People Should Never Treat Themselves Poorly

If he hadn't seen the Konoha Ninja Forehead Protector on Miya's forehead, Yunosuke would probably have dealt with him as an enemy long ago.

"Me? I'm a Konoha Ninja!"

"Oh, right. My name's Miya Hanama."

Miya flashed a brilliant smile, clearly in an excellent mood.

How could he not be?

He was already thinking about how to fleece a rich mark.

Kakashi: "..."

Although Yunosuke had never met Miya, he had heard his name long ago. After all, Miya was the first disciple Orochimaru had taken in many years.

"Miya Hanama?"

"You're Lord Orochimaru's new disciple?"

As Yunosuke spoke, he turned his head and looked around for something.

"Didn't Lord Orochimaru come?"

Miya's face instantly darkened, and his good mood vanished.

"No!"

At the mention of Orochimaru, Miya's petty grudge flared up. No teacher had ever screwed a student over like him.

"Uh..."

Yunosuke could plainly tell something was wrong. At a loss, he didn't know what to say.

Half an hour later.

Miya said goodbye to Kakashi and the others and set off in a good mood once more.

Watching Miya's retreating back, Kakashi had an inscrutable look in his eyes. No one knew what he was thinking.

"Miya..."

After wandering around the Land of Grass for two days, Miya arrived at the location of his mission.

Asakusa Town, within the Land of Grass.

Meanwhile, in Konohagakure.

Hiruzen Sarutobi received the intelligence Yunosuke had sent back, reporting that he had encountered Miya carrying out a mission alone while on his own mission.

Normally, Yunosuke wouldn't have needed to concern himself with such matters. But as a capable and responsible Konoha Jonin, he felt it was inappropriate for Orochimaru to send the newly graduated Miya on a mission alone, so he had sent the report.

Seeing the report, Hiruzen Sarutobi remembered the three missions he had assigned Miya. By now, he should have completed them and been on his way back.

But Yunosuke's report said Miya was still carrying out a mission in the Land of Grass. The timing was far too different.

To find out what was going on, Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke to the Anbu guards around him.

"Go fetch Orochimaru. I need to speak with him."

Before long, Orochimaru was summoned from his laboratory to the Hokage's office.

"Teacher Sarutobi, you wanted to see me?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded, raised his head, and looked at Orochimaru as he asked:

"Do you know how Miya is doing now?"

Orochimaru had thought Hiruzen Sarutobi had summoned him for something urgent, but it turned out to be about Miya. He couldn't help smiling.

"Miya will complete his mission splendidly."

Hiruzen Sarutobi's affection for Orochimaru far exceeded his affection for Tsunade and Jiraiya, and he had entrusted Miya to Orochimaru after careful consideration.

"Mm."

"What about the plan for the Chunin Ninja Exams?"

In response, Orochimaru nodded, then shook his head, leaving Hiruzen Sarutobi utterly baffled.

What was that nod and shake supposed to mean?

In Asakusa Town, Miya took in the unfamiliar sights without rushing to find his target.

Whoever was supposed to show up would show up sooner or later.

After spending half the day sightseeing, Miya went to a hot spring inn to relax.

People should never treat themselves poorly.

Tashiro Masato, a former Konoha Special Jōnin, had sold intelligence to the underground black market while on a mission, causing the deaths of his two teammates during that mission. As a result, he had been designated an A-rank missing-nin.

Miya's current mission concerned him, and he had to be captured alive.

Miya didn't know what secrets lay behind it, but the mission also specified that, while bringing Tashiro back, he had to obtain the pass in his possession that granted entry to the underground black market. Otherwise, the mission would be considered a failure.

Although Miya didn't know how Tashiro Masato had obtained the pass to the black market, it would certainly be much more useful in Konoha's hands than in Tashiro Masato's.

According to the intelligence, Tashiro Masato usually hid at this hot spring inn in Asakusa Town.

The man certainly knew how to enjoy himself.

For three days straight, Miya explored every corner of Asakusa Town and stayed at the hot spring inn each night, but he found no trace of Tashiro Masato.

He hadn't even encountered a single ninja in Asakusa Town, which almost made him wonder whether the intelligence for the mission Hiruzen Sarutobi had given him was wrong again.

In fact, Miya had mostly himself to blame for failing to find Tashiro Masato.

If he had arrived a few days earlier, he would have met Tashiro Masato long ago. Tashiro Masato had left just before he arrived in Asakusa Town.

"The money I made this time will let me enjoy myself for quite a few more days."

Outside Asakusa Town, Tashiro Masato was shrouded in a black cloak, making it impossible to see his face clearly.

He had just sold another piece of intelligence to the underground black market and was feeling very pleased with himself.

However, he didn't know that two ninja who were also missing-nin had set their sights on him from behind, while Miya was waiting for him in Asakusa Town.

Chosuke Sugihiro and Sugihiro Chōsen were missing-nin brothers from Sunagakure in the Land of Wind. They had followed Tashiro Masato from a distance the whole way.

"Big brother, is that thing really in his hands?"

Sugihiro Chōsen, the younger brother, asked in a low voice.

Sugihiro Chōhei nodded and replied:

"It should be with him."

"If it weren't for him, if we hadn't lost that thing, we wouldn't have had to defect."

Sugihiro Chōsen nodded and said:

"Yeah. As long as we get that thing back, we can become stronger, and we won't have to worry so much about the village hunting us down."

Upon arriving outside Asakusa Town, Tashiro Masato remained cautious. He didn't enter through the town's main gate; instead, he waited until late at night, when all was quiet, and returned to the hot spring inn through a secret passage outside town.

"Finally, I'm back."

The brothers Sugihiro Chōsen and Sugihiro Chōhei were dumbfounded when Tashiro Masato suddenly disappeared.

"Big brother, we lost him!"

"What do we do?"

Unlike Sugihiro Chōsen, Sugihiro Chōhei was quite calm. He carefully examined the surroundings, then said:

"There should be a passage here leading into town."

"Come on, we'll go in through the main gate."

Neither brother had considered finding the secret passage and following Tashiro Masato through it.

They knew they wouldn't be able to use their full strength in a narrow passage, and they didn't know what lay inside. If there were traps, or if they even alerted Tashiro Masato, they would be in trouble.

They had spent considerable time and effort finding Tashiro Masato.

Before long, the brothers Sugihiro Chōhei and Sugihiro Chōsen entered Asakusa Town and began searching for traces of Tashiro Masato.

They were determined to recover the thing Tashiro Masato had stolen from them.