Half an hour later, Gaiki finally stood up with his aching waist after being released by the extremely satisfied Gerissen.
"Captain! You squeezed too hard! My waist almost broke!"
"Who told you to hide things from me? I even suspected you were trying to get yourself killed!"
"I kept giving me signals the whole time!"
"Yeah right! This is what you deserve for acting so shady!"
"I don't care! Captain, you must take responsibility!"
Shen had originally been listening expressionlessly to this rather inappropriate conversation, but when he saw Gaiki's pitiful look filled with grievance, he immediately lost his composure. He quickly moved to Nayou's side and covered the child's ears.
"Shen? What's wrong?"
"Nayou, don't listen to those two weird uncles — they're just spouting nonsense. It might even rot your innocent little mind."
"Ah? Is that true? Well then, okay."
The conversation between these two youths enraged the two middle-aged men at the storm's center, making their face veins visibly pop.
"You brats! How dare you speak like that! I'm one of the most promising chunin in Sunagakure!"
"That's right! Are all kids from Konoha this disrespectful?"
Gaiki and Gerissen both exploded angrily, their current appearances strikingly similar to a certain clan head who was miserably working overtime on Commercial Street.
Unfazed, Shen continued whispering something into Nayou's ear, soon joined by Nawaki and Orochimaru.
"See? The relationship between these two weird uncles is really abnormal."
"Are you serious? Seems to me like you're just slandering them."
"What about you, Nayou?"
"I don't know."
"I know! It's definitely inappropriate — the kind between a captain and his subordinate!"
"Snake Uncle truly sees through all facades — you've struck gold there!"
"Flattery won't do you any good, but I've always read your masterpieces. In fact, I think Haku's [Dongfang Bubai] resembles Gaiki."
"Eastern Invincible? Who's that?"
"You haven't even read my novels, Nawaki? They've been running nonstop in the Uchiha Daily!"
"Anything produced by the Uchiha clan will never be used by us Senju!"
"Then why does your sister hang out in our Casino every day?"
"My sister..."
Team One's conversation grew increasingly louder, clearly disregarding others' opinions. This arrogance infuriated the four Suna shinobi present.
Thus, Sunagakure's shining pride, Gaiki, yelled furiously, "Hey you guys from Team One in Konoha! We heard everything you said!"
"So what?" x4
In perfect unison, Team One shot back, their synchronized tone and expression leaving the four Sand ninja feeling quite humiliated inside.
"Does this method actually work? They seem about ready to charge over and start fighting," whispered Nawaki cautiously, his previous reckless tone now completely gone.
Shen gave him a "you're-an-idiot" look again, replying, "If they get to test us, why can't we test them right back? Like they say: What's good for the goose is good for the gander."
"Touch what?" Little Iceberg's icy stare snapped straight toward the one who butchered the metaphor.
"Cough... cough... Just kidding around, Nayou. Don't take me seriously — we're close to getting exposed."
Shen, who had managed to think fast enough, successfully convinced her. It was lucky he had his own overpowered ability; otherwise, he would have been exposed this time.
Act properly and don't get the wrong idea.
"So what's next? They haven't shown their hand yet." Orochimaru impatiently asked about the next plan—it concerned the future of his great experiments.
"Who knows? Well—ahem."
After pretending to cough twice, Shen—who had attracted their attention—began his performance: "Don't you think people from Sunagakure might all have messed-up relationships like these two shady old men? I say we just head back to Konoha."
Nayou immediately replied, "No way! Shen, don't scare me like that."
Seeing how stiff Little Iceberg's acting was, Shen gave her a subtle eye signal. Then, he raised his voice and delivered the long-prepared line: "How could it be fake? Just look at this place—it's so dead out here, nothing like Konoha! Not even a train! I wouldn't be surprised if some weird stuff went down here."
Orochimaru, sensing the climax was coming, refused to be overshadowed: "Shen, those are village secrets! Those rail-connected transport vehicles carrying vast supplies mustn't be leaked to outsiders!"
Nawaki, with little role to play, decided to improvise: "What's there to worry about? These guys don't seem too sharp anyway. How could they possibly understand what this means?"
Promptly adding his own improvisation upon receiving Shen's reminder, Nawaki shot back: "So what if they understood? Are they gonna travel all the way to Konoha to steal it? Just because they're slow on the uptake doesn't mean they're dumb."
"I—you—" Nawaki began stuttering after being cut off like that.
"What do you 'I' me? What do you 'you' me!"
Reminded by Shen with a glance, Nawaki quickly caught on: "I mean, maybe we should sneak back to Konoha quietly. You're speaking so loudly—they'll hear everything!"
"!!!"
The other three were all shocked. None had expected him to pull it off—they had mentally prepared for the performance to fall flat.
"Fine, you're right," Shen said stiffly, ending the act.
The four Sand shinobi who had just been made to look foolish noticed Team One seemed restless and ready to slip away. Instantly anxious, they exchanged glances, believing Team One had accidentally revealed important information from Konoha. In response, they quickly switched to friendly smiles.
"Dear friends from Konoha who've traveled far to visit us, are you leaving already? We genuinely invited you all to stay as our guests in Sunagakure Village!"
"Yeah, yeah! Just now was my mistake entirely. Please allow us to properly entertain you as an apology!"
Gerissen and Gaiki both eagerly tried to persuade them to stay, while the remaining two generic Sand ninja nodded in agreement beside them.
"This is working out!"
All four members of Team One thought inwardly. Even the somewhat clueless Nawaki knew exactly how to play his part next.
Thus, he started first, feigning reluctance: "But we four eat quite a lot."
"No problem! Sunagakure Village is known for its hospitality!" All four responded together.
Not wanting to be upstaged at the beginning, Shen naturally refused to remain silent: "But we've come such a long distance to your esteemed land. How could we possibly make you spend extra resources for us? How about this—we, Team One, will visit Sunagakure again another time."
"No way!"
Gaiki was starting to lose his cool. Once the words were out, he had no choice but to try his best to fix things, "Ah, sorry! What I meant was that this isn't in line with Sunagakure's long-standing hospitality. Don't worry—I'll get the Third Kazekage to cover all your expenses!"
Orochimaru mentally called him a rustic hick, but pretended to hesitate, "But you see, there are many research projects waiting for me back in my village."
"No big deal—Mr. Orochimaru, if you need anything at all, we'd be happy to provide it free of charge!" Gerissen had already bet the farm and was determined to keep them here.
Finally, Nayou looked down at herself and then at the four Sand ninja who were clearly part of the Disadvantaged Four. Her icy demeanor barely masked a hint of embarrassment, "I don't have anything urgent, but may I perhaps spar with one of your village's ninja?"
"???x4"
The four Sand ninja, seeing her delicate appearance, assumed she must be joking. They never expected such a delicate-looking young girl to make such a request and took it as a joke.
Of course, the Disadvantaged Four readily agreed, their manner suggesting they'd probably accept any challenge—even if Team One wanted to spar with the Third Kazekage himself.
Thus, inside each of them felt pleased, but on the surface, all eight acted like old friends reuniting after years apart, exchanging warm greetings as they happily walked along the road through Sunagakure.
Only time would tell whether these eight people, each with their own hidden motives, would eventually get what they truly wanted?
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