Uchiha Yayoi

Sahara Mizu couldn't help but pause when his name was called.

Not because of the girl's voice before him, though.

In the center of his vision—

A faint white halo hovered above the girl's head.

"Shallow Heart Knot"

For a moment, his heartbeat quickened by half a beat.

An entire day, and finally it appeared!

"Ahem."

"Captain Yayoi."

But before the girl could say anything more, another slightly older female ninja couldn't help but speak up to remind her, tugging discreetly at the hem of her sleeve with a finger at her side.

Uchiha Yayoi only then remembered she was still on duty. She immediately tightened her expression, turning her face slightly aside, as if she didn't want him to see those highly intimidating Sharingan eyes.

Even her tone shifted back to the cold, composed demeanor from the start, though a slight unnatural pause crept in as she spoke:

"That. Your inspection is complete."

"If further cooperation is needed, please report to the Uchiha Police Force in a timely manner upon receiving notice for follow-up investigation."

The girl's tone was official, but not official enough.

Faint traces of hard-to-detect little emotions were mixed in.

"—Captain Yayoi?"

The female ninja beside Uchiha Yayoi slowly emphasized her tone.

You just gave it a casual glance, didn't you?

At the same time, she fixed Sahara Mizu with a thoroughly intimidating Sharingan glare.

Uchiha Yayoi tilted her head, pouting slightly, but still let out a low sigh. Under her deputy's supervision, she walked over to Sahara Mizu, opened her Sharingan to take a few more looks, and then reluctantly changed her tune:

"Fine."

"I've troubled you today. Please go back to work."

Sahara Mizu glanced at the still-smoldering embers on the ground, the charred corpse, the bodies lying fallen, the blood splattered everywhere from slit throats.

No matter how much he needed Heart Points, he knew this wasn't the place to talk.

What's more, In his peripheral vision, that female ninja around twenty years old stood beside Uchiha Yayoi, her gaze locked onto him like she was watching a thief, tracking his every move as if ready to strike with a 'kill without mercy' at any moment.

"Well then, thanks for the hard work?"

"Mm."

The girl maintained that official, cold demeanor in front of everyone, nodding almost imperceptibly.

But as they passed each other, "I'll treat you to a meal next time."

Uchiha Yayoi tilted her head and muttered quietly in his ear.

Sahara Mizu smiled as if he didn't care, cast one last glance at the faint white halo above her head, and then, under the other female ninja's murderous glare, stepped downstairs.

But just as he disappeared from the Uchiha Police Force squad's line of sight, he seemed to casually glance into the distance, a hint of a smile tugging at his lips.

'Mr. Kojima' had already vanished the moment that Fire Release appeared.

Quick reflexes.

Catching sight of Sahara Mizu's figure disappearing into the stairwell from the corner of her eye, Uchiha Yayoi secretly let out a sigh of relief.

But the moment she spotted the scorched black marks left on the ground by her own Fire Release, she couldn't help but grit her teeth.

Damn it!

Wasn't Mizu's office on the second floor?!

She'd thought her entrance wrapped in the might of Fire Release was pretty impressive, but now, remembering how her flashy display had been seen by that guy Mizu, Uchiha Yayoi's cheeks couldn't stop burning.

The image she'd maintained for so long back when they were on the same team—it was absolutely ruined!

At that thought, Miss Yayoi's head might as well have been covered in a thick, gloomy cloud. The swelling Yin Release Chakra seemed to make the tomoe in her Sharingan spin even faster.

Uchiha Yayoi, fifteen years old.

Fire Release specialist, Special Jonin.

Current position: Captain of the Third Squad, First Battalion, Uchiha Police Force.

The 'Cheating Cat' as Miss Sahara Yukie called her.

Until two years ago, she was still a fellow genin squad member in the same class as Sahara Mizu.

Throughout their three years as teammates, she had worked hard to play the role of a gentle, cheerful, lively, kind-hearted Ninjutsu Type teammate.

"Creak—"

Someone's back molar suddenly let out a faint, grating sound.

But what was done was done; no amount of anger now would change a thing.

"Hah."

The girl exhaled long, then whipped her head around sharply, her demeanor snapping back to the same brisk, decisive attitude as before. Her scarlet Sharingan swept toward the very end of the crowd, where a ninja was trying to slip away, and she barked coldly:

"Who said you could leave?"

"Everyone line up. Hold your ninja tool bags and scrolls in your hands, ready for inspection! No hiding anything!"

"Direct Anbu members, leave on your own and report to Lord Third Hokage."

"Rinko, Gen! You two check the rest! Tekka, Yuna, you're with me to examine the traces."

"Yes!"

A chorus of groans and complaints rippled through the crowd.

After all, it wasn't just the Intelligence Agency pulling overtime lately; everyone's workload had been heavy.

With this round of inspections today, they'd definitely be getting home late again.

Unfortunately, the other Uchiha weren't nearly as easygoing as Miss Yayoi was with familiar faces. The moment the Sharingan activated, its natural Yin Release intimidation was formidable, and their scrutiny of the staff's checks was meticulous.

Of course, these steps were necessary.

Seeing this, Namikaze Minato in the crowd let out a quiet sigh of relief.

Even the Uchiha Police Force had no authority to inspect Anbu personnel—but due to certain unspoken conflicts among the higher-ups, the two sides occasionally found themselves at odds for various reasons.

A peaceful resolution like today was a good thing.

Still, just before leaving, Namikaze Minato couldn't help but glance back at the bodies on the ground, gripping his Three-Pronged Kunai with a faint unease.

There was a nagging worry.

Even for suicide troops, these men's resistance had been far too weak.

He wasn't the only one with this doubt.

Uchiha Yayoi crouched down, her Sharingan carefully observing the residual chakra reactions on the corpses, her brows tightly knit.

The real big fish still hadn't surfaced, had they?

Afternoon, Udagawa Riverbank.

Sahara Mizu had just finished eating. His empty lunchbox and disposable chopsticks rested on the railing, while he leaned his hands on the barrier, gazing across the great river that separated the Nara Clan Compound from the central streets, staring straight at the opposite shore.

In his hand, grains of rice mixed with small paper balls scattered bit by bit into the river's surface.

From a distance, he looked like just another idle passerby casually feeding the fish.

If only the fish catching those rice grains and paper balls weren't specially trained Summoning Fish.

Only three of those paper balls were written in proper ciphertext, requiring a special method to decode—the rest were just angsty teenage ramblings, diaries that wouldn't look good if outsiders saw them.

It was a double layer of insurance.

And so, the intelligence stolen from the Sealed Archive was silently transferred into the hands of his superior.

But that wasn't the most important thing.

Sahara Mizu, leaning on the riverside railing, kept his eyes closed as if resting.

Yet his "Six Eyes," gazing into the far distance, were fixed on the figure of 'Mr. Kojima,' who had escaped the Hokage Building after several changes of disguise.

Just as he had said before.

Even to earn "Heart Points," Sahara Mizu could no longer keep hiding like before.

Whether it was to gain more 'bonds,' or to free himself from the heavy burden of intelligence work and secure greater autonomy in his actions, he needed to reveal his 'true strength' to a certain extent.

He had understood this from a very early age.

In this cruel world centered on ninja, nothing was more important than the word 'power.'

With enough strength, even a fool could become Hokage, rule a nation, and realize even the most absurd-sounding dreams.

But for an ordinary chunin working in the Intelligence Agency, even with sufficient power, he had to be cautious.

To avoid startling the snake and exposing his far more important other identity.

For that, he had to wait for the right opportunity.

For example.

Someone like 'Mr. Kojima' was perfect for playing the villain.

'Your weight had better be heavier than I estimated.'

Sahara Mizu thought this.

My apologies, I forgot to schedule today's chapter.

I wonder if anyone noticed. ε=(ο｀*)))