Leaving the Village

The next morning.

Kusagakure was under a state of high alert, with teams of ninja patrolling back and forth along the streets.

A carriage slowly rolled out through the back gate of the inn.

"Neji, do you think this will work?"

Yugito lifted the curtain and glanced at the ninja in the street, looking uneasy.

According to Yugito's plan, she would kill a few people in Kusagakure to draw the Grass ninja's attention, giving Neji and the others a chance to leave the village.

But Neji was planning to drive the carriage straight out through the village gate, brazenly and without a care.

Yugito thought it was a little unreliable, but after thinking it over for a long while, she decided it was worth a try.

If they could slip out, all the better. If the Grass ninja saw through their disguises, they would fight their way out.

"Relax. Just watch me work."

Neji was as steady as a rock. He flicked the reins, and the carriage sped toward the village gate.

More than a dozen Grass ninja were carefully checking the people leaving the village.

Neji glanced at Katsushiro, who was standing at the gate, and narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Get down."

Before long, a Grass ninja spotted Neji and shouted at him.

"Heh."

Neji jumped down from the carriage and walked up to the Grass ninja. With a sharp smack, he raised his hand and slapped him across the face.

"Ah!" The Grass ninja fell straight to the ground, his head ringing.

"Baka!"

Neji pointed at the Forehead Protector on his brow, like some furious military officer from a TV drama, and cursed, "You tell me to get down? Are you blind? You don't recognize this?"

The Grass ninja guarding the gate was both furious and aggrieved.

Of course he recognized the Kumogakure Forehead Protector. He just hadn't expected this Cloud ninja to have such a short fuse.

"That's too much! How can you hit someone?" another Grass ninja hurriedly helped his comrade up and demanded angrily.

Neji tossed a pebble at him and barked, "This is how we Cloud ninja do things. What, got a problem with that?"

"What's all the noise?"

At that moment, Katsushiro heard the commotion and walked over.

"Captain, you're just in time. This Cloud ninja hit me."

The Grass ninja guarding the gate clutched his face and complained.

Katsushiro gave Neji a careful once-over, then turned and scolded the Grass ninja. "It takes two to tango. Why did he hit you and not anyone else? Maybe you should look at yourself."

"..."

The Grass ninja's mouth twitched. He had no answer.

Katsushiro forced a smile and politely addressed Neji. "Young man, he doesn't know any better. Don't hold it against him."

"Now that's more like it." Neji's expression softened a little.

"Young man, may I ask why you've come to Kusagakure?"

"Technically, you don't have the clearance to see that."

Neji spoke arrogantly, then impassively produced the mission credentials he had prepared in advance. He opened them, let Katsushiro take a glance, and quickly closed them again.

Katsushiro pondered for a moment, looking troubled. "Young man, to be frank, last night our village was infiltrated by unidentified outsiders. To prevent the culprits from disguising themselves and sneaking out, I'm afraid we'll have to check your carriage."

As the saying went, you couldn't slap a smiling face.

Looking at Katsushiro's beaming smile, Neji found it hard to refuse again.

"Better to be cautious. Go ahead and check."

Neji simply pulled open the carriage curtain.

Katsushiro peered inside with narrowed eyes.

The carriage had plenty of room.

But the Grass ninja only saw a stunning long-haired woman lounging on a bench. There was no one else inside.

Neji let the curtain fall and called out, "Is the suspect you're looking for in there?"

"No."

"Sorry for the trouble, young man. You may go."

Katsushiro shook his head, then waved his hand to let them through.

After the carriage had gone some distance, the Grass ninja Neji had slapped spoke up. "Captain, according to the rules, we should search the carriage before letting it pass, just to make sure."

"You're absolutely right."

Katsushiro nodded with narrowed eyes, then changed his tune.

"But rules are dead, and people are alive. There's an old saying in the Shinobi World: hee-hee, dancer Wei Junjie. Our village can't afford to offend the Cloud ninja."

"And besides..."

He lowered his voice and continued, "There are some things you don't know. The infiltrators definitely weren't Cloud ninja."

The Grass ninja fell silent, looking thoughtful.

Katsushiro patted him on the shoulder. "All right, that's behind us. Keep watch at the gate."

Meanwhile, once the carriage had gone far enough, Kana and her mother climbed out of a hidden compartment at the back.

Kana patted her ample chest, her face full of lingering fear. "That was close. I was really afraid those Grass ninja would find us."

As he flicked the reins, Neji laughed smugly. "Madam, I told you to relax. My plan was flawless."

"Hmph!"

Yugito crossed her arms over her chest and rolled her eyes at Neji. "What flawless plan? Those Grass ninja just weren't professional enough. If they'd been our Cloud ninja, they would've seen through it right away."

Neji didn't argue with her. He turned and called to Karin, "Karin, come sit on your big brother's lap. I'll teach you how to drive."

After searching for several days, they found no suspicious people.

Ryurin realized the infiltrator had most likely already escaped with Kana and her mother.

But Kusagakure was under strict lockdown, and he couldn't figure out how the infiltrator had managed to leave.

"To get away under these circumstances while taking a mother and daughter who can't defend themselves along—that's impressive. Konoha really is full of talent."

Ryurin sighed.

Though he still had his doubts, he didn't dwell on them.

After all, the Shinobi World was full of strange and unusual abilities.

Screee!

Just then, an eagle cried out overhead.

He looked up and saw five eagles with wingspans of more than three meters circling above.

Ryurin's eyebrows lifted slightly. Mui was back.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

A series of rushing sounds rang out as five figures dropped from the sky and landed in the clearing.

One of them was a young man with a stern face and a composed air.

He was Mui, an elite jōnin of Kusagakure and the leader of the Kusagakure branch.

The other four ninja wore monkey, ox, sheep, and dog masks. They were the elders of Kusagakure.

Katsushiro walked up to Mui and greeted him respectfully. "Mui, you're finally back."

"I wasn't here when the village was struck by disaster. You had to handle everything yourselves."

Mui looked cold and gave the impression that he was hard to talk to, but everyone who knew him understood that he was actually an easygoing and gentle man.

Ryurin glanced at Mui, scratched the back of his head, and smiled. "Ryūsetsu was pestering me to help with her training, so I'll head back first."

The Kusagakure branch and the other Kusagakure branch had always been at odds.

In a situation like this, it wouldn't be appropriate for Ryurin, the leader of the other branch, to get involved.

"Ryurin."

Mui took a paper lantern out of his Ninja Tool Pouch. "Muku asked me to bring this little gift for Ryūsetsu!"

The two Kusagakure branches had deep-rooted differences, but their conflict was over ideals. Mui and Ryurin, the leaders of the two branches, were on good terms in private, and their children had grown up together as childhood sweethearts.

"Well... I'll thank Muku on Ryūsetsu's behalf."

Ryurin took the paper lantern and left.