Early Results

The three ate and chatted, quickly summing up a great deal of experience. As they went over it, they strolled through the food street again and again. This time, they decided to conduct a focused investigation. The first step was to determine the location of the ANBU. There were only a few places from which the entire food street could be monitored, along with the usual overlooked spots and blind corners. The second step was to investigate under official pretexts: request the owners' information from each shop, as well as their daily and monthly income, and ask every shop to keep an eye on outsiders, especially merchants, recording roughly which country they came from. The third step was to observe anyone behaving strangely or entering and leaving the food street frequently. They would complete those three steps first, then figure out how to finish the mission.

The next day, the three consciously began their training, going door to door and through every alley. They actually looked fairly convincing, but unsurprisingly, they failed miserably again. They kept at it, and three months later, a bearded man dressed as a merchant sat in a restaurant, muttering to himself, "Boss, bring me an eel rice bowl. Business really has been picking up lately. Thank goodness the war is over. If no one had helped keep the trade routes open, I truly wouldn't have dared travel them."

Sensing that there might be something wrong with him, Uchiha En quickly gestured to the other two. Once the three met up, Uchiha En said, "There's something off about that man. For three days in a row, he's appeared at the same restaurant, sat in the same seat, and said roughly the same thing every noon. Several words keep coming up: recovery, war, trade routes, and someone's help. Then at night, he goes to the izakaya across the street. One cup of sake, one plate of Pacific saury, every day without fail. When people occasionally speak to him, he just chuckles and rarely says much. At the izakaya, he often watches the fish ball shop diagonally across from him. Before leaving, he buys a few skewers of fish balls, but only from the third basket from the left. He picks only three skewers each time, eats two, puts the third in a paper cup, and throws it away at the corner of the street." "Oh, now that's interesting. I think he's waiting for some kind of message. Looks like it's time to catch some fish. If we catch one, maybe they'll start a new course. I've had more than enough of patrolling the streets." Uchiha Retsu looked rather excited. After thinking for a moment, Uchiha Yo said, "The owner of that restaurant is Tanaka Kunie. He used to be a merchant from the Land of Fire and has lived in Konoha for ten years. The place across the street is his too. But his Pacific saury is unusual—it's a specialty of the Land of Lightning. The third basket at the fish ball shop diagonally across contains hollow fish balls, with some extra ingredients inside. However, the owner, Kizaru, only arrived two years ago. En, keep watching here. Retsu, keep an eye on the fish ball seller. I'll follow the bearded man." "All right, Yo, be careful. Retsu, find out where the fish ball shop gets its supplies." "Got it. I'll check the market first."

"After observing them these past two days, I suspect they've already obtained the intelligence they wanted. The bearded man left yesterday, and the fish ball seller replaced the fish balls in the third basket with cuttlefish balls. When I asked why, he said he was adjusting the ingredients. Yesterday, the bearded man only ate one skewer—no, he didn't even finish one. He only ate two fish balls." "And that's not all. There's nothing suspicious about the fish seller at the market, but the person who delivers the fish is highly suspicious. She's an orphan, and a girl at that. That cart of fish isn't delivered just to that one fish ball shop. A girl who grew up starving because she was an orphan—where would she get the strength to pull an entire cart of fish? Every time she gets halfway there, one of the fish ball shop's workers helps her deliver the rest. Then the owner invites her inside for a skewer of hollow fish balls. Even today, when the hollow fish balls were sold out, the owner had to replenish the ingredients." "So that means they're a long-term contact station for passing messages, huh?" Uchiha Retsu smiled, his eyes gleaming. I really can't wait to meet them again.