Hearing Ryun mention this so-called small mission, Kushina immediately froze, with sadness and unhappiness clearly written on her face.
"It's just a C-rank mission. Konoha is sending us to be bodyguards for a wealthy family. There's no danger, and food and lodging are provided. It just takes a lot of time..."
Ryun squinted at his cards and spoke casually, his calm and composed demeanor leaving Kushina speechless and annoyed.
This guy could lie without batting an eye, his face not reddening and his heart not racing. There wasn't the slightest flaw in his act. If Kushina hadn't already known his real purpose, even she might have believed him.
"Is that so... You've been resting these past two days. How did you suddenly get a mission?"
Asuka narrowed her eyes, looking at her son with slight suspicion.
'Aunt Asuka... is so smart!'
Seeing this, Kushina felt a little nervous for some reason. She could tell Aunt Asuka wasn't easy to fool. Now, it was up to the bad guy to handle this...
"I just went to the Hokage Building earlier. It's a newly assigned mission. Konoha is short on manpower right now, so they definitely won't let me and Kushina rest for too long..."
Ryun didn't even glance at her, because if he did, Asuka would be 100% certain her son was lying again!
Ryun focused entirely on the cards. This round, he wanted to be the landlord, so he flipped over the three landlord cards.
Among the three landlord cards were actually a pair of rocket aces!!!
"Y-you rigged this, didn't you? How could a pair of jokers appear in the landlord cards?!" Asuka's attention was immediately drawn to this.
"Hahaha, this is pure luck, Mom. You can't accuse me like this. I'm your biological son—how could I cheat you out of money?" Ryun laughed heartily.
"..."
"You don't even have a single joker, yet you dare to take the landlord? It's hard not to suspect you..." Asuka muttered.
"Hehehe... When playing cards, you gotta be bold!"
Ryun smirked, then continued the earlier topic:
"I was thinking, instead of doing dirty and exhausting D-rank labor missions, it's better to take this out-of-village mission and be a relaxed bodyguard. Even if it takes time, so be it..."
"Of course, someone else accepted the mission. As a genin, I don't have the authority to decide. Whatever they say, whatever Konoha says, I just have to do it..."
Hearing this, Asuka instinctively nodded:
"You're right... Leaving the village is fine. Being a small bodyguard is better than exhausting manual labor. Mom supports you!"
Kushina had experienced how grueling menial missions could be and had even told Asuka about it.
She had even mentioned how Ryun had been a "sewage boy" on his first day...
As a mother, her heart ached for her son. Now that there was such an easy mission, of course Asuka supported him. Even if it took a while, it was still better than manual labor.
"Mhm, I'll set off tomorrow morning."
"Got it... I'll bomb you!" Asuka first nodded, then suddenly grinned and slammed down four bomb cards.
"Auntie, Ryun still has the rocket in his hand! How can you bomb now???" Kushina exclaimed.
She felt Aunt Asuka was being careless. Since they had already seen the double joker rocket in the landlord cards, how could she dare to play a bomb now? Kushina felt this round was going to be a crushing defeat.
"Hahaha, what's so great about a double joker rocket? Don't worry, Nana, I still have bombs in my hand. Let's see if he dares to bomb me!"
Asuka laughed boldly, completely fearless at this moment, leaving even Ryun somewhat suspicious.
Ryun rubbed his chin, sometimes deep in thought, sometimes observing Asuka's expression.
"Have you decided yet? Why so slow?" Asuka scolded with a stern face but avoided meeting Ryun's gaze.
"Let me think, Mom. Don't rush me..."
Ryun looked at the cards on the table, calculating the remaining cards in play.
"I have so many cards in my hand—it's not like they'll fly away. Hurry up and decide..." Asuka placed her eight cards on the table and urged again.
"Okay... fine then..."
As soon as Ryun said this, Asuka's face instantly lit up with joy. She was about to throw down her eight-plane combo, but Ryun beat her to it by slamming down two jokers.
"Rocket, counter-bomb!"
"Y-you...!"
Asuka never expected her son to counter-bomb her so quickly. Wasn't he afraid there were still bombs left outside?
"What's wrong? I wanted to play my cards too..." Ryun chuckled, then started playing small pairs...
Asuka's plane combo was completely useless now. She could only watch helplessly as Ryun and Kushina battled it out with pairs!
If Ryun hadn't counter-bombed her with the jokers, she and Kushina would have won this round... But now...
"Auntie, bomb him quickly! He only has two cards left!" Kushina urged.
"..."
Asuka was on the verge of tears. She revealed her eight-plane combo, clearly surrendering.
She had just been bluffing, trying to steal a win, but she didn't actually have any bombs left.
"Hahaha... You never rush me when we usually play cards. Suddenly, you're impatient—I knew Mom was trying to bluff me. Caught you, didn't I? Hahaha..." Ryun laughed so hard he nearly choked.
"Ah... you jerk, I'm not playing anymore. With all these mind games, how can we ever win against you?!"
Asuka's eyes turned red from losing.
"Hahaha, even if you quit, pay up first..."
"Also, weren't you just playing mind games too? First, you pretended to have bombs to scare me, then you deliberately rushed me to disrupt my focus—all to steal a win, right?"
"It's only because I kept my cool and stayed bold that I wasn't fooled by your bluff. Mom's tricks are no less than mine, huh???"
Ryun bluntly pointed out the truth. Faced with such ironclad facts, Asuka's face turned red, and she had no rebuttal.
"Fine, you little brat... Let's go again! You want to play mind games? I'll play with you properly. I refuse to believe I can't beat you!!!"
Asuka angrily threw out several large bills, determined to keep trying.
"..."
Watching this, Kushina really wanted to raise her hand and say she was done playing!
Among the three, she was the most naive. Playing Cards with two "scheming foxes," Kushina felt that if this continued, she'd lose even her underpants to their family...
Even though she often had good luck with cards, holding strong hands many times, she had only won a tiny bit so far.
Ryun kept getting bad hands, but with his sharp skills, he always managed to bluff his way to victory...