Chapter 30: Leaving the Village
The next morning, the Village Hidden in the Grass was on high alert. Shinobi patrol teams moved back and forth along the main street.
A single carriage slowly emerged from the back door of an inn.
"Neji, is this really going to work?" Yugito whispered, lifting the curtain to peek at the shinobi on the street, her voice laced with anxiety.
Her original plan had been to create a diversion, kill a few Grass-nin to draw their attention, and give Neji and the others an opportunity to escape. Neji's plan, however, was to simply drive the carriage straight out the main gate. Yugito thought it was reckless, but after much consideration, she had decided it was worth a try. If they could bluff their way out, great. If they were discovered, they would just have to fight their way out.
"Don't worry. Just watch me work," Neji said, as cool as a seasoned veteran. He flicked the reins, and the carriage sped toward the village gate.
More than a dozen Grass-nin were stationed at the gate, carefully inspecting everyone who tried to leave.
Neji glanced at Shōshirō, who was standing by the gate, and his eyes narrowed slightly.
"Get out of the carriage," one of the guards shouted as Neji's carriage approached.
"Hah."
Neji leaped down from the driver's seat, strode over to the guard, and slapped him hard across the face.
"Agh!" The guard stumbled to the ground, his head ringing.
"Baka!" Neji jabbed a finger at his own forehead protector, his voice a furious snarl. "You tell me to get out? Are you blind? Don't you recognize this?"
The gate guard was a mixture of anger and humiliation. Of course, he recognized the Hidden Cloud's forehead protector. He just hadn't expected the shinobi wearing it to be so volatile.
"That's going too far! You can't just hit people!" another guard said, helping his comrade to his feet and glaring at Neji.
Neji picked up a pebble and flicked it at him. "This is how we Kumo-nin do things. What, you got a problem with it?"
"What's all the commotion?"
Shōshirō, drawn by the noise, walked over.
"Captain, you're just in time! This Kumo-nin is assaulting us!" the slapped guard whined, holding his cheek.
Shōshirō first gave Neji a thorough look-over, then turned to his subordinate and snapped, "It takes two hands to clap. Why did he hit you and not someone else? Maybe you should look at your own actions."
"..."
The guard's mouth twitched, but he was speechless.
Shōshirō then turned to Neji, a polite smile on his face. "My young friend, please forgive him. He doesn't know any better. Don't lower yourself to his level."
"Now that's more like it," Neji said, his expression softening slightly.
"My friend, may I ask what brings you to our village?"
"Normally, someone of your rank wouldn't have the clearance to see this," Neji said haughtily. He then pulled out a pre-prepared mission certificate, flashed it at Shōshirō for a second, and quickly put it away.
Shōshirō hesitated, a troubled look on his face. "To be honest with you, my friend, last night our village was infiltrated by an unknown ninja. To prevent the culprit from escaping in disguise, I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to... let us inspect your carriage."
As the saying goes, you don't hit a smiling face.
Seeing the grin on Shōshirō's face, Neji couldn't really refuse.
"It's good to be cautious. Go ahead, take a look."
Neji pulled back the curtain of the carriage.
Shōshirō's eyes narrowed as he peered inside. The carriage was spacious. All he saw was a stunningly beautiful, long-haired woman lounging on a bench. There was no one else.
Neji let the curtain fall. "Well? Is your suspect in there?"
"No." Shōshirō shook his head and then waved his hand. "My apologies for the trouble, my friend. You may pass."
After the carriage was a good distance away, the guard Neji had slapped spoke up. "Captain, according to regulations, we should have searched the carriage to be absolutely sure before letting them go."
"You're right," Shōshirō said, nodding. Then his tone changed. "But rules are rigid, and people are flexible. There's an old saying in the shinobi world: 'Don't mess with the Cloud.' Our village can't afford to provoke them."
"Besides..." He lowered his voice. "There are some things you don't know. The intruder was definitely not a Kumo-nin."
The guard looked thoughtful.
Shōshirō clapped him on the shoulder. "Alright, it's over. Get back to your post."
Once the carriage was far away from the village, Kana and her daughter emerged from a hidden compartment in the back.
"That was close," Kana said, clutching her chest. "I was so afraid they would find us."
"I told you to relax, ma'am," Neji said with a proud grin, flicking the reins. "My plan was flawless."
"Tch," Yugito scoffed, her arms crossed. "Flawless? Those Grass-nin are just incompetent. If it had been us from the Cloud, you would have been caught in a second."
Neji didn't argue. He turned to Karin. "Karin, come sit on your big brother's lap. I'll teach you how to drive."
After several days of fruitless searching, Ryurin realized that the intruder had most likely already escaped with the mother and daughter. But with the entire village on lockdown, he couldn't figure out how they had managed it.
"To escape with two helpless civilians under these conditions... incredible. Konoha is truly full of talented shinobi," he lamented.
Though he was puzzled, he didn't dwell on it. The shinobi world was full of strange and wondrous abilities.
Caw!
At that moment, the cry of a hawk echoed from above.
Looking up, he saw five large hawks, their wingspans over three meters, circling in the sky.
Ryurin's eyebrow rose. Mui is back.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
Five figures descended from the sky and landed in the open ground.
One of them, a young man with a stern face and a calm demeanor, was Mui, an elite Jōnin of the Hidden Grass and the leader of the "Fruit of the Grass" faction. The other four, wearing monkey, ox, sheep, and dog masks, were the village elders.
Shōshirō walked up to him. "Mui, you're finally back."
"I wasn't here when the village was in trouble. I'm indebted to you all," Mui said. His cold expression gave the impression that he was unapproachable, but those who knew him knew that he was a kind and gentle man.
Ryurin looked at him and scratched the back of his head with a smile. "Ryūzetsu is pestering me to train her, so I'll be heading back."
The "Fruit" and "Flower" factions had always been at odds. As the leader of the "Flower," it was best for Ryurin not to get involved.
"Ryurin," Mui called out, taking a paper lantern from his pouch. "Muku asked me to bring this for Ryūzetsu."
The conflict between the two factions ran deep, but it was a conflict of ideals. Privately, Mui and Ryurin were on friendly terms, and their children were childhood sweethearts.
"This... I'll thank Muku on Ryūzetsu's behalf."
Ryurin took the lantern and departed.