To stop Asuma from making any more shocking statements, Seiki quickly steered the conversation back to their earlier topic. "But eyes—those can't be hidden behind a mask!"
Asuma nodded thoughtfully before locking eyes with Seiki. "Seiki, guess what I'm thinking right now."
Seiki met his gaze calmly, making Asuma feel slightly nervous. "Earlier, you weren't thinking about anything at all. Right now, you're trying not to think about anything."
Asuma's eyes went wide. "Wow! Is this… mind reading?"
Seiki shook his head gently. "Not magic at all—I just know your personality too well. If it were a stranger, even if I used their gaze, expressions, and body language as clues, I could only pick up on bits and pieces."
"That's still amazing," Asuma said, rubbing his hands together excitedly. He grinned and added, "Hey Seiki, can you teach me how to do that?"
"Of course. In fact, I was planning to introduce it to the Psychology Club."
"Huh? I thought the Psychology Club was just for listening."
"Well, since it's called the Psychology Club, we should start by understanding everyone's real thoughts."
Smiling faintly, Seiki had no objection to letting psychology take root in this world.
Sure, lots of people found psychology interesting, but not many were willing to dig deep into it. Plus, what he had in mind was mainly reading micro-expressions—a technique that was useless against someone who could control those tiny facial cues. Worse, such people could even trick others into interpreting whatever "truth" they wanted to project.
...
After Seiki explained briefly, Asuma felt like he was already ready to try it out himself.
Wasn't psychological profiling something anyone with eyes could pull off?
"Who should I practice on?" Asuma muttered to himself, eyes suddenly lighting up as he confidently strode toward a certain direction.
"You again, brat?" The vendor from before—who used to sell wine—looked annoyed as he saw Asuma proudly standing in front of his stall.
Arms crossed, Asuma decided to use Seiki's strategy—intimidate first. "You're selling fake alcohol!"
The vendor flinched at first, then immediately got angry. "Are you looking for a beating, kid?"
"Huh? His eyes didn't look away—he's not nervous. Ugh, failed on my first try." Though disappointed, Asuma wasn't worried. He *was* a Kage's descendant, after all—what was wrong with acting a bit more arrogant?
Seeing the vendor getting worked up, Seiki stepped forward. "The alcohol isn't fake, exactly, but it must've been watered down multiple times, right?"
The vendor shot back defiantly, "You kids wouldn't understand. Alcohol's supposed to be mixed."
"But when it tastes this weak, are you sure even Lord Raikage would say, 'Great stuff!' … How awful does it taste?"
The vendor stiffened, while an excited Asuma leaned close and whispered to Seiki, "He glanced sideways—definitely guilty!"
Upon hearing that, the vendor exploded, "What do you know? Lord Raikage would never say—wait, why am I even explaining myself to a brat like you?"
"Seeing his opponent on the verge of losing control, Seiki calmly pointed at himself and said, 'The man standing before you is the son of the Hokage, a rebel, top genius from the Ninja Academy, and deputy president of the Psychology Club!'
The stall owner's fist froze mid-punch, and he looked taken aback. 'Sorry, sorry! My mistake!'
Asuma happily accepted these titles from Seiki and even asked with lingering excitement, 'Seiki, do you have more like that?'
'Do you mean my bounty amount?' Seiki gave him an odd look but still shook his head.
'I think Mind Hunter sounds great already. This hunter is about to begin tracking those who've fallen into darkness!' Asuma strolled through the marketplace beaming with pride, scanning for his next target.
At this moment, Seiki suddenly stopped in front of a store.
'Asuma, what are you stopping there for?' Asuma tilted his head, then suddenly brightened. 'Wait, don't tell me yet—I'll analyze it myself!'
Seiki was thoroughly pleased by Asuma's enthusiastic but incompetent performance.
If Asuma got past this novelty phase, he really wouldn't know what to do.
'Hmm… When you stopped just now, your eyes immediately focused on this shop's signboard, and your eyebrows subtly furrowed—this means you noticed something strange about the sign,' Asuma explained while turning to examine it himself.
'Oh right, I noticed this place when passing by earlier too. The owner clearly lists prices outside on the signboard, and they're extremely high—as if intentionally trying to keep people who can't afford it from entering.'
Asuma looked toward Seiki. 'So what's wrong with that?'
Seiki hesitated briefly. 'Initially I thought exactly like you did. But after passing here a second time, I noticed something unusual.'
'What seemed off?'
'This shop only sells specialties from the Land of Lightning (likely imported directly). If these were goods purchased from Land of Lightning merchants by Konoha traders, they should wait until after the Land of Lightning merchants had left before selling them. Therefore, this shop is probably either rented or bought by a merchant from the Land of Lightning.'
A light seemed to flicker in Asuma's mind. 'All other Cloud Village merchants nearby just set up stalls directly, yet this one actually rents or buys a store. If he doesn't plan to return to Cloud Village, then logically he should be buying up goods to stockpile for profit instead. Yet not only does he not do that, he sets absurdly high prices practically driving customers away. Obviously, this business might just be his "mask."'
Seiki nodded. 'Although we cannot be certain, it indeed seems very possible.'
'Hmph, regardless of whether he's suspicious or not, let this hunter go inside and test him…'
'Wait, our usual method might not work anymore. If he truly is suspicious, his psychological resilience won't be anything like the last guy's.'
'So then, how should we proceed?'
'Hehe, naturally we need to make them reveal their own flaws! So this time, Asuma, you'll play yourself...'
After a quick plan, the two 'actors' made their dramatic entrance as an arrogant voice boomed out.
"Owner, Owner!"
"I'm here, I'm here..." The shop owner ran out cheerfully, but paused in surprise when he saw the two small figures at the door. He quickly recovered his composure. "Kids, what are you doing here?"
"Tch, the owner's 'act' is really convincing!" Asuma inwardly commented on the owner's performance, already labeling him as a villain.
"We're obviously here to buy stuff! You think we came in just to watch you shower or something?"
"Cough cough!"
The shop owner looked puzzled, yet still spoke in a gentle tone. "Little kids, the stuff I sell here is really expensive. You should go play somewhere else."
Asuma didn't respond. Instead, he tilted his head up and looked at the man through his nose.
At this moment, Seiki stepped forward. "Standing before you now is the son of the Hokage, the Plunderer, the future heir of the Sarutobi Clan, and a strong contender for Class Rep of the second-year students at the Ninja Academy!"
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