Orphanage

Team Five followed the mission clues to the town where the mission had been posted. The client was a wealthy local merchant, and the missing person was his only son, Little Sumire, who was only four years old.

Because he was his only son, the merchant had been willing to spend a large sum to post a C-rank mission.

In fact, the child had already been missing for more than three days, and even the merchant himself did not hold much hope anymore.

Yichen and the other three split up to gather information, then met at one of the town's entrances.

According to the clues they had received, Little Sumire had last been seen near this entrance.

As the one who had overruled everyone's objections to choose this mission, Yichen had no choice but to be proactive. "Since Little Sumire was last seen near this entrance, he most likely left through here. Whether he walked away himself or was kidnapped, we need to investigate along this road."

The other three did not object, so the four left town and began searching the road for clues.

Tracks from three days ago were originally very difficult to find, and none of them had held much hope. Yet after searching along the road for a while, they found something.

The world outside was not peaceful, and children rarely traveled far from home. This was even more apparent in remote towns like this one.

Thus, most of the footprints on the road belonged to adults. There were not even many belonging to teenagers like Yichen and the others.

Footprints belonging to a four-year-old child were even rarer. Yet Team Five found a patch of such footprints on the road several miles outside town.

Yichen and the others instantly perked up.

"There were no child's footprints on the way here, and there aren't any farther ahead either. The child was probably being carried. These footprints were likely left when they stopped to rest," Yichen took the initiative to analyze.

After circling the area once more, he said, "These footprints beside them should belong to an adult who rested with Little Sumire. Looking at the prints, the ones on the road before and after this stretch are slightly deeper, while this section is shallower."

"My guess is that this person was carrying a child both before and afterward. So I suggest that we follow these footprints next."

Tana and Shinohara agreed with Yichen's analysis, and Kurotsuchi raised no objections. Team Five began tracking forward. With a clear target this time, they moved much faster. They only needed to sprint ahead for a while, then confirm that the footprints were still there.

After stopping and starting like this for a long time, Yichen's group finally arrived at a village far from the town.

To prevent any accidents, Yichen and the others did not rashly enter the village.

Instead, at Kurotsuchi's suggestion, Yichen first sensed the situation inside the village.

Yichen froze for a moment before realizing, Right, I have a cheat too.

Because his sensing range was limited, after they stealthily approached the village, Yichen hid outside a house and began using Sensory Ninjutsu.

The sensing was quick. Yichen said, "There are no Ninja on this side of the village. My sensing limit is three hundred meters, so we still need to check the other side."

Kurotsuchi and the other two nodded, so the four members of Team Five circled around and sensed the other side as well.

"There are only a few hundred people in the whole village, and no Ninja. We checked the other entrances just now and didn't see those footprints again. That means the child should be inside the village."

After saying that, Yichen looked at Kurotsuchi. "Captain Kurotsuchi, what should we do in this situation?"

Kurotsuchi smiled. "We're Ninja, not officials solving a case. We can take some direct measures."

With that, he led the three of them openly into the village.

Ninja were not a profession especially welcomed by ordinary civilians, but everyone in Team Five wore their village forehead protectors, so the villagers did not reject them.

Instead, they directed them to the village chief's home.

Kurotsuchi got straight to the point and explained why they had come to the village chief.

The village chief was a worldly man. Since Ninja had come knocking, he did not dare hide anything and directly told them what he knew.

Sure enough, two days ago, someone had brought a child into the village. That person claimed he could no longer make ends meet and wanted to sell the child.

As it happened, a family in the village wanted a son, so they paid to buy him.

The village chief had been present at the time. With his experience, he had naturally seen that the kidnapper was lying. The child was dressed far better than he was, and he was fair and chubby. One look was enough to tell that he came from a wealthy family.

The kidnapper had probably scouted the place beforehand before bringing the child here.

However, the village chief had not exposed him. After all, having another boy in the village was not a bad thing.

Hearing this, Yichen hurriedly asked, "In that case, which family has the child now?"

To his surprise, the village chief said, "The child isn't in the village anymore. He didn't like the food that family served and kept crying."

"That family had no choice but to ask the kidnapper for their money back. The kidnapper refused, and the two sides argued for a while without reaching an agreement."

"Just then, a young nun came to the village. She said she ran an orphanage in Zhuchang Town and was willing to take the child in."

"She did not have much money either. In the end, the kidnapper returned part of the payment, and the matter was settled."

This time, Shinohara was the first to lose patience. "Village Chief, has that nun left?"

The village chief nodded. "She left. She took the child with her, and judging by the direction, she should have been heading back to Zhuchang Town."

The four breathed a sigh of relief. At least Little Sumire was safe. Yichen confirmed the child's appearance and clothing with the village chief once more. After verifying that they matched, the four headed for Zhuchang Town.

By evening, they arrived in Zhuchang Town. It was too large for Yichen to sense through, so they did not waste time. They directly asked for the orphanage's location and headed there.

The orphanage was located in a corner of Zhuchang Town. The building was very shabby. At the entrance, Yichen used Sensory Ninjutsu to investigate and found more than twenty children and three adults inside.

When four Ninja arrived, the people in the orphanage became somewhat nervous and quickly called out the person in charge.

The person who came out was a young nun with brownish-yellow hair and an exceptionally large pair of glasses. She was an extremely beautiful young woman.

The moment Yichen saw her, his eyes went blank for an instant. He nearly cried out, "Yakushi Nonō," but fortunately suppressed it in time.

Yet all kinds of thoughts raced through his mind as he considered how to use Yakushi Nonō's identity to gain some benefits for himself.

While Yichen's thoughts ran wild, Kurotsuchi's discussion with Nonō went very smoothly.

Nonō led a child out from inside the building, with several other children peeking curiously from behind her.

The moment Kurotsuchi and the others saw the little boy Nonō was holding by the hand, they knew he was the Little Sumire they had been looking for.

Tana hurriedly stepped forward and pulled Little Sumire over, while Kurotsuchi thanked the gentle and beautiful nun.

Just as Kurotsuchi was about to take his leave, Yichen suddenly flung a Shuriken at one of the children. This child was one of the few who had secretly followed Little Sumire outside earlier.

Tana and Shinohara were both shocked. Kurotsuchi saw it too. He could have stopped it, but after raising his hand, he lowered it again.

The Shuriken shot toward the child at incredible speed, then suddenly stopped in front of him. A nearly invisible steel wire was attached behind the Shuriken, with one end held by Yichen.

Yichen flicked his wrist, and the Shuriken flew back.

Everything had happened too suddenly. Only then did Shinohara curse, "Yichen, who are you trying to scare? What are you doing?"

Yichen ignored him and glanced at Kurotsuchi. Sure enough, Kurotsuchi no longer had his earlier polite expression. Instead, he was staring solemnly at the nun across from them.

The instant the Shuriken flew toward the child, the nun's gaze had darted to it before shifting away again.

Throughout the entire process, there had not been the slightest Chakra fluctuation, nor had any muscle in her body tensed in the slightest.

She seemed like a genuine Ordinary Person. Afterward, she appeared to react only then, just like everyone else, and ran toward the frightened child.

While comforting him, she watched the four members of Team Five warily in the manner of an Ordinary Person.

But as a Jonin, Kurotsuchi had noticed the nun's gaze immediately.

Only a Ninja with absolutely formidable Combat Power could have such reaction speed. Kurotsuchi was certain that she had noticed the steel wire behind the Shuriken at once.

As for the series of disguises afterward, they only showed how terrifying this nun was.

Looking at the orphanage, which had fallen into chaos, Kurotsuchi apologized to them, then directly led Yichen and the other two away.

After leaving the orphanage, Tana carried Little Sumire as they quickly vaulted over the town wall not far away.

Then Kurotsuchi barked at Yichen, "Yichen!"

Yichen nodded and immediately crouched down to use Sensory Ninjutsu. About a minute later, he said, "She's coming."

In truth, in Yichen's senses just now, Yakushi Nonō had never shown any Chakra fluctuations. Only at the instant she climbed over the wall did he sense something unusual.

She truly lived up to the title Wandering Miko. Based on the qualities she had displayed today alone, she deserved that title.

At this point, Tana and Shinohara also sensed that something was wrong and both looked toward the town wall.

Sure enough, the nun lightly leaped over it. "She's a Ninja?" Tana and Shinohara were both startled.

Kurotsuchi looked at her and demanded, "Your identity."

Nonō shook her head, indicating that she would not answer.

Unable to get an answer, Kurotsuchi stopped wasting words and charged directly at her.

Nonō did not retreat either, but met him head-on. Though her hands were empty, they were both wrapped in a layer of green Chakra. Using her palms as blades, she engaged Kurotsuchi in taijutsu.

Yichen maintained his Sensory Ninjutsu throughout.

He was monitoring the orphanage. If this Nonō was a clone, then the moment the real body tried to leave the orphanage, he would definitely notice.

Although she could conceal her Chakra aura, she could not conceal her life aura. If the orphanage had one fewer Lifeform, it would absolutely not escape Yichen's senses.

That was because fake people created by the Clone Technique differed from real people in Sensory Ninjutsu.

At the same time, Yichen could help Kurotsuchi confirm that the Nonō fighting him would not use tricks like the Clone Technique to deceive them.

Both fighters were at the Jonin level, making it difficult for Yichen and the other two to intervene. Rashly joining in would only make them a burden.

So they honestly stood outside and kept watch.

After exchanging blows for a while, Kurotsuchi, who had already been stronger, began increasing his offensive pressure in a targeted manner after figuring out Nonō's style.

Nonō gradually began to struggle. Until Kurotsuchi forced her into the air with a punch, Yichen, who had anticipated it in advance, shouted, "Throw!"

Shinohara and Tana simultaneously threw four or five Shuriken. Nonō, suspended in midair, forcibly twisted her body to avoid most of them, then used Chakra Scalpel to knock aside the rest.

But that delay allowed Kurotsuchi's next wave of attacks to arrive. Already at a disadvantage and now caught by Kurotsuchi's fierce assault after he seized the initiative, Nonō could no longer hold on.

Kurotsuchi quickly injured her. After several heavy blows, she could no longer stand.