Ichiraku Ramen

The cloth curtain of Ichiraku Ramen was lifted.

Thick white steam, carrying the aroma of pork bone broth, billowed out.

Lin Feng slipped sideways into the shop, with Shisui half a step behind him. Seven or eight tenths of the seats were already occupied. The clatter of shuriken, hearty laughter, and the slurping of noodles mingled together, filling the entire space.

Teuchi called out from behind the counter, "Welcome! Two people? Come on in—there are seats in the corner!"

Lin Feng swept his gaze over the shop's layout.

The table deepest against the wall had half its view blocked by a pillar. Beside it was the passage to the kitchen—a blind spot.

He raised a hand to signal Shisui. One after the other, they made their way through the crowded aisle and settled into the corner. Lin Feng sat with his back to the wall, facing the entrance. Shisui sat across from him, perfectly concealed by the pillar.

Teuchi walked over, wiping his hands. "What'll you two have?"

"Two bowls of miso ramen, with chashu." Lin Feng pulled out his coin purse.

"You got it! It'll be ready right away!"

Teuchi turned back toward the counter and shouted instructions toward the kitchen. The bubbling sound of boiling water once more filled their ears.

Shisui lowered his voice. "The coordinates Itachi gave point to the stone formation on the north side of District Seven."

Lin Feng pulled two pairs of chopsticks from the holder and handed one to Shisui.

"The stone formation itself has several layers of Sensing Barriers, but the real entrance is a seal—the Uchiha Contract Seal." Shisui dipped his chopsticks in water and drew several symbols on the tabletop. "They're exactly the same as the ones you saw on the fragment."

Lin Feng lowered his voice. "So the north side of District Seven isn't an abandoned supply warehouse at all. It's the entrance to the Root Experimental Zone. Itachi is hinting at how we can get in."

"To be precise, he's hinting that only an Uchiha can open that door." Shisui wiped the water marks from the table. "The shift-change schedule and seal location he gave us fit together into a route—from the outer drainage pipes, enter in reverse, avoid the Sensing Barrier at the front, then use Uchiha chakra to activate the seal."

Two bowls of ramen arrived.

Teuchi set them down and added a small plate of chashu. "Enjoy!"

Shisui stirred his ramen.

His spoon struck the rim of the bowl with a clear chime, neatly covering his words.

"If Itachi wanted to set a trap, he wouldn't need to go through so much trouble. He chose to act three days from now and even left you time to find me and verify it—the signal is honest enough."

Lin Feng stared at the chashu in his bowl. "You trust him? Danzo has him by the throat."

"I trust his logic." Shisui picked up a mouthful of noodles. "If Itachi had been forced to set a trap, he wouldn't have handed over both the exact coordinates and the type of seal. This information is enough for us to infer the layout of Root's experimental zone. Danzo would never allow intelligence like that to leak."

"But he could still have been forced." Lin Feng put down his chopsticks. "Suppose Danzo threatened him with Sasuke and ordered him to ambush intruders in District Seven. The intelligence Itachi gave us is real, but so is the ambush team—while carrying out Danzo's orders, he's merely leaving us a slim chance at survival."

Shisui fell silent for a moment.

"So we have to prepare for the worst."

He slurped down the noodles, the motion of chewing concealing his tightly furrowed brow.

"I'll enter through the drainage pipe on the east side. It's close to the rear of the stone formation. If there's an ambush at the main entrance, I'll trigger a Clone Technique as a feint and have my real body enter from the opposite direction of the seal."

"Entering from the opposite direction takes twice the chakra to activate the seal." Lin Feng lowered his voice. "Your eyes—"

"They can still hold out."

Shisui cut him off.

Just then, Teuchi came back with two glasses of ice water.

"Say, I don't know what's been going on lately." He set down the glasses and complained as he wiped his hands. "Ninjas in animal masks keep coming by in the middle of the night for takeout. They buy more than a dozen bowls at a time. My little place is practically becoming a second cafeteria."

The piece of chashu Lin Feng had picked up froze in midair.

He and Shisui exchanged a swift glance.

Shisui casually took over the conversation. "Probably because there have been more missions lately. You've been working hard, sir."

"Hard work's nothing. Good business is a good thing!" Teuchi said cheerfully as he turned away. "It's just troublesome preparing ingredients in the middle of the night. Enjoy your meal!"

Teuchi walked away.

Lin Feng shoved the chashu into his mouth, his chewing becoming mechanical.

"Root has already begun monitoring civilian locations by district," he said indistinctly. "Masks, midnight, a fixed number of takeout bowls—that's the resupply procedure for patrol teams. Ichiraku Ramen is on Konoha's central street, close to both the Ninja Academy and the residential district. If they've designated this area as a surveillance zone..."

"Then our meeting tonight may already be on record." Shisui's voice dropped to nearly nothing. "Danzo won't make a move directly at Ichiraku, but the Anbu patrol routes outside have definitely been adjusted."

Lin Feng glanced toward the entrance.

Beyond the curtain, pedestrians on the street were gradually thinning out. The streetlamps had yet to light up, and dim yellow daylight leaked through the gaps in the curtain.

"Danzo has already cast his net." Lin Feng put down his chopsticks. "Meeting here may have put us on record instead. Shisui, we need to move up the operation. And I have to enter District Seven with you—"

"No."

Shisui put down his chopsticks.

The movement was light, but the resolve in his eyes cut through the rest of Lin Feng's words like a blade.

"You stay."

"Shisui—"

"Listen to me." Shisui laid both hands flat on the table, his fingertips trembling slightly. "I'll infiltrate through the ventilation ducts and scout it out. I've probed the Sensing Barrier there three times. The route is already etched into my mind. Two people are more likely to trigger the alarm."

"Then we'll both use the ventilation ducts. My chakra control has recovered—"

"Lin Feng."

Shisui raised his eyes.

Three black tomoe floated in those eyes, seeming ready to spin beneath the dim light.

"If this is a trap, then at least you have to live and tell Sasuke the truth."

Lin Feng gripped the edge of his bowl.

The porcelain dug into his fingers until his knuckles turned white.

"The Uchiha need someone who can speak out." Shisui's voice was calm, so calm it was as though he were merely discussing working overtime on a mission today. "Not a ninja like me who has already signed a contract with Root. You. You're the only one whose hands and feet aren't bound by the Uchiha name, Danzo's leverage, or Konoha politics."

"When did you sign it—"

"Doesn't matter." Shisui stood, pulled something from his ninja tool pouch, and pressed it into Lin Feng's palm. "I'll return to the abandoned watchtower before midnight. Remember, if I don't come back—"

Lin Feng looked down.

A kunai lay in his palm.

A Crow Mark was carved into its handle, the pitch-black pattern seeming to come alive in the steam.

The power of the seal seeped through his palm and into his chakra pathways. Lin Feng felt a familiar chakra flowing within him—it was Shisui's chakra, yet deeper and heavier than what Shisui normally used.

"This is..."

"Open it." Shisui pressed down on Lin Feng's closing hand. "It's more important than Kotoamatsukami."

Then he released him.

Turned around.

His back passed through the billowing white mist. The curtain lifted, then fell.

Dim streetlamp light seeped in through the gap, shining on the empty seat across from Lin Feng.

There was still half a bowl of ramen left.

The broth had gone cold.

Lin Feng sat in the corner, holding the kunai.

Teuchi came back to clear the dishes from the next table. Seeing Lin Feng alone, he paused in surprise. "Huh? Your friend left already?"

"Yeah."

Lin Feng tucked the kunai into his sleeve.

Teuchi wisely didn't ask further and carried the dishes back to the kitchen.

The voices in the shop gradually faded away. The final table paid and left. The curtain fell, completely shutting out the night beyond the street.

Lin Feng rose to his feet.

He walked out of the shop.

There were no streetlamps in the back alley. Only dim yellow light leaked from the kitchen window behind Ichiraku Ramen.

Shisui was already gone.

Lin Feng leaned against the wall, gripping the kunai hidden in his sleeve.

The Crow Mark pressed against his palm.

He stared at the street beyond the mouth of the alley. In his mind arose the location of District Seven, the distribution of drainage-pipe entrances, and the coverage of the Sensing Barriers around the stone formation.

If Shisui didn't return by midnight—

Lin Feng closed his eyes.

He would not wait.

He would go directly to District Seven.

But not to tell Sasuke the truth.

He wanted Shisui to say it himself.