Time passed, and in the blink of an eye, twenty days had gone by.
In the last ten days, Reiji had left the border of the Land of Rain and taken a wide detour through the Lands of Grass, Waterfalls, Iron, and Rice Fields, circling around the northern edge of the Land of Fire before finally arriving in the northeast, in the Land of Hot Water.
The reason for this roundabout route was simple—Reiji was a spy, a covert agent, a traitor.
If he were to march straight into the Land of Fire from the Land of Rain and enter Konohagakure, his background would undoubtedly be investigated.
The moment the people of Konoha discovered he was from the Land of Rain, they would immediately link him to the recent collapse of Ame's intelligence network.
And with that line of thought, suspicion that he was an Amegakure spy would only intensify.
Besides, the so-called "child spy method" that Kandachi had proudly devised might be nothing more than standard procedure in the eyes of others.
If it came to that, Reiji would be exposed, sent to the Yamanaka clan, and once his secrets were dug out, it'd all be over.
He'd find neither a way to live nor a way to die.
The worst part? Konoha's current Hokage was none other than Tobirama Senju—the Second Hokage, infamous for his love of research!
That's why Reiji would rather take a longer path than risk even the slightest exposure!
As he strolled down a narrow path in the Land of Hot Water, Reiji wore a straw raincoat and hat, holding a scroll in his hands and reading it with great interest.
It was the palm-sized scroll Mizukuma had secretly passed to him.
Inside was a forbidden technique of Amegakure: the Nurarihyon Technique.
There was no doubt Mizukuma had taken a huge risk handing this over.
"Huh~ What a meddlesome guy!"
Despite his words, the faint smile tugging at the corner of his lips betrayed his inner gratitude.
He stowed the scroll, tightened the straps on his backpack, and pressed on.
In the distance, where sky met earth, a trail of smoke slowly rose into the air.
"Heh~ Looks like my luck's holding! I've mastered the secret technique, and there's a house ahead—no more cold rations!"
Muttering to himself, Reiji picked up the pace, striding toward the smoke under the setting sun.
As the sun dipped below the horizon, darkness crept across the land. The drifting smoke faded into the gloom, no longer visible.
Still, Reiji, relying on his sharp sense of direction, managed to find the village.
When he was less than a kilometer away, something began to feel off.
"What the…!" Reiji's brow furrowed as he stared at the scene before him, realization dawning too late.
What he'd mistaken for smoke was actually thick black clouds rising from burning buildings—at a distance, it had looked faint and wispy, deceptively similar to cooking smoke.
But Reiji's mind worked fast. This could be a chance.
The village was deathly silent. It looked like there were no survivors. If he could take the identity of a child from this disaster-stricken place and spin a believable story, it might help him slip into Konoha with less resistance.
Without hesitation, Reiji found a hidden patch of grass, stashed his backpack and food, crouched low, and crept toward the burning village.
"Ox → Ram → Snake! Nurarihyon Secret Technique!"
After forming the seals, Reiji pushed through waist-high grass, slowly making his way forward.
Closer… and closer!
Suddenly, Reiji's eyes narrowed sharply as his gaze locked onto the village. His pupils contracted to pinpoints.
The entire village was engulfed in flames. Corpses were strewn across the ground, and vivid red blood soaked every inch of earth. No one had been spared—men, women, the elderly, children… all slaughtered.
It was a small village. In the clearing near the center, four people sat around a fire, laughing and chatting loudly. Among them, Reiji spotted a familiar face.
A boy around twelve—he had once trained alongside Reiji in Mizukuma's spy program.
Reiji remembered hearing that the boy, along with another kid around ten, was slated to be sent to Kirigakure in the Land of Water.
Back then, Reiji had been kind to the kids in the program. After all, they were just pawns, victims of politics and war.
But now… he no longer thought that way.
Rising to his feet, Reiji slowly walked toward the village center. The firelight cast shadows across his face, flickering between gloom and flame.
He reached the center and sat silently beside the four.
Strangely, none of them reacted to his presence. Even when their eyes swept across him, it was as if he were just another rock on the roadside.
As he sat down, Reiji silently marveled at the effectiveness of the Nurarihyon Technique and studied their faces.
The twelve-year-old boy was the one he recognized best.
The other three were ninjas he'd seen around Hanzō's office before.
None of them wore Amegakure forehead protectors now. Their bodies were stained with blood, but they laughed and chatted without a care.
Reiji was furious, but he had no plans to act. In times like these, it was eat or be eaten.
Killing or being killed—just another ripple in the endless current of this era.
In front of him, the four continued their animated conversation...
"Hey, Aron, you're still young, but you've already picked up all the bad habits! You're even quicker at killing than I am."
The twelve-year-old boy standing nearby curled his lips.
"Brother Kobuta, that's not right. That dumb Mizukuma who teaches the covert ops class always says, 'Don't hesitate when you kill.' I'm just following his teachings."
At that, Reiji let out a cold laugh.
What Mizukuma actually said was, if your identity is exposed and there's a chance to prevent it from leaking, don't show mercy.
It didn't mean to turn your blade on defenseless civilians.
If Mizukuma knew what kind of student he had, he'd probably die of rage.
Heh, dumb Mizukuma!
Next to them, the conversation continued.
The Ame Ninja named Kobuta picked up on the boy's words, his tone laced with mockery.
"Following your teacher's orders, huh? Did your big, dumb Mizukuma-sensei ever teach you not to 'get distracted' while killing?"
Hearing that, the four sitting around burst into crude laughter.
Another ninja chimed in, teasing the boy named Aron, "Aron, now that you've had your first taste, you might not survive in Kirigakure! When you get there, there won't be any villages to burn or pretty girls to mess with."
The three ninjas laughed again.
Aron snorted in annoyance.
"When I become a Kirigakure ninja, I'll take my little brothers with me and keep burning villages! I'll burn them openly and proudly! What, is that a problem?"
"Sure, sure, you're the man. Just don't forget your big bro when the time comes."
"But seriously, for a backwater village, there are quite a lot of pretty women here!"
"Of course. This is the Land of Hot Water—we're talking about a place known for its beauties. We really scored today. With women like these, if we put them in the village's 'Flower Street', they'd go for at least a hundred thousand ryo a night!"
As they kept talking, their expressions grew more and more vulgar and twisted.
"But it's a shame we didn't get our hands on the prettiest one," Aron clicked his tongue.
Beside him, Kobuta let out a cold snort.
"Hah~ You think you can touch the prettiest one? Let me tell you, only Onoton-sama gets that privilege!"
Aron lowered his head, clearly dissatisfied, and muttered, "What's the big deal? The grown-ups take the top picks, and I can't even have the leftovers? Why do they get everything?"
Nearby, Reiji's expression darkened as he listened to their words.
So these guys didn't just kill people… sounds like they've done far worse.
"Heh… You're all scum, you know that?" A low voice suddenly rang out among the group, startling them.
The next moment, they realized—without anyone noticing, a man wearing a straw hat and raincoat had appeared in their midst.
"You! Who are you?"
"Oh? Already pretending not to know me?" Reiji said slowly, casually taking off the straw hat.
"Shuku Kohei!"
Aron's eyes widened as he blurted out Reiji's alias.
The other three ninjas immediately caught on.
They had never met Reiji in person, but as Hanzō-sama's apprentice, the name Shuku Kohei was well-known.
Still, as Kandachi's men, they also knew Reiji was just a kid who couldn't use ninjutsu—and was a real pain to deal with.
"Didn't you go to the Land of Fire? What are you doing here?" Aron asked bluntly.
Being the oldest in the covert training class, he carried that usual, inexplicable sense of superiority older kids often held over the younger ones.
Reiji ignored him, instead turning a curious gaze toward the other three ninja...
"Where's your boss? I need a word with him."
"What for?" one of the ninja asked in a low voice.
Reiji's sudden appearance had been too strange—it put them slightly on edge.
"I'm here to take a life."
"You're asking for it!" Kobuta, hot-tempered as ever, glared with killing intent.
"Listen, brat, I don't care who you are. We're both from Amegakure, so I'm giving you a chance—get on your knees and apologize! Otherwise, even if I kill you right here, no one's going to know it was us!" Kobuta barked, his arrogant voice echoing into the empty night.
"Heh~ Trying to warn that pig? Let me give you all a little lesson!"
As he spoke, Reiji brought his hands together, preparing to form hand seals.
Seeing this, Kobuta was the first to strike, hurling a kunai and shouting, "Get him! That brat's asking to die!"
But Reiji didn't flinch. He stood still and swiftly formed a seal with both hands.
"Magnet Release: Thousand Mechanisms Massacre Technique!"
In the blink of an eye, countless senbon gleaming with cold light shot out from his pouch, instantly surrounding him.
Under the pull of magnetic force, the light and nearly invisible senbon flew out at a speed more than ten times faster than a thrown kunai.
The senbon rained down indiscriminately, piercing everything within range—Reiji included.
In that moment, the three Amegakure ninja couldn't dodge. They were impaled by hundreds of senbon in an instant.
Not even a full second had passed, and all five bodies, Reiji among them, were riddled with holes.
Instant kill.
Reiji formed another hand seal, channeling his magnetic chakra to retrieve every last senbon. Watching the four men twitch in agony, soaked in their own blood, he let out a faint grin.
"Well then—how does it feel to have your heart pierced a thousand times?"