Danger Arrives

Asuma had found a suitable inn and booked a room for each of them. He met up with Toru and Kurenai on the way.

The three of them then left the city together to find Shikaku. Seeing that night had fallen, Shikaku wrapped up the day's survey and led them back into the city to find a restaurant for dinner.

That night, they each returned to their rooms to rest.

Two hours later, Toru sensed that Asuma and Kurenai had both gone to sleep. He left his room and knocked on Shikaku's door, only to knock it straight open.

It turned out Shikaku had not locked the door when he returned to his room.

"Come in. I left the door open for you."

Shikaku's voice came from inside. Toru walked in and closed the door behind him.

"I knew you would come looking for me. When did you realize it?"

Shikaku asked with a smile.

"I noticed something yesterday morning," Toru said.

Shikaku nodded. "That's why I've never treated you like a child. Go on, what did you find?"

Toru voiced his speculation. "I discovered more than ten ninjas in the city. They were hiding among the civilians and seemed to be plotting something."

"Besides that, I found a bloodline-limit ninja. Considering that most of those ninjas possess water-nature Chakra, I think they are from Kirigakure, which has many bloodline families and excels at Water Release."

"On the surface, this mission is a C-rank assignment to survey the terrain. But in reality, it is for the sake of these Kirigakure ninjas. We are supposed to investigate their movements and intentions."

Shikaku could not help applauding Toru. "Impressive. Those eyes of yours really are useful."

Toru instantly tensed up. "What are you talking about, Sensei? I don't understand. I only noticed them using sensory ninjutsu."

Shikaku smiled. "If you're going to make up a lie, at least make it convincing. I'd sooner believe you if you said your Sharingan had mutated. What sensory ninjutsu makes the user's eyes glow?"

Toru was deeply shocked. He had not expected the Six Eyes, the thing he had relied on most since crossing over, to be discovered. "How did you notice?"

"The fact that you deliberately conceal it means ordinary people indeed would not notice," Shikaku replied. "But I'm your teacher. After seeing you often enough, I figured it out."

Toru nodded, inwardly impressed by Shikaku's intelligence. "Please don't tell anyone."

Shikaku teased, "If I leaked it, would you kill me to silence me?"

When Toru hurriedly shook his head, Shikaku stopped joking. "I had no intention of exposing your little secret in the first place. But this time, I truly need your help."

"There are at least another ten Kirigakure ninjas outside the city, and there is most likely a jonin among them."

"You guessed my mission correctly. It was indeed disguised as a C-rank assignment to investigate Kirigakure's movements. It is actually an A-rank mission."

"However, judging from the current situation, the mission's difficulty has risen further. It may reach S-rank."

"We have actually been completely surrounded by Kirigakure. It is only because of the C-rank mission cover that they cannot openly tear off the mask."

"If they accidentally discover our true purpose, all of us may end up buried here."

"The original investigation plan is far too risky now. We can only rely on your fine eyes to investigate without drawing attention."

"Don't worry. This time, you'll be credited with A-rank, or even S-rank, mission rewards."

"I understand. No problem," Toru said.

Shikaku instructed, "Don't tell those two about the real mission. The fewer people who know, the safer we are."

"Understood," Toru said.

Shikaku then sent Toru back to his room.

Late at night, outside the city, a large group of ninjas stood behind the girl from earlier that day. Including the girl herself, there were seven of them in total.

"Young Lady, those Konoha people really don't seem suspicious. If we act rashly, we may be punished!"

The girl crossed her arms, her face brimming with confidence. "That's because your brains don't work. You just couldn't tell."

"In any case, I could tell. Those Konoha ninjas are definitely here to ruin our plans, so we need to teach them a lesson now."

Another ninja asked, "What are your orders, Young Lady?"

"Go bring out that female Konoha ninja and tie her up. Interrogate her, then watch how the other Konoha ninjas react. Wouldn't that reveal why they came here?"

"As long as nobody dies, it won't be a big problem."

"Oh, and especially don't hurt that white-haired Uchiha. Leave him for me to deal with."

The ninjas behind her immediately set out and entered the city.

The girl clenched her fists and muttered to herself, "I'll make you remember my name, you damn Uchiha..."

The ninjas arrived at the inn and questioned the receptionist for information.

The receptionist had been so sleepy that he was nodding off. Suddenly confronted by several fierce-looking ninjas, he was frightened into clutching his head and begging for mercy, spilling everything he knew about Toru and the others.

The Kirigakure ninjas immediately went to Yuhi Kurenai's door and kicked it open. After knocking Yuhi Kurenai unconscious with sleeping drugs, they wrapped her in a blanket and abducted her. They jumped straight through the window and rushed toward the outskirts of the city.

Toru and Shikaku reacted instantly, waking from their sleep.

Toru shoved open his door and rushed to Kurenai's room, where he found a wrecked room and Kurenai gone.

Just as he was about to dash out the door, he ran into Shikaku. Shikaku took one look inside and understood what had happened.

The two did not speak. They merely exchanged grave looks.

Shikaku went to knock on Asuma's door and forcibly woke him up.

Toru rushed downstairs, grabbed the receptionist by the collar, and demanded, "Did someone come here just now and ask you for information about us?!"

"T-there were... several ninjas," the receptionist said shakily. "They looked terrifying and asked for information about you."

"And you gave it to them?!" Toru rarely lost his temper, but he barked the question in fury.

The receptionist's legs gave out beneath him. He fell to his knees and cried, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

At that moment, Toru had no idea that his azure eyes had turned red, a single black tomoe appearing within them.

"Toru! Don't get worked up!" Shikaku hurriedly stopped him, then analyzed the situation. "Calm down and think carefully. We haven't exposed any flaws, so those Kirigakure ninjas should only be testing us."

"Kurenai will be fine."

Hearing Shikaku's analysis, Toru let out a breath and released the receptionist's collar, calming down somewhat.

Yet he was still worried about Kurenai. "Let's go after them. They can't have gotten far."

Shikaku patted Toru's shoulder reassuringly. Then the three of them set off together, rapidly pursuing the Kirigakure ninjas.

Toru believed Kurenai's abduction was most likely caused by a flaw he had exposed during his investigation. His self-blame, combined with his concern for Kurenai, had made even someone as calm as him lose his head for a moment.

But during the chase, Toru calmed down and began reviewing his entire investigation process. No matter how he thought about it, he could not find any flaw.

Then, a figure suddenly came to mind. "Was it... that woman?!"