"Sorry to keep you waiting, Killer Bee."
"Yo, konoha songstress, you've arrived~ The rap battle is about to start~"
"Wait, I never agreed to a rap battle with you."
"Are you scared?"
The sudden taunt made Kano a bit angry; she wished she could pull out Shadow Hiruzen on the spot and hit him with a Reaper Death Seal.
"No, since we've met here, I want to ask you for a favor."
"If you win against me in a duel, I'll agree to it."
"Naruto is the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, and his relationship with his Tailed Beast isn't good. I hope you can help him. You have a great relationship with the Eight-Tails, Gyuki, right? I want Naruto and the Nine-Tails to have a better relationship."
At the mention of Jinchuriki, Killer Bee stopped being playful.
From Killer Bee's world in the Infinite Tsukuyomi, it was clear he was very friendly toward Jinchuriki; even if he could isolate the entire Hidden Cloud Village by himself, he still craved companions.
And Jinchuriki were the companions he wanted.
"Helping out a Jinchuriki brother~ Is naturally the right thing to do~ But this musical art competition~ Please don't decline or flee from the mission~"
"Fine, fine, fine, stop singing. We'll find a time to compete once, but until then, stop singing."
Kano planned to take the opportunity when Killer Bee was teaching Naruto to enter his seal space and talk to the Nine-Tails. The current Naruto was still too weak and easily influenced by the Nine-Tails. So Kano would go in to help keep things under control; as for the Nine-Tails, she reckoned she could give it a beating if she went all out.
Kano had been with Naruto for so long, she had actually wanted to go in and see for a long time. But Kano didn't know how to get in, and Naruto had never gone berserk in front of her.
With Kano around, Naruto rarely had the chance to go berserk... As for the issue of large-scale combat, Kano hadn't asked Tsunade for the Slug Summoning Jutsu yet; there was no rush. Besides, Kano thought biting her finger was quite painful, so even if she had a Summoning Beast, she would rarely use it.
She had a Shadow Giant Snake in her shadow; although not as powerful as Manda, it was still useful. Additionally, Shadow Orochimaru could use Summoning Jutsu to summon Manda, and since the shadow used the jutsu, Kano's finger wouldn't hurt. Finally, there was Shadow Orochimaru's Eight Branches Technique, which could summon the Yamata no Orochi.
Although this technique was stabbed to death by Itachi's Totsuka Blade in the anime, it was actually an incredibly impressive Forbidden Jutsu, capable of firing energy beams.
Aside from Killer Bee, this birthday banquet would likely invite people from many countries. This was a political matter for the Land of Fire; Kano was just a Ninja and wouldn't participate nor did she want to, but she would see many Ninjas from other countries coming as bodyguards, so there should be many familiar faces.
Kano chatted with Killer Bee for a while before saying goodbye. On her way back, she ran into Asuma again.
Asuma had actually been worried that Kano might encounter danger; although he said he was going back, he was secretly keeping watch. After all, that Kumogakure Ninja was very powerful, and he couldn't guarantee he could win.
It was far too unsafe for a Genin like Kano to be alone with a foreign Jonin. Asuma had heard that Kano was strong, but he hadn't seen it with his own eyes; he felt she was still just a child, a Genin born in an era of peace.
No matter how strong, she would at most be at a level above Chunin, or at the most extreme, Special Jonin level. Even so, she wouldn't be enough to handle Killer Bee.
"Kano, what is your relationship with him?"
"He is the brother of the Hidden Cloud Village's Raikage, the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki. He has a good personality, likes music and rap, and came to exchange musical ideas with me."
"What?! The Eight-Tails Jinchuriki?! How could the Hidden Cloud Village let him run this far alone? If he's a Jinchuriki, it would be extremely dangerous if he went berserk!"
Haha, didn't I bring the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki along too?
"That's why I'm saying, if he fought us for real, except for Naruto and me, everyone else probably wouldn't survive a Tailed Beast Ball. Even without using the Tailed Beast's power, you'll understand once I tell you his record. During the Third Ninja World War, he fought against the Fourth Hokage and survived."
"That powerful?"
Asuma knew how ridiculous the Fourth Hokage was; he alone forced other countries to change their strategies. Even Asuma couldn't react to the Flying Thunder God Technique; how could one defend against such an instant-kill attack?
Another thing shocked him: where on earth did Kano get so much information? It couldn't possibly be that the opponent told her. Kakashi had also said that Kano's intelligence-gathering ability was truly absurd.
Asuma was wondering if he had any unspeakable secrets that Kano might know. Oh, right, he heard from Kakashi that she also knew a Brainwashing Technique.
---------------------------------
If you'd like to read the next 70 chapters in advance, you can support me on Patreon.
I regularly post chapter previews there, so you'll always be up-to-date and won't have to wait too long.
[email protected]/SolyuraMT
And if you enjoy the story, don't forget to give me a Power Stone. Your support really motivates me to continue translating!