Intelligence on Sahara Mizu

Early the next morning, Mizu.

Sahara Mizu, forced to get up early, felt a little miserable.

It was a strange, dull ache of the soul that originated from his psyche—caused by being transported to another world yet still having to work like a corporate drone.

In short, work syndrome.

Even though this schedule of starting at eight in the morning, getting off at ten at night, and working seven days a week had continued for quite some time since the war began, Sahara Mizu had still failed to escape the disease's clutches.

There were also some side effects brought by the cheat.

"Heart Points consumed: 1"

"Limitless Technique: Stage One → Stage Two"

"Information localization complete"

"External Brain: Fuinjutsu-Specialized Type (S): An external technique attached to the surface of the brain in the form of Fuinjutsu, designed specifically to accommodate the 'Six Eyes.' Can be activated without side effects. Allows high-intensity use of the 'Six Eyes' for a short period, thereby generating a small amount of 'Power of Stopping.'"

"Heart Points required for next stage: 2"

Sahara Mizu glanced over the contents of the panel.

As he thought, he extended a hand and pressed a fingertip against a fountain pen, holding it upright.

If someone leaned in close enough at that moment, they would see an extremely tiny gap between Sahara Mizu's fingertip and the end of the pen.

Yet the pen stood steadily in midair, completely motionless.

However, after using that ability for only a few seconds, it felt as though an iron rod were stirring inside his head.

On the other hand, the strain brought by the Six Eyes was no longer as severe as before.

Before long, he stopped.

The pen fell into his palm.

"Ugh."

"A fifteen-year-old child laborer. How tragic."

Sahara Mizu leaned back against his workstation and let out an involuntary sigh.

But he soon did not dare make another sound.

Behind Sahara Mizu, a gaunt, haggard figure with sunken eye sockets and a layer of almost tangible black smoke tangled around his body slowly emerged from the lounge at one side of the office.

With a resentful gaze that seemed capable of strangling someone, he stared fixedly at Mizu and trudged toward the seat at the front.

Until he passed behind him.

"Miiizu-kun."

Nara Shikaetsu's voice echoed as though from a deep valley, each syllable stretched long. "The pain of having to get up after only closing your eyes for one hour. You understand it, don't you?"

"Today, don't think you'll be getting away so easily."

"Yes!"

Sahara Mizu immediately straightened up.

Clearly, today was going to be rough.

And indeed it was. The moment work hours began, the amount of work everyone had to handle surged.

It was not because of Sahara Mizu's "report" yesterday. It was simply because the front lines had launched another round of offensives, naturally increasing the intelligence that needed to be processed.

After more than two years of experience in intelligence work, Sahara Mizu handled such matters with relative ease.

Even while working, he still had spare attention to consider other things.

Although he had obtained the system now, he still needed to complete the task Karatachi Yagura had given him as soon as possible.

Even someone with cheats needed time to grow.

Besides, this mission was no longer particularly difficult for him.

"Steal intelligence related to Tsunade's Team."

According to the intelligence obtained by Karatachi Yagura's side, Mist Village had learned through underground trade channels that Tsunade's Team had headed to the front lines four days ago to carry out a highly classified mission. The four members of the team were all Jonin, and they had brought at least three Anbu or Root squads as cover.

That arrangement alone had put the entire Mist Village leadership on alert.

After all, this was no longer the era of the First Generation leaders of each ninja village.

A small elite force led by Kinkaku and Ginkaku had been able to surround and kill the Second Raikage and Hokage. Even the leader of Amegakure, known as the "Demi-God," required more than a dozen elites to set up barriers against assassination attempts in his daily life. The Third Tsuchikage had even organized a special unit codenamed "Explosion" for protection.

This was wartime.

Even the leaders of each village, known as Kage, had to guard against Tsunade's elite force taking the opportunity to launch an assassination.

Rumor had it that the Monster Strength Fist she invented was a one-hit killing technique against a single target.

Since this involves such a high-level covert operation, it should at least be A-rank or S-rank.

As Sahara Mizu analyzed the thoughts of Mist Village's upper ranks, he also considered where to begin.

Only after sorting through every detail did he suddenly rise from his workstation and report, "Lord Shikaetsu, the B Group section has been organized!"

"Good." Nara Shikaetsu did not even raise his head. "Take those two stacks to the Sealed Archive."

"Huh?"

He deliberately put on a somewhat reluctant expression.

The stacked documents were nearly taller than he was, and they looked rather heavy to carry.

Nara Shikaetsu immediately pulled a stern face.

"Go!"

"Yes, yes."

After being scolded twice, Sahara Mizu finally left the office, looking somewhat unwilling.

A satisfied smile split Nara Shikaetsu's haggard, dark face. Even his dark circles seemed to fade slightly.

Heh heh!

That brat needed to be put in his place a little before he understood the dignity of his seniors!

Once Sahara Mizu left the office, he quickly changed expressions.

Clearly, this was one of the conveniences of working for the Intelligence Agency.

Although not every mission's contents passed through their hands, whenever necessary, they could freely enter and leave the Sealed Archive, which stored all kinds of highly classified materials, using authorization.

Because of the special nature of this work, the advisors in this office were always recruited from Good Children of Konoha—people with clean backgrounds, complete families, detailed records of their upbringing from childhood to adulthood, and many friends willing to vouch for them.

For most spies, this was practically a death sentence.

But for Sahara Mizu, entering and leaving the Sealed Archive was simply part of his job.

"Stop. Chakra inspection."

"Yes."

Sahara Mizu stopped at the entrance to the Sealed Archive, placed his palm against a Sealing Array, and slowly fed chakra into it.

At the same time, he opened the Six Eyes.

In an instant, everything within the surrounding area became visible down to the finest detail.

A complete standard squad led by a Jonin guarded the entrance. Inside the Sealed Archive, another full Anbu squad was hidden in the ceiling, corners, and secret rooms.

Furthermore, powerful denial barriers had been set up along all four walls of the Sealed Archive.

If anyone tried to infiltrate, they would never be able to break into this secret chamber unless they blasted down from the floor above.

As for why that weak point in the ceiling was left open, the reason was quite simple—the Hokage's Office was directly above the Sealed Archive.

The barriers of the two rooms were integrated.

Even so, Sahara Mizu behaved as usual.

Upon entering the Sealed Archive, he found the spacious room lined with densely packed document cabinets like a library.

As he walked toward the cabinets in Section B, he used the Six Eyes to rapidly search through different document cabinets.

Although there was a great deal of material, he only needed to begin with the deepest S-rank locked cabinets and look for the pages dated closest to today.

Still, with the Six Eyes completely occupying his mind, Sahara Mizu's movements inevitably appeared a little slower than usual.

Until he finally reached the document cabinet and touched the handle with his fingertips.

Smack.

Without him noticing, a hand suddenly clamped around his wrist.

Sahara Mizu's body tensed abruptly.

Reflected in his vision was an Anbu mask painted with a wildcat pattern.

A young man with a build similar to his stood before him, entirely wrapped in black Anbu combat gear. Only his distinctive blond hair, spiking skyward, was exposed. He had made no sound throughout the entire approach.

And he had been astonishingly fast.

At the same time, within the Six Eyes' field of vision, the remaining three Anbu had somehow taken positions—crouching or standing—on the ceiling, atop the cabinets, and behind him, completely surrounding him.

They were constantly on guard against any suspicious movement from him.

However, Sahara Mizu, who had extensive experience dealing with the Anbu, did not start making wild suspicions as he had at home yesterday.

Almost instinctively, an expression of confusion mixed with nervousness appeared on his face, perfectly natural.

"May I ask what this is about?"

The blond Anbu, gripping his wrist and sensing his pulse and heartbeat, seemed to detect something. He relaxed slightly and said in a low, cold voice, "Since ten last night, the materials in Section B have been moved to Cabinet Seventeen."

"The other document cabinets have been sealed. Do not open them again."

Sahara Mizu immediately seemed to relax all over, smiling apologetically.

"Sorry, I took leave last night."

"Mm."

Only then did the blond Anbu release his wrist and prepare to return to hiding.

However, Sahara Mizu seemed to suddenly notice the familiar blond hair and back. Somewhat uncertainly, he said, "Also."

"You're Minato-kun, right?"

"It's been a long time."

Namikaze Minato paused slightly mid-step. The voice beneath the mask was no longer concealed, though his tone remained somewhat distant.

"Sorry."

"During a mission, please do not reveal an Anbu member's real name."