i am kimimaro

"Are you collecting herbs nearby? Is Zabuza injured?"

Seeing that the basket in Bai's left hand was filled with medicinal herbs, Kimimaro immediately made a reasonable guess.

Bai gripped the senbon tighter.

"Mr. Zabuza is fine. Collecting herbs is just my hobby."

Bai was clearly not good at lying, and his current expression didn't look like he was telling the truth at all.

"Take me to see Zabuza."

"What do you want to do?"

Earlier, Bai heard Kimimaro tell Naruto that he had taken the mission to kill Gato.

And Gato was Zabuza's employer.

Zabuza was Kimimaro's biggest obstacle.

Meeting now was not appropriate.

Even though Bai didn't sense any killing intent from Kimimaro, it was always better to be cautious.

"I can heal him."

Kimimaro's right hand emitted a green chakra.

A medical ninja!

Bai was a bit surprised that this young man was actually a medical ninja.

It was quite strange for the warlike Kaguya clan to heal and save people.

"Mr. Zabuza's body has already recovered and doesn't need your treatment. Thank you for your kindness."

Bai politely declined.

"It seems you're very wary of me."

Kimimaro smiled helplessly.

"Mr. Zabuza said you're a strange person."

When they first met, Kimimaro was indeed strange.

"Alright, we'll meet again."

Kimimaro smiled slightly, turned around and left directly, without any hesitation.

Bai looked at his departing figure, even more puzzled.

What did this guy want to do by chasing after him?

Bai originally thought Kimimaro wanted to wait for him to relax his guard and then follow him.

But soon he discovered that Kimimaro was really gone.

"This guy is really strange. I need to tell Mr. Zabuza about this as soon as possible. Copy Ninja Kakashi is already difficult to deal with, and this strange guy doesn't look weak either."

Thinking of this, Bai quickly returned to the base after confirming he wasn't being followed.

"Bai, you were out for quite a while this time."

Zabuza, who had almost recovered, found it strange to see Bai rushing back.

"Mr. Zabuza, I just met that Kaguya boy from before."

"Kaguya Kimimaro?"

Zabuza quickly thought of it, which showed that Kimimaro had left quite an impression on him.

"Yes, that's him. I saw him wearing the Otogakure forehead protector and telling that yellow-haired boy from Konoha that he was here to kill Gato."

"The orphan of the Kaguya clan joined Otogakure? That's interesting."

Zabuza pondered.

"He also discovered my spying. When I retreated, he chased after me. He was extremely fast, no slower than me."

"He could keep up with you? Did you fight?"

"No. He said he wanted to see you and heal your injuries. But I thought he was strange, so I refused. After I refused, he didn't pester me and just left. He also said we would meet again. Mr. Zabuza, what do you think he wants to do?"

Bai conveyed his doubts to Zabuza.

"He probably knows that Gato hired me. But he doesn't seem to have any hostility towards us. His purpose is still unclear for now."

"Mr. Zabuza, should we abandon the mission? Dealing with the Konoha team is already very difficult for us. If we add another Shikotsumyaku ninja of unknown strength, our chances of success will decrease again."

"No. It's not time to give up yet. This Kimimaro may not be our enemy. He wants to kill Gato, which doesn't conflict with our mission. We just need to complete the mission and get the payment from Gato. After that, his life and death have nothing to do with us."

"Then we need to act quickly."

"My injuries have basically healed. Tomorrow we'll go to that almost completed bridge, kill the Konoha team first, and then kill Tazuna!"

"Yes! Mr. Zabuza."

On the other side, Kimimaro came to the commercial street of the Land of Waves.

This was the most deserted commercial street he had ever seen in this world.

Ever since Gato took control of the Land of Waves, the people of this country had been living in dire straits.

Kimimaro could see the despair of life on everyone's faces.

"Seeing this scene, it's no wonder the protagonist group wants to help."

Mumbling to himself, Kimimaro started asking around for the location of Tazuna's house.

Earlier, because of Bai, he temporarily left Naruto behind. When he went back, Naruto was already gone.

Now he naturally had to go find him.

After all, the protagonist group was his biggest goal for coming here this time.

Although one Sexy Jutsu made Kimimaro feel a bit numb, the remaining three shouldn't be so useless, right?

With this thought in mind, he quickly found out the location of Tazuna's house.

Tazuna was the most famous bridge builder in the Land of Waves, and at this moment, he was taking the huge risk of being assassinated by Gato to build a bridge that could change the Land of Waves. Finding out where his house was, was an extremely simple matter.

"Is that it?"

Looking at the house built by the water, Kimimaro couldn't help but sigh. This Tazuna really knew how to enjoy himself.

Knock, knock, knock.

Kimimaro knocked on the door.

"Hello, who are you looking for?"

The person who opened the door was a young woman, who seemed to be Tazuna's daughter, Tsunami.

"I'm looking for Mr. Tazuna."

"Dad, someone is looking for you."

Tsunami turned around and called.

"At this time, who would be looking for me?"

Tazuna walked out with some confusion, and beside him was Naruto, whom he had seen before.

"Ah! Kakashi-sensei, that's him! That Otogakure genin."

Naruto shouted loudly when he saw Kimimaro.

Kakashi's gaze quickly swept over.

"I didn't expect to see you again so soon, Konoha genin, Uzumaki Naruto."

"Hello, I'm the team leader for this mission, Hatake Kakashi. Naruto told me that you're an Otogakure genin and you're here to kill Gato, is that right?"

Kakashi stepped forward, his posture seemingly lazy, but he subtly shielded everyone behind him.

"That's right."

"Then may I know who your employer is?"

"Mr. Kakashi, as a ninja, not revealing the employer's information is basic professional ethics."

"Ah, I'm so sorry. I overlooked that. Because usually employers don't request confidentiality."

"With Gato's power in the Land of Waves, it's not strange that my employer wants to keep it a secret."

Kimimaro's words didn't make Kakashi too suspicious.

He had already felt how much the people here feared Gato during this time.

Gathering enough money to hire a ninja to kill Gato was the most normal thing to do.

Anonymity was the right and smart thing to do, because if things were exposed, they would be mercilessly killed by Gato.

It was just that this employer didn't seem to have enough funds. Otherwise, they wouldn't have only hired an Otogakure genin.

(End of chapter)