Mitaraishi Anko

Wuying—the one who could use shadows—had never been this terrified before.

He was a clever man and had long planned out his future path. His affinity for shadows was stronger than most people's. In his first world, he had already seized great power. In that isolated, cold Shadow Sorcerer World, where ordinary people had no idea where it came from, he gained the abilities and skills of a Shadow Warrior and became a three-star adventurer. Though he lacked area-of-effect skills, he was full of confidence in his future. He disguised himself as someone from a third world and joined this experienced team. Sure enough, he had learned quite a lot.

Entering the world of Konoha this time had delighted him even more. The Nara Clan's shadow secret techniques were extremely famous. Earning the Nara Clan's favor in this world—or simply stealing their Secret Scroll—would both pave the way for his future.

The next step would be the powerful evolution of Gecko Moria's Shadow-Shadow Fruit.

He had planned everything out and had merely been carrying it out step by step.

But this time, he had miscalculated.

The entire team had miscalculated. Yun Duanyou, who was quite shrewd, had miscalculated. Their wise and decisive captain had miscalculated. In an instant, the whole squad had fallen apart. They had been fleeing for a day now, and the captain's continued absence could only mean that he was dead.

The other two went without saying. They were dead beyond doubt as well.

Now, only he and Yun Duanyou had survived from the entire team. Was the Naruto world really this terrifying?!

He and Yun Duanyou were completely falling apart as they fled toward Konoha.

Even though they knew perfectly well that, after offending Tsunade, they would have nowhere to stay even if they returned to Konoha, all they wanted now was to escape Takigakure.

But after a day passed without Tsunade pursuing them, they finally calmed down somewhat and entered the Land of Fire.

There were patrols within the Land of Fire. The friction between Konoha and the Land of Wind had made the atmosphere within Konoha increasingly tense. Even on the Takigakure side, patrol forces had been greatly increased because it was close to the Land of Earth.

These patrolmen did the same work Oguri Hayashi had done back when he was in Konoha. It was a pretty cushy assignment. As soon as the two entered the Land of Fire, someone spotted them.

"You two." Four figures landed beside the pair as they hurried along. "Why are you in such a rush? Where are your teammates?" A purple-haired girl wearing a fishnet undershirt beneath a jacket, its collar faintly outlining the budding curves of her chest, held a kunai in her hand as she questioned them alongside the three ninjas at her side.

The other three ninjas were older than her on average, but this girl who looked only to be in her teens was the renowned disciple of one of Konoha's Three Legendary Sannin, Orochimaru.

Mitaraishi Anko.

Her matter-of-fact tone, as if she knew both of them, did not surprise them. Since Infinite Hall had given them these identities, they were naturally recognized as official members of Konoha.

For some reason, however, Tsunade had refused to acknowledge them in Takigakure. Perhaps it was because they had attacked Konoha's "ally," Takigakure. Still, though Tsunade had attacked and treated them as enemies, they could continue waving the banner of the identities Infinite Hall had given them and pretend that nothing had happened. "We encountered enemies in Takigakure. We're going to report to Lord Orochimaru."

Ninjas were extremely sensitive about missions. Any ninja who probed into another person's mission could be a spy from another village, so after they said that, no one would ask what had happened to them.

Even Mitaraishi Anko, Orochimaru's disciple, was no exception.

Anko nodded and readily accepted their explanation. "I understand. You may go. If there are enemies, I'll help hold them off for a while. Go back and report to Lord Orochimaru."

She was not joking. Although Wuying's group had been led by the "Jonin" Kong Zhange, Mitaraishi Anko was already a twelve-year-old Chunin. She could be said to be no less capable than the former Oguri Hayashi. In the original Naruto world, Mitaraishi Anko would have risen meteorically to become a Special Jonin, leaving all her peers far behind. But that was under the circumstances of Orochimaru's defection, when her political position had become extremely awkward.

If Orochimaru had not left, everyone believed she possessed talent enough to rival Minato Namikaze's. Unfortunately, Mitaraishi Anko had been implanted with the Heavenly Curse Mark by Orochimaru as an experimental subject. After he left, she had no teacher to continue guiding her studies, and in the end, she achieved no more than the awkward rank of Special Jonin.

Now, as Orochimaru's disciple and a newly promoted Chunin, Anko was more outstanding than those her own age—and even those of the previous generation. She had every reason to be proud.

Yun Duanyou did not know where the confidence of a Mitaraishi Anko who would be nothing more than a Special Jonin a decade later came from, but since she said so, he accepted it for the time being.

But he knew it was merely an empty hypothetical. After all, the moment Tsunade showed herself, Mitaraishi Anko would immediately switch sides.

Less than half a day after they left, Tsunade and Oguri Hayashi arrived in the Land of Fire and were quickly discovered by Mitaraishi Anko's group—after all, knowing in advance that enemies would come this way, there was no reason for Anko and the others not to set an ambush here.

But the moment they saw Tsunade, their ambush was instantly exposed. The other party was not using Chakra, and whether it was a Transformation Jutsu could be seen at a glance. Upon seeing Tsunade, the four-person squad emerged from the encirclement.

"Lady Tsunade." They were respectful and curious. Princess Tsunade, who had been missing for three years and whose whereabouts were unknown, had unexpectedly appeared here. It was truly bewildering.

"Why is Lady Tsunade here?" As Orochimaru's disciple, Mitaraishi Anko naturally knew Tsunade. She glanced at Oguri Hayashi and could not help but ask.

"I'm tracking enemies. Have you seen two stragglers here? They're wearing our Konoha forehead protectors and impersonating Konoha ninjas." Tsunade was in no hurry to pursue them and instead questioned Mitaraishi Anko in detail.

"Huh?" Mitaraishi Anko cried out in surprise. "Are you looking for Wuying and Yun Duanyou? They're Konoha Chunin carrying out a mission. They passed through here this morning..."

Crack.

It was as though some string in Mitaraishi Anko's mind had snapped. A floodgate opened in her mind, and memories surged forth like a torrent, washing away her false recollections.

"There is no Wuying. There is no Yun Duanyou. Those people are not Konoha ninjas!!"