At a dim street-corner puddle shrouded in mist.
A completely emerald-green toad hopped into view. After looking around and finding no one nearby, it strained to open its mouth wide.
Whoosh—
An arm reached out from its bottomless throat, which seemed to connect to another dimension. Then, a figure wrapped tightly in a gray cloak and hood crawled all the way out.
He immediately brought his hands together in a seal. "Barrier: Canopy Method Formation!"
Buzz—
A transparent barrier rapidly spread outward with him at its center.
After a moment, once he had confirmed that there was truly no danger nearby, he reached into the toad's mouth and pulled out another figure dressed exactly like himself.
"We infiltrated successfully!"
Jiraiya grinned, sounding quite optimistic. "That was easier than I expected."
"Did you think every village had a defensive barrier like ours?"
There was a hint of pride in Tsunade's voice. Konoha's defensive barrier had been set up with the help of her grandmother, Uzumaki Mito!
Even the other four of the Five Great Shinobi Villages did not possess that capability.
That was proof that Konoha was the number one shinobi village!
Faced with Tsunade's sudden little bout of pride, Jiraiya immediately chimed in. Laughing and chatting, the two recalled the map of Kirigakure in their minds and strolled forward step by step like an ordinary couple.
They looked no different from the scattered villagers passing along the street.
That was their disguise.
Under normal circumstances, a lone person was naturally more likely to arouse suspicion than a couple. Especially people like them, who could not even walk properly without laughing and fooling around—they were even less likely to be suspected.
After all, what infiltrating spy did not proceed cautiously, terrified of doing anything that might draw attention?
By doing the