Chapter 17: Gato
Knock knock knock~
Early the next morning.
Uzumaki Naruto came running to knock on Kakashi's door.
"Kakashi-sensei, get up and teach us Ninjutsu already."
"Don't forget what our mission is this time."
After a long while, Kakashi, looking exhausted and still somewhat drowsy, opened the door.
"Later, after washing up and eating breakfast, we have to go protect Mr. Tazuna while he builds the bridge. If you want to train, you can spar with Haku on the water surface near the bridge. It'll also help improve your water-walking ability, which is about Chakra control."
"If you want to learn high-level Ninjutsu, you must be able to control your Chakra with precise manipulation."
"Alright, that's all. You guys go accompany Mr. Tazuna to the bridge first. I'll sleep for two more minutes and then come over."
After saying this, Kakashi slammed the door shut again with a *bang*, leaving Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke standing outside, looking at each other.
"..."
"Darn it, no wonder Kakashi-sensei is always late. Turns out he's always sleeping in!"
After realizing it, Uzumaki Naruto complained angrily.
"And I actually started to have a slightly better impression of Kakashi-sensei yesterday..." Sakura also added with a sigh of exasperation.
"Someone who's always late, sleeps in, and seems to have no motivation all day... yet he managed to become a Jonin at 12. How on earth did this guy... do it?"
Uchiha Sasuke couldn't help but wonder how Kakashi trained. Did he have some special training method?
Or was he truly such a genius that he could even get stronger while sleeping?
There was no other choice. In the end, they had to go accompany their client to the bridge first.
Of course, their mission was only to protect the client. Building the bridge was not part of the mission.
Therefore, while the client was working on the bridge, Naruto and the others continued to seek guidance from Haku.
...
Over the next few days, Team 7 repeated the same routine.
Finally, on the morning of the fourth day, Zabuza appeared, dragging along a middle-aged man with messy hair, wearing sunglasses, and of short stature.
"This guy is the president of Gato Shipping Company, the one who hired us to eliminate Tazuna."
Zabuza tossed Gato in front of Kakashi and the others, speaking in a cold tone.
"Zabuza, you bastard, what do you think you're doing?"
Gato struggled to stand up, but bound hand and foot, he was powerless. He could only struggle to lift his head and glare viciously at Zabuza.
"Nothing much. Someone just offered a higher price to have me kidnap you," Zabuza replied emotionlessly and coldly. His injuries had delayed him a few days; otherwise, he would have brought Gato sooner.
"These brats right here?"
Gato struggled and rolled over, looking up at Uzumaki Naruto and the others. Seeing they were just a bunch of kids, he couldn't help but feel a bit puzzled.
"Are you the helpers that old fool Tazuna hired?"
But soon, Gato noticed the Konoha forehead protectors they wore, and he understood.
However, where did that old fool Tazuna get so much money to hire Konoha Ninja?
And from what Zabuza said earlier, it seemed they had even bribed Zabuza with money?
He never expected that old fool Tazuna to be so rich!
"Hey, Zabuza, whatever they're paying you, I'll double it. As long as you take care of them for me, I'll give you an extra 35 million ryo."
Since it was all about money, Gato wasn't as worried anymore. After the job was done, he could just leak Zabuza's information to the Hidden Mist and have them deal with this rogue ninja.
After all, he wouldn't easily let go of anyone who betrayed him.