Disengage

"Boom!"

As the smoke dissipated, Yugito heard a faint rustling sound; a figure was fleeing into the distance.

"Fire Mouse Jade!"

She spat out a blue, mouse-shaped flame that split in mid-air, transforming into a swarm of tracking projectiles as she herself darted forward with lightning speed.

Shinmoku dodged and weaved through the forest, the Fire Mouse Jade being obstructed by tree after tree, instantly igniting a sea of flames.

"So fast!" He glanced back from time to time to see Yugito closing in, "But... this should be enough."

He slammed on the brakes and turned around, allowing the short blade to pierce his body.

"You...!"

"So you managed to avoid a fatal wound after all? Truly impressive." Shinmoku smiled faintly, raised his hand to the hilt of the blade, and gripped Yugito's hand tightly.

"Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle..."

"Explosive tags again?"

With a cry of surprise, Yugito wrenched her hand free from Shinmoku's grip and backflipped onto a tree branch behind her.

After the explosion, there was nothing left but a large crater; it was another shadow clone.

Where had he gone?

He wasn't in the bushes; she had checked them specifically.

Yugito forced herself to calm down, tracing the scenes of their encounter in her mind.

She had repelled him once, he had dodged the second strike, then she had kicked him into the bushes, the kunai with the explosive tags, the Fuma Shuriken...

The Fuma Shuriken?

Positioning!

Three clashes had shifted their positions, and the trajectory of that Fuma Shuriken was...

"Whoosh--"

Chakra surged, her hair tie fell away, and her tawny hair cascaded in waves as cat-demon patterns emerged on Yugito's skin, and a second tail sprouted.

She had four forms.

The first was her normal human state, capable of trading blows; the second was the Tailed Beast Chakra Mode, which could only be used for entanglement; the third was the partial Tailed Beast transformation... run as fast as you can, as far as you can.

The river was close at hand, and a blue meteor appeared on the horizon, revealing its full form in the blink of an eye.

"I give up." Shinmoku sighed, hooked a kunai with his index finger, spun it around, and held it horizontally before his eyes, "The final ripple."

"Boom!"

One punch.

The ripple appeared, a vibration in the air. Shinmoku was sent flying backward, skipping across the water a dozen times before landing on the opposite bank and slamming into a tree, creating a crater.

"Whew--"

As her fury dissipated, Yugito returned to her usual cold, aloof demeanor, crossed the river, and stood before Shinmoku.

"Are you still alive, traitor?"

"Cough... I'm not a traitor, I am..."

"You betrayed me!"

"...Alright then."

"Any last words?" Yugito once again held her blade to Shinmoku's throat.

"Hmm... is it too late to surrender now?"

"Are you sincere?"

"Sincerity for sincerity, Captain." Shinmoku said, "As long as you can agree to my terms."

"What are they?"

"Lean in closer." He whispered, his voice fading to a thread.

Wary, Yugito leaned her ear in close.

Shinmoku's lips pressed against Yugito's cheek.

"!!!"

"Slap!" Yugito lashed out with a palm.

But the next moment, her eyes turned concerned, "You..."

"Clink, clink, clink--"

Cracks appeared all over Shinmoku's body, shattering like a mirror and scattering across the ground.

Genjutsu!

How despicable!

Despicable!

Yugito's flushed cheeks were even more blood-red, her earlier shyness replaced by an unknown emotion.

"Plop—"

The sound of falling water broke the silence as the Two-Tails manifested and leaped into the canyon.

Fourth form, complete Tailed Beast transformation. If I encounter it, I'll just lie down and take the beating.

Behind the waterfall, a straight blade pierced the cliff face. Shinmoku squatted on it, fingers together and held before him.

The instant Yugito's fist connected with his lower abdomen, he activated the only genjutsu he knew, which made the target see whatever they most desired.

Yugito's words should have taken me with her... I'm clueless... Fortunately, I played it safe.

What fell into the water was a rock. He had thrown a kunai with an explosive tag attached into a crevice on the side of the canyon beforehand, igniting it when he sensed something was wrong.

Finally... I've escaped.

Shinmoku bit his left sleeve with his teeth and pulled it to his front.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu."

The clone grabbed the original's arm and forcefully flung him out of the canyon.

The cave system was vast and interconnected, torches flickering erratically.

He was responsible for gathering intelligence. Sifangtai's role was a vegetable vendor, handling the transmission of information. Shinnai, who was not in Cloud Village, was tasked with relaying the intelligence back to Konoha.

The base was in the cave, essentially an intelligence station.

"Who?" a clear female voice rang out.

"It's me, Shinmoku."

The girl emerged from the shadows. Seeing Shinmoku, she breathed a sigh of relief, then glanced behind him.

"It's just me... alone."

Shinnai's eyes trembled slightly, but she ultimately suppressed all her emotions.

"Okay."

Shinmoku said no more. He and Shinnai rarely saw each other in years, and the current situation did not permit further conversation.

First, change clothes. Cut and burned by blades and fire, they were beyond repair.

Then, apply bandages. He tore them open with his teeth, wrapped them around a few times, and hung them around his neck.

By the time he donned his cloak, Shinnai had already packed the essential items into her backpack.

With a deafening explosion, his six years as a spy officially came to an end.

The operation failed. One escaped, and the other, intent on death, could not be captured alive.

Two Jinchuriki stood by the waterfall. The people around them had changed, but only they two, who had fought last night, were still standing.

"Lord Killer Bee, we found Shinmoku's blade behind the waterfall."

"Give it to me," Yugito said.

"My Lord, we found his forehead protector downstream."

"Bring it here."

Yugito took the two items. The blade was a gift from her when he was promoted to Chunin, identical to hers. She inserted it into her own scabbard.

As for the forehead protector, she took out a kunai and pressed it against the metal side.

"Strictly speaking, he's not a rogue ninja."

"Hiss—"

She stopped talking, lest she get hit.

It took several days to evade Cloud Village's surveillance. Shinmoku and Shinnai finally boarded a ship bound for the Land of Fire.

[Mission Complete. Please select your reward.]

Inside the cabin, Shinmoku, who had just lain down, heard the system's voice in his mind.

"I can choose?" he silently asked.

[Yes. Presenting the B-Rank prize pool. You may also choose to draw randomly for a chance at rewards of different ranks.]

I'll choose myself then. Who knows what I'll get if I draw randomly.

The prize pool had several pages, mostly ninjutsu. A significant portion of these were unavailable due to incompatible attributes.

It wasn't necessary anyway. Most of them were common ninjutsu. If I needed them, I could just steal them with the Sharingan.

Looking around, the highest cost-performance option was attributes. At least it would save the time of condensing them.

"What are your chakra natures?" he asked Shinnai.

"Fire, Water, Yin."

Then Water Release it is.