Wanted (7)

Ramen. From what I can glance, it is one of the most—if not the most—prominent dish. In every single town I come across, there always is at least one stall that sells ramen.

'And this village seemed to be of no exception either,' I thought as Rika and I sat on the provided seats.

Turning my head right, I took a look at the menu.

'Miso, tonkotsu, shio, shoyu.' Price was over-inflated, and only the four basic ramen types made their way to the menu board.

"One miso, and whatever she orders." I said lazily while pointing my thumb at Rika on my left. Both of us still were wearing masks.

Yet, I didn't find myself irked whatsoever. How funny it was, that I—someone who was wary of spending even a single ryo back in Tanzaku Quarters—became dull in spending money now. Of course, this was only due to the bloody money that was piled up in my pouch to the brim.

'Should I be happy about this?'

Some believe that money is the key to the happiness. By that means, I too should be jovial. However, what if the wealth has been attained by unjust method? Does the logic still apply?

My answer to that was: yes. Money and wealth—the notion of becoming rich indeed is tempting. It is probably the reason why these bounty hunters are rushing into me akin to how moths fly into the fire. And I had to stay awake to this.

'Don't let your sense of morally dull out, Akashi.' I thought to myself as the ramen was served, 'If your happiness is gained by the innocents' sacrifice, then you are no different than those that you despise.'

With Rika's shio ramen having been served as well, she was about to lift up her chopsticks and begin the meal. I leisurely raised my hand up to interrupt her motion.

"Eh? Is something wrong?"

"Hold up for a moment."

I motioned the ramen chef to come closer to us afterward, while placing one spoon of broth from both ramen to the man's front.

"Er, do you need something?" The ramen chef asked with a troubled expression.

"I apologize for the rudeness, but think of it as a customer service," I stated while flicking a coin to the chef, to which he caught, "I need you to drink those."

"...Alright. If that's all—"

Just then, one man entered the stall, and took a seat on the chair right next to mine, causing me to raise my eyebrow.

Rika, from my left, clenched her fists under the table, while turning her stiff neck slightly to look at me.

"Oh, welcome to Hashi's ramen! Please wait for a moment, I will take your order right after!" The ramen chef greeted the newcomer, before gazing at the spoons that were laid out on the table. He lifted one spoon up, and brought it closer to his lips—

—before all of a sudden, flicking the broth at my masked face, which I dodged by tilting my head to the left.

"...Name: Akashi. So far... confirmed to have killed almost twenty in number, and avoided all the attempts of assassination—an incredible feat." Then, the man who was sitting on my right commented, with his eyes locked on the miso ramen, "Your rumours weren't wrong, it seems."

"Tch, how did you figure it out?" The ramen chef's face was now in a killing-intent-leaking frown, with his teeth gritted in annoyance.

The seated man continued, "Do you know what you are considered as these days? A jackpot." He turned his head to me, who was now standing with Rika; black-coloured eyes, exhibiting a shrewd demeanour, were seen.

"I have no idea what you've done to earn the Immortal's attention, but hey, what's there to complain?" The ramen chef laughed hideously as he took out a sickle from underneath the table, "It's the win for us anyway!"

I replied without any emotional reaction whatsoever, "Your mouths are too light."

"And it doesn't matter," The seated man stood up, "Because we've never failed our hunt before."

SWOOSH!

I grabbed Rika by the head and ducked, dodging the sickle that the ramen chef threw.

'Damn it... not even the time to eat...' It was painful to stay myself awake at this point, but I had to endure, 'They probably set this stall up after I explicitly stated the word "ramen." Since when were we being chased in the first place?'

My senses were getting more and more incompetent as the sleepless days continued. Not good. The only reason we managed to dodge the poisoned ramen dishes, was only thanks to my growing distrust of everything around me. That's right—I failed to notice that the ramen was poisoned. It was a stroke of sheer luck this time around.

CLANG!

Grabbing the sickle that was embedded in the ground, I parried two shurikens thrown at Rika and me. Immediately after, I formed quick series of seals with my left hand,

Horse, serpent, ram, tiger.

'Smokescreen technique.'

My cheeks puffed up, before I breathed out the thick layer of smoke that surrounded the ramen stall. This technique was the application of many fire release techniques that I've faced, by studying how the hand seals were used to shape the chakra.

Utilizing the momentary time to send a burst of fire on the wooden wall of the ramen stall, I generated one ash clone and had it carry Rika away from the danger.

Why don't I run away, you ask? The enemies are the bounty hunters, and they specialize in stealth. Being open in the broad daylight under the street of Mesamatsu, here is where I stood the best chance.

"Akashi!" Rika, while being carried by the clone's shoulder, whispered desperately, "Don't worry about me, and just focus on surviving, you get that?!"

I simply gave her the thumbs-up, with my eyes still headed to the smoke-surrounded ramen stall.

Subsequently, I jumped up to dodge the series of kunais thrown at me, before realizing that there were explosive tags attached to them.

BANG BANG BANG!

The area below me exploded, and I was knocked further up into the air. Unable to suppress a groan, I shook my head to jolt myself awake from the fatigue once again, before taking out a scroll from my pouch with left hand and unsealing Ryuma, while blocking the ramen chef's second sickle with his first sickle on my right hand.

CLANG!

"That sword..." The ramen chef licked his lips, "The 'Black Sword,' Ryuma."

I didn't reply. Instead, while the two of us were airborne, I dropped the sickle on my right hand and let the man's sickle swing the empty air, before grabbing the man by shoulder and flipping our position, so that,

"Tch!"

the man who was previously sitting next to me, couldn't unleash his technique, which seemed ready to go.

While the ramen chef and I were right next to one another, I blocked the man's slash with Ryuma, and bent my body leftward to dodge the man's attempt to push himself off of me by foot—all with my right hand still touching the man's shoulder.

Tap tap!

Now, the two of us landed on the ground at the same time, still in a deadlock.

The man at some distance away from us seemed to have changed the strategy, with him gripping onto a kunai and dashing at us rapidly.

From behind the mask, I grinned,

"I will be borrowing this." Whispering to the ramen chef, I raised my left foot up to dodge the man's leg swipe, and flicked the man's left hand up with my right hand, in a way our hands formed a ram seal together,

'Genjutsu: Dual Shade.'

Genjutsus required the finest chakra control out of all, and unlike some ninjutsu techniques, I required the full hand seal to use them.

CLANG! Using the seconds where the ramen chef was placed in a genjutsu to my advantage, I blocked another man's kunai with Ryuma, and pushed it away with powerful strength.

"Kai!" Just when ramen chef dispelled the genjutsu, my sword was directly heading for his chest,

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

before both of us were thrown off our feet by a powerful gale that came from the man whom I pushed away with Ryuma.

Boom!

I grimaced as I was slammed against one tree bark, though the damage was negligible thanks to me enveloping chakra around my body at the last moment.

That didn't mean my head didn't ring, however, and my exhaustion was becoming harder and harder to withstand.

On the other hand, the ramen chef was breathing hard, with his body still rolling on the ground. He still up wobbly and glared at his partner, to which his partner replied with a shrug,

"That was the only way to save you, Koji."

"...F***," The ramen chef, whose name is now revealed to be 'Koji,' cursed in the end, "That dude is stronger than we thought, Tai."

Koji's partner, 'Tai,' looked at me calmly without any further words.

And as for me? I was busy trying to keep my eye open, while assessing the enemies.

'Those two... without a doubt, their levels are higher than any other bounty hunters that I've faced up until now.'

Additionally, the wind nature—it was the first time I've actually faced against due to its rarity.

I had to be careful here, and play smart.