The night hung heavy and pitch black, thick clouds smothering what little moonlight remained, deepening the darkness.
Thirty kilometers southwest of Kumogakure in the Land of Lightning stood a bustling town named Crescent Street (Shingetsu-machi), its lights shining brightly.
Even though it was nearly midnight, the sounds of noise, shouting, and laughter continued without pause.
This place resembled Adofu Street near Konoha—a place for ninjas to relax after completing missions.
However, due to its special geographical location as a key route connecting the north and south, the constant flow of merchants made this town far more prosperous than Adofu Street.
Fighting arenas, izakayas, entertainment districts, onsen quarters, shopping districts...
One had to admit that although the Land of Lightning didn't have a geographical advantage like the Land of Fire, its current Daimyo was indeed skilled at governance.
At the very least, when it came to driving economic growth, he stood unrivaled among the Five Great Nations.
In the bustling crowd,
A young woman with black-framed glasses, her demeanor elegant and charming, appeared to be just another ninja stopping by to unwind after a mission.
Her left hand carried full shopping bags while she hummed an unfamiliar tune, cheerfully stepping into a dark alleyway.
Inside the street-side izakayas, many drunken men reluctantly pulled their eyes away.
Young, great figure, and such a cute face...
Were she not a ninja...
In this era, ninjas were synonymous with ruthless killers.
They might not always hold the most revered status, but they wielded powers beyond ordinary people's reach.
Even aristocrats lording over the royal capital wouldn't dare provoke a ninja—unless they were utterly reckless.
Let alone these mere merchants whose wealth barely outshone their peers.
Weaving through the shadowed alleys,
Soon, the girl arrived before what seemed to be a rather old courtyard-style house.
Spotting five small stones haphazardly placed by the door on the left, arranged in a 3-1-1 formation, Nonou Yakushi confirmed this was the meeting point. Yet, hearing the faint sensual music drifting from within the courtyard, her expression soured.
Ninjas having desires wasn't unheard of.
Every ninja would find various ways to release stress after every mission.
But giving in so openly during a mission made Nonou Yakushi question if this contact was truly up to standard.
This mission carried immense weight.
If Konoha's current predicament couldn't be changed, once war erupted, Konoha would be the top target for every other hidden village.
At such a critical moment, she understood why someone sent wasn't part of Root.
But such blatant recklessness...
Could it actually be Jiraiya, the legendary pervert, the self-proclaimed "Glutton of Lust"?
If it really was him... well, maybe it did make sense?
Shoo—
A tiny stone zipped toward her feet, bouncing twice on the ground and scattering the five neatly placed stones at the entrance.
Nonou Yakushi froze, a chill crawling up her spine.
She kept her serene smile, feigning surprise as she slowly turned her head toward the direction the stone had come from.
A middle-aged ninja wearing a Kumogakure forehead protector, appearing close to forty with unshaven stubble, was hiding within the shadows of a building. He stared at her with suspicion.
"Mockai, what are you doing here?"
"Senior Saiei? I never expected to run into you here. Just now I was out for a walk and accidentally got lost," Nonou Yakushi replied with an awkward smile, scratching her head.
She perfectly portrayed the image of a respectful, clueless chunin.
Internally, however, she quickly recalled everything she knew about Saiei.
A chunin from Kumogakure, part of Toroi's Magnet Release squad. A cautious man with extensive mission experience. A few years ago he lost his wife, and he had a son named Musai who recently graduated from the Ninja Academy and became a genin.
Looks like this guy was getting suspicious of her.
He was nearly forty and still not very skilled—his abilities were likely lacking. As long as she handled things carefully, eliminating him would be the best solution!
"Tch, I have a cat that does backflips, Mockai. Want to see it?"
Saiei's eyes leered at Nonou Yakushi's figure.
The greasy aura from this aging middle-aged man felt almost suffocating.
"...A ninja cat? I heard that in Konoha, both the Uchiha and the Izumo clans have close ties with ninja cats."
A faint twitch tugged at Nonou's eye.
Yet on the surface, she maintained a sweet, clueless expression, tilting her head, feigning genuine interest in the conversation.
"That's the Izumono clan."
Still in the guise of Saiei, Yamanaka Kei maintained that sleazy middle-aged appearance, his narrow eyes gleaming with ill intent.
"Oh my? Did I get that wrong?"
Swoosh!
Nonou Yakushi's previously empty right hand suddenly shimmered with pale blue chakra.
The sharp chakra scalpel shot straight toward Yamanaka Kei's throat.
But in the next instant, Nonou froze in place, her body stiff, then involuntarily dissipated the chakra scalpel, returning once again to her obedient, innocent girl form.
"Hey sis [Familiar Konoha slang], I already gave the code phrase. Isn't it a bit rude to attack me like that?"
Yamanaka Kei looked helplessly at the young woman before him.
"My cat can do backflips," "Izumo, Izumono"—these were all agreed-upon code phrases.
Now that Nonou responded correctly, it proved she recognized the signal and confirmed his identity.
And yet she still attacked him? That's too much!
[Mind Body Disturbance Technique]? How is your appearance possible... This isn't Transformation Jutsu!
Controlled by the [Mind Body Disturbance Technique], Nonou Yakushi was now certain that the person before her truly was a Konoha ninja.
But this transformation left no trace, replicating every detail—from the man's sweat to the aura of someone capable of dark deeds...
"[Face Copy Technique]. A secret technique passed down by the Kida clan of the Land of Fire. It perfectly mimics the target's face and scent—even ninja hounds wouldn't be able to tell the difference. The downside is the subject must be nearby, and the technique requires time to cast."
Yamanaka Kei shrugged nonchalantly, explaining the jutsu he used.
The Kida clan was fairly well-known in the Land of Fire, but instead of joining a hidden village, they became trusted confidants of many noble families by virtue of their clan's secret techniques.
Assassinations were never rare in the ninja world.
And among them, the Kida clan, capable of becoming perfect body doubles, had long enjoyed an unmatched reputation—making them the top choice for nobles seeking replacements.
As for how he came to learn this technique...
It all went back to an incident where a member of the Kida clan had been caught by Konoha's Military Police Force after transforming into another man's husband.
That man was quite the character himself.
He had fallen for another man's wife and seized the chance when the husband left the village and attacked him, then took his place.
But the very next day after arriving in Konoha, he was reported by the woman herself and immediately dragged into Konoha's interrogation room.
According to her explanation, her husband could last at least thirty minutes at the very least—
Yet this man couldn't last even thirty seconds!
Isn't that obviously suspicious?
"Kida... Analysis Team, Kei Yamanaka?"
Nonou Yakushi lightly furrowed her brow. After a moment of thought, she called out Kei Yamanaka's name directly.
"Not again… Am I really that famous?"
Kei Yamanaka was genuinely taken aback.
Were professional spies really this terrifying nowadays?
He hadn't even said much—how did she immediately guess who he was?
"...Just happened to hear about it."
Nonou's eye twitched slightly once more.
Most people wouldn't know about such things, but years ago, the Kida clan had promised several conditions to Konoha in exchange for retrieving that captured clan member.
One of those conditions required them to provide a training period on disguising and transformation techniques to members of the Anbu training institution.
And the "Thirty-Second Incident" became a popular story among the trainees at the time.
The full backstory was completely unearthed.
At that time, she'd even mused to herself that—for obvious reasons—the Memory Reading Jutsu really was the perfect technique for spies.
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