Where Did This Perverted... Thief Come From?!

Where did this perverted... thief come from?!

Wasn't Shimura Danzō sick in the head...?

In the middle of the night, Sakura suddenly sat up in bed, still unable to let go of what Danzō had done.

She was just a Ninja Academy graduate, a Genin who had only just received her forehead protector.

It was merely a graduation essay she had written on a whim, and that bastard had stolen her test paper?

Hopeless, utterly hopeless...

No wonder he'd spent his whole life being suppressed by the Third Hokage.

Just as Sakura was about to go back to sleep, a pitch-black figure suddenly appeared at her window.

The person was dressed much like an Anbu member, with a twisted striped mask over his face.

He crouched on the windowsill outside Sakura's bedroom and lightly knocked on the glass.

Late at night.

Sakura stared at him blankly for a moment, then abruptly grabbed the alarm clock from her bedside table.

Bang!!!

The sound of shattering glass erupted through Sakura's bedroom, mixed with flying wood splinters and glass shards!

The man felt as though a massive iron hammer had slammed head-on into his chest, sending him flying backward!

Caught completely off guard, he had taken the "concealed weapon"—an alarm clock—straight to the front!

For a moment, enhanced by that terrifying strength, an ordinary alarm clock found in any shop had become a deadly weapon!

The figure was smashed straight from the second-floor windowsill and crashed awkwardly onto the ground!

Ring-ring! Ring-ring!

The "concealed weapon" that had struck him fell from his body to the ground, letting out an earsplitting racket capable of ruining anyone's sleep.

"Where did this perverted... thief come from?!"

"You actually dared to launch a midnight raid on a helpless little girl like me!"

Her clear, bright voice rang through the streets and alleys.

Sakura stood on the windowsill in pink pajamas, arms folded over her chest, looking down righteously at the disheveled fellow sprawled on the ground.

The commotion Sakura had made was far too great, and lights came on in every nearby home.

Hearing this, the Anbu-like man was so furious that he spat out blood, red liquid trickling down from beneath his mask.

Helpless?

You?

But seeing the lights coming on house after house, he knew the situation was urgent. This was a mission Lord Danzō had assigned him.

He was supposed to "invite" this little ancestor over.

"I am—"

"What do you mean, 'I am'?!"

"Thief! Take my kick!"

Heavenly Foot!

Sakura gave him no chance to explain. She leaped down barefoot, raised one leg to a full one hundred and eighty degrees in midair, and brought it down in an axe kick toward the terrified unfortunate.

The unlucky man panicked at the sight and threw himself aside with all his strength.

The instant Sakura's foot struck the ground, a tremendous boom rang out. The earth cracked, and dirt and stone exploded outward!

"Who's there?!"

"Where did this thief come from?!"

"Stealing things in the middle of the night?!"

"You must be tired of living!"

"Where's the thief?!"

By then, every household had opened its doors. Nearby villagers emerged in pajamas and coats, weapons in hand.

A few particularly burly men even rushed out bare-chested.

C-crap.

The unlucky man's heart tightened. Forgetting all about Sakura, he turned and tried to flee.

The existence of Root was top secret to ordinary villagers and even ordinary ninja.

He could not let this enraged crowd catch him here.

"Don't let him get away!"

"He's over there! Everyone, catch him!"

Sakura pointed at the unlucky fellow fleeing the scene, a faint smile on her face, with no desire whatsoever to chase after him.

Sakura recognized his identity at first glance.

He couldn't be Anbu. The Anbu were directly commanded by the Old Man.

Why would the Old Man come looking for Sakura in the middle of the night when he had nothing better to do?

Besides, if the Old Man wanted Sakura, there was no need to make things so complicated. He could just knock on her door. Unlike this sneaky fellow, who looked like a bad guy at a glance.

And Anbu masks were animal masks. This guy wore a striped mask, so he could only be from Danzo's Root.

In the middle of the night, the commotion threw the nearby villagers into an uproar. One after another, they charged at the Root member with laundry paddles, thermoses, table legs, stools, and frying pans in hand.

That poor Root member had been caught off guard at the start and taken a direct hit to the chest from Sakura's alarm clock, breaking several ribs. He couldn't run far at all.

"Huh?"

"Anbu?"

The villagers surrounding the Root member hesitated when they saw that his outfit looked exactly like an Anbu member's.

"He's not Anbu!"

"His mask is different from an Anbu mask!"

"He's an impostor!"

Sakura bounced around at the edge of the crowd, gleefully fanning the flames.

"It's Sakura."

"Sakura is Lord Third Hokage's disciple. She definitely wouldn't be wrong!"

Compared to this unfamiliar unlucky fellow, the surrounding villagers clearly trusted Sakura more.

"You, you people!"

"I'm not a thief!"

The Root member was furious and tried to explain himself.

But as he looked at the villagers surrounding him layer by layer, he didn't dare make a move.

Once he did, there would be no way to clean this up.

"What do you mean, 'you'?"

"You say you're not a thief? Then prove your identity!"

Sakura continued stirring things up from outside.

"That's right, Sakura's correct."

"Prove your identity, or this old lady's frying pan won't go easy on you!"

"Sneaking around to peep in the dead of night—he's definitely no good!"

"My spatula has been hungry for this!"

For a moment, the unlucky Root member had nothing to say.

Prove his identity?

How was he supposed to prove it?

What identity did Root members even have?

Seeing him stammer wordlessly without being able to explain himself, everyone understood.

This guy was a thief pretending to be Anbu!

What nerve—impersonating Anbu in Konoha!

"Take this, laundry paddle!"

No one knew which auntie struck first, but the surrounding villagers immediately swarmed him!

In an instant, the sounds of stools, clubs, and iron pans mingled with cries for mercy.

"Everyone, whatever you do, don't hit his waist! That's the most fragile spot!"

"And absolutely don't pull his hair or step on his fingers~~~"

Unable to squeeze into the crowd from the outside, Sakura shouted loudly, delighted to make the chaos worse.

"Lord Third Hokage!"

"Lord Third Hokage, something happened!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi had been sleeping when a shout jolted him awake.

He was old and slept lightly; the slightest disturbance could wake him.

"What is it?"

Rubbing the bridge of his nose, Hiruzen Sarutobi looked wearily at the Anbu member before him.

"The villagers caught someone impersonating an Anbu."

An Anbu member hesitated for a moment before speaking.

???

Impersonating an Anbu?

Who had the nerve to impersonate an Anbu in Konoha?

Hiruzen Sarutobi could not help feeling puzzled.

"If the patrol squad hadn't arrived in time, that 'Anbu' would probably have been beaten to death by the villagers..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi froze.

Impersonating an Anbu?

Could it be...

A Root member under Shimura Danzō...?