Return to the Base

Looking at the familiar signboard, Zhou Yang felt a little uneasy. To be honest, this place had left him with a psychological shadow. He had been riding high before coming here, only to take a hard fall the moment he arrived. Though he thought it had been worth it, that did nothing to lessen his fear of the landlady.

He walked into the shop as if nothing was wrong and greeted the landlady directly.

"Brat, you're back so soon?" The landlady then realized this was not a good place to talk, so she grabbed Zhou Yang and headed for a room.

"Heh, Landlady, you're in quite a hurry, aren't you?" Everyone in the hall saw it and began heckling them.

"Yeah, Landlady, take it easy. Look at those skinny arms and legs of his—what if you break him?"

This time, the landlady did not let them keep talking nonsense. "What are you saying? He's my little brother. What's wrong with talking to my brother, huh?"

"Huh? He's your brother?"

"Landlady, don't try to fool us. I clearly heard him call you Landlady before!"

"Yes, that's right."

"I felt that my line of work might have a bad influence on his life, so I ordered him to call me that. Besides, what would I gain from lying to you?"

"Got any proof?"

"Call her!"

"Big sis~" Zhou Yang's voice was full of feeling. It would have been even better if one of his hands had not been getting pinched.

"Did you hear that?"

"Huh? This brat really is just a kid."

"He's already wearing a forehead protector at seven or eight years old. This kid is no ordinary one!"

The customers' attention shifted completely, moving from the beautiful woman to Zhou Yang, this young and promising ninja. Some of the ninjas silently noted down Zhou Yang's appearance. A child who became a ninja at such a young age was indeed rare—he was absolutely genius material. They planned to record his information and report it to their superiors. At the same time, they felt this trip had not been wasted. At the very least, they had learned of a young expert.

Among them was an elite chunin whose thoughts went even further. As a member of Hidden Rock Village's ANBU, he had been ordered to investigate something here. Yet half a month had passed, and he still had no clues or information. He would certainly be scolded when he returned. But now, an opportunity to make up for it had appeared: Zhou Yang. If he assassinated him, not only would he avoid punishment, he might even be rewarded. After all, he would have killed a genius from another country. His Tsuchikage-sama certainly would not be stingy with the rewards. But there was one problem: how could he kill this genius when the outside was practically covered with hidden agents, then escape calmly? Killing him would mean nothing if he died as well.

His gaze then fell on the landlady. From his observations, she was an utterly ordinary person. Capturing an ordinary person would be easy. He could use her to threaten the genius, or lure him to a more secluded place. That would greatly improve his chances of success. But there was one question: just how close were these siblings? It would be awkward if the brat was someone who cared for no family at all.

Then he watched Zhou Yang slowly get pulled beyond his line of sight and smiled. "If I don't know, why not just ask?"

"Brat, what is it? Giving up on that mission?" the landlady asked with a teasing look.

"How could I? Do I look like such a lousy ninja? I just haven't found the person yet."

"Then why did you come back?"

"To find somewhere to stay."

"Why did you think of coming to my place? Did you fall for your big sister here?"

"Everywhere else was full, so I could only come here." Zhou Yang thought, I was forced into this too. Otherwise, who would want to see a scary woman like you?

"You sound pretty unwilling!"

"Uh... of course not." Zhou Yang scratched his head.

"Your lie is painfully obvious, but I'll pretend it's true."

Zhou Yang felt a little awkward, but the awkwardness only lasted a moment. Compared to all that, rest was more important.

"Then... arrange a room for me."

"I can't be bothered arranging another one for you. Take this room. Here, the key." Zi Quan opened a room for him, tossed him the key, and turned to leave. Just as she was about to close the door, she suddenly looked back, raised an eyebrow, and said, "Don't do anything strange in here!"

Zhou Yang stared at her with both eyes, looking as though he were saying, You're overthinking it. Besides, even if he had such thoughts, he did not have the ability.

Under Zhou Yang's gaze, Zi Quan finally left the room, and he was finally able to get some proper rest.

After taking off all his equipment, he lay down on the bed, feeling light all over. Before long, he drifted into sleep.

Early the next morning, before Zi Quan had awakened, Zhou Yang left. The streets were quiet and dim, making yesterday's bustle seem almost unreal. Zhou Yang was already used to this kind of scene. After all, he was someone who "got up the earliest"! Before long, he disappeared into the darkness. As for whether he would encounter his target today, that depended on luck.

At some street corner unknown to him, the landlady stood with her arms folded, shivering in the cold wind as though she were searching for something.

"You came?" A voice emerged from the darkness.

"Yes, I came. What did you mean yesterday? What happened to my little brother?"

With the sound of footsteps, a man emerged from the darkness. That man was the Hidden Rock ninja from the shop yesterday. After leaving Zhou Yang's room yesterday, the ninja had casually gone over to the landlady's counter to chat with her, asking about Zhou Yang.

Of course, the "ordinary person" Zi Quan remained an ordinary person. When she heard him asking about her little brother, she became nervous. Since they were not from the same side, Zi Quan naturally became wary. Seeing this, the ninja was finally convinced that the landlady truly was an ordinary person. So during their conversation, he used genjutsu. For an ANBU member, this kind of ninjutsu for extracting information was second nature. Genjutsu had originated from hypnosis in the first place, so anyone capable of using genjutsu could basically do it. Naturally, people with strong spiritual power could easily resist such techniques, but ordinary people were not among them.

To ensure the accuracy of the information, the Hidden Rock ninja even used real genjutsu.

Illusion Demon: Mind's Eye

This was a technique that made the target lower their guard. The target would see the happiest scene they desired in their heart, allowing information to be extracted. Thus, he learned that Zhou Yang truly was her little brother, and he also learned about their relationship. Zhou Yang had lost his parents and had been raised by Zi Quan herself. An eldest sister was like a mother—that was probably what it meant. Once he learned this, the ninja knew their relationship was extremely close. So he planted a suggestion in her mind: her little brother had contracted a serious illness, and if she wanted to know how to cure it, she had to come to a certain spot on the street at five the next morning. Then he would tell her. After that, he left as if nothing had happened, which was why this scene was now taking place.