"There's a tail following us."
Shinji pretended not to notice and gave a soft mm. "Probably Sand ninja. Looks like they weren't that easy to fool."
"Want to find a chance to deal with them directly?"
"No. Leave them for now. We'll make a move after the others from Sand have gone far enough."
"Hope those two idiots are the ones trailing us, and didn't leave with the others."
Hidan muttered under his breath. He had no such thing as magnanimity—repaying grudges tenfold was simply his nature.
This village, built around an oasis, was relatively prosperous. Many travelers passing through chose to stop here and rest.
And ever since the last Ninja World War ended, Sand had entered into an alliance with Konoha, making trade between the Land of Wind and the Land of Fire especially frequent.
Earlier, the chaos had been so intense that it wasn't obvious. Now that things had settled down, people began pouring out of the shelters, and the village quickly regained its vitality and liveliness.
Shinji also noticed a small detail.
The local residents were remarkably adaptable. Even though they'd just experienced sothing terrifying, they had already more or less cald down and gone back to their daily routines.
The outsiders—rchant caravans and the like—were the opposite. Every one of them looked pale and shaken, clearly still in shock.
"As expected, the harsher the environnt, the more it tempers a person's character," Shinji sighed quietly.
But if he had a choice, he'd definitely pick the most comfortable life possible.
I an, co on—if you had the option, who would give up delicacies and feast every day just to eat coarse rations for a lifeti?
That would just be asking for suffering.
"Welco, honored guests, to our humble inn~"
"Two rooms. And bring up so local specialties as well."
"Right away! Two distinguished guests, please co inside~"
They found a clean, well-kept inn, and Shinji and Hidan checked in.
As the saying goes—money in hand, peace of mind.
Shinji had no reason to mistreat himself. If not for the few little tails still hanging around, he'd actually wanted to try the innkeeper's so-called 'Sha-Matte-style massage'.
Though he had no idea what this "Sha-Matte" thing actually was.
Before they realized it, night had fallen, and the entire village grew quiet.
To prevent any unexpected developnts, Reki had already led his team on an overnight march back to the Sand Village.
The remaining Kazane, Kanin, and two others were hidden nearby, secretly monitoring Shinji and Hidan's movents.
"Damn it. They're just two wandering ninja. What's there to monitor? If you ask , we should just knock them out and drag them back for interrogation—everything would co out instantly. Why waste ti like this?"
Kanin looked disgruntled. In his eyes, these two useless nobodies were eating, drinking, and sleeping soundly right under his nose.
anwhile, they had to gnaw on dry rations and freeze through the cold night.
Of course he felt unbalanced.
Kazane felt much the sa. More importantly, because of these two people he looked down on, he'd lost face earlier and even been reprimanded.
He badly wanted to reclaim that dignity—make those two kneel and beg for rcy!
So after the shift change, Kazane didn't hide his thoughts at all. He spoke directly with his brother Kanin, and the two quickly reached an agreent.
"The problem is, our mission doesn't allow us to act on our own unless we confirm that those two really have issues."
Both of them frowned. If it were just the two of them, acting first and reporting later wouldn't be a big deal.
But there were still two other teammates subtly restraining them, preventing them from acting recklessly.
"How about telling them? We're all from the sa village. Surely they wouldn't fall out with us over two outsiders."
Kazane shook his head. "This mission ca directly from Lord Reki. Even if they don't stop us to our faces, if they 'say sothing' after we return, you and I would be in a terrible position."
"Then what if we give them so benefits—drag them into this with us?"
"No need. Not worth it. How much oil can you squeeze out of two wandering ninja anyway? If I weren't choking on this anger, I wouldn't even be out here feeding mosquitoes."
"That won't work, this won't work—then what do you suggest?"
Kazane thought carefully, a vicious look flashing across his face. "Since we've decided to move, then let's go all the way. We'll make their spy identity a done deal!"
"I'll go set up the scene. You lure them over. Then we catch them red-handed—dead n tell no tales. And we can even make a little profit on the side. What do you say?"
Kanin's heart skipped. "You an—"
Kazane nodded firmly.
After reaching a consensus, the two split up imdiately.
Not long after, a figure crouched outside a window.
The window was quietly pushed open.
In the darkness, Shinji's eyes snapped open.
Thud thud thud!
Three kunai flew straight at him in a triangular formation.
Shinji was just about to block when his brows lifted slightly—he noticed the kunai were aid a bit off, as if the thrower was worried he wouldn't be able to dodge.
After throwing the kunai, the person outside imdiately turned and ran, deliberately making a fair bit of noise.
As if saying: Co on—chase !
"Such an obvious lure. How stupid would soone have to be to fall for that?"
Shinji shook his head, about to go back to sleep. Unfortunately, he forgot to leash his dog before sleeping.
Then he heard a sound from the next room—and under the moonlight, a familiar figure rushed out in pursuit.
…Alright then. Whether it's stupid or not, Hidan gets the final say.
"You idiot!"
Shinji cursed under his breath, grabbed the Executioner's Blade, and chased after him.
If they were this eager to die, he might as well grant their wish!
Up ahead, Kanin—pretending to flee—had actually been worried the people inside wouldn't take the bait.
But now he realized he'd overestimated them.
A cold smile curled at the corner of his mouth. He deliberately acted panicked, carefully controlling his speed, afraid that if he ran too fast, the pursuers might give up.
But before long, he discovered that the two wandering ninja weren't nearly as slow as he'd imagined—especially the one carrying that exaggerated greatsword.
Despite being the last to give chase, that guy was rapidly closing the distance.
This won't do!
Gritting his teeth, Kanin stopped holding back and imdiately pushed his speed to the limit.
But when he glanced back, his heart lurched!
That guy was already less than twenty ters behind him.
"How is he so fast?!"
Now he was truly panicking, flinging kunai and shuriken wildly behind him.
Seeing this display, Shinji—who was chasing from behind—was left speechless.
He'd only intended to apply a little pressure, to probe him.
And this was the result?
If he didn't already know this guy had accomplices and was planning to wipe them all out in one go, he'd have killed him already. There'd be no need to leisurely string him along like this.
Of course, Kanin had no idea Shinji was holding back.
He was still running.
Running with a kind of tragic determination.
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