
An elite unit directly under the Mizukage, every member had to be someone you could trust.
Yagura was doing the same thing right now, wasn’t he?
He wrote the last character and set the pen down.
At that moment, the shop’s sliding door banged open.
A bold shout barged in first.
“Boss! The usual! One bowl, two cups of sake, three chicken skewers!”
A small old man with a bulbous nose and goatee dropped into the seat right next to Yagura without ceremony.
Yagura could clearly see the weapon strapped to his back, an axe head and hammer head connected at the tail ends.
The big-nosed old man slapped his hand on the table.
“Still got sake, yeah?”
The owner trembled.
“Y-yes, right away, my lord.”
“‘My lord’, I’ve been coming here forever. We’re familiar. Why so formal?”
“Wouldn’t dream of it, wouldn’t dream of it.”
The owner immediately dropped his slouch, got up from his chair, and brought the ninja his sake first.
GLUG, GLUG, GLUG.
The old man downed a cup the moment he got it, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.
“Ah! Damn good! A drink after finishing a mission, that’s the best! That’s a man’s romance!”
Yagura’s group of four stared.
After several cups in quick succession, the old ninja finally seemed to notice people sitting next to him.
“Hm?”
Just brats.
He was in the mood to chat.
He shook the sake bottle.
“What’s up, little brats? You wanna drink too? You’ve got taste!”
The next moment he tipped the bottle back and drained it, then threw his head back with a roar of laughter.
“Ha! Wait till the little hairs down below grow in and work, then you can drink! Hahahaha!”
“Wait, you brats probably won’t even live past the graduation exam! Hahahaha!”
➤ Next: Your Sword Is Sharp, But Mine Is No Less Sharp