Thirty: The Understanding Sakuya and Sakuya Should Have

"Knock, knock."

Just as Sakuya and Tsunade were discussing intelligence about Akatsuki, a sudden knock interrupted them.

Sakuya and Tsunade exchanged a glance, both sensing that something was off.

The fact that the two of them were staying at this inn was top secret. Who would be knocking on their door now?

Sakuya quietly rose and went to the door. Peering through the crack, he asked, "Who is it?"

"Ah, honored guest, I'm a waiter."

A strange man's voice came from outside.

"A guest came downstairs just now and said he knew you. He left you a letter, and the boss told me to bring it up."

"A letter?"

Sakuya and Tsunade exchanged a look.

Could it be Orochimaru and the others?

How had they found out we were here?

And sending a letter to communicate was far too risky. Couldn't they use a messenger summon?

If they had someone else deliver the message, weren't they worried it would be seized by Amegakure?

Those three idiots.

Sakuya nodded to Tsunade. The two of them used the Transformation Technique at the same time, changing their appearances. Only after they looked completely different did they open the door.

"Here you are, honored guest."

The waiter respectfully handed over the letter, then turned and left.

"Jiraiya and the others really are..."

After Sakuya had closed the door, Tsunade returned to her original appearance and sat by the table, frowning.

"They're far too reckless. If they wanted to send intelligence, they should at least have done it the way we agreed."

As she complained, she took the letter from Sakuya.

"Maybe they ran into an emergency," Sakuya said. "Let's not dwell on that for now. We should see what's in the letter."

"Right."

Tsunade opened the envelope and found only a piece of paper and a raindrop-shaped pendant inside.

"Huh? What's this?"

She picked up the pendant and glanced at it. "Some kind of token?"

"What kind of token is this?"

Sakuya took the pendant, only to find it wasn't really a pendant. It looked more like a key.

"Well, the letter says... the Toxin Research Institute in Amegakure is underground, and the raindrop is the key to entering it. The sender is... Yamanashi... Huh? Sakuya Yamanashi!? This isn't from Jiraiya and the others."

She looked up in surprise at Sakuya. "It's a letter from the leader of the Akatsuki Chamber of Commerce, Azure Dragon, Sakuya Yamanashi."

"...Heh. Omoshiroi."

Sakuya took the letter, surprised, and chuckled. "Looks like Akatsuki's intelligence network has already found out we've come to Amegakure."

"We have to leave."

Tsunade understood what this meant, and her expression turned grave. "Akatsuki already knows our location, our identities, our objective... Damn it!"

She clenched her fist in frustration.

They'd only been in Amegakure for a day, and someone had already uncovered them with ease... What did that mean?

There was a traitor in Konoha.

They'd been careful throughout this S-rank mission. Only a handful of informants in the village knew their movements. They were either gifted operatives the village had trained for years or key department heads and team leaders in the intelligence division.

They were the lifeblood of Konoha, most of them holdovers from the days of her second grandfather!

Now that they'd been exposed, didn't that mean these people could no longer be trusted?

The more Tsunade thought about it, the more panicked she became.

If none of them could be trusted, who in Konoha could?

"Don't panic, Tsunade."

Just as she was losing herself in anxious thoughts, a strong hand settled on her shoulder.

A warm presence instantly enveloped her body, chilled by fear.

Tsunade felt herself calm down at once.

"Sakuya?"

She looked at Sakuya, bewildered.

"Look on the bright side. Akatsuki probably doesn't mean us any harm," Sakuya said. "We're still safe."

"What do you mean?"

Tsunade turned to look at Sakuya.

"If they really meant us harm... would they have sent a letter?" Sakuya reassured her. "Wouldn't the jōnin in Amegakure have come straight for us? No, even Hanzo of the Salamander might have shown up himself."

His words brought Tsunade back to her senses.

That was true.

She was the princess of the Land of Fire, and Sakuya was a genius of the current Uchiha. Orochimaru, Dan Katō, Jiraiya, and the others were also among Konoha's finest of their generation. If Akatsuki had been hostile, word of their infiltration would have reached Hanzo of the Salamander long ago. He could have captured them all in one fell swoop. Why bother warning them?

"Sakuya, what do you think Akatsuki means by sending us this?" Tsunade asked, turning the letter over in her hands with a deep frown. "Are they trying to make overtures to Konoha, or is it something else?"

"...I'm not sure either."

Sakuya had his suspicions, but they were too outlandish to say aloud. For now, all he could do was maintain the understanding that ought to exist between Sakuya and Sakuya.

"Still, since Akatsuki gave us the institute's location, there's no reason not to use it. But going there just like this would be too risky."

He considered it. "Maybe we should think it over."

"You mean..."

"Send a message to Orochimaru and the others," Sakuya said. "Have them find a chance tomorrow to steal Shota's body."

He narrowed his eyes. "Have Jiraiya set a few fires in the village and stir things up."

"While Amegakure's attention is focused on Orochimaru and the others, we can use the opportunity to sneak into the institute and take the salamander's poison. What do you think?"

"It's a good plan," Tsunade said with a nod. "But there's one more problem."

She looked at Sakuya, worry in her eyes. "How do we get out after we succeed?"

It was easy to say they'd cause chaos in Amegakure, but it wasn't the small village it used to be.

This was the heart of the Small Nations Alliance, with shinobi from all the nations gathered here. There were hundreds of secret-technique shinobi alone, most of whose abilities they knew nothing about.

If they really caused a scene, how would they deal with those secret-technique users hunting them afterward?

A shinobi battle was a battle of intelligence. Even Tobirama Senju, who possessed the Flying Thunder God Technique, had died at the hands of Kinkaku and Ginkaku because of the surprise attack from the Six Paths Tools.

Among so many secret-technique shinobi, how many had abilities that could counter theirs?

What's more, this was Amegakure, where it rained constantly. The rain would greatly weaken Sakuya's Fire Release Ninjutsu and Jiraiya's Senjutsu from Mount Myoboku.

With so many disadvantages piling up, how they would get away safely after causing the chaos Sakuya proposed was indeed a huge problem.

"Well, let's send them a message and get Orochimaru and the others over here. Or we can go find them," Sakuya said after thinking it over.

"They say two heads are better than one. The two of us can think ourselves in circles and still come up with nothing. Let's call them over. With all five of us putting our heads together, we'll find a way."