A wildly arrogant chakra entered Hyuga Ao's field of vision.
Hyuga Ao dared to guarantee with her feminine intuition that this was definitely the person she had been waiting for.
Sure enough, under the Byakugan's X-ray-like penetration, the person's facial features were laid bare. Hyuga Ao was absolutely certain that this person was Kuroki Shinya.
She picked up her chips and went to the counter to cash them in. Hyuga Ao remained unhurried, even buying a pastry to eat while she waited.
An hour later, Kuroki Shinya began to move. After Hyuga Ao saw which passage he took, she left a Shadow Clone to keep watch while her main body went ahead to set an ambush.
"Tap, tap. Tap, tap."
Heavy footsteps echoed through the narrow passage.
Kuroki Shinya pondered the target of this mission. For some reason, perhaps because of the darkness, he suddenly recalled the days when he had defected.
He had only just defected then, his heart filled with anxiety as he worried every day that the village would send someone to kill him.
But not long after he fled to the Land of Hot Water, he heard that war had broken out.
Thinking that the war had started, Konoha surely would not have the time to search for him.
Kuroki Shinya had therefore stayed in the Land of Hot Water. While living as a bounty hunter, he practiced the Water Release ninjutsu he had taken from his comrade.
He shook his head, driving away those memories. The current Kuroki Shinya was confident that Konoha posed little threat to him.
At least, that was true in the Land of Hot Water.
His palm touched the hidden door. Just as he was about to push it open, the cold iron beneath his hand suddenly made him shudder.
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