Kazeno nodded hastily and said with a natural expression, "Lord Raikage, those two ninja seemed to know what we were doing. They were waiting on Sandy Beach for us to walk to our deaths..."
"And they were both women, which really threw us off. We never expected them to be so powerful..."
"I suspect..." His voice faltered as he gave the Raikage a thoughtful look.
"Oh?" The Raikage raised his bushy eyebrows, looking somewhat surprised by his words. "Are you saying there's a Land of Whirlpools spy among our ninja?"
He stared fiercely into Kazeno's eyes, trying to find something in them. Unfortunately, Kazeno's expression betrayed nothing unusual.
"That's all? That isn't enough information..." His booming voice nearly shattered Kazeno's eardrums.
"Uh, uh..." Kazeno hurriedly covered his ears and stammered, "Lord Raikage... th-that's... that's all..."
"Hmph... Fine, then. You can die now..." The Raikage reached out with his massive hand and lifted Kazeno again. Just as he was about to crush him, Kazeno's voice reached his ears once more.
"Lord Raikage, I-I still have some information I haven't told you..." Kazeno struggled, his voice trembling.
"You..." Rage surged through him...
"Spit it out..." The Raikage was growing impatient. He can't even get a sentence out without stopping and starting. Won't talk unless I hurt him, is that it? Killing intent flared within him. If there hadn't still been information to extract, he would have crushed this eyesore long ago.
Kazeno's mind raced. He hadn't expected the Raikage to actually want to kill him. He had blurted out that last remark on the spur of the moment, too.
His thoughts were a tangled mess as he tried to invent some information that would benefit the Land of Whirlpools without arousing the Raikage's suspicions.
Finally, under the Raikage's fierce gaze, he said