The night was dark, and heavy clouds obscured the already dim moonlight, making the night even darker.
Thirty kilometers southwest of Cloud Village in the Land of Lightning, a bustling town called New Moon Street was brightly lit.
Even though it was approaching midnight, the sounds of noise, clamor, and playfulness could still be heard.
This place was similar to Adofuku Street near Konoha, both being places where ninjas relaxed and rested after missions.
However, due to its special geographical location as a necessary stop on the north-south trade route, the frequent passage of merchants made this town far more prosperous than Adofuku Street.
Fighting arenas, izakayas, cabaret streets, hot spring streets, shopping streets...
It must be said that although the Land of Lightning's geographical location was not as advantageous as the Land of Fire, the current Daimyo was a master at managing the country.
At least in terms of improving the national economy, it was the best among the five major countries.
Among the bustling crowd.
A young girl wearing black-rimmed glasses, with a gentle and lovely temperament, who looked not very old, seemed to be here to relax after finishing a mission.
Carrying shopping bags full in her left hand, humming an unknown tune, she walked briskly into a dark alley.
In the izakayas along the street, many men with drunken eyes regretfully withdrew their gazes.
Young, great figure, and such a cute face...
If she wasn't a ninja...
Ninjas, in this special era, were often synonymous with ruthless killers.
They may not enjoy the most respected status, but they possess power that ordinary people cannot reach.
Even those flamboyant nobles in the royal capital, unless they were too stupid, would not easily offend a ninja.
Let alone them, who were merely merchants with some wealth.
She twisted and turned through the dark alley.
After a while, the girl arrived in front of a seemingly old residence.
Seeing five small stones placed on the left side of the door, seemingly randomly, arranged in a three-one-one pattern, Yakushi Nonou confirmed the meeting point and listened with a grim face to the faint lascivious sounds coming from the small courtyard.
It was normal for ninjas to have desires.
Every ninja would release the pressure in their hearts through various means after completing a mission.
But to be so indulgent during a mission made Yakushi Nonou highly doubt whether the other party was a qualified ninja.
This mission was extremely important.
If the current situation in Konoha could not be changed, once the war broke out, Konoha would be the primary target of other ninja villages.
She could understand that it wasn't a Root ninja who came at this critical moment.
But the other party was so dissolute...
Could it be that the one who came was the legendary Jiraiya, who was as lustful as his life and could be called a hungry ghost among perverts?
If it was him, it seemed normal?
Whoosh~
A small pebble flew to her feet, rolling twice on the ground, disrupting the five pebbles arranged at the doorway.
Yakushi Nonou felt her body hair stand on end, her body slightly stiffening.
Her face wore a serene smile.
She feigned a surprised expression, turning her head to look in the direction the pebble had come from.
A ninja wearing a Cloud Village forehead protector, looking nearly forty years old with a stubbly beard, was standing in the shadows of a house, looking at her with suspicion.
"Mukai, what are you doing here?"
"Senior Sesei? I didn't expect to see you here. I was just strolling around and accidentally got lost."
Yakushi Nonou scratched her head with an embarrassed smile.
She perfectly portrayed the image of a confused Chunin respecting a senior.
In her mind, she quickly recalled information about Sesei.
A Cloud Village Chunin, a member of the Magnet Release Troy Squad, known for being cautious and having extensive mission experience, widowed a few years ago, with a child named Musai who had just graduated from the Ninja Academy and become a Genin.
It seems this guy is suspicious of her!
Being nearly forty and still not a Jonin suggests a weakness in his abilities. As long as the traces are handled well, eliminating him is the best course of action!
"Tsk~ My house has a cat that can do backflips, Mukai, would you like to see it?"
Sesei's gaze swept over Yakushi Nonou's figure without restraint.
The middle-aged man's greasiness washed over Yakushi Nonou.
"...A ninja cat? I heard that in Konoha, the Uchiha and Izu Clan have close relationships with ninja cats."
The corner of Yakushi Nonou's eye twitched slightly.
On the surface, she feigned a naive look, tilting her head.
Seemingly attracted by the topic, she subconsciously moved closer to Sesei.
"That's the Izuno Clan."
Yamanaka Kei, transformed into Sesei, still wore the greasy expression of a middle-aged man, his triangular eyes flashing with malicious intent.
"Ah? Did I remember wrong?"
Whoosh~!
Yakushi Nonou's originally empty right hand flashed with a light blue Chakra glow.
A sharp Chakra Scalpel aimed straight for Yamanaka Kei's throat.
But in the next moment, Yakushi Nonou froze in place, then uncontrollably dispelled the Chakra Scalpel, reverting to her obedient and naive girl appearance, standing in place.
"Little sister, I already gave the password, it's impolite of you to do this."
Yamanaka Kei looked at Yakushi Nonou with helplessness.
'My cat can do backflips,' 'Izu, Izuno'—these were all pre-arranged code words.
For Nonou to respond with the code words meant that she had confirmed his identity.
And yet she still attacked him? That's too much!
"Yamanaka secret technique? What's going on with your appearance... this isn't the Transformation Technique!"
Yakushi Nonou, controlled by the Mind Disturbance Technique, had basically confirmed that the person before her was indeed a Konoha ninja.
But this Transformation Technique without any trace of transformation, the sweaty odor of a middle-aged man, and the dissipated aura of someone who had done bad things...
"Face Copy Technique, the secret technique of the Kitadani Clan from the Land of Fire. It can perfectly imitate the target's appearance and aura, to the point that even ninja hounds can't distinguish it. The drawback is that the target must be nearby, and the technique takes a while to cast."
Yamanaka Kei shrugged, explaining the secret technique he used.
The Kitadani Clan was quite famous in the Land of Fire, but they hadn't joined a ninja village. Instead, they relied on their family's secret technique to become honored guests of many nobles.
The ninja world was never short of assassinations.
The Kitadani Clan, capable of becoming perfect substitutes, had always been the best choice for nobles due to their good reputation.
The reason he knew this secret technique was because the Konoha Military Police Force had once captured a member of the Kitadani Clan who had transformed into someone else's husband.
That brother was also quite talented.
Because he had taken a fancy to someone else's wife, he had ambushed the husband when he left the village and then taken his place.
As a result, he was reported by the woman the day after he arrived in Konoha and was directly taken to the Konoha interrogation room.
According to the woman, her husband usually lasted at least thirty minutes.
But this man couldn't even last thirty seconds!
Wouldn't that be a problem?
"Kitadani... Analysis Team, Yamanaka Kei?"
Yakushi Nonou frowned slightly, and after thinking for a moment, she directly spoke Yamanaka Kei's name.
"No way, am I that famous?"
Yamanaka Kei was somewhat stunned.
Are professional spies these days that terrifying?
He had only said a few things, how did she guess his identity?
"...Just happened to have heard of you."
The corner of Yakushi Nonou's eye twitched again.
Ordinary people might not know these things, but back then, the Kitadani Clan had agreed to a series of conditions with Konoha in order to redeem that clan member.
One of them was to provide a period of disguise and transformation training to members of the Anbu training organization.
And the 'thirty-second incident' was a topic of conversation for many training members at the time.
The story behind her was also dug up completely.
At that time, she had lamented that memory reading techniques were really ninjutsu very suitable for spies.
It's a pity that her mental strength didn't meet the requirements, so she couldn't learn such a technique!
-----------
This high quality machine translation is powered by: https:// randomtranslator.com/
To read the full translation, as well as more than 180+ fanfic and original translations or request new translations, check out: https:// randomtranslator.com/
You can also join the RandomTranslator community on Discord to connect with other readers: https:// discord.gg/NSWvfN7vua
-----------