The cargo ship stopped at the Land of Water's port.
Ryosuke immediately turned around and sold it to the locals.
As for the few crew members who had transported Drugs and moonlighted as pirates, considering how obedient they were in the latter half of the journey, Ryosuke broke one of each of their legs and told them all to scram.
Having reached the destination, it was time for farewells.
Rei took three steps and turned back once, reluctantly leaving.
Sasuke crossed his arms and turned his head away, putting on a cold, aloof act. But the occasional glance he stole toward Rei betrayed what he was really thinking.
"Parting is sometimes more important than the first meeting."
Ryosuke patted Sasuke's shoulder, "In this vast sea of people, this might be the last time you two meet. Say goodbye properly, don't leave regrets in each other's hearts."
Sasuke looked at the pink-haired little girl walking away.
'The last meeting…'
He silently repeated those words in his heart.
When he came to his senses, Sasuke had already raised a hand to wave goodbye to Rei.
Seeing Sasuke respond, Rei's smile grew even brighter.
"Goodbye, Sasuke!"
"…Goodbye," Sasuke said softly.
After Rei and her mother left, the other passengers one after another expressed their thanks to Ryosuke and went on their separate ways.
Only one last man remained. He waited until the passengers had all dispersed before approaching Ryosuke.
Ryosuke remembered him a bit.
During the fight against the bald samurai and crew, all the passengers had been terrified, only this man remained calm the entire time, as if he had seen similar scenes many times before.
The man respectfully offered a business card with both hands.
The card had gold trim and felt smooth and warm to the touch, clearly expensive.
Kamihara Hayato.
Director of the Kamihara Office.
A very young director, that was Ryosuke's first impression of him.
Kamihara Hayato looked about fifteen or sixteen, slicked-back hair, dressed plainly, with a fairly handsome face, though a bit short, around 165 cm or so.
"I am Kamihara, an information broker and middleman. My office is located right here in the harbor town. If the two of you have any needs, buying intel, accepting bounties, you can contact me." Kamihara Hayato spoke humbly, with a gentle smile.
"Thanks to you two today, I got to keep my life. From now on, for all business with you, my commission cut will be half price."
Ryosuke had come to the Land of Water precisely with the intention of hunting bounties. Having a middleman saved him the trouble of searching for intel himself, it would improve his efficiency.
As for the commission cut?
Ryosuke wasn't doing this job for money anyway. Soul Fragments were his true foundation.
Since he was new here, it was better to cooperate with someone he'd shared a boat with rather than strangers. Working with Kamihara Hayato would be more convenient.
Taking the card, Ryosuke tucked it into his chest and said, "Sorry, I don't have a business card."
"Understandable, understandable. Then I won't bother you any further." Kamihara Hayato bowed.
Ryosuke nodded and left with Sasuke.
Kamihara Hayato slowly straightened up, squinting as he looked at the two of them walking into the sunset. The evening glow stretched their shadows long.
"Farewell, my life-saving benefactors."
Kamihara Hayato's voice was filled with a sense of fate.
He originally thought that the next time he saw them, they would already be making a name for themselves in the Land of Water.
Unexpectedly, that very night, Ryosuke came knocking at Kamihara's office.
"Got any bounties?" Ryosuke asked.
Kamihara Hayato looked at the two, one big and one small, sitting on the sofa and said in astonishment, "Don't you guys need rest? Why don't we talk business tomorrow?"
He had sat in a cargo hold for three days on that ship, he was about to develop hemorrhoids.
Tonight, he had specially arranged a tender model from the Land of Wind to help him relax. He really didn't want to talk shop at this moment.
"Rest?"
Ryosuke tilted his head slightly and said honestly, "We've already rested. Had dinner, took a walk, even showered… so rest is over."
Kamihara Hayato's mouth twitched.
'What kind of rest is that?! Where did these workaholic madmen come from?!'
But joking aside, Kamihara Hayato was a businessman. Business knocking on the door, how could he refuse?
Rubbing his chin, Kamihara Hayato asked, "Do you have any target preferences? For example, opponents you're good at dealing with, or their rough combat level, etc."
Tailoring the bounty to the hunter's strengths was the key to maximizing mission efficiency. High death rates among bounty hunters were a disgrace to any broker.
"Preferably melee-type targets. As for combat level…"
Ryosuke didn't know how to describe it.
Since arriving in this world, the only people who could count as "enemies" were Uchiha Itachi and Hatake Kakashi, the former was taken by surprise, the latter had gone easy on him.
Ryosuke thought for a while and said, "Just a bit weaker than Hatake Kakashi from the Leaf Village, makes them easier to deal with."
Kamihara Hayato swallowed hard.
'What do you mean by "just a bit weaker than Kakashi"?'
'Since when did the legendary Copy Ninja become a standard unit of measurement?'
He took a sip of tea, suppressing his urge to complain, "I don't currently have intel on strong targets equivalent to Hatake Kakashi, and even if I did, they wouldn't be in the Land of Water."
"But if that's your benchmark, then… the options are actually quite wide."
Kamihara Hayato pulled out a stack of dossiers from under the desk.
"You can pick for yourselves."
Ryosuke casually picked up four files and flipped through them.
Inside were the targets' personal info, combat styles, hideout areas, and, rarely, each document had a clearly marked update date in the bottom right corner.
People change.
Especially fugitives and rogue ninja, their combat strength fluctuates a lot.
With the latest intel, it was possible to ensure thorough and detailed prep for the mission.
'Professional.'
Ryosuke liked working with professionals. He waved the files in his hand.
"I'll come back in two days."
'Two days?'
Kamihara Hayato glanced at the document numbers and instantly knew who Ryosuke had chosen.
One B-rank fugitive, nicknamed "Mountain Ogre," a madman who slaughtered an entire village.
Three C-rank rogue ninja, actual blood brothers, with highly coordinated teamwork. Together, their combat strength rivaled that of a B-rank, they were tough to deal with.
Though all four targets were nearby, it would still take more than half a day of travel to reach them.
Add in the encounter, battle, post-battle treatment, rest, and resupply…
Kamihara Hayato chuckled to himself and mentally prepared to not see Ryosuke again for at least ten days or so. But outwardly, he said, "I'll wish you great success in advance, may your path flourish!"
After sending Ryosuke off, Kamihara Hayato tossed the dossiers aside, left his office, pulled up his pants, and strode into a nightclub.
A night of pleasure.
———
"Women from the Land of Wind really are soft…"
Morning light filtered through the cracks in the window. Kamihara Hayato lay on the edge of the bed, eyes closed, and reached out to touch a face.
He gently caressed from the eyebrows to the bridge of the nose, then the beard… the lips....
'Beard?'
Kamihara Hayato's eyes shot open.
He saw Ryosuke and Sasuke sitting on the sofa, drinking tea.
Four tied-up men were lying on the ground. One of them was on the bed, right beside him.
The face he had been touching… was that man's.
"Sorry to disturb your rest," Ryosuke said. "It's just… carrying these four around, I really didn't know where else to put them without drawing attention."
'Is this really about rest?!'
Kamihara Hayato picked up his watch.
It had been less than ten hours since he handed Ryosuke the documents, and the B-rank and three C-rank fugitives had already been dealt with.
And they were all captured alive.
Alive and dead were two different things.
Live captures earned more commission, and were much harder to accomplish.
Even after giving Ryosuke a discount, Kamihara Hayato's remaining cut was enough to spoil himself with models from the Land of Wind for a whole week.
"Got any more?" Ryosuke asked.
Kamihara Hayato blanked for half a second.
'More what?'
But he quickly came to his senses.
Ryosuke meant bounty targets.
"Yes! Of course there are!"
Kamihara Hayato threw off the covers and, wearing only his underwear, rushed outside, eyes full of excitement, the hunger for money.
'Jackpot! This guy is a real powerhouse!'
"Good."
Ryosuke finished the last piece of pastry on the table.
"Please help me pick better ones this time. These guys…"
"…were too weak."
Hearing that, the four defeated fugitives burst into tears of humiliation.
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