* Swish! *
The group dispersed.
The town wasn't large, but its location at the border of the Land of Wind and the Land of Fire made it bustling. Shops lined both sides of the street, and pedestrians filled the roads.
Dosuke trailed slightly behind Tachie.
Tachie had altered her appearance before leaving the village, wearing blue contact lenses to conceal her Byakugan. Dressed in a simple, linen-colored long-sleeve top, her long black hair was tied into twin ponytails that swayed as she moved. A black skirt reached her ankles, and her pale feet gripped wooden sandals.
* Clack-clack, clack-clack. *
"Sister, can you keep it down? Everyone on the street is staring at you," Dosuke said helplessly, glancing at Tachie's small, deliberate steps.
Aren't we supposed to be gathering intel?
Tachie quickened her pace to walk beside him, covering her mouth with a fan as she whispered, "Relax, it's like we're just here to have fun. I've got this."
With that, she crouched down and began bargaining with a dog vendor, dragging Dosuke into the negotiation. When they left, Dosuke was loaded with bags of purchases, while Tachie held a snow-white puppy in one arm and a complimentary bag of dog food in the other.
Blending in as they walked, they appeared as nothing more than wealthy siblings exploring the lively town center.
"Dosuke, up ahead!" Tachie pulled at him.
Dosuke froze briefly before regaining his composure. From the corner of his eye, he glanced in the direction she indicated.
A ramen shop stood there, with four Sand Village ninjas seated at the counter, eating. A middle-aged man accompanied three young children, likely not an elite unit.
Dosuke pondered their purpose while pretending to browse items at a nearby stall.
Suddenly, his arms grew heavy. Looking up, he saw Tachie had placed the puppy in his arms. With a quick *clack* of her sandals, she dashed toward the four Sand ninjas.
"Um, are you all ninjas?" Tachie tilted her head, gazing at them with curious, shy eyes.
The older Sand ninja instantly grew wary. "Who are you?" he asked, his hand subtly reaching for the ninja pouch on his leg.
"Me? My family's from the Land of Flowers, here to trade herbal tea. Are you ninjas?" Tachie replied, her tone innocent and curious.
"Our family only has samurai. On our way here, our caravan was attacked by two rogue ninjas. They killed a dozen of our samurai and servants. Now it's just my brother, my father, and me. I want to hire you, can you help?" Tachie's voice trembled with a pitiful edge.
"We're ninjas from the Sand Village, one of the five great nations. Those rogue ninjas you mentioned? Forget my teacher, I could handle them easily," boasted one of the teenage ninjas.
"Even though we're still genin, we can handle C-rank missions! And our teacher is chunin!" another kid added.
"Enough," the Sand chunin interrupted, silencing his students. "Miss, if you want to hire Sand Village ninjas, you can post a mission at the village's mission office. We can't accept private contracts."
"Oh, I see," Tachie said, her face falling in disappointment.
"Sister, do they agree to work for us?" Dosuke asked, his voice full of hope.
"They said they can't. Let's go," Tachie replied softly, her tone dejected.
"But how will we get home? We might die on the way back. Mom will never see us again," Dosuke said as they walked away from the ramen shop, their figures lonely.
"Teacher, how can we ignore them? Our mission's almost done anyway," one of the young ninjas said loudly.
"Yeah, Teacher, we can't just do nothing," another added.
"Wait a moment, miss," the Sand chunin called out. "If you can wait, come back to this ramen shop at noon tomorrow."
Tachie turned, tears in her eyes, and bowed deeply. "Thank you! Thank you so much!"
After leaving the ramen shop, Dosuke muttered, "Sister, you nearly gave me a heart attack just walking up to them like that."
"Don't worry, Dosuke. Before we entered the town, I used my Byakugan and noticed many stalls here are from the Land of Flowers. I also saw bloodstains and fresh scars on a Flower Country cart parked at the inn," Tachie explained.
"Pretending to be merchants from the Land of Flowers was safe. Besides, those ninja kids are too young to suspect anything." Tachie took the puppy back from Dosuke's arms.
Her sandals clicked as she walked ahead, *clack, clack.*
Dosuke's earlier confidence as a reincarnated adult faded. In this world, there were five-year-old ninja graduates, six-year-old chunin prodigies, and countless teens hardened by killing. By age six or seven, most were mentally mature. Without his knowledge of the original story, he would have no edge.
Their experience was forged in blood.
"What's wrong, Dosuke?" Tachie called, noticing he hadn't followed.
"Coming, Sister," Dosuke replied, hurrying to catch up.
Back at the Base
"Report your findings," Soma ordered the returning group.
"I scouted the southeast. There are two rogue ninjas, likely genin-level, hired through the underground gold exchange to protect a merchant from bandits," Takuto reported.
"Dosuke and I found a Sand Village team. I couldn't use my Byakugan up close, but based on the kids' talk, their leader is a chunin. They're on a mission from their village and will finish tomorrow," Tachie said.
"Also, Sister Tachie posed as a robbed Flower Country merchant to test them. The Sand chunin agreed to take a job escorting us back to the Land of Flowers after their mission," Dosuke added.
"The two areas I checked had rogue ninjas too. Small-country merchants often hire them because the five great nations' ninjas are too expensive. Good work, Tachie and Dosuke. I'll note it in the mission log," Soma said.
"Tomorrow, Tachie and Dosuke, you'll meet them to confirm the escort mission. I'll pose as your father, and Takuto will act as our servant. Rest now, we move in the morning."
The group dispersed.