"Eh?"
Naruto blinked as he watched Sasuke's failed genjutsu attempt.
Sasuke crossed his arms stiffly.
"I'm just… not that familiar with illusion techniques yet."
Stubborn.
"Then there's no helping it," Uchiha Kai said lightly.
"Mr. Tazuna, we don't enjoy traveling with liars."
"You understand the weight of the situation… right?"
Tazuna was about to protest—
When he suddenly felt Uchiha Kai patting him several times.
Looking down—
Six or seven strange paper talismans were stuck to his body.
"What is this—"
Uchiha Kai calmly tied an identical talisman to a kunai and tossed it.
Boom.
The explosive tag detonated, blasting a crater into the ground.
"Now," Uchiha Kai said politely,
"would you like to explain?"
Tazuna's backbone lasted 0.3 seconds.
He confessed everything.
Gatō
Hired rogue ninja
Underreported mission rank
Wanted free protection—and maybe free cleanup
Naruto was furious.
"That's awful! You lied and tried to use us for free?!"
Sasuke scoffed.
"The world's darker than you think."
Kakashi finally spoke.
"So? Continue the mission?"
He had mostly stayed quiet, observing.
Naruto's chakra leakage?
He couldn't control it.
He had already contacted Jiraiya.
Sasuke?
Elite chūnin level at graduation.
Promising.
Uchiha Kai?
Still unreadable.
Kakashi laid out the numbers.
"Official pay: 20,000 ryō."
"After the village cut, you'd each get around 3,000."
"However… Gatō hired missing-nin."
"Turn them in at the bounty station and we're talking tens or hundreds of thousands. Maybe millions."
"So—want the bonus?"
[Uchiha Revival Path]
[Uchiha Fugaku]: …He adapts quickly.
[Uchiha Izuna]: Still not an Uchiha.
[Elder Madara]: …Acceptable.
Madara had originally proposed the ninja mission ranking system long ago.
But even he felt D-rank pay was pathetic.
Still—
Uchiha Kai shook his head.
"That bonus is boring."
"…Boring?" Sasuke blinked.
"That's hundreds of thousands!"
"That's thousands of bowls of Ichiraku ramen!" Naruto gasped.
Uchiha Kai shrugged.
"If it's money we want, why not eliminate Gatō directly?"
"Why bother collecting heads?"
"…You're not wrong," Izuna admitted silently in chat.
Kakashi tested carefully.
"So we continue?"
"Continue," Uchiha Kai confirmed.
On the Road
Everyone grew cautious.
Naruto especially.
After being deceived once, he now distrusted everyone.
Travelers passed.
Merchants.
Villagers.
A black-haired beautiful woman carrying a rabbit.
Ten minutes later—
"We're being watched," Naruto said seriously.
Sasuke frowned.
"You were staring at her. I thought you were interested."
"I wasn't!"
Naruto lowered his voice.
"She's not a woman."
"She's a man."
"…What?"
Before Sasuke could process—
Uchiha Kai turned his gaze toward the trees.
Kakashi had noticed too.
Calloused fingers.
Weapon user.
Not civilian.
But—
He had assumed female.
Then—
A voice floated from above.
"Impressive."
The black-haired beauty appeared atop a tree branch.
"To identify my gender at a glance… you're the first."
"This isn't a transformation. I simply look like this."
Confirmation.
Silence.
Sasuke and Kakashi slowly turned toward Naruto.
Horror filled their eyes.
No matter how they looked—
The person appeared entirely female.
Voice included.
And yet—
Naruto was right.
Naruto scratched his cheek awkwardly.
"I don't know. I just felt it."
Kakashi's mind raced.
Was this observational talent?
Instinct?
Or—
Had Naruto transformed into Naruko so many times…
That he could now instinctively recognize the difference?
Either way—
That "big sister" wasn't normal.
And the Land of Waves mission had officially begun escalating.
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