Goodbye Terumi Mei

As Konoha's current spymaster—and one who had held the job for several years now—Qi had more or less developed the proper mindset for someone in his position.

What kind of mindset? Naturally, the mindset of viewing everything from its darkest angle. Put simply, seeing a volcano erupt would immediately make him wonder whether tomorrow might be 01, and whether he ought to buy a boat ticket and prepare to run before anyone else realized what was happening.

That was beside the point. In short, anyone capable of beating Terumi Mei—a Kirigakure loyalist whose teacher had been an Anbu chief—into a pig-headed mess and making it impossible for her to remain in Kirigakure was absolutely no trivial matter. Not only was it a matter, it was a bad one. Everyone knew Kirigakure did not engage in diplomacy. A ninja from a place that did not engage in diplomacy had run to the territory of the southern local tyrant of the Land of Fire. That situation could no longer be described with merely the words "bad thing."

Thus, after receiving the secret letter, Qi was first greatly shocked, then unhesitatingly left Terumi Mei hanging for several days. Only after Nanaya Kagetora, who had gotten a little too carried away, finally remembered that he still needed to go home did Qi use escorting the Nanaya siblings home as an excuse to set off with more than a hundred directly affiliated Huiyue Clan members, all brimming with killing intent.

The killing intent was necessary. Even if it failed to scare anyone, it at least conveyed an attitude—like this: Girl, we're not interested in foreigners' nonsense, though benefits can always be negotiated separately. But if there's nothing in it for us, then to cover the necessary travel expenses, we'll just have to make you suffer