The Land of Waves.

A small, impoverished country.

As an island nation, trade with the outside world can only be carried out by sea, but sea transportation is monopolized by a merchant called Cardo, so the wealth is concentrated in the hands of Cardo.

There is no fiscal revenue.

Therefore, the daimyo of the country of waves were of little use, and there was no way to bring a good life of food and clothing to the subjects of the country of waves, so the masses had to rely on themselves.

Dazna.

He is a well-known bridge builder.

He presided over the construction of a sea-crossing bridge that directly connected the Ninja Continent and connected to the Fire Country, trying to break the maritime monopoly of Cardo and let the Land of Waves live a happy life.

So he's being targeted by Cardo.

Then, Kado hires no more to kill this misty rebel ninja and wants to kill Dazna, while Dazna goes to Konoha and hires Kakashi and the others to protect him.

There has been one meeting before.

Of course, the result is that if it weren't for the white, it would have been abandoned in the wilderness, so after recuperating from the injury, it would have come back again.

And this time, he also brought hostages with him, and he wanted to threaten Kakashi with this.

On the unfinished bridge.

Zai Bu Chop and Bai came here with Qingming and saw Kakashi and his party, of course, Qingming still didn't have the consciousness of being a hostage, and greeted him with a smile.

"Yo, Kakashi, and Sakura, we're meeting again, um, what about Naruto?"

“……”

Kakashi, Sakura Haruno, and Sasuke Uchiha were all a little speechless.

"What's going on?"

Kakashi squinted his eyes and looked at Kiyoshi, who was not aware of the danger at all, indicating that this situation was something he didn't expect, obviously saying that he was looking for medicinal herbs, how could he be caught?

Sakura Haruno immediately took out a kunai and grabbed it in her hand, and looked nervously at Bai who was standing behind Qingming, as if she was worried that the other party would be unhappy and would do something to Qingming.

But it won't.

"Because this young lady said to bring me to see you, so she came with her."

Qingming said so.

While speaking, he also turned his head to look at Bai behind him, as if he was very grateful to the other party, which made everyone else a little speechless, is this pretending to be stupid or what?

"Shh

Kakashi grabbed his hair, expressing distress.

Look at it again.

Without waiting for him to ask, he spoke directly without cutting it.

"Kakashi, now give you two choices, one is to give up your mission and I will give this person back, and the other is to continue your mission and I will cut this person in two."

He said so.

He directly put the big knife in his hand on Qingming's shoulder, and he could split him in half at any time, which made Haruno Sakura over there nervous.

Kakashi was also distressed.

Do you choose to save your companions and abandon the mission? Or do you choose to continue the quest and abandon your companions?

It's worth thinking about.

In the past, there were also people who faced such a thing and finally chose to give up the mission to save their companions, but because of this, the village suffered losses, was blamed by everyone, and finally committed suicide.

That's Kakashi's father, a powerful ninja.

"Alas......"

A soft sigh.

Kakashi didn't expect that he would face such a choice one day, and it wasn't right, it seemed that there had been such a thing before, when he first became a shinobi.

But now and then, after all, there is a difference.

"I said ......"

Qingming was still smiling, squinting, as if he wanted to look at the side of Zaibu, but he could only see his own face reflected on the blade, which was very ordinary.

Then he looked at Kakashi on the other side.

"Kakashi, wait a minute, slaughter this guy, but the young lady in the back can't be killed, it's okay to be disabled, I can still cure her anyway."

“……”

Is this a hostage or not?

Let's say, when will this guy have the consciousness of being a hostage? Without looking at what the situation was now, did he think Kakashi could really save him?

It's a little annoying not to cut it again.

Not only him, but Sakura Haruno over there was also anxious.

"The shopkeeper."

"Don't worry, it's okay."

Qingming didn't care.

Tied to his back, no one noticed, but he didn't know when there was a small bottle, and when the bottle opened, the liquid inside was rapidly decreasing.

Counting on Kakashi to save him? That's ......

"Okay."

Kakashi spoke.

It was sudden, but he seemed to have thought it through, and shook his head helplessly.

"We give up on the mission."

“？！”

Everyone was a little surprised.

Including Qingming.

"Kakashi, give up so easily, you're not afraid of repeating the mistakes of the past, huh? When the time comes, that's not the weight your little heart can bear. ”

Qingming reminded.

Kakashi, however, only shrugged helplessly.

"No way, after all, you're a companion."

“……”

Companion?

Qingming has never had that kind of thing, and he doesn't think anyone can be his companion, and it's still in Konoha, he's a person of unknown origin, who is a companion?

Kakashi said this suddenly, which shocked him.

"Oh?!"

If you don't cut it again, you will grin, although no one can see it, and your face is also bandaged, and every mouth is blocked, but you can roughly guess it.

"It's Kakashi."

It seems to be a little surprised and a little admired, after all, a ninja who gives up a mission in order to save people is rare, because for ninjas, the mission is the most important.

But this is just right, he can save a lot of unnecessary trouble, so Qingming is still a little useful.

It's just that......

"Huh? Is that really good? Kakashi, the mission is more important, you can make money, do you think you don't have to pay me for coffee? Just give up? ”

"Alright, less wordy."

"Okay, okay, you give up, but then again......"

Qingming looked behind him.

"You two, do you smell a scent of apples?"

“？”

Hearing this, Zai Bu and Bai were stunned for a moment.

The scent of apples?

Saying this, the two of them seemed to distinguish it carefully, and then found that the air was filled with the fragrance of apples, which smelled very pleasant.

"Not good!"

Don't cut back again.

When he raised the knife, he wanted to chop Qingming alive, but before the knife was raised, he felt weak all over his body, and he could no longer hold the beheading knife in his hand, and he couldn't stand firmly.

"How is that possible?!"

With an expression of disbelief on his face, the whole person fell to the ground softly, and Bai next to him couldn't dodge either, and even fell to the ground faster than him, without the strength to get up.

Qingming dodges the falling decapitation broadsword.

Jumping to the side, moving his hands, he easily broke free of the ribbon that tied him, looked at the two people lying on the ground, smiled, and showed the bottle in his hand.

"Apple-flavored, doesn't it taste good?"

“……”

Neither of them spoke, it is estimated that they did not expect that they would be planted in the hands of "ordinary people", and the effect is so terrifying, what kind of medicine is it?

Kakashi was also a little surprised.

Haruno Sakura was the first to react, and hurriedly rushed towards this side, pulling Qingming and retreating, wanting to stay away from them again, so that it would be safer.

"Shopkeeper ......"

"Don't worry, it's okay, even if they do whatever they want now, they can only stare dryly, and there is no way to resist."

Qingming patted her on the shoulder.

Kakashi and Sasuke Uchiha also ran over, Kakashi went to check on the condition of the two of them, and Sasuke Uchiha looked at Kiyoshi with wide eyes and disbelief.

Kakashi had told him not to underestimate Kiyoshi, but he didn't take it to heart.

Right now......

It's obviously a shinobi who can compete with Kakashi, and he looked like he was winning before, but he was "counter-killed" by Qingming, an ordinary person, for no apparent reason.

How, exactly?

Drugs?

"Who the hell are you?"

If you don't ask, you still have the strength to speak, although your voice sounds weak, but if you want to ask for clarification, you can't care so much.

Kakashi pulled out the rope and was tying him up.

Qingming, is to smile.

"It's just a coffee shop owner in the next place, it's not worth mentioning, it's not worth mentioning."

“……”