Chapter 48: Maybe they're just nostalgic.
"Work out the bill, Brother Uzui."
After polishing off the meal, Ryuji picked his teeth and got ready to pay—he wasn't the sort to dine and dash.
"Whew, you really can pack it away..."
Uzui Tengen stared at the mountain of ramen bowls and exhaled as though he'd just fought a Lower Rank demon.
Next time, I'm definitely not cooking myself.
"Forget it—just cover the ingredients."
Uzui waved it off with a smile; he'd never planned to profit. A Hashira's bounty already let him and his wives hot-spring-hop across the world.
The ramen stall was only cover for the mission.
Ryuji nodded, didn't argue, and slipped him a few bills.
Once Uzui had the stall packed up, they slipped into a quiet nearby inn.
Behind closed doors, Uzui knelt, pulled his uniquely shaped nichirin blade from beneath the cart, and settled it across his back.
"Brother Uzui, it's on you now."
Ryuji flexed his wrists. "You were a ninja—surely you've got a hunch where those guys hole up."
Uzui shook his head, eyeing the eager Ryuji. "No idea, but I can guess a few spots—let's roll the dice."
Roll the dice?
Ryuji's stomach lurched.
He knew exactly how bad his luck was.
A walking jinx, he always ran into demons packing the nastiest Blood Demon Arts.
This time it was ninja—not the loud blond kids from Konoha Village next door.
These were real shadow-dwellers.
Cold, lethal, willing to die if it meant dragging their target to hell.
Trusting to luck? That spelled doom. Reading his face, Uzui flashed a dazzling, cocky grin, eyes sharp.
"Ryuji, remember: ninja never retreat until the job's done."
He fastened his jewel-studded headband and murmured,
"We just sniff around the possible hideouts, stir the grass, let them spot us..."
Rolling his neck, Uzui laughed loudly.
"Then we leap—gorgeously—into their trap and carve our way back out!"
He paused. "That's my gorgeous plan—how's it sound?"
Ryuji opened his mouth, speechless.
Crude but effective—it hit ninja right in their weak spot.
Ninja were just paid weapons.
Until the contract ended, they'd finish it at any cost.
So if they knew the two of them were alive, they'd keep coming. Uzui was striking first to protect his three wives.
He got the logic.
But the plan was brutally simple—who charges into an ambush and hacks their way out?
"Brother Uzui, were you ever really a ninja?"
Ryuji couldn't help jabbing. "Don't tell me you're from Konoha Village?"
"Konoha Village?"
Uzui blinked, puzzled. "Never heard of it—where'd you pick that up?"
Even his three wives pricked their ears at the unfamiliar village name.
Ryuji rolled his eyes—he'd read it in a manga.
Keeping a straight face, he brushed it off. "Just an old story about ninja; popular back home. I'll tell you later."
He dragged the talk back. "But seriously, we're just gonna barge in?"
"Hahaha!"
Uzui roared with laughter, swinging his arm grandly. "The god of flashy festivals moves in bright daylight—no sneaking!"
Then, softer, he turned to his three silent wives.
"Hinatsuru, Makio, Suma—stay safe while we're gone..."
He rattled off bits of advice.
Each wife said her goodbyes.
They knew that against fellow pros, fewer people meant fewer risks.
They'd only distract the great Tengen, so they stayed behind.
"Lord Tengen, be careful—no reckless heroics."
"Mm-hmm! Watch your back."
"Turn every sneak-attacking ninja into mincemeat!"
The three women fussed over him, stuffing antidotes and kunai into his pockets in a scene warm enough to give Ryuji second-hand fullness.
"Alright, alright—it's not like I'm never coming back..."
Uzui sighed; clingy wives could be a handful... though he didn't hate it—kind of loved it, actually.
The pair "boarded" a train to the next city—well, sort of.
"So this is your gorgeous plan for getting a nichirin blade onto the train?"
Ryuji yelled over the clatter from the coupling between cars.
"I could've just bought a ticket!"
"Me riding alone? Too dull. Don't worry—only a few stops, lightning fast!"
Ryuji: "..."
He had a few choice words he wasn't sure were printable.
They rode on through the darkening evening, distance unknown.
Uzui's face grew heavier the closer they came to his old home, old ghosts stirring.
"Here we are—our stop."
He let go of the rail and leapt from the speeding locomotive.
"You jump, I jump!"
Ryuji echoed the cheesy line and followed, both landing in a field.
The instant he touched dirt, Ryuji's eyes reddened as Observation Haki swept out.
"Looks like our luck's turned—sixteen hostiles nearby."
He hadn't expected to hit ninja on the very first hideout.
Not bad for once.
Their concealment was first-rate—but he was running on cheats.
Observation Haki was an assassin's worst nightmare.
Uzui narrowed his eyes, surprised. Some new sense technique?
Sharper than even his own ears.
He'd heard something off the moment they landed—but sixteen? He couldn't tell.
Fast learner—this was what Genius looked like. Absolutely gorgeous.
He'd have to keep up.
"Right, let's head inside."
He nodded, then added with a smirk,
"Funny—after all these years the old bases are still here. Heh."
"Maybe they're just nostalgic... Still, lucky us."
Ryuji shrugged, half-joking.
"Indeed."
Their plan was already half—maybe three-quarters—done. Watch for traps, then cut every ninja down.
Without another word they strode toward the crumbling building.
"Watch out!"
"Mind your feet!"
Both shouted at once and sprang aside as the ground beneath them erupted.
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