"Is that so... Has he already appeared?"
At this moment, while Orochimaru stood frozen on the spot, Hada Ichiba gently set down his teacup in a private room of an ordinary tea house in Konoha. Before him, the astonishment on the beautiful woman's face slowly faded as she spoke.
"Mm."
Hada Ichiba nodded lightly in response.
"I truly underestimated Kusagakure's intelligence network. It has already infiltrated Konoha. If He Yin hadn't told me about this place, I wouldn't have known."
At the end, he could not help but offer a word of praise.
"No, we merely put down roots in Konoha. We have no intention of gathering Konoha's intelligence. For harmless intelligence outposts like ours, I believe Konoha is willing to turn a blind eye."
In response to his praise, the beautiful woman across from him smiled modestly and gently as she spoke with apparent casualness.
He is even more mature than I imagined, as a leader...
Yu Ze.
Hearing this, such a thought could not help but flash through Hada Ichiba's mind.
"Well then, I've rested enough. I should head back and take a look at the condition of my upcoming opponents."
With that, Hada Ichiba slowly rose to his feet, clearly having no intention of staying any longer.
"No further instructions, Lord Ichiba?"
Seeing Hada Ichiba stand, the beautiful woman—also the owner of the tea house and Kusagakure's contact in Konoha—hurriedly stood as well. Bowing her head slightly, she asked.
"Hm? Do you need further instructions?"
Hearing this, Hada Ichiba blinked and looked at the youthful, beautiful, properly dressed landlady in her twenties, who was clearly much older than he was and looked entirely unrelated to shinobi. A faint smile appeared at the corner of his lips as he spoke.
"Are no further instructions necessary?"
The landlady tilted