The Mission Is Underway

"Yamada Ichiro, fifty years old. He was registered as a Konoha resident twenty years ago and has made a living chopping firewood ever since. No parents, no children, lives alone."

Jiraiya unfurled the scroll and read out the target's information.

The three of them were hiding in a tree, observing the target's rundown mud-brick house.

At this time, the target had not yet returned home.

Before this, they had already searched the man's house.

Unfortunately, they had found nothing useful.

"Couldn't we just have someone from the Hyuga Clan come take a look and confirm it?" Kushina lay on a tree branch, staring at the target's house in confusion.

The Hyuga Clan's Byakugan could see the flow of Chakra inside the human body.

Wouldn't seeing his Chakra be enough to confirm whether he was a spy?

Why did they still need to investigate?

What a hassle.

Kushina, the woman destined to become Hokage, wanted a fight where fists met flesh!!

"He could just say he used to be a Rogue Ninja. What would you do then?"

Jin rebutted Kushina.

Konoha allowed Rogue Ninjas to join, and they did not even keep a separate registry for them.

Konoha had its own unique circumstances. Back when Hashirama Senju was still around, anyone who joined Konoha was accepted without question.

Later, the Second Hokage improved the procedures for entering the village.

First, one needed a guarantor to enter Konoha. After that, they had to pay Konoha a fixed sum every year. Their background and origins would be investigated for the first three years, they would be kept under watch for the next three years, and then left alone for another three years.

Only after nine years could they truly join Konoha, and not a single coin could be missed during that period.

Only then could they be considered ordinary villagers, with no access whatsoever to ninja affairs.

If they had children in the village, those children would have a chance to enter the Ninja Academy.

This cut off the possibility for most spies.

After all, no village would be willing to pay such a price just to look like a sucker.

Other than villages that had already been destroyed, only the other four great ninja villages could afford it.

Of course, spies had more than one method. This was simply the one least likely to arouse suspicion.

As for how Yamada Ichiro had been exposed, Jin had no idea.

Kushina had no way to refute Jin's words. She snorted and turned her head away.

As if you know everything.

"So, Jin, do you have any good ideas?"

Jiraiya turned to ask Jin. Though this mission was difficult, it was also a test for them.

Jin rubbed his chin.

"Arrest him, beat him up, and keep beating him until he confesses. If he is one, he has to be one. If he isn't, he still has to be one."

The main thing was forcing a confession through torture. Jin had no intention of wasting time here.

Jiraiya: .

Minato Namikaze: .

Kushina roared, "Try acting like a human being!"

What was the point of evidence beaten out of someone?!

Jin rolled his eyes at her. "We're ninja, not officials. Why are we talking about evidence?"

If ninja had to look for evidence, their brains must have gone bad.

Kushina was so angry that she could not find a rebuttal for the moment. Yet she also felt that he had a point. Embarrassed into anger, she kicked at him.

"Go die!"

Jin easily dodged it.

"Alright, stop messing around." Jiraiya hurriedly stopped Kushina.

In such a small space, were they really not afraid of being exposed?

Soon, they all fell silent.

Because the target had appeared.

In the distance, a gray-haired old man was walking back with a load of firewood on his back.

This was the target, Yamada Ichiro.

As they watched Yamada Ichiro, Jiraiya began assigning tasks.

"Minato and Kushina, go gather information about him from the surrounding area. Jin, stay here and keep watch with me."

"Yes!" Minato Namikaze and Kushina swiftly vanished from the spot.

Jin and Jiraiya continued hiding in the tree.

Yamada Ichiro opened the door and entered the house.

Jin and Jiraiya leaped down from the tree at the same time and quickly jumped onto the roof.

Jiraiya nodded to Jin.

Jin raised a finger toward the roof.

Shigan.

"Whoosh."

A tiny, concealed hole appeared.

Jin looked down through the hole.

He saw the target cooking. After eating, the man tossed his dishes aside and lay down on the bed to rest.

There was nothing unusual about him.

The two of them waited until deep into the night.

Then Minato Namikaze and Kushina returned.

The group gathered again in a hidden spot not far from the target's house.

"Everyone around here speaks highly of Yamada Ichiro. He's a kind old man who often helps others. He was even swindled out of a lot of money not long ago."

Minato Namikaze began recounting the detailed information they had gathered during the day.

Although the man had a good reputation, he had no friends.

That in itself was not normal.

"Could there be some misunderstanding? He doesn't seem like a spy. He's just a helpless old man."

Kushina felt pity for him. His life was miserable enough already—he had just been scammed, and now he was being treated as a spy.

At Kushina's words, Jiraiya's face suddenly hardened.

"Kushina, have you forgotten one of the ninja rules? Ninja cannot let emotions dictate their actions."

Kushina lowered her head and said nothing.

"Alright, stop lecturing her." Jin unexpectedly spoke up for Kushina.

"We've always been competing for last place in the written exams. How could she possibly know?" Jin picked at his ear, looking utterly unconcerned.

Unfortunately, last place had always been Jin's throne. He had never written anything at all.

"I'm going to kill you!!" With her weakness exposed, Kushina's red hair floated wildly around her like claws and fangs.

Jin had wondered about this for a long time. Was this really not ninjutsu?

"Alright, Kushina."

Fortunately, Minato Namikaze stopped Kushina in time. Otherwise, she would have been beaten up by Jin again.

Kushina was unwilling to let it go, but he did look rather pitiful.

Jin clicked his tongue in disgust as he watched the two of them acting all lovey-dovey.

"But that guy is definitely a spy."

Jiraiya was intrigued.

"How so?"

Minato Namikaze and Kushina pricked up their ears as well. They truly had not noticed any flaw.

Jin snatched the mission scroll from Jiraiya's waist, opened it, and pointed at the target's profile.

"Based on this description alone, there's no way he isn't suspicious."

Quite a few spies in the espionage movies from Jin's previous life had been like this. They were practically all made from the same template.

"Don't make such arbitrary judgments." Jiraiya angrily punched Jin on the head.

The next moment.

The two looked at each other.

"Ah!!" Jiraiya clutched his fist and rolled around on the ground.

Jin calmly removed a tiny nail from his head.

"I was prepared for that move."

He had been hit by this move before. Jin was not one to suffer losses.

Jiraiya stood back up and looked at the bloody mark on his fist, on the verge of tears.

He had actually been tricked by his own student.

Looking at Jin's smug expression.

This brat really held grudges.

Bang!

Jin crouched down, clutching his head.

"That hurt."

"Heh heh." Jiraiya snorted twice. "Nothing there this time, right?"

Jin glared at Jiraiya indignantly.

"Next time, I'll use a poisoned one."

"Gasp!!" ×3.

Uchiha Jin was terrifying.

"Shh!" Jiraiya suddenly became serious. They all looked toward Yamada Ichiro's house and saw a black shadow suddenly dart out, racing into the distance.

That rapid movement had already exposed the man's identity as a ninja.

It could now be confirmed that he was a spy.

"He acted so quickly."

All three of them were surprised. He was not even trying to hide anymore.

"I'll leave this one to you three," Jiraiya said. "I'll go notify the others."

Could that excuse be any more fake?

Jin looked at Jiraiya speechlessly. With your abilities, if you went after him, he would not even have time to run.

Minato Namikaze could only smile helplessly.

But Kushina believed him.

"Leave it to us!"

"If we don't chase him now, it'll be too late."

Jin reminded them.

The three used Soru and instantly vanished from the spot, turning into three extremely fast blurs as they pursued Yamada Ichiro.

As he watched the three give chase, Jiraiya's figure vanished in a puff of smoke.

Although Soru was suited for short-distance movement, it was still much faster than ordinary ninja when used for long-distance pursuit.

Yet the three of them remained far behind the target.

They moved swiftly through the forest.

The trees flew backward on either side of them.

Soon, Yamada Ichiro stopped.

The three instantly scattered and hid in three separate trees.

Yamada Ichiro stood in place, seemingly trying to find something.

Suddenly, as though he had no cervical spine, his entire head bent backward until it rested against his back.

He grinned.

"I see you!"

Boom!! Boom!! Boom!!

Explosions erupted from three locations at once.

But Jin and the others instantly appeared around Yamada Ichiro, surrounding him in a triangular formation.

"When did he notice us?" Kushina quietly asked Minato Namikaze.

But at this distance, everyone could hear her no matter how softly she spoke.

Yamada Ichiro's face darkened, and the corner of his mouth twitched twice. He roared at Kushina, "When you were watching me, could you show me a little respect? You made so much noise that even someone who wasn't a ninja could have noticed!"

Who could have imagined that, while he was still some distance from his own home, he had seen movement in a tree from far away?

He had pretended not to notice and gone home as though nothing had happened.

But these bastards had actually kept chattering noisily in the middle of the night!!

Was this the standard of Konoha Ninja?!

Kushina felt a little guilty after being yelled at. It seemed they had been a bit too noisy.

No, wait. They were Konoha Ninja, and he was an enemy who needed to be eliminated. Why was she feeling guilty?

"Prepare yourself!!"

She gripped a kunai, her face solemn. As long as she killed him, no one would know about her mistake.

Spies really did deserve to die!!

"Your thoughts are written all over your face!!"

Yamada Ichiro truly could not imagine how Konoha had raised a bunch of ninjas like this.

Kushina unconsciously touched her face. Absolutely not.

"Kushina! Minato!" Jin suddenly called out to the two of them.

"Hm?" The two looked at Jin at the same time.

But Jin made a covert hand signal, and the two had already assumed ready stances without changing their expressions.

"Run!!" Jin shouted.

The three vanished in an instant.

A smile appeared on Yamada Ichiro's face.

"Only noticing now? Too late!"

Figures burst out of the ground one after another, charging toward Jin and the other two even faster.

"This was a trap from the start!?"

They were after Kushina!!