Spy × Hot Spring Inn

Nara Dan waved his hand dismissively.

"It was all part of the job."

"Heh. Still, many thanks to Jonin Nara."

The several members of the Police Force looked at Nara Dan's muscles, which had yet to subside and were still straining against his loose casual clothes, and their speech became somewhat stuttered.

Such pure physical violence often held more of a deterrent effect than the power of ninjutsu.

"It's not over yet."

Nara Dan did not care about the attitudes of others; or rather, ever since he began practicing Taijutsu, the way people treated him had never been normal.

"One of them got away."

Although Nara Dan had acted decisively with astonishing speed, the spies were no pushovers. They possessed secret techniques to conceal their presence and figures. During the time it took for Nara Dan to kill three of the spies, one with the faintest and least obvious aura had managed to escape.

"What do you think?"

The several members of the Police Force looked at each other in dismay, and one of them replied, "This group should have had others providing support, but the Anbu are already on their way."

Although the vision of the Sharingan was not as good as the Byakugan, it was still enough to take in the scenery within several hundred meters at a glance.

"I suggest we go and follow up immediately, lest they truly escape and cause extra trouble."

Nara Dan's meaning was clear: although the matter of spies was not under the jurisdiction of the Police Force, they could not shirk responsibility for someone having infiltrated the village.

"But that person seems to have some way of concealing their aura; how are we to find them?"

One of the members with the Red White Fan raised the point; these tasks were indeed the specialty of the Anbu, and the Police Force was not adept at them.

"Heh."

Nara Dan revealed a playful smile.

"Even though these spies used ninjutsu to mislead me, that fishy, watery stench on their bodies is something I could smell even with my eyes closed."

"They are Mist Ninja."

Seeing this, the several Konoha Ninja looked at one another, and two of the more quick-witted ones immediately took a step back.

"My strength is relatively weak; I will stay behind to relay the message."

"I will stay behind to maintain order."

Seemingly not having expected the two to be so in sync, the two retreating ninja exchanged a glance, the awkwardness in their eyes flashing by.

But Nara Dan did not care about this at all; he had never expected these pampered youths who spent their days idling in the Police Force to be of any use.

He swept his gaze lightly over these Konoha Ninja and spoke, "Remember to keep up."

His body leaped upward, chakra surging beneath his soles, and he began to sprint across the rooftops.

Not long after Nara Dan left, reinforcements from both the Anbu and the Police Force arrived simultaneously.

"What is the situation here?"

"Are there any civilians injured?"

The remaining Police Force member waved his hand and pointed to the first spy, who had been knocked to the ground not far away.

"Hiss."

"His bones and internal organs have been shattered like this."

"Was it Lady Tsunade who acted?"

The Police Force and the Anbu inquired to understand the situation in detail while surveying the scene.

They saw that a building not far away had completely collapsed, and the explosive friction marks on the floor indicated that something had been blasted away, crashing into the building's load-bearing wall.

The blood-curdling stench drifting in the air and the spy lying on the ground, who had been beaten into almost nothing but minced meat, undoubtedly indicated that he was the one who had been blasted away.

The remaining two corpses had also been dealt with cleanly and efficiently: one had their skull pierced through by bare hands, and the other had their heart punched through by bare hands.

The scene was clear at a glance; it was obvious that the person who acted possessed absolute strength, and these spies had not been able to put up the slightest bit of resistance.

"N-no, it wasn't Lady Tsunade."

A veteran Anbu member shook his head firmly.

It wasn't that he knew the fact that Tsunade was currently suffering from Hemophobia—such matters were top-secret intelligence known only to a handful of people in the Konoha high command.

The reason for his judgment was that he had seen Lady Tsunade in action; although her destructive power was also extremely formidable, as a woman, Lady Tsunade would never be willing to commit such a bloody act as piercing through a human body with her bare hands.

After all, women loved cleanliness, and although chakra could ensure that skin did not get stained with blood, psychologically, very few women could accept it.

"It must have been Lord Nara Dan who acted."

Another veteran Anbu ninja nodded, stating the fact.

"It was Lord Nara? Then it's no wonder the scene is like this."

Once this name was spoken, the reactions of the various ninja were very uniform: first came realization, then a mixture of wariness, fear, and admiration appeared on their faces.

And the ninja left behind to relay the information also nodded.

"It is indeed Special Jonin Nara Dan. These spies were incredibly unlucky to run straight into him while he was walking down the road, and then..."

The ninja left behind to relay the intelligence stopped abruptly, the rest of the story clearly implied.

"I see. And what about Lord Nara Dan?"

The veteran Anbu ninja nodded and continued to press for details.

"He went to continue pursuing the remaining spies."

The chunin left behind replied, though he felt a flicker of confusion. He knew the news of Nara Dan's promotion to jonin, but he also knew it was merely a Special Jonin rank.

Yet, these Anbu and Police Force ninjas were all referring to him as "Lord."

One had to understand that in Konoha, not every jonin was addressed as "Lord."

Aside from the heads of the great clans and the Hokage, only those with strength and combat records far exceeding that of a standard jonin were typically honored with such a title by their peers.

The Sannin or White Fang were classic examples.

For Nara Dan, a newly promoted Special Jonin, even if his strength was decent, he shouldn't have been addressed as Lord Nara by these seasoned veterans.

With this thought in mind, the guard voiced his confusion.

To his surprise, every ninja present began to look at him with a strange expression, including the members of the Police Force from his own clan.

"Kid, you haven't been out of the academy for long, have you?"

The veteran Anbu member broke the eerie silence first, patting the guard on the shoulder.

"Yes. I only graduated a year ago."

The guard felt a bit nervous, unsure why the atmosphere had suddenly shifted or why everyone was looking at him so strangely.

"I see. It's good to be young, still able to work in the Police Force."

"You should go back and ask your jonin instructor or the elders in your clan."

"You'll soon learn that Lord Nara is no ordinary jonin."

Unexpectedly, even the members of the Police Force from his own clan didn't react to the Anbu's subtle jab at their organization. Instead, they remained calm, gesturing toward the one crippled captive and the two corpses below.

"Anyway, how should these be handled?"

"Let the Anbu take over. If we head out now, we should be able to help that lord clean up the scene."

The veteran Anbu nodded skillfully, dispatched one man to secure the only survivor, and then they all formed hand seals, vanishing from the spot.

Not far from the crime scene, in a hot spring inn currently in operation, a pot-bellied man who appeared to be a merchant was bathing alone.

His upper body was bare, and his posture was completely relaxed. If not for his eyes, which were constantly scanning the surroundings, and his heart, which was pounding wildly, revealing his true nature, any ordinary person would have simply assumed he was a wealthy merchant enjoying the hot springs.

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