Why is it you? (Seeking follow-up reading, seeking collection!)

Three days passed just like that.

Every day, Qingguang disguised himself as an ordinary villager or ninja among the masses of Amegakure, wandering this land that never stopped crying.

"Summoning Technique."

Inside a cave outside Amegakure, Qingguang summoned his Ninja Cat.

"Black Flower, please help me ask Grandma Cat to deliver this to Senior Fugaku for me."

Qingguang cupped his hands under the chin of the small cat, which was entirely black with soft fur, and gently scratched it.

"Purrrr~ Purrrr~"

The warm palm of his owner made it close its eyes comfortably, its pupils dilating.

A few minutes passed, and Qingguang withdrew his hands.

"Alright, I still have to continue my mission. I'll play with you again when I get back. You can go back now."

Black Flower sat upright on the ground, lifting its chubby paws as if asking for something.

"Don't worry, I have it."

He took out another small bottle from his ninja pouch, filled with dried and crushed catnip.

This is what people commonly call catnip.

"Meow~"

The black cat held it in front of its nose with its front paws and sniffed, looking blissfully ecstatic.

Seeing this, Qingguang took the opportunity to tuck the scroll into the small leather bag on Black Flower's back.

After that, he dispelled the Summoning Technique, sending Black Flower back to its original location, and immediately set off again towards his destination.

The Land of Rain is not large in area. Even though he had to avoid many places guarded by ninjas along the way, Qingguang took less than a day to reach the agreed-upon meeting point.

He arrived at a small town on the eastern border where the Land of Rivers, the Land of Rain, and the Land of Wind met.

It rains year-round in the Land of Rain, and almost all the rivers converge and flow from the Land of Rivers before finally pouring into the sea.

This is also the origin of the name "Land of Rivers."

Relying on its advantageous geographical location, the appearance and prosperity of this small town were no less than some villages and towns within the Land of Fire.

There were even many rogue ninjas on the streets.

As for the ninjas from ninja villages, at this time, they would naturally not expose their identities easily.

"I wonder who my teammates will be."

After muttering this, Qingguang walked towards the inn recorded in the mission details.

As soon as he stepped into the inn, Qingguang heard the welcome from the staff at the counter.

"Welcome, esteemed guest."

Nodding and smiling in response, Qingguang said, "I want the room on the highest floor, the view is good there. Also, please help me order a bowl of ramen from the barbecue shop outside, with half a pound of venison."

The man behind the counter replied, "Sir, there are no restaurants selling venison nearby. Would beef be acceptable?"

"I don't eat beef. Change it to half a pound of pork. No fatty parts, please slice it thinly, and serve it with chili oil and vinegar."

The man immediately responded, "No problem, guest. The third room on the left side of the top floor."

He then handed the key to Qingguang, blinking twice.

Qingguang immediately understood. He tapped the table lightly twice with his fingers, one heavy and one light.

Then he immediately headed upstairs.

The man just now was one of the undercover agents belonging to Konoha's intelligence department.

The words he spoke also matched the code recorded in the scroll.

However, Qingguang hadn't expected that his teammate, whom he had never met, had already arrived here.

Following the stairs upwards, Qingguang reached the room and inserted the key into the lock.

After turning it left, right, pause, right, left a few times, he entered the room.

As soon as he opened the door, he saw three familiar figures sitting around a tea table inside, holding playing cards.

The three pairs of eyes turned to Qingguang simultaneously, revealing different expressions.

Surprise, joy, and a hint of knowing.

"Qingguang, I didn't expect it to be you!"

Jiraiya stepped forward directly, put his arm around Qingguang's shoulder, and patted his shoulder with a hearty laugh.

He led him to sit by the tea table.

"Come, come, come, play cards with us. Tsunade has already lost so many hands. Maybe with you here, she can turn her luck around."

Hearing this, Tsunade's eyes lit up. The disappointment from losing more than a dozen hands in a row vanished at that moment.

"Right, right, right. I've never played cards with you, Qingguang, before. Come on, let me see your skills."

With that, Tsunade snatched the cards from Jiraiya and Orochimaru's hands, shoving them into the deck to shuffle.

Phew, that was close. I almost lost another round.

Jiraiya looked at his empty palms, then at Tsunade's gleeful expression as she shuffled, and immediately understood her intentions.

"Qingguang's here, we can't just make him wait."

"The last round doesn't count. We'll start from this one."

Tsunade expertly shuffled the cards and began dealing them out one by one.

Qingguang sat opposite her, watching her actions. It subconsciously reminded him of four words.

Dealer dealing cards.

Tsunade had terrible luck with gambling, almost never winning, but her basic skills in shuffling and rolling dice were extremely proficient.

While holding his cards, Qingguang looked at the three of them and asked in confusion, "Big Sis, Senior Jiraiya, Senior Orochimaru, aren't you three going to continue your mission?"

Jiraiya shook his head helplessly. Tsunade's attention was all on the cards, so he pointed to Orochimaru beside him.

"Let him tell you. I need to see my cards."

"Qingguang-kun, we've done our best to stir up conflict between Sunagakure and Amegakure during this time."

"But Amegakure has shown almost no reaction, just passively accepting it, not resisting."

"We even learned the day before yesterday that Hanzō personally wrote a letter of apology to Sunagakure's Third Kazekage, sending his right-hand man, Shinda, as the messenger. He was directly turned away at the door."

Jiraiya nodded. "That's right. With Hanzō's attitude, I don't think there's any chance of starting a war."

"If I were Hanzō, I would have charged straight up and challenged that Kazekage to a one-on-one fight."

Qingguang showed a confused expression. While playing a card, he shared the intelligence he had recently gathered.

"No wonder the ninjas in Amegakure have been acting so stifled and angry lately. It's because of this."

"Then what about the mission the Hokage assigned us? Are we just going to abandon it?"

Tsunade nodded, her face full of worry. "What else can we do? We've been at it for over ten days, and we haven't even made a ripple. If we keep going, it'll just be a waste of time."

"Anyway, I've done the work. That old man better not think about withholding my payment just because the mission failed."

"If he dares to not pay me, I'll tear down his Hokage Building myself."

Suddenly, Tsunade leaped up. A large mass on her chest bounced, and she slammed four cards onto the coffee table, her face beaming with excitement.

"A bomb! I only have two cards left!"

She had a pair of twos left. She had just played four Aces. No matter how she thought about it, this was a guaranteed win.

Could the big and small jokers possibly be in one person's hand?

She didn't believe it. This was playing with her life!

Orochimaru and Jiraiya both shook their heads, indicating they couldn't beat her hand.

Tsunade's gaze was fixed tightly on Qingguang, her body bent over, one hand propping up the table.

So big, so white. Must be a new deck.

Qingguang gave a wry chuckle, which only made the smile on Tsunade's face widen.

I'm finally going to win!

"Royal flush."