What's your relationship?

Qianye Lan took the mask and glanced at it. It was a wolf mask.

Under Kushina's expectant gaze, he put it on.

Kushina looked at him and said, "See? I told you this mask would suit you."

After speaking, she even thoughtfully adjusted the mask for him.

Seeing that Qianye Lan still wanted to take it off, Kushina reached out to stop him.

"It looks so good. Leave it on."

Qianye Lan could only lower his hand.

At that moment, the shopkeeper said, "You two certainly have a wonderful relationship."

Kushina's pretty face flushed beneath her mask. She looked Uchiha Mikoto over carefully, then handed her a cat mask in a futile attempt to cover things up. "This is for you."

Mikoto gladly accepted it and smiled. "Thank you."

After Kushina paid, they returned to their lodgings.

The small town had an inn, too.

For convenience, Hatake Sakumo and Qianye Lan shared one room, while the two girls shared another.

Qianye Lan lay on the bed when his ears suddenly twitched.

He exchanged a glance with Hatake Sakumo, and both silently moved up against the wall to listen to the sounds on the other side.

A man's voice came through, low in tone.

"On Konoha's side...?"

Before he could finish, someone interrupted him with a cough.

The room suddenly fell silent.

Qianye Lan looked at Hatake Sakumo and drew his hand across his neck.

Hatake Sakumo nodded silently and raised a thumb.

The two stealthily moved outside the window and discovered that the men were dipping their fingers in water to write on the table.

This made them even more certain that something was suspicious.

What normal person would hold a conversation like that?

Only after spending a long time writing and drawing on the table did the men finish their exchange.

Hatake Sakumo was about to attack directly when Qianye Lan stopped him with a hand.

Qianye Lan took out a bamboo tube, put some knockout powder inside, and blew gently into it.

His time studying under Tsunade had not been wasted.

Even Tsunade herself had repeatedly praised his talent for medicine.

When he heard that they would be going out on a mission, he had specially brought some knockout drugs and poisons, just in case.

After all, medicine and poison went hand in hand.

After he finished blowing, Qianye Lan took out a pill and held it in his mouth, then gave another to Hatake Sakumo.

Hatake Sakumo followed his example and held it in his mouth. Only then did the two enter the room.

Qianye Lan had done this because, of course, Hatake Sakumo would have no trouble dealing with these two small fry.

But just in case, it would be troublesome if the two small fry made any noise.

Hatake Sakumo entered the room and looked at the two men, who had already been completely knocked out, inwardly marveling again and again.

He gave their faces a few tentative pats, but neither showed any response.

Qianye Lan began searching their bundles and, sure enough, found a secret letter.

While he searched their belongings, Hatake Sakumo bound the two men tightly and gagged them.

Qianye Lan handed the secret letter to Hatake Sakumo.

Hatake Sakumo took the secret letter and opened it, his brows furrowing slightly. He was someone who had frequently dealt with the Sand Ninja during the Second Shinobi World War.

The code used in this kind of secret letter was exclusive to Sunagakure.

The two first moved the men back into their own room.

Hatake Sakumo looked around and, just to be safe, also dipped his finger in water and wrote that they were ninja from Sunagakure.

At the mention of Sunagakure, a flicker of killing intent appeared in Qianye Lan's eyes.

Hatake Sakumo walked over and severed all the tendons in the two men's wrists and ankles.

The intense pain also brought them around.

Beads of sweat the size of beans appeared on their foreheads from the excruciating pain, and they stared at Hatake Sakumo in terror.

Why was this killing fiend here? According to their intelligence, Konoha ninja never came here.

They could also be considered unlucky: their arrival at the inn had happened to miss Qianye Lan's group.

They made muffled noises, trying to beg Hatake Sakumo for mercy.

Hatake Sakumo ignored them and merely signaled for Qianye Lan to quiet them down.

Qianye Lan nodded, then knocked each of them unconscious with a palm strike and fed them medicine that would keep them out for a day.

Hatake Sakumo was reassured now. He signaled for Qianye Lan to rest, leaving the night watch to him.

Meanwhile, in Kushina and Uchiha Mikoto's room.

Uchiha Mikoto looked at Kushina and complimented her. "How do you take care of your hair? It looks lovely."

Kushina replied modestly, "Oh, not at all. Your skin is lovely, too."

After saying that, she could not resist reaching out to touch it, only for Uchiha Mikoto to gently push her hand away.

Uchiha Mikoto also asked a question that had puzzled her for some time. "How did you and Qianye Lan meet?"

Kushina recounted how the two of them had met.

Uchiha Mikoto listened beside her, her eyes lighting up repeatedly.

She also asked the most important question.

"So your relationship now is...?"

Kushina's gaze shifted evasively as she said, "We're just ordinary friends, of course."

Uchiha Mikoto gave her a meaningful look.

Under her gaze, Kushina hurriedly tried to argue her case. "We really are just ordinary... friends."

Her voice grew quieter and quieter, clearly lacking confidence.

With a smile, Uchiha Mikoto teased, "Did I say I didn't believe you?"

Now she was completely certain that the feelings between the two were anything but ordinary.

She thought to herself that she would have to find Qianye Lan and get things straight when she had time.

Realizing that she had given herself away, Kushina could only lie down on the bed and bury her flushed little face in the covers.

Seeing how easily embarrassed she was, Uchiha Mikoto stopped teasing her and went to rest as well.

Early the next morning, Hatake Sakumo went out and hired a carriage.

They tossed the two men inside and headed back to Konoha.

Less than an hour after they left, a group of people entered the room the Sunagakure ninja had previously occupied.

Their expressions changed when they saw that the room was empty.

They immediately began frantically searching for something. In the end, the three exchanged glances and shook their heads.

Some time after leaving the town, Hatake Sakumo formed hand seals with both hands and summoned a summoning beast.

A ninja bird appeared. Hatake Sakumo tied the secret letter to its leg and said, "Please help me deliver this to Konoha. Sorry for the trouble."

The ninja bird glanced at Hatake Sakumo, showing a humanlike expression.

Then a puff of white smoke flashed, and it vanished before them.

Qianye Lan watched this thoughtfully, wondering why the Sunagakure ninja did not use such a safe and reliable method.

Hatake Sakumo glanced at Qianye Lan and seemed to notice his confusion. "Let me explain."

Kushina and Uchiha Mikoto looked in bewilderment at the two, who were speaking in riddles.

As he drove the carriage onward, Hatake Sakumo explained, "That ninja bird just now is used to deliver letters, just as you saw."

"But raising this kind of ninja bird takes a lot of resources, so they're very rare."

That answered the question in Qianye Lan's mind.

Hatake Sakumo continued, "Ninja who know the Summoning Technique are ultimately a minority. Most ninja use their summoning beasts to improve their combat strength, so naturally, they aren't very interested in these."

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