With a fast and reliable path to promotion now secured, Reiji saw no reason to linger in Kirigakure.
He headed to the mission hall and took on a new assignment.
Ignoring the suggestion to join a squad, Reiji picked up two mission scrolls, grabbed Hōzuki Gengetsu, and left the village.
A full ANBU tracking unit typically consisted of at least five members.
But for someone like Reiji, who was eager to rack up achievements and climb the ranks, that setup wasn't ideal.
The more people involved, the more the credit got split—and with so many eyes watching, it was hard for him to act freely.
He boarded a ship and set out toward his first target.
Name: Anakin'irō. Male. Former Kirigakure Jōnin, highly skilled in Water Release and particularly adept at silent assassination.
During one mission, he killed three teammates and defected.
The scroll didn't specify the reason for his defection.
His last known location was in the Land of Rainbow, a small and largely unknown island nation south of the Land of Water.
Though tiny, the Land of Rainbow housed its own shinobi village: Nijigakure.
Reiji's current destination was that very village.
Kill the target, earn some credit, return for a promotion, get closer to the Mizukage, manipulate him, carry out his secret plan, and revive that bastard Mizukuma—plan, complete!
Just thinking about it made Reiji fired up. He was itching to stuff the guy's head straight into his ninja tool pouch.
Still, this wasn't something to rush. It had to be done step by step, clean and methodical.
After all, this wasn't just some random thug—this was a legendary man.
...
Inside the cabin, Hōzuki Gengetsu leisurely trimmed his fingernails. There was no real point—his body couldn't taste, didn't need sleep, and didn't feel pain—but he wanted to do it anyway.
After all, being alive was still better than being dead.
The Pure Land was just a vast, empty void—he never ran into anyone there.
Well, except for Mu, the Second Tsuchikage, who died with him.
Just thinking of that fool wandering around alone in the Pure Land made Gengetsu smirk.
Heh, that guy's probably so bored he's started unwrapping his bandages.
...
Two days passed in the blink of an eye. Cloaked and ready, Reiji and Gengetsu arrived at Nijigakure.
The target was thin, with a fierce scar stretching from his cheek down to the corner of his mouth—easy to spot.
Reiji expanded his sensory field.
Soon, he located the target inside a spacious casino.
He strolled in casually, brushing off a provocatively dressed woman who tried to approach, and walked with Gengetsu straight toward their man.
They spotted Anakin'irō seated closely with a burly, full-bearded man, rattling dice together like old lovers.
Behind them stood five or six muscular guards—clearly all Jōnin, and the kind that looked like they could seriously throw down.
Not that it mattered. Against Reiji, guys like that wouldn't last three seconds.
"I'm going in," he muttered and started walking toward them.
Just then, a rough hand grabbed the edge of his cloak.
A man with a cocky expression stepped up beside him, lifting a corner of his cloak just enough to show the Kirigakure forehead protector tied at his waist. He lowered his voice.
"Fuguki Suikazan. I'm one of us."
Dropping the cloak back down, he quickly scanned the room. Seeing that the bodyguards hadn't noticed anything, he leaned in and continued quietly.
"Don't do anything rash. You see the guy sitting next to Anakin'irō? That's the son of Nijigakure's leader. If we act here, we won't make it out.
And he's our team's target. First come, first served—you get that?"
Reiji didn't even blink.
"You going in or not? If you're not, I will."
His tone was as calm as if he were talking about the price of dried fish.
The cocky man's face twitched. He looked like he wanted to curse, but facing one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, Fuguki Suikazan, he wisely kept his mouth shut.
Reiji grinned, flashing sharp, jagged teeth.
"Go ahead, give it a shot.
It's not like you'll lose anything—if you don't move, you'll get nothing.
If you help me test the waters, we'll split the credit fifty-fifty."
The cocky man rolled his eyes in silence.
Test the waters?
Not lose anything?
Easy for him to say—standing there all smug. If this went sideways, they'd be dead.
After a moment, he whispered, "Let's work together. We'll handle the bodyguards and the ones hiding in the shadows. You take out the target."
Without even pausing, Reiji shook his head.
"Are you doing it or not? If you don't, I will—and you'll be walking away with nothing."
The arrogant man's brows furrowed deeply.
He had planned to wrap up this mission and head back to the village to get married.
Marriage meant leaving the ANBU tracking unit behind, but switching jobs required both money and merit.
That made the bounty on Anakin'irō incredibly important to him.
More importantly, a casino—chaotic and crowded—was the perfect place for an ambush.
After a moment of hesitation, he grit his teeth, stomped his foot, and nodded firmly.
"Fine! But give me a moment to prep."
With that, he signaled his teammates hidden throughout the casino, then turned and left Reiji behind.
Seeing this, Reiji casually called over Hōzuki Gengetsu and the two found a spot to sit down.
After a while, the arrogant man's team made their move.
They struck with a surprise assault—battle erupted.
Unfortunately, Anakin'irō and the son of Nijigakure's leader seemed completely unfazed, almost like they'd expected it. Their bodyguards swarmed forward instantly, blocking the Kirigakure squad's attack.
Meanwhile, Reiji leaned against the bar, leisurely poured himself a cup of tea, and watched the chaos unfold.
"Hey, Uncle Gengetsu, if you went in, how long would it take you to clean that up?"
Hōzuki Gengetsu, who had been drooling over the tea he couldn't actually taste, looked up at the scene and snorted.
"Those seven or eight clowns? I could finish them in a minute."
Reiji took a sip of tea, glanced at Gengetsu with a look of mild disapproval, and shook his head.
"Too slow. A minute's way too slow."
"Tch. Braggart," Gengetsu scoffed, then added,
"Alright then, how long would you take?
Don't think I don't know—Flying Thunder God Technique needs seals to activate.
Back in the day, I saw Tobirama Senju use it. Yeah, it was impressive, but without his marked kunai, it's useless."
That caught Reiji off guard a little. He looked at Gengetsu in surprise.
Huh, the old guy actually knows his stuff?
He held up three fingers and waved them in front of Gengetsu.
"Thirty seconds? Pfft. Quit bragging. These are shinobi—everyone's got some kind of life-saving jutsu."
Reiji grinned wide, revealing his sharp, gleaming teeth.
"I said... three seconds."