The dumpling shop on the corner of the Shopping District was a little stall run by an old woman. Three-colored rice dumplings, skewered on bamboo sticks and drizzled with amber sweet sauce, sat temptingly in the display case.
With both hands in his pockets, Shuo dawdled over, fished out a few coins, and slapped them onto the stall. "One serving of dumplings."
"Coming right up! Fresh out of the pot, still nice and warm!"
The old woman handed him a skewer with a smile, and the fragrance of glutinous rice wafted straight into his nose.
Shuo took it and bit into a dumpling. Soft and chewy, with sweet sauce that wasn't cloying, it suited his taste perfectly.
He leaned against the wall beside the shop, chewing his dumplings and idly glancing along the street. Konoha moved at a leisurely pace that afternoon. Ninjas without missions wandered around in twos and threes, while the occasional few hurried past, presumably rushing to check in at the training grounds.
As he ate the third dumpling, his perception suddenly twitched.
It wasn't Chakra. It was light. The light from one direction had been blocked three times in a regular rhythm, as though someone were signaling.
Shuo kept chewing without so much as lifting his eyelids, sweeping the opposite rooftop with his peripheral vision. Two gray-clad men crouched in the shadows, clutching a little mirror and staring intently at the blacksmith's shop across the street. Tch. Keeping watch?
The ANBU were far slicker at surveillance than this. These two couldn't even hide their reflections. Far too amateurish.
Shuo grumbled inwardly, shifting his gaze again. They weren't watching the blacksmith's shop at all. They were clearly watching the brown-haired kid in a Chunin Vest standing outside it. He looked familiar, seemingly someone from the intelligence department, but Shuo couldn't remember his name.
Before long, the blacksmith handed the Chunin a scroll. The Chunin paid and turned to leave, and the two gray-clad men immediately moved, pursuing him along the rooftops on either side like a pair of tails.
Shuo finished his last dumpling and tossed the bamboo skewer into a trash can, ready to make himself scarce. The less he got involved, the better. If this turned out to be a legitimate mission, meddling would leave him having to write a report. What a pain.
But just as he turned, he heard two soft swishes.
The two gray-clad men had struck! Rather than jump down for a head-on attack, they flung out two threads so fine they were almost transparent, aiming straight for the Chunin's neck!
The Chunin had just reached the street corner and wasn't on guard at all.
Shuo sighed. Tch. They really won't give me any peace.
He lightly tapped his right foot against the ground, using no force, just a faint vibration. The tremor traveled outward and struck a loose paving stone at the corner, lifting its edge by a single millimeter.
That one millimeter caught the Chunin's foot, making him instinctively stumble half a step forward.
The two threads skimmed past the back of his head and caught nothing!
The gray-clad men visibly froze and reeled their threads back in for another attempt. The Chunin reacted too, reaching for his ninja tool pouch, but he was still a little too slow. A shadow lunged from a rooftop to the side, driving a short blade straight at his back!
A third one lying in ambush?
Shuo stayed where he was and merely raised his left index finger, a faint glimmer flashing at its tip.
The next second, an extremely thin film of light suddenly coated the raised paving stone beneath the Chunin's feet. He hadn't deliberately made a mirror, only temporarily changed the angle at which the light reflected.
The afternoon sun slanted down onto the film, which reflected a dazzling beam straight into the eyes of the descending attacker!
"Urgh!"
The man instinctively shut his eyes, his movements faltering.
In that brief pause, the Chunin drew a Kunai, parried the short blade, and shouted, "Enemy attack!"
The Shopping District erupted into chaos. Pedestrians scattered for cover, and nearby ninja patrols immediately rushed over.
Seeing things turn against them, the two gray-clad men on the rooftop turned and fled. The attacker who had leaped down tried to retreat as well, but the Chunin kept him firmly engaged.
Shuo strolled slowly past the corner as though nothing had happened, "accidentally" kicking a little stone.
The stone rolled over and lodged right where the ambusher was about to land. His foot slipped, throwing him off balance, and the Chunin seized the opening to stab his shoulder with a Kunai. The patrolling ninjas immediately rushed up and pinned him down.
Without having exerted himself in the slightest throughout, Shuo was already far away.
Beyond the Shopping District lay the riverbank, quiet and nearly deserted.
He found a flat rock and lay down with his hands behind his head, watching the shimmering water. Light danced through it, refracting into tiny flecks of gold. It was rather interesting.
He was just getting drowsy when his perception stirred again.
Not in the distance, but right in the river. Without opening his eyes, Shuo extended his Light Perception. A Chakra signature moved leisurely through the water. Not a fish, but a person, submerged and heading toward inner Konoha, in the direction of Hokage Rock.
Sneaking in underwater?
Shuo raised an eyebrow. Tch. Why is everyone causing trouble today?
The man swam cautiously, using a technique to conceal his Chakra that made him impossible to detect through ordinary perception.
But he had forgotten that light couldn't lie. A person moving underwater disturbed the current; when the current changed, so did the refraction of light. To Shuo's perception, the patterns of light on that stretch of river looked as though ink had been dripped into them. Faint, but exceptionally conspicuous.
Shuo slowly sat up and walked that way along the riverbank.
Around the bend stood a small grove, with a concealed hollow along the bank. The man had just climbed out of the water and was wringing out his clothes. He was tall and thin, dressed in dark, tight-fitting clothes, with a breathing mask still covering his face.
Shuo leaned against a tree and watched him with his arms folded, saying nothing.
After wringing out his clothes, the man cautiously scanned his surroundings. Once he had confirmed no one was there, he took a sealed scroll from inside his clothes and carefully hid it beneath a rock beside the bank.
He was just turning to enter the water again when he looked back and saw a blond boy lounging against a tree, staring at him.
His pupils contracted sharply. He instantly drew a Kunai and lunged. "You-"
"You dropped something."
Shuo pointed at the rock, his tone as casual as if he were discussing the weather.
The man's expression changed. Without another word, he thrust his Kunai straight at Shuo's throat!
Not slow, but unfortunately, too hasty.
Shuo didn't dodge. He merely raised his right hand and extended two fingers. Just as the Kunai was about to reach him, he flicked lightly-not at the Kunai, but at the speck of light reflected on its blade.
The light flicked away and shot straight into the man's eyes. A brief, dazzling glare made him freeze instantly.
In that instant, Shuo's left hand was already on his wrist, twisting lightly.
There was a soft click. The man grunted, and the Kunai slipped from his hand.
Shuo caught the Kunai and casually tossed it. With a swish, it embedded itself in the rock, only an inch from the scroll.
"Next time you hide something," Shuo said slowly, "don't pick such a reflective rock. Too conspicuous. A pain."
Clutching his wrist and streaming cold sweat, the man suddenly began forming Hand Seals. "Water Release-"
Before he was halfway through the seals, Shuo suddenly became a streak of golden light and circled him three times.
On the first circuit, he interrupted his Hand Seals.
On the second, he dislocated the joint of his other arm.
On the third, Shuo was back in his original spot, holding the soaking-wet scroll.
The man slumped to the ground, both arms hanging limp, his eyes filled with terror.
Before Shuo could speak again, his head suddenly lolled to one side, and black blood seeped from the corner of his mouth. He had taken poison.
Shuo looked at him and sighed. "Why bother? Wasn't living good enough? Now I have to clean up the mess."
He walked on with the scroll and happened upon a ninja patrol.
The Chunin leading them paused in surprise. "Shuo? What's that you've got..."
"Found it by the river."
Shuo casually handed over the scroll. "There's a dead man too, in that grove over there. Go deal with him yourselves."
The Chunin hurriedly accepted it and led his men toward the grove.
Shuo took a shortcut and trudged toward his dorm. It was almost dark, and he still hadn't eaten dinner.
As he turned into an alley, a low voice suddenly came from the shadows deep within it. "Namikaze Shuo."
Shuo stopped without turning around, his tone impatient. "Need something?"
"What you did today was very interesting."
There was a smile in the voice. "You stay out of other people's business, yet intervene at precisely the crucial moments... Was that coincidence, or deliberate?"
"I'm hungry. I'm going home to eat."
Shuo cut him off, not bothering with further talk.
The shadows fell silent for a few seconds before a soft chuckle sounded. "Fair enough. I won't keep you. Still, I look forward to our next meeting."
The voice vanished. Shuo continued walking, his face expressionless.
As he emerged from the alley, the setting sun was sinking lower, stretching his shadow far behind him and casting a faint golden glow over it.
"Tch. What a troublesome day."
Muttering, he slipped both hands into his pockets and ambled away, disappearing at the end of the street.
Who cares about ambushes, infiltrators, or people in the shadows? It's all dealt with anyway.
As for meeting again?
I'll deal with that next time. Right now, the most important thing is finding somewhere to eat dinner.
Before you continue