"Chicken soup's ready."
Terumi Mei carried a pot of chicken soup, placed it on the table, and saw no one picked up chopsticks, "Eat, why aren't you eating?"
She pulled out a chair and sat down.
Seven people sat around the table, the atmosphere awkward.
"This is Teacher Terumi. She came to the village a week ago, a teacher who teaches kids to read and write for free. While Mama was sick these past two days, it's been Teacher Terumi helping us cook meals."
Haku made introductions, hoping to ease the tension in the room.
It was ineffective.
Ryosuke quietly stared at Terumi Mei.
As someone who's often faced assassination, Ryosuke knew that many times, in the face of danger, intuition helps avoid many risks.
The moment Ryosuke laid eyes on Terumi Mei, he knew, she was absolutely not an ordinary person.
But the intel about him coming to Snowy Village was known only to Kamihara Hayato.
Hayato had already fled to Konoha for vacation. Logically, killers or bounty hunters couldn't have arrived early to ambush him in Snowy Village.
'Could it be… a coincidence? Is she really just a teacher traveling the world?'
Terumi Mei maintained a gentle smile. In her narrowed eyes, curiosity flashed.
'So this is Ryosuke? He doesn't seem any different from other ninjas.'
'So this table of food… will you dare to eat it? How will you test me?'
Terumi Mei guessed in her heart what Ryosuke's next move would be.
Clatter!
Ryosuke stood up, to Terumi Mei's surprised gaze.
"Teacher Terumi, please come with me."
"Eh?"
Ryosuke didn't wait for Terumi Mei's response. He strode out of the house. A bewildered Terumi Mei followed behind him, until they walked into the scattered snow outside.
"You know me," Ryosuke said.
No testing, no verbal traps, Ryosuke's calm gaze was like a steamroller barreling straight toward her, crushing everything, including all the scenarios and verbal traps Terumi Mei had prepared.
'The rhythm is disrupted… no, it's been flipped entirely. This guy really doesn't play by the rules.'
Terumi Mei thought, shaking her head slightly, "I don't know you."
Ryosuke nodded and did not question further. He took one step toward Terumi Mei.
The distance between them shrank to two meters.
A drop of cold sweat appeared on Terumi Mei's forehead.
The intel clearly stated, Ryosuke's strongest attack range was two meters. Stepping into it was equivalent to putting her life in his hands.
She really wanted to step back and regain distance. But if she backed away, it would mean she did know Ryosuke, and that she was familiar with his intel.
Which would prove… she was lying.
"I'll ask one more time. You know me. Are you here to kill me?"
"I don't understand what you're saying, "
Before the sentence ended, "Ora!"
Star Platinum suddenly appeared, swinging a full punch toward Terumi Mei's chest.
"Madman!"
Terumi Mei cursed in her heart. She didn't know where her cover was blown, but, "Don't underestimate me!"
Yes, just over twenty years old, young Terumi Mei didn't mind being called "old lady" at all, completely different from her thirty-year-old self.
People, even their past selves, cannot empathize with each other.
Having already been on guard, Terumi Mei instantly formed hand seals.
"Boil Release, Skilled Mist Technique!"
A cloud of scorching red mist sprayed toward the attacking Star Platinum.
Terumi Mei possessed Water, Fire, and Earth chakra natures. Her kekkei genkai were "Lava Release" and "Boil Release", she was the only ninja with two kekkei genkai.
Boil Release, Skilled Mist Technique, combined Fire and Water chakra, expelled from her mouth as boiling, highly acidic mist with adjustable acidity.
Like high-concentration sulfuric acid vapor.
The moment Star Platinum's fist touched the mist, intense corrosion occurred, and Ryosuke's fist also showed slight burns.
Terumi Mei keenly noticed this.
New intel.
Damage to the "stand" is mirrored onto Ryosuke.
The crimson mist surged toward Ryosuke. For Star Platinum to attack Terumi Mei, it had to plunge entirely into the searing acid mist, a suicidal move.
Terumi Mei dared to face Ryosuke because she was fully prepared.
Long-range ninjutsu bombardment was too inefficient. Aside from Jinchuriki, few ninja could afford that level of chakra consumption. Once firepower coverage had a gap, Ryosuke would seize the opportunity to close in and kill.
Her tactic against Ryosuke was to completely block off all paths within close and mid-range. Once Ryosuke stepped in, she'd inflict continuous damage, in other words... DOT (damage over time).
Since Ryosuke wanted to fight, she would reciprocate.
The Fourth Mizukage's mission to Terumi Mei was to kill Ryosuke, but she hadn't planned to carry it out.
Or rather, before truly understanding this man's heart, she wasn't going to make a move.
What kind of man, she wondered, would expose the human trafficking in the Land of Water and kill a member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen in the street?
That was the key.
More important than the Fourth Mizukage's orders.
'But…'
She looked at Ryosuke, who was being forced back, and felt slightly disappointed.
'Is this all?'
'Once he loses his intel advantage, he falls into passivity. Someone like this can't be called strong.'
A sound like a blower's breath broke her train of thought.
She saw the giant stand turning its back to the red mist.
It was like a bottomless pit, inhaling massive amounts of air. Snow-covered leaves swayed, snow on the ground rolled, and Terumi Mei felt the faint tightness in her chest, 'What is it doing?'
Just as the hot acid mist was about to touch Star Platinum's back, it turned around, its chest swelling, and exhaled.
A violent gust roared, producing rolling thunder, howling as it blew away the surging red mist.
'What jutsu is this? Wind Release?!'
'No, I didn't see any hand seals. Could it be some kind of kekkei genkai?'
Even if Terumi Mei racked her brain, she couldn't imagine that this kind of wild and violent wind was just Star Platinum exhaling with all its might.
'Crap!'
Boil Release, Skilled Mist Technique was forcibly blown away, didn't that mean there were no more obstacles?
Terumi Mei drew a long whip from her waist, just about to swing it, when a shout roared beside her ear,
"ORA!"
Only by facing Star Platinum up close, under its icy gaze, could one understand what kind of pressure it gave.
The falling fist was like a meteor from the sky, completely filling Terumi Mei's vision.
"Earth Release, Hardening Technique!"
A metallic gloss flashed across Terumi Mei's body.
The distance was too close, no time for substitution jutsu.
She could only use Earth-style to block. She didn't believe she couldn't take even one punch,
Thud!
Terumi Mei spun as she flew out, smashed four or five trees before stopping, coughed up blood, and without pausing, got up to strike back, only to see darkness before her.
Star Platinum had charged in again.
'So fast! Wasn't its attack range only two meters?'
Terumi Mei saw Ryosuke standing behind Star Platinum and understood, the "stand" really had a two-meter range, but the "core" of that radius moved too fast.
Ryosuke, who had trained in Ripple Hamon, could no longer be treated like an ordinary stand user.
Seeing Star Platinum's fist about to strike again, Terumi Mei quickly raised her hand, "Stop! No more fighting, let's talk!"
Ryosuke looked down at her, thought for a moment, then silently withdrew Star Platinum.
Terumi Mei had just sighed in relief, when Ryosuke landed two solid punches on her face, bang bang, knocking her dazed.
Purple of Restraint activated, binding Terumi Mei's hands and feet.
When Terumi Mei regained consciousness, she glared at Ryosuke viciously.
Ryosuke was unmoved. 'You say "don't fight" and I should just stop?'
He tugged Purple of Restraint to make sure it was tight, then sat opposite Terumi Mei.
"Now we can talk."
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