"No way! I don't believe it unless you let me search him!"
The middle-aged man in the center shouted furiously.
They were trying to take a hostage!
Ranmo stepped back two paces, and Tsunade immediately shielded him with her body.
"No need for a body search, alright?" Tsunade said with a cool smile. "Look, it's just about money, right? Guys, I'm a regular at the tables—you know me. This time, I had a shipment seized at Mystic Port. Word is, the Hidden Cloud is behind it. You wouldn't happen to have any connections or information, would you? If you do, I'll forget about the winnings and offer them to you instead…"
Her eyes turned icy.
She was probing for intel on Kumogakure.
So this wasn't just gambling tonight—this was a mission!
"You? Doing business?" one of the men asked, narrowing his eyes.
"What kind of business isn't something I can freely talk about, not in times like these," Tsunade replied with the practiced tone of a seasoned con.
The three men chuckled. "So, military supplies, food, medicine? The kinds of things every nation's desperate for?"
Tsunade's lips curved into a smirk, eyes glinting with confidence.
"You seem very interested. Don't tell me… you're from the Hidden Cloud?"
Before the words had even finished leaving her mouth, she lost her patience and struck first—launching straight into combat.
"Get back!" she snapped, pushing Ranmo aside.
Two of the men had already revealed their true identities.
Once their cloaks were thrown off, the Hidden Cloud forehead protectors on their belts gleamed in the light.
They were ninja from Kumogakure!
"Heh, kid—looks like you're mine now. You won big off us, and I've had it with your smug little face!"
One of them lunged to grab Ranmo.
But he didn't expect the boy—despite being surrounded—to flip a table into him and dart out the door like lightning.
"Get back here, brat!"
As Ranmo fled, he glanced back and stuck out his tongue.
"Come on, Bastard—chase me if you can!"
The man's face turned crimson with rage. He called out to the two backup thugs stationed outside—they had arranged this trap in advance.
The three chased after Ranmo at high speed, nearly grabbing the back of his collar—but every time, he slipped away with a yelp, just out of reach.
"Whoa! That was close!" Ranmo taunted as he ran, keeping a perfect distance that always made it seem like he was just about to be caught, but never actually was.
"Pick up the pace, Retards! Try and catch this handsome me! Hurry up!"
The men were fuming.
"That little bastard! When we catch him, we're gonna break his bones, use him to force that woman to give in—then cut off his hands and rip his mouth apart. Let's see him keep yapping off after that!"
Before long, Ranmo had led the trio out of the town.
Now in the quiet fields beyond, surrounded by total darkness, there wasn't another soul in sight.
Perched atop a large boulder, Ranmo looked down at the three panting pursuers and said calmly,
"Relax. I'll give you what you want in just a moment. I'll break your legs, split your jaws, and destroy you completely."
"You little bastard! Still mouthing off?!"
One of them shouted and slammed his hand onto the ground, activating Earth Style—intending to bury Ranmo alive and trap him with Hidden Mole Jutsu.
But to his shock, the ground suddenly trembled violently beneath him.
Before he could react, countless thick tree trunks burst up from the earth and coiled tightly around the three Kumo ninja.
They were caught before they could even escape.
"What the hell?!"
"Whose jutsu is this?!"
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