The cargo ship stopped at the Land of Water port.
Linto immediately sold it to the locals.
As for the crew members who were transporting drugs and doing a little piracy on the side, Linto broke one of their legs each, seeing as they had been obedient for the latter part of the journey, and told them to get lost.
Having arrived at their destination, it was time to say goodbye.
Momo-chan looked back every few steps, unwilling to leave.
Sasuke crossed his arms, turned his head away, and pretended to be aloof, but the occasional glances he stole at Momo-chan betrayed his true feelings.
"Saying goodbye is sometimes more important than meeting for the first time."
Linto patted Sasuke on the shoulder: "The world is vast, and this might be the last time you ever see each other. Say goodbye properly, so that neither of you has any regrets."
Sasuke looked at the pink-haired little girl walking away.
One last look...
He thought to himself.
When he realized it, Sasuke had already raised a hand to wave goodbye to Momo-chan.
Seeing Sasuke respond, Momo-chan's smile became even brighter.
"Goodbye, Sasuke!"
"Goodbye," Sasuke said softly.
After Momo-chan and her mother, the other passengers thanked Linto one by one and left to continue their journeys.
Only one man remained, waiting for all the other passengers to leave before approaching Linto.
Linto remembered him a little.
When they were fighting the bald samurai and the crew members, the other passengers were all terrified, but this man remained calm, as if he was used to seeing such scenes.
The man respectfully offered a business card with both hands.
The business card had gold edges and felt smooth and comfortable to the touch, clearly made with a lot of money.
Kambara Hayato.
President of Kambara Agency.
A very young president, that was Linto's first impression of him.
Kambara Hayato looked to be about twenty-five or twenty-six years old, with a slicked-back hairstyle and simple clothes. He was quite handsome, but a bit short, around five feet five inches tall.
"My name is Kambara. I am an information merchant and broker. My agency is in this port city. If you two ever need to buy information or accept bounties, please contact me."
Kambara Hayato's tone was humble, and his smile was gentle.
"Thanks to you two today, I got my life back. For all future business with you, I will cut my commission by fifty percent."
Linto had come to the Land of Water intending to hunt bounties. Having a broker to introduce him to opportunities would save him the trouble of searching for information himself, improving his efficiency.
As for commission?
Linto wasn't doing this for the money.
Soul fragments were his foundation.
Linto was new to this place. Rather than work with unfamiliar locals, it was easier to work with Kambara Hayato, who he had at least shared a ship with.
Taking the business card, Linto put it away, saying, "Sorry, I don't have a business card."
"I understand, I understand. Then I won't bother you any longer."
Kambara Hayato bowed.
Linto nodded and left with Sasuke.
Kambara Hayato slowly straightened up, squinting as he watched the two figures walk away. The evening sunset cast long shadows behind them.
"Goodbye, my two saviors."
Kambara Hayato's tone was full of a sense of fate.
He thought that the next time he saw the two of them, they would have made a name for themselves in the Land of Water.
Unexpectedly, Linto went to Kambara's agency that very night.
"Are there any bounties?" Linto asked.
Kambara Hayato looked at the two people, one big and one small, sitting on the sofa, and said in surprise, "Aren't you two resting? Shouldn't we talk about work tomorrow?"
After sitting in the cargo hold for three days, Kambara Hayato felt like he was getting hemorrhoids.
He had specifically hired a young model from the Sand Country to relax him tonight. He didn't want to talk about work at this time.
"Resting?"
Linto tilted his head slightly and said honestly, "We already rested. We had dinner, took a walk, and took a bath... So, we're done resting."
Kambara Hayato's mouth twitched.
What kind of rest is that?
Where did you find these workaholic Ushiuma?!
Despite his complaints, Kambara Hayato was a businessman after all. When business came knocking, he wouldn't turn it away.
Touching his chin, Kambara Hayato asked, "Do you have any specific targets in mind? For example, opponents you're good at dealing with, their approximate combat level, and so on."
Aiming for specific targets would maximize mission efficiency. The high mortality rate of bounty hunters was a disgrace to brokers.
"Preferably melee-type targets. As for combat level..."
Linto didn't know how to describe it.
In this world, the only ones who could really be considered "enemies" were Uchiha Itachi and Hatake Kakashi. He had caught the former by surprise, and the latter hadn't been going all out.
Linto thought for a moment and said, "A little weaker than Konoha's Hatake Kakashi would be good, easier to deal with."
Kambara Hayato swallowed.
What do you mean, "a little weaker than Kakashi"?
Since when did the legendary Copy Ninja become a unit of measurement for combat power?
He took a sip of tea, suppressing the urge to complain: "I don't have any information on anyone as strong as Hatake Kakashi at the moment—even if I did, they wouldn't be in the Land of Water.
But if that's the standard, then the choices... are actually quite plentiful."
Kambara Hayato took out a stack of files from under the table.
"Choose for yourselves."
Linto casually picked up four files and flipped through them.
They contained information about the targets' personal details, fighting styles, hiding places, and so on. Remarkably, each file had a date of update marked in the lower right corner.
People change.
Especially these escapees and rogue ninja, whose combat power fluctuates.
Having the latest information guaranteed that preparations for the mission could be thorough and detailed.
"Professional."
Linto liked working with professionals. He shook the files in his hand.
"I'll be back in a couple of days."
In a couple of days?
Kambara Hayato glanced at the document numbers and knew exactly who Linto had chosen.
One B-rank fugitive, known as the "Mountain Ogre," a brutal killer who had slaughtered an entire village.
Three C-rank rogue ninja, who were brothers, worked well together, and whose combined combat power was no weaker than a B-rank, making them very troublesome.
Although these four targets were all nearby, it would still take the better part of a day to travel to them.
Adding in the fight after the encounter, as well as the healing, resting, and re-preparations afterwards...
Kambara Hayato chuckled inwardly, prepared to not see Linto and his companion for ten days or half a month. He said aloud,
"I wish you both martial success and a triumphant return!"
After seeing Linto and Sasuke off, Kambara Hayato threw away the files in his hand, left the agency, pulled up his pants, and strode into a nightclub.
A night of pleasure.
"Beauties from the Sand Country are so smooth."
The morning light streamed in through the crack in the window. Kambara Hayato lay on the edge of the bed, his eyes closed, and reached out to touch a face.
He gently stroked it, from eyebrows to nose to beard and lips—
Beard?
Kambara Hayato suddenly opened his eyes.
He saw Linto and Sasuke sitting on the sofa, drinking tea.
Four bound men were thrown on the floor, one of them lying next to Kambara Hayato's bed.
He had been touching that man's face.
"Sorry to disturb your rest," Linto said. "It's just that carrying these four around, I couldn't think of a place that wouldn't attract attention."
Is it really a matter of rest?!
Kambara Hayato picked up his watch.
Only ten hours had passed since he gave the files to Linto, and a B-rank and three C-rank fugitives had been taken care of.
Alive!
Capturing alive and killing are two different things.
The commission would be higher, and the difficulty was also greater.
Even with the discount he gave Linto, the remaining commission was enough for Kambara Hayato to spend a week with young models from the Sand Country.
"Anything else?" Linto asked.
Kambara Hayato was stunned for half a second.
Anything else?
But he quickly realized.
Linto was talking about bounty targets.
"Yes! Of course, there is!"
Kambara Hayato threw back the covers, put on his pants, and walked out, his eyes full of excitement—
A desire for money.
Jackpot!
This was the real deal!
"Good."
Linto ate the last pastry on the coffee table:
"Please help me choose carefully, these guys..."
"Were too weak."
Hearing this, the four subdued fugitives shed tears of humiliation.