"That's Murata Yuko. Her brother is the little brat who tried to assassinate you a few days ago—the one we caught," Yusuke said, glancing at Yuko, who was sprawled on the floor in a state of bewilderment.
Naka Noboru gave a curt nod. "Next time you handle a problem, make sure you clean it up properly. She's still alive and now she's here ruining my business? What the hell is that about?"
"Understood. I'll take care of her later tonight," Yusuke replied. He then tilted his head toward the booth. "What about the guests?"
"They dare cause trouble in my place? Make them pay up and kick them out."
Naka shook his head dismissively and turned to enter a side room. Yusuke began walking toward the two boys. Seizing a moment when no one was looking, Minato grabbed a bottle and spilled some sake on the unconscious Mama-san before drenching his own chest as well.
Before Yusuke could even open his mouth, Minato shook off his earlier hesitation. He pointed at the wine stains on his yukata and glared at the approaching ronin. "Are you the one in charge here?"
"I am. You two—"
"Good! If you're in charge, explain what's wrong with this place! One girl is a clumsy mess who can't pour a drink, and the other acts like she's more important than the customers!"
Minato cut him off sharply. Yusuke glanced at the unconscious Mama-san, who was covered in sake stains, and assumed she had spilled a drink on the guest and been knocked out by a drunk, angry customer.
The realization only made Yusuke more irritable. He rested his hand on the hilt of the long sword at his waist. "Hand over all the money you have and get out. Maybe then we'll forgive you for the mess you've made."
"Money? Which eye did you use to see 'money' on us?" Tatsuma replied, his tone arrogant and nonchalant.
Yusuke blinked. It was the first time he had met someone even more overbearing than himself. "So," he snarled, "you came here today specifically to cause trouble?"
"Gahahaha!"
Tatsuma put on his best villainous laugh. "You just realized? I'm announcing it right now: starting today, Shiroizumi Village is the territory of me, Sakata Gintoki, and my brother, Hattori Zenzou! Now hurry up and bring me the tribute!"
Yusuke's face turned black with rage. He lunged forward to grab Tatsuma by the collar, but Tatsuma's hand was a blur. He snatched a sake bottle from the table and smashed it over Yusuke's head.
Smash!
Shards of glass and droplets of sake sprayed everywhere. Yusuke staggered, but before he could clear his head, Tatsuma delivered a heavy kick to his chest. Yusuke flew back, landing right next to Murata Yuko, completely unconscious.
In the dim, flickering light, Yuko—who was still trying to process how the situation had spiraled so far—looked up at Tatsuma. To her shock, he actually gave her a quick, deliberate wink.
She looked down at the unconscious Yusuke beside her, then felt the short blade hidden in her robes. She finally understood what Tatsuma wanted her to do.
Chaos erupted. The other customers and hostesses scrambled for the exits, while the remaining ronin surrounded the booth. Tatsuma and Minato didn't look worried; instead, they calmly scanned the room.
The two exchanged a nod. Tatsuma had already mapped out Naka's entire local operation—luckily, they had all gathered in one spot tonight.
Tatsuma glanced toward the room Naka had entered and whispered to Minato, "Zenzou, keep your hands light. Don't scare them away too soon."
Minato nodded. Their plan was to pose as street thugs, which meant they couldn't display their true shinobi skills yet. They needed to make these men believe they had a chance to win. If they appeared too powerful from the start, Naka might sense the danger and flee. They needed a "clumsy" victory to bait the rogue ninja into the fray.
Swish—!
A blade whistled past Minato's chest. He dodged nimbly; if he took a direct hit, the Transformation Jutsu might dispell.
He reached out, disarmed the ronin in a single fluid motion, and drove the man's own katana through his chest. Mimicking Tatsuma's earlier bratty tone, Minato remarked, "If you're going to draw a sword, you'd better be prepared to die."
Tatsuma was momentarily startled. He hadn't expected Minato to have such a natural talent for being a badass. No, Minato was a natural—he just didn't do it in an obnoxious way like the Uchiha.
It was a more refined style of posturing. It was the kind of person who would put on their Hokage robes before a fight and say, "I'll be right back," or "I cannot lose while carrying the name of the Hokage." Or the kind of person who says, "I'm not good at Sage Mode," then instantly enters a perfect Sage Mode without any frog-like mutations.
Beyond the "cool" factor, Tatsuma was impressed by Minato's cold efficiency. The "Little Sunshine" persona was for his friends; to his enemies, Minato was the man who would eventually slaughter fifty Jonin in the blink of an eye—the "Yellow Flash" who made the Stone Village declare that retreating from him was not a failure of duty.
Seeing two of their own dropped so quickly, the ronin—who lacked any real courage or loyalty—began to hesitate. Though they kept the two surrounded with their blades drawn, none of them dared to lunge.
Two of them actually turned tail and ran toward the room where Naka was hiding. Seeing this, Tatsuma picked up another bottle and hurled it at them.
Crack!
One man went down hard. The other scrambled away on all fours. Tatsuma withdrew his gaze with a satisfied smirk; he wasn't actually trying to stop them from calling for help—he was just keeping up appearances.
Moments later, Naka Noboru stepped out of the room. Seeing a dozen of his men frozen in fear by two teenagers, he roared in fury. "What are you doing?! Waiting for them to die of old age?! Kill them!"
Bolstered by Naka's command, the ronin reluctantly moved in. The two closest swung their blades at the boys.
Minato held back, avoiding the use of the refined taijutsu he'd learned at the Academy. He dodged ungracefully, then used a "sloppy" wrist-slap and elbow-strike Tatsuma had shown him to knock his attacker unconscious.
Tatsuma was even less elegant. He grabbed a ronin's wrist, executed a rough shoulder throw, and then delivered a series of heavy kicks to the man's armpit and head until he passed out.
Naka watched the exchange, his anger growing even as he felt a sense of relief. He was angry at his men's incompetence, but relieved that these two seemed to be just ordinary, albeit skilled, brawlers. There wasn't a trace of shinobi training in their movements.
He stepped forward, his voice dripping with malice. "You two... you can go to hell and regret your choices there!"
His hands blurred into the Ram Seal, and he vanished from his spot. Seeing their boss use a ninja technique, the remaining ronin cheered. To them, an ordinary person could never beat a ninja. These two punks were dead men.
Tatsuma and Minato put on faces of pure horror, appearing as if they had no idea Naka had reappeared directly behind them.
Naka materialized with a kunai in each hand, driving them toward the boys' necks.
"Look out!"
At that moment, the one person everyone had ignored—Murata Yuko—screamed a desperate warning.