The gloomy but spacious basement, filled with people, was illuminated by the rays of swinging lamps. They swayed either from the general hubbub, or from the gusts of wind breaking through the small windows right under the ceiling, but clearly not from boredom. I've never been bored in this place. That is why the local spectacles have always attracted quite a large audience. However, the audience of the chosen killers.
The floor in the center of the room was outlined with chalk. The spectators were not allowed to cross the line of the circle, however, as well as those who were inside it. This was the only rule of the duel in which one of the participants put his life on the line. Not often, with a knife to your throat, the victorious enemy was ready to spare you. The winner most often relied on the will of the audience, listening to their cries, and the audience in this place was merciless. Therefore, the only rule was salvation for those who realized that the stakes were too high.
The members of the club, the best killers, as mentioned above, were mostly mercenaries who were not on regular service in the Amegakure army. Someone was dismissed from the squad and stripped of his rank. Someone could not enroll in training and was a self-taught ninja. Some individuals came from distant lands and villages and stayed in Amegakura, where it was always possible to earn extra money since there are always classes for such people at the top of the village. In general, the best and to some extent the dregs mixed here, devoting themselves to survival or just to dispel boredom. After all, underground fights were great entertainment. And someone just wanted to hide here from the rain, knowing or at least suspecting that this is not just a weather phenomenon.
There was no doubt that Payne and Conan knew about this place. It was stupid to think that you could hide here if they started looking for you. But the Gods of Ame didn't care what was going on inside. Even if the criminals wanted by the village hide in this place, sooner or later they will have to be released. And then they can't hide from Payne's gaze. As already mentioned, only the majority, but not all of the spectators and fighters were outside the system. Several ordinary Shinobi were also not averse to making money, believing that the rabble gathered here would never defeat them. Among them, the heads of the Ame probably had their own eyes and ears.
But our hero didn't care, because, after his mysterious return to life, he ceased to be Naruto Uzumaki. He changed his appearance so as not to stand out from the locals, and the form of Shinobi Ame with the slightest modifications in the form of colored armbands on his shoulders, any inscriptions and drawings was something taken for granted here. So the Joker's clothes, which appeared to him immediately after his resurrection and escape, were now in good time for him, although they had suffered from time and experienced battles.
The chakra that nourished his body became different, since Payne did not even move to grab the rebellious jinchuriki. However, our hero was in no hurry to climb into the rain once again. He was almost always under the roof, knowing that every extra minute under the all-seeing drops could suddenly remind Payne of his existence. Who knows how this technique works besides reading the chakra of everyone who is touched by water?
There were a lot of people who wanted to fight in the club today. And in anticipation of a new fight, the audience made so much noise that even Naruto, who was used to the hum of the crowd, had to wince. However, thanks to the mask hiding his face with a black smile flaunting on it from edge to edge, no one noticed this. In addition, now the attention of the public was riveted to the two Shinobi who stood opposite each other. The Joker also froze in his place at a distance from the "stage", peering over the shoulders of the audience at what was happening in the arena.
The moment when everything begins. You come and either under your own name or under an invented nickname, you begin to ascend to your glory. As a rule, the fighters did not throw names around, but came up with nicknames that accompanied them to the very end, happy or not.
— Meet me... Iron Samurai! — the ringing voice of a blonde in a colorful outfit, who walked a circle diagonally, made everyone make even louder noise, either from the delight that the beauty of Rico caused, or from the anticipation of hot mochilova.
"The Iron Samurai. How primitive," thought the Joker. Over the past time, he has regained the gift of paying attention to small things. As in childhood he sat on a half-bridge and admired a leaf floating in the center of the lake, so now he tried to notice the names. After all, each name had its own meaning. After all, he chose his own for a reason.
— And... Gin!
When Riko left the circle, two people stood opposite each other. One, as expected, justified his name with metal plates sewn into a military vest and trousers. He was armed with a typical samurai weapon. He was a pale man with a green mohawk and a scar crossing the right corner of his lips. Not an athlete, of course, but it seems to be large.
Not like the opponent, who is quite skinny for a man, dressed in black pants and a hoodie with a hood thrown over. The mysterious stranger was either very shy, or did not want to turn to face Naruto. Therefore, he could not see anything else.
The Iron Samurai ran his hand over his shoulder to the hilt of a long katana resting in a scaly scabbard. Grabbing the sword, the ninja rushed forward, preparing to end this duel in the blink of an eye, but the enemy in black was also not asleep, fishing a dagger out of his sleeve and taking a katana blow on a short slightly curved blade. A shower of sparks, carved by weapons, and the clang of metal made the audience shudder at once.
The Mohawk warrior tensed, and chakra flowed down the blade of the sword, causing the metal to glow blue. In the next moment, the katana easily cut the opponent's dagger, but Jin managed to slip out from under the blow at the last moment, rolling on the floor and being on the side of the enemy. In the next moment, the fighter jumped up and demonstrated the "chopper" technique in perfect execution.
Because of the leg that cut into the jaw, the Iron Samurai had to drop his katana and catch his teeth. And the enemy stood triumphantly in front of him, not attacking and waiting for the enemy's next move to the triumphant hooting of the crowd.
—Nit,— the Samurai swore, this time armed with two tanto, the scabbard of which was over his shoulders. This time he did not go into a frontal attack, but stood in a fighting pose to wait for the enemy to come to him and meet him with a counterattack.
Jin did not decline such an invitation and moved forward easily, moving with amazing grace.
— Laughter of blades! — the enemy did something that no one expected. Instead of meeting the enemy in close combat, he threw both blades forward, and the next moment they spun in the form of a disk with sharp blades outwards.
Jin fluttered through this fan of death in a spectacular somersault, landing right in front of his opponent and performed a sweep, forcing the unsuspecting Samurai to collapse on the cold floor. At that moment, the Joker squinted to finally see the face hidden under the hood. But he couldn't, because there was only darkness under the hood.
The Joker frowned. Usually he was the one who made riddles, but here I had to guess what it was, a new masking technique or something else? His former best friend Shikamaru liked to solve riddles. That's really who would like a man in a hood. Shikamaru... A friend who may or may not be alive. Naruto did not remember this, because because of the damned Nine-tailed events of the last battle before his return to life were like in a fog.
Two blades, heading straight at the audience, hit the barrier erected by the local "administration" along the circle line and fell, as did their owner.
The hooded man raised his hand, in which a knife without a handle appeared, fluttered out of the second sleeve at the right time and was about to finish off the victim, listening to the shouts coming from everywhere: "Kill! Kill me! Kill!"
However, a new surprise made the audience gasp. The samurai held out his palm in front of him, placing it directly in the path of the blade, and in the next moment his skin turned into steel. The blade only struck the palm of the enemy, and tenacious fingers clutched at the throat of the Genie hidden in the darkness. Pushing off with his other hand from the floor, the Samurai got to his feet and, after enjoying the shouts of the crowd, threw the hooded man directly into the audience, knowing that neither equipment nor weapons, but only a living person will overcome the barrier. Feeling the delight of a quick victory and the realization of his own mercy to the enemy, who is about to fly out of the circle and lose, the Samurai threw his hands up in victory.
But Jin managed to grab the floor with his hand at the last moment and, slowing down his flight, stopped right in front of the barrier.
— And you are a stubborn bastard, — said the Iron Samurai, realizing that it would not be possible to spare the enemy, and he could win only by killing. Turning to Jin, who got to his feet, the man with the mohawk was covered with steel, and one of his hands turned into a sharp stake.
— Forbidden technique: Shackles of Horror! — said a voice from under the hood, after which a palm in a black glove dropped to the floor, letting a chain of black symbols to the victim. Surrounding the enemy in a circle, they flashed, and the steel fighter who was staring at his feet screamed. The metal cover gradually began to disappear. And if the Samurai had decided to grab his head a little later, everything would have been different. But the warrior's arm, which had turned into a weapon, plunged into his head, and he collapsed to the floor, staining it with a red spot spreading in all directions.
Jin rose to the silence, because none of the observers expected such an outcome. And then the hall was filled with triumphant shouts.
"Forbidden techniques? It's been a long time since I've seen this here. It would be very useful, but ..." — the Joker regretfully put the card in his pocket, in which he did not have time to seal the technique he liked. In this place, he used to replenish the arsenal of jutsu, although the fighters have not used anything special lately.
Jin disappeared into the crowd, and Naruto rewarded with a bored look two goons removing the body of the loser from the arena. After such a performance, he had no doubt that other fights would surprise him with something. And his stomach rumbled treacherously, fortunately, only he heard it in such a noise.
"It's time to eat, right? Joker asked himself and answered himself. — Of course, Joker, you're right!"
It was quite difficult for our hero to get out of the habit of communicating with Kurama, besides, he rarely chatted with anyone at all while in Ame. Therefore, Naruto got into the habit of sometimes talking to himself.
He left the spectators who had gathered closer to the circle to look at the new gladiators, and headed for the stairs leading to where the same noise and uproar reigned. It was a bar where Naruto noticed a good place in a corner where no one would pay attention to him for sure.
Slamming a bill earned literally with sweat and blood on the bar counter, Uzumaki ordered a portion of ramen and a cocktail. And a few moments later, he was already sitting in an abandoned part of the bar, taking off his mask and enjoying a delicious dish, which, however, could not be compared to Ichiraku ramen.
When he was almost finished with the meal, someone's voice pulled him out of the abyss of memories, and our hero almost choked on noodles, discovering that a hooded man was sitting in front of him, whose clothes were sprinkled with fresh blood.
— It seemed to me that the Joker is a lover of something more complicated than ramen. That's how it happens. You get to know a person better, and you will be disappointed in him," the voice was female. And if then, in the noise of the crowd, Naruto could not say for sure that he was female when Jin pronounced the name of the technique, now this obvious discovery struck him on the spot.
Jin took off his hood, the haze that had thickened under him dissipated, and Uzumaki saw a girl about his own age with a mocking expression on her face. His violet eyes met the dark green eyes of a stranger, in which merry sparkles danced. The upturned nose, thin and questioningly raised eyebrows and a dazzling smile did not go well with the blood stains on the delicate skin. The stranger had gray or even white hair caught in a ponytail.
"Just saving money," the Joker's answer came to mind. — She herself was a mystery to me, and now I'm also a little disappointed.
The girl was bored, offended by such a statement.
— What did you want? Should I show you a trick? Uzumaki asked, realizing that the presence of the interlocutor interferes with him to calmly finish the ramen.
"I've been watching you for a long time," Jean muttered. — You seemed interesting to me. Maybe I just missed human communication.
Her words surprised Naruto a lot. If he had seen a hooded fighter earlier, not even in the ring, he would surely have remembered. Had she fallen out of his sight just as she had hidden her true identity under the cover of darkness some time ago?
— Do you think you're seeing me for the first time? — the white-haired woman grinned, mockery played in her gaze again. — No wonder. My genjutsu is capable of a lot. Make everyone believe that I'm a guy, get out of sight and watch from the shadows, disappear from memory...
— And aren't you bored, so exceptional, among these scum? Naruto muttered, realizing that every unexpected news that catches him gives Jin pleasure. "To tell you the truth, I found you interesting, too. I think you could even find a place in my deck.
Jean nodded.
—No lower than an ace, kid, or I'll get upset,— she said. — Well, since we are both interested in each other, do you mind continuing our conversation?
Joker felt his stomach growl treacherously. Looks like one serving of ramen wasn't enough.
"Is that your answer?"
— Okay. And if you stop making fun of me, I'll treat you," he agreed and, getting up, went to the bar to place an order.
A few minutes later, they were sitting together, eating hot portions of ramen on both cheeks.
—Pretty good," the girl admitted. — I didn't think that such cheap stuff could be so delicious.
"You're cheap trash yourself!" Joker thought.
"That's right, it's kind of a shame about ramen. In the end, this is the only thing that pleases us in this shithole."
— Well, are we going to get acquainted? I'm Kimiko," Jin continued the dialogue.
Naruto was again forced to stop eating, overcome with amazement. He didn't know how long the girl had been so diligently hiding information about herself, and here she was laying out everything at once, along with trumps.
"And I'm the Joker,— he said.
Kimiko resentfully threw her chopsticks into her plate.
— Well, I don't play like that.
— Do you think I'm just going to tell you my name and give you my heartwarming story? Don't be so stupid," Naruto protested.
She folded her arms and stared at Naruto, thoughtfully processing every detail of his appearance.
— You're not a local, otherwise you wouldn't be so stubborn and would just tell your name. It's not your uniform, is it? — she gave out, tapping her finger on the protector with the Amegakure symbol placed on the table during the meal.
— You don't look like a local either. I would be a jonin or a member of the ANBU with my own talents," Naruto replied, finishing with the second plate and sipping a cocktail through a straw.
"Yes," she agreed. — I'm kind of stuck. However, this is not so important. I care what you're doing here.
The Joker grinned.
— The same as you. I work, I survive," he looked at the deck of cards lying on the table to his right hand. — I'm adding to the collection.
Kimiko snatched the glass from him and, after drinking from it, put it on the table, licking her lips. Uzumaki looked at her slightly angrily. The impudence of this person began to bother him. However, such antics inclined even his incorruptible and secretive nature to revelations.
— Okay, fuck you. I'm stuck too. And I've been sitting here for a long time, gaining strength.
"A prisoner of war?" Home hunting? — when he reached for the glass he had taken away, the girl picked it up again and, casually pulling out a straw and spitting it on the table, drained the vessel in one gulp.
— Sort of. Although I'm not sure that someone is waiting for me at home. Maybe everyone who was dear to me has already died. I don't remember very well. But there's something I want to do," he replied.
"Revenge, then?" The girl asked again.
— Let's call it that. But first I would at least read the news, find out what's going on in the world," Naruto nodded.
Jean looked at him with interest.
— It's not so easy to leave Ame. Maybe it pleases God and the Angel to let someone like these scoundrels into the village and at the same time check ordinary foreigners a hundred times, but to get out of here against their will... she paused. — Everything is classified here.
"I know, I'm not stupid,— the Joker said. — But I like riddles and magic tricks. Especially if I have such an ace up my sleeve.
The girl smiled.
— And you know how to make compliments, — her palm fell on his. — Don't think ahead, I haven't said yes yet.
The blond man nodded. He knew that there was no hurry for them to escape and in any case it was worth taking the time to make a plan.
"You've got forever to think about it," he grinned.
— Maybe one night will be enough for me?